January Hawai'i Trip: Getting There & the Back of Waipi'o

Thursday, January 18, we flew to Hawai'i. Coco had gone a couple days before. Our flight left San Diego at 6:15 A.M., so we had to leave the house about 4:00 A.M. Waking the girls at 3:45 A.M. was a rough start to the trip.

Susan let me borrow two sets of kid headphones, a backpack for Wren (the cutest backpack ever), and two of these compartmentalized containers for snacks. The girls were super excited about the snacks and broke into them as soon as possible. Susan alternates treaty snacks and nutritious snacks and lets her kids move onto the next compartment after they complete a certain educational task. I had good-for-you snacks and treaty snacks in there, but it was pretty much a free-for-all. Ever ate the healthful stuff first to get rid of it, saving the best for last. Wren did the opposite.

Tiny on a plane = not fun. Pretty much the worst. Reading helped briefly.

Then she fussed and fussed, and Jim struggled to soothe her to sleep.

We passed her back and forth a million times, and she spent a lot of time in the aisle. This was not ideal, but life was hard.

We had a layover at LAX. I couldn't get a clear shot of Wrenzy walking with Amelie's owl backpack, but it was seriously the cutest.

Ever fell asleep early on in the flight from L.A.

Wrenzy-poo Lovey (how do I spell that?) joined her, looking highly uncomfortable.

The nap was brief. After that it was movie time.

The only picture I took on Friday, January 19:

No one has ever been as tired as Tiny was at that time. She seriously could not keep her eyes open in the high chair. Everyone was exhausted. We let everyone nap that day but did make it briefly to Hapuna. Coco documented:

See Wrenzy? Told you. Tired.

Saturday morning, Tutu played games with the biggers.

Antonio was bombarded by his Kringel cousins, who were all over him.

Tutu stayed home and got some things done while the rest of us set out for the back of Waipi'o (much later than we'd hoped - because kids).

Ever on a hill:

Wrensday might have a future in modeling with this pout:

As we were heading up toward the first reservoir (which we were planning to go around to the left), Coco and Pod were ahead of us. A bunch of cows made their way very swiftly and deliberately across the hill and formed a line directly above Coco and Pod, blocking our path. I have never seen anything like it, and I was not a fan. (I've never recovered from the time a mama cow charged Pod with baby Coco on his back.) I stopped walking; I didn't want to get anywhere near those territorial cows. Coco wondered why we weren't coming. She and Pod couldn't see them until they got up the hill and all of a sudden caught sight of this line of cows right above them. Cokes and Pod turned right and went the other way around the reservoir. I fully supported that decision and even went right up against the fence line to stay away from some other cows that hadn't joined the blockade. Coco and Pod below the cow blockade:

 So many cows for me to fear.

A little taste of the nonsensical blabbing Wrenzy does in the backpack:

Because we set out so late, we had to stop for lunch pretty much right away. We picnicked near a reservoir.

I don't want to have a million photos of the same thing, but how do you narrow them down when this one is best of Ever ...

... this one is best of Wren ...

... and this one is best of Tiny?

I need Photoshop.

I like this tree:

A WWII relic?:

This was an incredibly long and steep hike for a six-year-old. Ever did a good job.

There were lots of puddles we had to try to avoid.

Jim thinks I've made the girls all obsessed with Kleenex. He believes in using toilet paper instead of Kleenex. I argue that Kleenex is sturdier and capable of being used over and over until it falls apart. It also sends off less dust than toilet paper. In any case, they have runny noses, and when we're out and about, they're constantly asking for Kleenex.

I love Ever on the very far side of this pic:

There was a point during our hike that Bags and I thought we might miraculously have a view when we got to the back of the valley. Of course that was not the case (nor will it be until the day we leave the house at 6:00 A.M. and hike at a decent clip). Rather, we got the usual fog. It mattereth not, for the joy is in the journey.

Pod skipped down the narrow ledge on the side of the cliff like he thought he was a mountain goat. Jim took Ever down to join him.

Then he held onto her while she leaned over to see what she could see. Nobody died, so that was a relief.

I didn't know you can see a waterfall from that vantage point, so I want to go down there next time. I just wasn't comfortable doing it with a baby strapped to me.

A full-circle double rainbow appeared for us. My shadow was in the middle of it. Not so neat a picture, but here it is:

Wrenzy's cheesy grin:

I hopped in, and Coco got the whole family. (My legs are weird because I was trying to prevent an up-the-shorts shot.)

On the way down, Ever got cold and borrowed my flannel.

Wrenzy sang one line from "There's a Hole in My Bucket" one thousand times, and I loved it.

Wrenzy did some walking during the last stretch.

 I wish I could capture how much of a little sprite she is. Jim and I love her run. I don't know that this is the best evidence, but it's like her feet barely touch the ground.

There's an Ever in here:

Ever and I spied a cow bone.

I love that we can hike from our house in our little town-in-the-clouds. Jim is convinced he's never done that hike before; I was sure I'd taken him on it. That reminds me that I need to look for photographic evidence to support my case and settle this most serious marital dispute. Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon. We got home late, and Tutu had dinner ready for the kids because she's great like that.