August 2023

August 2023 started with lots of renovations because our friends, the Pobst family came for a visit toward the middle of the month and we had lots of plans to play with them while they stayed with us. I put up the cement board, and Paul did all the plumbing and electrical. I painted the pink to red sealant while Paul worked on the faucets.  I tiled and grouted the whole bathroom, with the exception of grouting the floor, Paul and I worked on that together. While we had the tile cutter from the Greenleaf family, I decided to do the backsplash in the kitchen too. Lots of work, but so so happy with all the results. Paul helped do the grout for the backsplash too. It goes a lot faster when we work together, but he doesn't have a ton of time for the renovations, so I do a lot on my own.

Deciding which direction the tiles should face and what spacing...

A welcomed break from Sully... I get proposed to at least monthly by this sweet boy.

I wrote things like this all over the house while we were doing renovations. 

On to the kitchen... I got the backboard up first, then precut as many of the tiles as I could before getting them up. They are glass, so it was harder than I thought, but the end results were great, so it was worth it.

Dry fitting the tiles worked great, then I put down the first three rows. I love how it looks. 

Time to grout the bathroom floor... Looks awesome!

Building some shelves for our ever changing rainbow room.  We turned it into a school room and filled the shelves with books, and activities and lots of fun stuff!

Some "afters" on the bathroom. Such a beautiful thing!

The kids rediscovered all the magic trick toys and pranks and did several magic shows for us. So fun.

The stars are so bright here, but cameras never do the night sky justice. It looked better in person.

Paul and Lullaby spend time, usually once a week, reading on the sea cliffs near our house. Paul is SUCH a good dad. I love seeing him love our kids. 

FaceTiming with my mom rarely happens, and so it's a real treat when it does. Sully tried to prank her with a hurt finger toy, and she showed him a picture of her and her brother, Uncle Carl, when they were young adults. Fun!

Snuggle kitties caught in the act. Sweet Snow Baby and Mousey. 

Hawk is Paul's new dive buddy and they love seeing what they can pull up from the river. 

Beach day for this boogie boarder. He loves to be in the water. We go at least 3 times a week, sometimes more. 

Matix started riding the bus to work, which was SO scary for me. We drove the route, and followed the bus several times in the car to make sure he knew where to get on and off. He had to switch buses and walk a bit. Wild. He did great. This was his first time doing it on his own. I drove behind the bus and watched to make sure he could do it. Then when it was time to come home I tracked him and talked to him on the phone. He did great. 

Sully lost another tooth! So fun! This one he pulled out by himself. 

I was given several great presents for my birthday, and a barbie cake that was my favorite! I LOVE the barbie cake. So so fun.

Then to the beach! I have been enjoying reading more and more lately. Mostly mystery novels. Then out for dinner, dessert first. Yum!

Another beach day called for shave ice afterward. I got too much sun though... 

Fact checking is a fun part of my relationship with Paul. We both love being right, so when we remember things differently, it's fun to look up the answer and see who's right! This time it was me, though it is often Paul.

Out to eat for a brunch date with my favorite guy.

Lullaby made pop tarts and they were even better than the original. So good!

Every month, we went to Game Stop to get the free Pokemon pack. When the owners found out he just had a birthday, they gave him some promo cards they got at the store. So nice!

She has the sweetest little kitty. Mousey is such a lover. 

Our old neighbors came to Kauai and we got to go out to eat with them one of the nights. It was good to see them and catch up a bit.  Then they came to church and we got to see them a bit more.

Matix started his Driver's Education course. He learned a lot and started pointing out all our shortcomings... Great. 

Sully's first morning being 10! Woohoo!

Solace turned 10 and woke up happy to open his presents, especially his 10 year old gift from Grandma Kim and Grandpa Louie. It is the COVETED gift of 10 of everything... 10 pennies, 10 nickels, 10 dimes, 10 quarters, 10 fifty cent pieces, 10 gold dollar coins, 10 one dollar bills, and 10 five dollar bills! It is so fun to open! 

He also opened all the other presents and got some great stuff. He was so happy and thankful to everyone for making his day so special. 

Solace got a Ripstik for his birthday too, and Lullaby stayed outside with him, running him back and forth until he felt comfortable on his own. Great job!

