What a week!!!!

Oh what a week it's been. First a few pictures of some family fun...

Have I ever mentioned that the kids LOVE to go out to eat? They have actually become really well behaved (for the most part) when we go out to eat and we try to make it out when Peter is off so it's a part of family time.

On one trip to Leoda's, I saw Peter and Kai through the window as I was leaving. It was just such a perfect glimpse - had to capture it.

On another occasion, Peter was tipped at work with a free Flatbread pizza! So off to Flatbread we went (one of their favorite places) and Ryenne and Cruz were quite excited!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day last weekend - no vog, no wind, low tide... so off to Kuau we went. Our little fish, Ryenne, was in the water (under the water) for hours. It was hard to pull her out.

So then after our fun morning in Kuau we needed to stop by PetCo to get some supplies for Bubble's fish tank - it needed a cleaning. We always like checking out all the animals and the kids think of it as a real treat - they have to behave or else we can't look at all the animals at PetCo (perfect bribe!). So we're getting the fish supplies and of course they had cats. Usually they have kittens and everyone is oohing and aaahing over them. They had this pretty girl and she's 7. Since she's a senior cat, they were having a special drive for adoption because she had been at the shelter for a month and this was her last chance for adoption. The kids bent tot he cage and she came and rubbed all over them - she has such a sweet temperament. Of course they all looked at me with sweet innocent asking eyes and I in turn looked at Peter who said "OK!" So we brought her home and she's been quite the snuggly cat climbing into bed with the kids. Lightning, our boy cat doesn't really care at all, and Seven, our really snobby girl cat doesn't like her much but keeps a distance.

On Tuesday Kai was scheduled for dental surgery. I am not sure if I mentioned the episode he had with our dentist, but basically Kai wasn't a candidate for traditional dental repair in the doctors office due to his temper. His mouth needed significant work and it had to be done under full anesthesia. This was a bit scary for me as the surgery was over 4 hours long. But Kai was a champ! Here he is looking at his ET glowing finger. He had the nurses and doctors wrapped around his finger and I was so proud of him. It was quite emotionally draining for me - I couldn't sleep the night before and then was with him all day. I was exhausted! Lucky for me Peter got the day off so that he could watch Cruz and then let me nap when we got home from the hospital. Aside from nausea and a bloody nose, Kai was himself a few hours after the surgery and has some really gorgeous teeth. We have a new routine with all three kids now - they have to let me brush their teeth first and then they can finish up.

A client from Canada brought the kids some ketchup chips! We had never tried these before - they all liked them a lot!

Continuing our birthday tradition, we decided to take Cruz's birthday adventure just a little early because I have shoots for the next several weeks on Peter's days off. We decided the kids were old enough to take the drive to Hana and enjoy it. Hana is an incredibly special place. I think so many visitors drive though and just don't "get it" - it's more than a drive. It's more than a place to stop and eat lunch. It's a step back in time and it's magical. When people ask me about it I tell them if you can't go and spend the night, you're not getting the full experience.

We tried to get two nights, but due to Kai's surgery day off for Peter, we could only get one night and thankfully the Andaz let Peter come in at 6pm on Saturday instead of 3pm so we could get in an extra few hours.

We took the Kaupo back side road to get into Hana. We pulled over often so the kids could check things out and stretch. It was a really voggy day, but Kaupo was probably the greenest I've ever seen! 

Riding in through Kaupo was so awesome.

We checked into Travaasa Hana, which if you've never been is Heaven on Earth. I think the Four Seasons Koele and Travaasa Hana are two of my most favorite places ever... anyway, we were greeted with big hugs from all the staff as well as everyone wishing Cruz a happy birthday. Our concierge friend Dawn had a gift basket for Cruz which was pretty awesome. We got to the room and of course first things first... POOL! I guess when you have unlimited ocean access a hotel pool is what the kids want first! It was a salt water pool and it was AWESOME! 

 After some time in the pool we all got dressed again and headed to Hana Bay to play in the sand. There were a bunch of sticks and the kids decided to use them for building.

 

After our time at the beach, Peter was pretty tired from not sleeping much since he worked late the night before, so he took a nap and me and the kids went outside to play. The hotel has no TV's, no internet - it's a complete shut off of electronic devices and it was fabulous.  We had a talent show on a little stage in the open field area (I recorded the performances and will upload them soon), we had races around the croquet lawn, we rolled down a grassy hill. It was heavenly. Then we got ready for dinner and went to eat a really fantastic meal. They surprised Cruz with a birthday sundae with candles and we went back to the hotel to crash out - we were all pooped! 

The next morning we did as much as we could fit into a few hours. We played at Koki Beach (a favorite) for a long time. I wish we could have stayed all day. We caught waves, ran around in the shallow water, jumped over waves, swung on the tree swing, built sand castles. As Grandpapa would say, It was DELICIOUS!

Side note - I am in love with this image of Ryenne. She body surfed and caught some pretty big waves!!! This one will be going into a frame!

After Koki Beach we jumped in the pool again and headed back home. We took the regular rainforest side to get home and Cruz started to get a fever. The kids were pretty carsick so we didn't stop for many pictures.

Cruz had a full on fever and wasn't feeling good all last night. I was up with him all night trying to get the fever to break and Peter took him to the doctor this morning. Thankfully not flu - but they said I need to alternate Motrin and Tylenol on him because the motrin alone wasn't breaking his fever.

It's a rainy day today and I finally turned on my computer. I'm sure I have a million emails to tend to and I have a ton of editing as well. The kids are being couch potatoes right now and that's fine. It's a rest day. Just thinking back on this week it was such a series of emotions everywhere for me. Thankful to end February and begin March feeling so refreshed and connected to this Ohana of mine and this amazing island. It was such a treat to run away!