Hawaii Part 3

Tuesday was a glorious day of lounging, walking, lounging, swimming, lounging.  Rob got up for his classes and I got my running gear on and went for a jog down the beach.  Nice.  Then I sat on my booty and watched whales.  Then I went and changed into my suit and lounged at the beach and then in the hammock and then Mom came down and we lounged poolside.  Rob joined us and we went and grabbed some lunch and then it was back to the pool.  When we just couldn't lounge much longer we for a walk up to Puoko.  We finally went back and changed and met Dad at the BEST restaurant, Sansei in the Queen Shops.  Holy mother of pearl.  That is a new must go to gem.  We were all severely overwhelmed by the menu, but the waitress guided us and it was good stuff.  Really good stuff. We will be back for sure.  Another perfect day in Paradise.

Hawaii Part 2

 Monday began with Rob going to his lectures and me wandering down the beach from the hotel and then lounging around until he finished.  Not a bad way to spend a morning.  I decided that a good day is one where you wear a bathing suit all day.

When Rob finished we grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach.  69's or Waialea.  Beautiful.  Mom and Dad joined us and we sat and visited until nearly sunset.  Then we transferred beaches to Hapuna for the actual sunset.

 At Hapuna we had to pay homage to the blowhole.  The tide and surf was high so it was pretty dramatic.  Beautiful evening.

After the sunset Rob and I went back to the hotel and got all fancified and went for a nice dinner at Tommy Bahama's.  It was a great day.

Clara Interruption

I have lots more Hawaii to post, but I just had to interrupt to bring you these gems:

Also from her report card:

"Clara is a feisty personality who is an asset in the classroom.  Some taming is necessary occasionally!  Clara is reading with confidence and her writing pieces are imaginative and "Oh so original!" This semester I would like us to work on being polite to ones peers and to calm the bursts of volatility!  The future is so exciting for you Clara!"

Classic.  Her teacher knows Clara to a T.

And this:
C:  I told Pop-pop all he needed to do was get a dog that looks just like Winnie and then he wouldn't have to miss her anymore.  He'd just have Winnie back.

And also:
Tonight we were at dinner at some friends house.  The adults were in the dining room, but in the kitchen we could hear Clara saying, "You... (dramatic pause)... are breaking...(dramatic pause)... the laws of Jesus....(dramatic pause)... Christ."
I went in and told her not to be bossy and that she didn't get to talk to him that way, but she insisted she needed to because, "He was judging me."  (It turns out he had been a bit of a stinker, and had said something rude to her, and she explained to me he wasn't following the law of love one another.  I appreciate her ability to stand up for herself and I appreciate her assertiveness, and I appreciate the serious entertainment value.)

Hawaii Part 1

We went to Hawaii.  Yay, for us.  We went in gray, blah. January.  Do you know how amazing it is to leave sub zero temperatures and get off a plane and be greeted by warm humid air?  Heaven.  It is heaven.  Our flight left early on Saturday morning and we flew through SF and then directly onto Kona.  A brief pause to sing the praises of Xanax.  I hate flying.  Flying gives me amazing amounts of anxiety. To the point where I was about ready to throw in the towel.  The thought of having to get on an airplane gave me anxiety for months before a trip.  No more.  I took a xanax or 2 or 3 and slept like a baby.  Through turbulance.  Through everything.  Slept the ENTIRE way.  Heaven.  

 So anyway, after a blissful flight we landed in Kona, picked up our car, and drove straight to the hotel.  We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid.  Talk about blissful and heavenly.  That place was amazing.  Quite a step up from Motel 6.

 We quickly changed and spent the afternoon enjoying the local scenery from lounge chairs. 

 After a quick shower and change of clothes we drove up to Kawaihai and met Mamo and Pod at the never disappointing Cafe Pesto.  And the ganache torte is as good as I remembered it.  The next morning Rob had classes from 7-12.  I had a hard time deciding what to do.  I jogged up the beach path.  Turns out our hotel and Puoko are right next to eachother, so enjoyed watching some whales from Puoko then changed into my suit and spent some time poolside and beachside.

 After Rob's meetings we headed up to Waimea and went for a hike up to Anna's Pond and through Anna's ranch.  It was so beautiful.  Pictures never do it justice.

 Anna's pond was crazy crazy low.  Time for some rain!!!!!  Still pretty, but it was more of a puddle than a pond, except it had ginormous tadpoles.

 Love, love, love, the old gnarled wind blown Ohia trees:

 Rob and Pod explored around this little resevoir:

After the hike we went back to the house and had an excellent meal.  Such a great day.

Sunday Christmas Outfits

New Years Day in the Snowy COLD outdoors

On New Years Day, Katy actually had a day off and she and Daniel offered to take the kids up to Sundance.  (Stupid me forgot to bring the skis.  Grrr, had to rent).  Daniel ended up being too sick, but Katy obliged and although tired from the previous night's festivities I think everyone had a great time.  And it was perfect because the boys who are a bit more on the daring side than Lucy went together and Katy and Lucy stuck together.  I think, despite the tiredness all had a good time.  Sundance is one of my happy places.  So beautiful.  I really should learn to ski.

 Down in the valley my Dad, Gavin, and I rented snow shoes (again grrr, should have brought mine) and headed up Rock Canyon.  It was EXTREMELY cold.  Seriously.  Usually I work up a good sweat snow shoeing, but not this time.  But we braved the cold and it was well worth it.  So beautiful.  Rock Canyon, another of my happy places.  Sigh.

Love the couple photo of me and Gavin, hahaha:

 My breath condensed and froze on my hair.  It was pure ice.  Crazy.

 We should have waited to take this picture at the very end because the icicles got even more dramatic.

 At the end of the day it was nice to curl up by the fire:

(don't miss the new years eve post.  double posting day)