Hawaii Was...

Jon and I were able to spend 6 blissful kid-free days in Kauai. It was my first time in Hawaii and Jon's second (but first time on Kauai). I just have to say, I have never understood all the hype about Hawaii and I have never really wanted to go. But I totally get it now. What an amazing place! 

We have more pictures than I could ever post here, so I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

Hawaii was...

an awesome plane tour of the island (that left my stomach feeling not so awesome)

that gave us some gorgeous views and got us familiar with the island.

Hawaii was an early morning walk on the beach to watch the sunrise.

It was also a hike into the jungle, where Jon got to cross off one more thing on his bucket list after he found these vines to swing on. It was also a few grumpies on my part when we realized this hike was actually 6 miles longer than we were anticipating because the road was not drivable.

Hawaii was endless supplies of cool creatures, plants, and flowers. I lost count of the number of lizards Jon caught (I'm still not sure how he even saw most of them!) and I've decided the plumeria is my new favorite flower.

Hawaii was lots and lots of waterfalls

and delicious food. 

That giant avocado only cost us $1 at the farmer's market!

mmm....my mouth is watering....

Hawaii was a hike down to Secret Beach and then on to the Secret Lava Pools, where Jon snorkeled (with our electronic car keys...thankfully they were able to dry out and still worked!) and I got a little nap in.

It was breathtaking views everywhere we turned.

And it was a drive to Wailua Falls,

followed by a hike down to the top of the falls (in flip flops, on a very slippery, steep hill, surrounded by Danger signs). But it was worth it.  :)

Hawaii was lots of fun souvenirs.

This bowl was made out of a single coconut leaf, and there's a grasshopper sitting on it that is also made from a coconut leaf.

It was a drive down to Poipu Beach for some snorkeling and lounging, followed by a trip to see the Spouting Horn (a hole in the lava where the water sprays up when the waves break).

It was more beach lounging for me while Jon snorkeled for a second time at Tunnels Beach (by far the best snorkeling on the island!)

Hawaii was staying in quaint little Kapa'a

and spending a morning ziplining. We did 9 lines that ranged from 160 feet to 1200 feet. SO FUN!

Our zipline group in front of the last line.

Hawaii was also another hike down to a beach, this time Queens Bath, for some more snorkeling and swimming.

It was shave ice in a variety of tropical flavors...though the best part was the macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom. Mmmmm....

Hawaii was wild chickens everywhere. There are lots of theories as to how they got there, but the fact is they are there...everywhere...

Hawaii was beautiful sunsets

and a Sunday spent exploring Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific)

And Hawaii was spending our last night relaxing on the beach with a picnic dinner while we waited to watch the sunset.

In short, Hawaii was great! I just wish the jet lag would go away already!  :)

Eggciting!

Sorry about the title....I couldn't help myself...  :)

 This has been a really exciting spring and fall. We have tried a lot of new things and have learned A LOT the last few months. Of course one of the things that has taken front and center stage is our attempt at raising chickens. (You can read Jon's hilarious version of it here. ) You may remember we brought 10 little chicks home in May after Emma's kindergarten class hatched them. It was on a major whim (more my whim than Jon's, but I'm grateful that he humored me) and we have been on a constant crash course in chicken raising ever since. We have dealt with chickens in our play room, then our garage, and finally in our backyard, where they belong! We (meaning mostly Jon) have put in long hours cleaning up poop and feathers, figuring out a coop, and finally building a coop. And it is finally paying off!

Just a day shy of 17 weeks old, one of our chickens laid her first egg. It was cracked, but that didn't ruin our excitement at all. Seeing that first egg was better than Christmas! This may sound a little strange, but after several weeks of waiting, Jon and I decided that waiting for your first chicken egg is a lot like waiting for the birth of your child. You know when it could happen, but there's no guarantee. So, you sit and wait and try not to think about it. But you can't help but wonder every.single.morning if today's going to be the day. It tends to make you a little neurotic at times.  :)  And then the big event happens. And it is pretty darn exciting. Of course it can't really compare to how I felt after giving birth to each of my kids, but it was exciting enough that I kept thinking that maybe it could compare a little. I was pretty proud of that little egg.

Unfortunately Matthew was so excited that he dropped that egg right on the tile floor...

See how tiny it is??? They should be normal sized in another month or two.

 Ahhh, so pretty!

And tasty too!

Stripes getting her daily ride on the tricycle...haha....

 

We also planted a garden this year and it was surprisingly successful. We had strawberries and tomatoes, which we've done before. We also planted several things that we had never tried before...some of them went nowhere (the onions, watermelon, and a couple kinds of peppers), some tried to grow (we got a whopping 3 carrots), and several things took off. Our zucchini plant, started from seed, grew at least 3 feet tall and at least that wide and has given us several zucchinis. It also started 4 other zucchini plants much later. We transplanted one and it is just starting to produce. We also got some parsley, cilantro, a ton of serrano peppers, and one bell pepper plant. We don't have a ton of garden space, but we are really proud of what we did get. I have LOVED going out and picking garden produce. And it is even more fun to incorporate it into our meals....though I have to admit there came a point when I didn't think I could ever stand to see another tomato! Those tomato plants were awesome!

