turning twelve

our artist in residence, our chief of creative play, our tender heart with those most sparkly brown eyes, is growing up. 

afton started talking when she was ten months old. she could perfectly mimic words and sounds, inflections and intonations. she has the best voices. the best facial expressions. the best handstands and roundoffs and fashion sense. she is an amazing public speaker (though she hates it so). a burgeoning violinist. a straight-a student. the quietest, most hilarious girl you'll ever meet. 

she loves scavenging and animals and shiny things and bold colors and quiet time. 

and CANDY! most of all. 

she's just starting out. just dipping her toes in the water. twelve is a tricky and exciting place to be. wading out into the water of the big, wide world. hoping it has room for the special magic you bring. 

and afton is full of a really special magic that this big, wide world is lucky to have.

happy birthday, beauty! wade into the water. jump into the water. take it slow. or dive right in. just be sure to bring your magic with you. 

bryan's birthday boating

it was bryan's birthday back in april on the big island. and because he loves watercraft of all kinds, to celebrate, he treated everyone to a day out on the pacific ocean and snorkeling at two step and captain cook where we enjoyed fishes and dolphins and splashing and swimming and pool noodles and double-fisting hawaiian sodas.

bryan loves adventure and hard work and jumping in cold water, and he brings that "get up and get out and go do and can do" attitude to our tiny crew. (i just bring the snacks.)

he's maddeningly optimistic. a careful planner. a whip smart communicator. quite possibly the world's best problem solver. and definitely, definitely someone you want around in a crisis. 

bryan! here's to YOU! to forty-one years of launching off into the unknown and getting all wet and loving every moment. to all the adventure. to the sand and the dirt and the sweat and the snow.

and most especially here's to taking the rest of us along for the ride. 

xo

beating heart

mom, you are the best mom i could ever have! i like your cooking. you make me healthy. and you give me stuff! mom, i love you. mom, you are sweet. 

(insert world's best alligator drawing) 

(insert world's best snake drawing)

to my kids, who are stuck with me and all my (many) idiosyncrasies and who seem to like me anyway. whose souls existed long before they got to me and will continue on long after they leave, but this time--this time we get to grow together--it is the best time because of you. 

i'll eat you up i love you so. 

and to my mom, who taught me that the beating heart of motherhood is being the safest and surest place in the world. no matter what; no matter when. forever and always, amen. 

kilauea iki and punalu'u beach

after leaving hilo, we drove around the southern tip of the island to visit volcano national park and punalu'u beach on our way to kona.

in volcanoes national park, our crew chose to hike the kilauea iki trail (a four mile loop) across the kilauea iki crater.

seen here at the end of our trek down to the crater, before crossing the vast lava field you see behind us and making our way back up to the rim:

and following a much needed refuel break for lunch and snacks (at aloha mix food truck and punalu'u bake shop), we headed to check out punalu'u beach, known for its black sand and ever-present sea turtles. 

the kids LOVED this beach and wished we had brought towels with us to allow for a full swimsuit and immersion experience. instead, they were forced to do the next best thing and just pinky promised they would only "dip their toes" in the ocean. but in a series of events completely foreseen by their parents, they eventually ended up gleefully soaked by crashing waves and neck deep in water, and then stripped down and hopped back into the car sopping and sandy and happy. 

complete with baby sea turtle.

hello hilo

after our initial stop for shave ice in kona, we headed across the island to enjoy hilo town for a few days. while there, we checked out richardson beach park, carlsmith beach park, and leleiwi park (which we could walk across the street to from the house we were renting). 

bonus points because we happened to hit hilo during a sunny three day stretch. 

the beaches on this side of the island are for the most part not sandy (richardson beach park does have some black sand). it's just straight up lava rocks and then you hop off into the warm ocean. a pretty cool and unique experience if you ask me, though it did not take the place of a pristine, white sandy beach in the hearts of the children. 

carlsmith beach park and leleiwi park have large lagoons that are shielded from the breaking waves and make for great swimming. richardson beach park is known for its snorkeling, but the kids--not yet known for their snorkeling--preferred carlsmith and leleiwi. below is an assortment of pics from all three locales.

just like we did for shave ice, we tried three different acai bowl places on the big island. two were in hilo (makani's magic pineapple shack and kula shave ice at hilo farmer's market, both pictured below), and one was in kona (basik acai). 

makani's magic pineapple shack was definitely impressive and yummy (just look at that bright, beautiful and incredibly massive eye candy!), but the actual acai from the more modest looking kula shave ice bowl was the absolute best we've ever had. smooth, creamy, dreamy, just tart enough, just sweet enough, perfection. 

there were a handful of waterfalls we wanted to check out while in hilo, but beach time reigned supreme with this crew, so we only ended up making it to rainbow falls. on an overcast afternoon, however, so no rainbow. 

hau`oli lā hānau

 

we flew to hawaii on caleb's birthday, so first off, he DID get to play video games on the six hour flight over. and SECONDLY, it was straight to shave ice when we landed. so a couple of important birthday boxes checked for him.

caleb continues to love legos, star wars, lego star wars, video games, lego star wars video games, card games, delicious foods, and card games about delicious foods. he would like nothing more than to enjoy a hot breakfast, a hot lunch, and a hot dinner everyday. 

new interests include kiwi birds, new zealand, and cats. caleb is willing to give anything a try once. his memory is ironclad. his heart is soft. his feet are loud. he loves hugs from his sisters and making pure, unadulterated, and for no other reason than just because mischief with his brother. 

he wants to do everything fast and always be first. 

and now, he's nine. 

happy birthday, bobby! may you continue to be full of questions and curiosity and grow into the fantastically unique human being you are destined to be. 

(we tried three shave ice places while on the big island, and gecko girlz--pictured below, and the stop for caleb's birthday--was the winner for our crew. the treat to beat, however, continues to be matsumoto shave ice on oahu.) 

paradise of the pacific

they snorkeled, hiked, beached, boogied, and swam, and swam, and swam until the sun went down. they saw volcanoes, waterfalls, sea turtles, fish, flowers, fruit, white sand, tan sand, black sand (but didn't make it to the green sand), and ate their weight in shave ice and island treats. 

big island. big adventures. BIG MANTA RAYS.

he huekai nani. 

on this day

"in all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.
in all the world, there is no love for you like mine."

--maya angelou

celebrating seventeen years.

bunny hop

four kids.

a dozen confetti eggs each. 

five minutes on the clock.

one backyard in early spring. 

and no. holds. barred.