Every Day Activities

Even though we are in a beautiful state, and most days seem somewhat like vacation, we are still trying to establish routines & keep the boys participating in some of their normal daily activities.  A recent discovery of little Legos & a trip to a real Lego store, have prompted a daily activity of building. 

Jack also enjoys sword-fighting, "boinging" (or bouncing on the couch cushions on the floor), riding his bike, reading library books and playing anything his imagination can come up with at any given moment.

Henry also LOVES the Legos, but we really have to watch him because its the small ones.  Riding/being pushed on the tricycle and playing with Rufus are probably his top two favorite things to do right now.

Koko Head Crater

Even though my quad muscles have never felt like this before, the trip up Koko Head was absolutely worth every ounce of pain!  Koko Head Crater has a large staircase...1048 stairs to be exact - up the side of it, and is quite a hiker's delight.  Good workout and beautiful scenery!

Looking up from the bottom, the trail actually didn't seem too bad!

This is the bridge a little over halfway up.  We went around through a makeshift path since the railroad ties were wide enough for even Becky to fall through easily! (I didn't get a picture of it so I borrowed one from a trail site.)

Although I wasn't winded going up or down (due to the 3 weeks of running I've done), my quad muscles have never felt so used and abused! I guess the extra 50lbs of piggybacking Jack part of the way, put me over the edge. Jack made it a long way before Becky & I began the 20-20-20 system: 20 steps on her back, walk 20 steps, then 20 steps on my back. We did that about halfway up. Jake carried Henry the entire way on his back and probably made it to the top in half the time as the rest of the group! He never ceases to amaze me!

 

The hike was totally worth it for the beautiful view!  It was neat to be able to see our home and point out things that we have become familiar with during our short time here. We will definitely do this again, but maybe not with our kiddos!

Frogs

During our running we have spotted several mammoth sized frogs here in the island. I've never seen anything like them before!  One morning Jack found this frog, "Pickles," in the garage and promptly informed us he loved Pickles and would be taking Pickles home to Chattanooga. Henry, on the other hand, was only interested in throwing Pickles. No worries, before long Pickles was released back to the yard to his own home!

Catamaran Sunset Cruise

Over on the North Shore of Oahu, a small company runs a catamaran tour/sunset whale-watching business.  Art & Becky graciously took the whole group (Jake, Winnie, Jack, Henry, Hannah, Will, Jamison, John, Loletuth, & Becky) out for an evening cruise. Art had to miss out since he was picking his dad up at the airport. 
It was a relaxing time and not nearly as cold as our whale-watching experience in Maine a few years ago! Jack enjoyed using Jamison's cool binoculars and Henry thoroughly enjoyed eating all the snacks. :)

We were able to see several humpback whales and even got to hear them "singing." The boat's captain used some type of hydrophone to play their "song" and you could hear the faint sound of the whales.

Siblings: Hannah, Will & Jake :)

Roommates!

I love this guy!

Jack & his new buddy, Jamison

Surfing

It seems like it might get old to be posting about the beach all the time, and in all honesty we haven't been to the beach very often during our time here, but we have pictures of going each time, so I feel compelled to post the pics! Enjoy the beautiful scenery!

Becky and Jack were doing some surfing...this was before the WIPEOUT!  They really didn't wipeout too much, but Jack likes to say "Wipeout!" alot!