Most of our zucchini were normal sized, but we somehow missed this giant for quite a while. By the time Jon realized it was there, it was 14" long, 10" around, and weighed over 3 pounds!

 

It's hard to see, but there is a bell pepper back there. I'd have to say the bell peppers are probably what I'm most proud of in our garden. I seriously thought the plant was dead, and then all of a sudden we had bell peppers!

I had to laugh at this crazy lemon from our tree. Slightly resembles a curled up hand...

 One of our 3 carrots.  :)

Despite having lived in this house for 2 1/2 years, we just discovered this summer that we have a huge blackberry bush in our backyard.  We thoroughly enjoyed the fresh picked berries almost every day.

My Birthday Weekend

 Friday was birthday #29 for me. I feel like I should feel old now, but I don't at all. In fact, I often look around and feel like I'm living someone else's life. I don't feel old enough to have kids, and I especially don't feel old enough to have kids in school. I don't feel old enough to be doing all the real grownup things I have to do. And I certainly don't feel old enough to be almost 30! Anyone else out there feel the same way??? Maybe???...

This birthday was interesting, for lack of a better word. Good, but crazy.  :)  I got Emma off to school, went walking with a friend, and then came home and got to work on my birthday cheesecake. Everything was going good...it looked and smelled amazing. I put it in the oven and started getting ready while I talked to my mom on the phone. Suddenly I smelled smoke, so I went to check on the cheesecake. As soon as I opened the oven, the kitchen filled with smoke and set off all of the smoke detectors. I got everything taken care of and tried to figure out what was causing the smoke. I didn't see anything obvious, so I figured my oven was on the fritz. I called my neighbor who let me bring the cheesecake over to finish cooking at her house. I dropped it off and ran home to finish getting ready. As soon as I walked in my door, the phone was ringing. It was my neighbor, who now had a kitchen filled with smoke! We figured out that the cheesecake was actually leaking through the pan, so we put it on a cookie sheet and let it finish cooking in her smoke filled house. My neighbor is a saint (and a really great friend)! Thankfully the cheesecake turned out great (you really can't go wrong with Reese's, chocolate, and cheesecake though) and both of our houses are still standing.

The rest of the afternoon was mostly spent babysitting...though we like to call it a play date.  :) None of these "play dates" were planned. They just kind of happened throughout the day. At one point, I had 9 kids here! It was a little crazy at times, but everybody had fun, and it helped the day pass quickly. 

We finished off the day with homemade pizza (YUM!) and then babysat for our neighbors (the saint and really great friend who saved the day).

And despite all of the craziness, this birthday really was great. Honestly, it was more humorous than stressful. And I was just in a really good mood all day. I kept thinking back to my 27th birthday and how completely different I felt that day. I'm happy to say I didn't cry once this birthday.  :)  I loved being with friends most of the day (and having my kids be with friends). I think it helped keep my expectations low to focus on others and to stay busy. Whatever it was, it was a good day.  :) I felt so blessed all day...blessed to have the family that I do, to have so many great friends, and to have such a good life.

Matthew couldn't resist the cheesecake and kept picking at it throughout the day. This is what it looked like when I pulled it out to eat!

The kids were anxious to watch a movie, so we brought the cake to them to sing.  :) Then Jon gave me my gifts- a gift card for a manicure and pedicure (!) and a paper shredder, which I was also really excited about. Our friends very generously gave me a gift card to their favorite spa, which I'm really excited to try out.

And after all the fiasco of making the cheesecake, I was the only one who ate any! It was SO SO good though!

The next day the celebrating continued. Our neighbors took the kids for a good part of the day so Jon and I could have a shopping and lunch date. We love our free Red Robin birthday burgers! Then almost as soon as we got home, I got to leave again for my manicure and pedicure. It was heaven!

So, here's to making the most of my last year in my 20's. I think I'm off to a pretty good start!

First Grade

Emma started 1st grade on August 29. She LOVED Kindergarten and was excited to go back to school again, though she told us she was just excited to see her friends again and to play on the big playground instead of the Kindergarten playground. She was not excited to be at school all day and was worried that she would miss me and that she wouldn't have time to play her favorite games in the afternoon.  :)  Her teacher this year is Mrs. Alquero and she seems really nice. She's having a baby in November, which is great for her, but kind of a bummer for the kids in the class. I'm not looking forward to a long term sub for most of the year...I'm sure it'll all be fine though. Emma's two best friends from kindergarten ended up in the other 1st grade class, which was also a bummer, but there are a lot of new kids this year and hopefully lots of new friends.

 

I'm excited for this new year, to see her learn and grow. Here's to another great year of school!

1st grade!

Brady, one of her best friends and the boy she says she's going to marry, stopped by so we could all walk to school together. I am SO excited to have a neighbor and friend at her school so we can carpool.

And they're off!