addicted

Kids are still not tired of surfing.  Seriously, 4+ times a week, they sneak in a session whenever they can.  Last Friday night they were in the water until dark.

I do very much enjoy watching them surf though.  

KT ... 

Songer...

Mo ... 

8 days of the week

Well maybe not eight days, but it sure feels like it.  Surfing is the "it" pastime right now.  

The girls go at least 4+ times a week.  Mo joined the middle school surf league.  My new car is regularly covered in sand.  We literally watched Endless Summer last night as a family.  

They are ALL. IN.

leo carillo = lots of stuff to see

I have to admit,  we don't venture toward Los Angeles too often.  Mostly because, well, there are a lot of people when you head south.

Our friends convinced us to meet them at Leo Carillo Beach for low tide and I have to say.  I'm glad we went.

My kids are very satisfied with playing in the sand and just like being in the water.  My friend's kids like to do stuff.   And, this beach has lots of stuff to do.

There were the tide pools.

Caves to play in.

Because what's better than playing in a cave?

Playing in sand in a cave, or course.

And, there were tons of rocks to climb on.

The only drawback was that you can only wade in the water.  You can't really swim or boogie board as there are too many rocks.  

But, all in all another great beach.  

Thanks friends!

a final special monday

Papa has been fortunate enough to work a 9/80 schedule for the last couple of years giving him every other Monday off.

We call them "Special Mondays" in our house.

Unfortunately, Special Mondays are going to be put on hold starting this month.

On our final Special Monday we were treated to spectacular 80 degree weather, so we celebrated it at the beach our favorite family place.

We picked up a pizza and then KT up from school and headed straight there.

KT loves boogie boarding right now.

The water is pretty cold now, so Mo opted to stay mostly dry sans wetsuit.

KT at sunset sporting her new grin minus yet another tooth!

A day after we set the clock back, sunset came early.

Bye for now Special Mondays.  Sniff, sniff.

boogie on down

KT has been the reigning boogie boarding queen in our house for some time now.  But, looks like she might have some real competition soon for that title.

drowning

... in fun, that is.  

That would be body surfing ladies and gentlemen even though the particular shot above may look otherwise.

We've been keeping busy with friends and family, parades, fireworks, camps and a short road trip this summer, but we've still managed to clock the minimum requisite beach time for our family (which is admittedly lot).

The other day we didn't have enough boogie boards for all the kids, so they decided to go back to the old standard of bodysurfing. 

We hit the beach one day with our out of town cousins.

This little guy won me over that week.

Another day Katie finally braved getting on Papa's stand up paddle board.

Papa said she was white-knuckled holding onto the board.

She was quite proud of herself afterwards.

Man, I love summer.

shave ice, noodles, rice and tofu

All Little Wickie favorites -- and in our favor, all mainstays on a vast majority of menus in Hawaii.

Okay, I've been to Hawaii at least a half a dozen times and have to ask:  Did they always offer ice cream under your shave ice?!  How could I have missed that before?

No one cared for my green tea and lychee shave ice, which I personally thought was delicious.  More for me.

Papa Wickie was most happy at the Kaliua Farmers Market which I have to say was outstanding.  A great mix of prepared food, baked and locally packaged foods and fresh produce.  

He is STILL talking about the Ahi appetizer and Ahi entree he had that night.

In fact, later in the week the draw of food was the only reason he agreed to go to the flea market.

Mo loved the plethora of frog instruments to play with at the flea market.

We let Papa Wickie do a bit of shopping as well.  He keeps talking about getting a SUP now.  I'm not entirely sure where it would fit in our garage with the current bevy surfboards and bikes that already claim residence in there, but we'll see.

And, of course there was plenty more water play.  We checked out the lagoons at Ko'Olina.  The whole place was eerily man made and perfect (the Disney resort is one of the resorts adjacent to the lagoons).

But, there were fish to see and the kids really did like the lagoons.

On the North Shore we saw a ton of fish at Shark's Cove by just wading in the water.

And, after a good hike, we took a dip in the falls at Maunawili.

At the airport on the way home we had a celebrity sighting that went something like this.

The guy checking in our luggage:  Hey, you see that haole over there with the yellow hat?
Me:  Yes.
Guy:  You watch the cooking channel?
Me:  Not anymore, it makes me too hungry.
Guy: He's some famous guy from that channel.

Not to leave you in suspense, it was Guy Fieri.  I, in fact, had no idea who he was (my culinary-trained sommelier brother did of course).

The plane home while less exciting for the girls went very smoothly.

Man, I can't believe our vacation is over already...

nothing like a beach day in october

weekend update

Someone told me you were supposed to lay low the first weekend after Kindergarten starts as your little one will be tired both physically and emotionally.

Probably good advice.

Which we did not take.

We started with a birthday beach party Saturday morning.

Mo and Lo completing the Beach Luge course

Then after some quick showers we drove to San Diego to meet Greg and Betsy who were in town and we rarely get to see.

The next day we all went to Sea World.

Greg summoning Shamu

Drove home late that night and started the second week of school the following day. Good thing she has afternoon Kindergarten, right?

This weekend will also be busy, but hopefully not quite as crazy as last.

You have big plans for the weekend?

open waters

Katie refuses to swim more than 3 feet in her swim class. Any further and she insists her teacher keep her hand under her stomach (so she knows she's there).

I recorded this little video this week...

Apparently, if she's close enough to the edge she feels "safe."

Man that girl can be such a head case (I mean that in the nicest, most loving way possible of course).

On the other end of the fear/no fear spectrum there is my two-year old. She is now actually swimming about 5-6 feet by herself.

Bring on summer!

storm watch 2010

My husband and I always joke that whenever it rains in So Cal it's big media news, e.g., you'll see a reporter holding a piece of hail on the 5 o'clock news as if she found a dinosaur bone.

I do have to say it has been raining a lot.

It's a good thing the Little Wickies never get tired of jumping in water - ocean, stream, rain or otherwise.

Yes, that's this hat that Katie used to wear all the time.

This is Katie peeking under my umbrella. Gotta protect the point and shoot.

We brought out some plastic fish and the girls loved chasing them down.

Katie would let the fish get a 15-foot start.

And, then go tearing down the street to catch up to it.

Multiple people slowed down as they drove by to wave at the girls. A couple people rolled down their windows to say things like, "Ah, to be young again" which I thought was sweet.

As I type the sky is clear, but rain is forecasted again this weekend and there is another storm rolling in the following week as well.

Hope the boots dry out by then!