High Ropes Course part 2 ;)

Posted by @shley 2:10: Ok, so here are the rest of the pictures @ camp erdman. Some of these pictures include the real emotions everyone was feeling climbing up the 50ft wooden structure. Knowing that if you fall, you're dangelling in mid air!!!!! At the end of the ropes course as you can see, there was a zip line, and my mom was FREAKED out ( you can see the expression on her face going down). My brother looked like the girl off of titanic, i could see him saying "hold me jack, i'm flying" and i looked like i was having fun.......! i hope that next time we will get to do the whole thing, and do it with my dad:)

Lanikai Beach and Kawai hike

Today we headed over to the windward side of the island for a little adventure with our friends, the Parkers. We started with a short, but amazing hike to the top of the Kawai ridge. These panoramic views are incredible!! The hike up was pretty steep and the hike down made for a little laughter. The boys went down the loose dirt trail on their bottoms and not by choice a few times.

We stopped at both of the WWII bunkers to check them out. Unfortunately, they were covered in graffiti. The kids still thought it was cool.

It was getting pretty toasty, so we walked down to the beach for some snorkeling and relaxation. The water was perfect and the sand is super fine. We are planning to go back and take a kayak out to the two little islands right off the coast. They are bird sanctuaries and should prove to be a beautiful trip. If only Dad were here!!! He will be home for two weeks of R&R by the end of the month and we are on pins and needles waiting for his return.

FINALLY ITs HERE

So.....for the longest time Hunter has been waiting and saving for a paintball gun. He and Jason worked it out over the phone and ordered it last week. When we came home from paddle boarding today, it had arrived. Ashley got home before we did and she put the box in his room. She didn't tell him it had come, so when he went up to take a shower all I heard was Christmas-morning-like screaming. I knew what he had found.

He quickly broke into the box and slapped on all the gear. Already he is talking about accessories to make his gear better....boys will be boys....

After the excitement and putting all the beach stuff away, I headed up for my own shower. Funny thing was that the shower was still on; what do you know, Hunter never returned to turn off the water when he spotted the box. Cold shower for mom- paybacks are coming!

stand-up paddle boarding

Today Hunter and I tried something new: stand-up paddle boarding. We went with a group of my friends and it was really fun. We didn't fall off the boards too much and enjoyed the fabulous scenery. The dolphins were even out doing flips and dives for us! A baby sea turtle kept poking his head up, but I could never grab a picture of him.

Hunter was definitely a natural and was so happy when the instructor told us we could remove our life vests. The water was a little choppy at times, but we managed.

Now that we've learned the ropes, we'll be taking Ashley out soon to try it too. I won't be buying a board- they run around $1000- wow!

High Ropes Course part 1

Here are pictures from the first half of the ropes course. Our friend who was the photographer had to leave, so the other pictures will be coming soon. A little word of advice, don't let anyone take a picture of you from behind when you are in a safety harness...it will make you want to eat nothing but bread and water for a few weeks...lol!

Family Camp 4/12

This weekend we attended a family camp that is put on by an organization called Operation Military Kid. We went to the North Shore to a YMCA camp that is the BOMB! We arrived Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. Friday was pretty uneventful and we just got settled and enjoyed the evening at the beach. The accommodations were very much like camping, but we had a bed and shower and hot meals. Our little cabin (which we shared with a friend and her two girls and another family- with a Dad and all) was pretty much cement floor, 16 bunks and two bathrooms. We didn't spend much time in there needless to say. There were several other families we knew staying the weekend also, so it was pretty fun running into familiar faces at different activities and having meals together.