Sweet Sully boy, his first day of being 10. We love you so much. You are funny, and sweet, and love to be right. You dance and sing and make funny faces. You love me more than any kid ever loved their mom. You have special relationships with all your siblings. You wear your hair long and curly. You're church teachers love you and always put you in front of the group. You love little kids and know how to be gentle and encouraging. You love to play video games with your big brothers, and you love to splash in the waves with your sister. You love treats, especially chocolate, and sometimes try to sneak them. You have a big personality and everyone loves you. Strangers comment to us all the time about you, and what a cool kid you are. You don't like anything scary, or violent. Some Marvel movies are too much for you. You are the coolest 10 year old around. We love you.

We had a party for him at Lydgate and lots of friends came to help him celebrate. We love this sweet Sully boy.

We've begun a tradition of going to Fun Factory after each birthday and spend the night winning games and prizes and it is so much fun.

Our dragon fruit was showing off and put on three fruits on one arm! So fun!  Still had to wait a while before they turned pink enough to pick and eat. 

Some every day happenings... Solace built a Charizard, and narrated a video. Morning cuddles, as usual. And a Lego ramp race, Lullaby wins!

We went to Kealia with the Brackens and had a great day. Their kids are amazing in the water, but sometimes they come up for air and we get to play on the beach. 

Fortunately or not, our Costco put out their Halloween costumes in August and Solace picked his as the Mandolorian. He didn't love it by the time Halloween actually came, but still wore it. 

Beach day with my favorite girl.

The kids were asked to help with a haunted garden idea for a carnival at Na Aina Kai for Halloween, and my friend Lea organized it so the kids did step by step. They started in August finding native plants in the gardens, and had to turn them creepy.

We found ALIVE termites in the tiger bathroom. Dang it!

The Pobst family got in late and started the trip off right with games until after dark. The kids all get along so well!  Then straight to the beach in the morning.

They harvested some bananas, yum!

Lydgate beach isn't always a hit for my guys, no waves, but Bradley loved it. We played musical cars most of the time and had to hold up fingers for the number of kids we each had in the cars to make sure no one was left behind. It worked out great. 

Early morning magnet-tile towers, until they came crashing down and woke everyone up. 

Brennecke's for some great boogie boarding waves. 

We taught the Pobst family how to lure baby chicks and catch them for a quick cuddle. Then out for shave ice. Nice day on the sunny south side. 

We went up Waimea Canyon and saw the great views. We also saw some ladies posing nearly nude in the waterfall, so no pictures of that this time. It was wild. 

More shave ice, at one of my favorite places, Matcha-ya. Yum!

From the back... could these two be related? Solace is on the left, and Parker is on the right. 

Mousey found someone knew to snuggle up with... Sweet. 

We hiked up Sleeping Giant and the strawberry guava were all ready to eat. The kids ate SO many.

My view, as soon as I lay down anywhere. Pumpkin is always ready for a snuggle.

We went to Makanalani for a homeschool retreat that my friend Sarah set up for all the homeschoolers to come and have a day of fun and activities before school started. She's super good at organizing things like that. It was so much fun!  The grounds were beautiful and we got to see several areas that had been used for Jurassic Park. 

The giant slip and slide was the favorite activity for all the kids. 

We went to Anini with the Pobst family and the kids mostly battled it out on the paddle board playing King of the Log. Silly things.

This pack of boys is so fun to watch together. 

Late night silliness with Matt. How many kids can he support during pushups? The answer is 2. 

Hike down to the falls. We love this hike because it's short and sweet and right near the house. The kids made little surf boards out of sticks and played above the falls, then jumped it several times. So much fun, as always.

We went to the river rope swing at the end of Kuamo'o road. Keähua Stream is always freezing, but so fun for a hot day. Then we picnicked musubi at the tables and headed home.

Full moons means setting your intentions and asking for positive attributes and putting out your moon water. The Pobst family joined us in our tradition.

Kalihiwai on a windy day, yes please. It is usually quite hot there, and little shade other than at the tree line, so the wind was welcomed. 

After eating at Bubba's, we headed to Kapaa Stream to jump from the railroad bridge. It's not in use anymore, and makes for a great jumping spot. They did a million "Commander Shawn" jumps and had the best time.

Lots more game playing. When the car needed to go out to be Turo-ed Westin helped clean it. Since they were here for 3 weeks, he was still here when they got paid for the trip, woohoo!

Christi and I got our picture taken at church, thanks Stella!