Sunbeams!

Sully had his first day of Sunbeams! He's three now, so as of January 1st, he is big enough to go to the big kid Primary in church! He was (and still is) the wildest child in there. I have never seen a naughtier child. Part of it is because he's my kid and I'm in there. Part of it is because church starts at 1:00pm, meaning there are no naps on Sundays, and he usually takes a long nap right then. Notice he is being held by the Primary President, that's just to keep him still. Stinker.

He LOVES his teacher though, and does much better for her in his small class setting third hour.

Susannah and Nelson came with us to church and it was fun to get to chat and catch up a bit more. Since we meet at 1:00pm now, we have a big feast every first Sunday of the month to break our fast. It is such a nice time. The kids love it and we love it.

The Hawaiian aunties always send us home with tons of yummy island food. This was some strange bread with gravy. So so good. Ash wanted to try it when we got back.

Makaha Beach

While Ash and Ranger were here, our friends Susannah and Nelson came for a visit too. They were on an anniversary trip but we got to see them and hang out tons too. We all met up at the beach with some island friends for a long day of swimming and playing. 

Amy brought her inflatable beach chairs. They are really easy to do if it's windy, or if you're on the commercial, but in real life it was tricky.

Once they are blown up though, they are perfect for tired beach babies.

Someone (not in our group) brought a HUGE slip and slide to the beach. They were very nice and let our kids (and adults) try it out. I love that Aloha spirit on the west side of the island. Also, notice the difference between Ash and me while bringing Sully down the slide. Ash rides him right into the water, but looks great. I sit up and flip him up on top of me so he doesn't get water in his face but I look like a fool. So funny.

Andy took us out to the turtle cleaning station, where lots of fish live and the turtles go there to be cleaned off by the fish. It was really cool to see. Andy took these great pictures. Thanks Andy! Here's Ranger.

That's me.

These are of Ashley and me.

Here's Ashley.

Then we went for shave ice at small shop in Waianae, but they were closed. The lady let us in though, after seeing the kids. It was SUPER nice, and the shave ice was delicious, as always!

house guests

Having Ash and Ranger in the house is the best. We miss them terribly now that they're gone. They were so much fun and played a ton with the kids too. Here are Ash and Lulli doing kids yoga. 

New Year sunrise

After watching the LAST sunset of 2016, we drove to the east side of the island to watch the FIRST sunrise of 2017. It was really cloudy, so we weren't sure what we would see, but it was beautiful!  The kids played in the little tide pools and we all snacked and chatted. 

Now we copy another tradition of Ash and Ranger. I love this idea. Each kid holds up a number for the year, 2 (Matix), 0 (Lullaby), 1 (Solace), 7 (Hawken), for 2017.

After the sun was sufficiently up, we went to exploring the pools for sea cucumbers and other sea creatures waiting for the tide to come in again.

We played tag and hide and seek in the bushes and sand.

The kids LOVE these two. I tried to get a picture of these two, and Hawken couldn't stay away. Stinker.  See the little sign in the tree behind them? Cute.

Then we drove to the blow holes to climb around and explore.

It was very windy and Matix's shirt kept flapping up and down, making look like the lizard was opening and closing his mouth. So funny.

The kids kept finding little caves and making them their homes.

Paul went too close to the edge and got chased away by a cold splashing wave.