Saturday was really fun. We were up at the crack of dawn ready for new adventures! In the morning the kids hung out and made cards for Jason, swam in the pool and did a little archery. I enjoyed a little quiet on the beautiful beach. After lunch we hooked up with a friend of mine for the Odyssey High Ropes Course. It was a team building obstacle course that you had to wear a safety helmet and harness for. There were different ropes, obstacles and other challenges that you had to overcome- while about 100 ft in the air! At the end was a zip line to get down. The kids were fearless; I had white knuckles through most of the adventure, but came out just fine. We only had time to complete the top level, so next time we'll have to finish the course. (pics to come)

We raced from that and ran to the bus to go ocean kayaking. This was our first time out kayaking and it was FUN! The kids were in their own kayak and I had a friend's little girl with me. We saw a few sea turtles, but mostly used the time to hone our kayaking skills. Because of the safety factor (not to mention the surf was pretty rough) we had to stay in a little cove area. We can't wait to get a kayak and head out to some of the more interesting areas of the island.

We finished the evening with a group campfire, songs and exhaustion.

Sunday morning was Easter. My friend Erica and I got up at 6 am (the kids were still wiped out from the day before) to attend the sunrise service on the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL! The sun was coming up over the mountains, the ocean was gorgeous and even the whales were out spouting off. Praise the Lord for such a treat on Resurrection Day!

When we arrived back at the cabin and got the kids moving, there was a little visitor at our door. Yesterday Ashley and I had seen him around dusk and frankly scared the snot out of me. Wild boars are common around here and not to be messed with. He seemed more interested in our trail mix than our knee caps. The kids named him bacon. I found out later that he is a regular around camp. After breakfast, we headed out for a mountain hike up to a little crystal cave area (pics above). The hike was nice and the view beautiful.

Our last big adventure for the weekend was the Alpine Swing. Watch the videos, it's pretty funny. Ashley was brave, even though I called her a chicken. She had a great time after she got down from the harness. Hunter was just too cool to make any squeals, but said it was fun after he came down too. Both are excited to do that again.

We all came home this afternoon and crashed. What a fun weekend! Back to the rat race.

Kaunala hike

Hunter and I grabbed a few other moms and their boys and headed up to the North Shore for a beautiful 5 mile loop hike. This is now my favorite hike so far. We got to eat wild strawberry guava (not too many, you end up in the bathroom quickly), walk through iron wood and paper bark tree forests, perch on moss covered logs, cross streams and see the most amazing valley views!

Hunter was trying to do a "cool" pose, but I don't think we'll be using this muscle man look for any more pictures. I love this picture of the boys under the tree roots. They had such a good time running around and did a great job of keeping us on our toes. Ashley and I made a deal- I would only ask her to go on one hike a month, she had already filled her quota. I have a feeling that we'll be doing this one with her soon though.

Moanalua Valley hike

Today we took a 9.2 mile hike through the beautiful Moanalua Valley with some friends. There are 7 historic bridges at the beginning of the hike and the kids loved counting and running across each one. We veered off the path, as usual, and took a more interesting route. This was quite fun- we had to pay careful attention to the pink trail markers to stay on track. It was very muddy, we crossed the stream about 23 times (that's just one way), and got poured down on by the wonderful Hawaiian rain. The trail had beautiful wild orchids and ginger growing everywhere, which I had never seen before out in the wild.

The kids kept referring to this trail as swamp romp 2. Ashley was particularly funny on the return leg of the trip. She was soaking wet from the rain and had mud up around her ankles, but refused to just step through the tiny stream. In the picture she was yelling at me for not caring about her plight and trying to jump over the mud and water...I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. We did have a great time and am looking forward to taking Jason on this trail when he gets home. We didn't get a chance to make it to the top of the ridge due to rain and slippery rocks, we'll get that mountain top view next time!

Paintball for KIDS ONLY

Today was a blast! We took our friends from the FRG and had a private paintball party at Bellows. The kids did great- the only thing that could have made the day better was to have all the dad's home to play too. I tried to get some video of Ashley, but she played it safe and stayed hidden behind a building, sniping people. I don't think she got hit one time. Then she snuck out and I didn't even get any after-math video! Hunter is gung ho to buy his own paintball gun, he's hooked!!

After getting all dirty and sweaty, we headed down to the beach. Ashley was the only girl left, so they all chased her into the water. Fortunately for her, she was taller than the rest and could outrun them through the waves. It was a wonderful time for our families.