Camping on New Year's Eve

On New Years we packed the car so full of stuff you would have thought we were moving and headed up the hills to a campsite. Our goal of leaving at 3:00 seemed to make God laugh, and we didn't get going until 5:30. We stopped at the grocery store for tinfoil for our tinfoil dinners and marshmallows for s'mores. A HALF HOUR later, Nate emerged from the store...it was PACKED with partiers. When we arrived at the campsite, it was already dark, but our headlights revealed a whole group of 4 year olds chasing kitties around (which seemed to multiply by the hour...the cats, I mean). Way cool. The girls jumped out of the car and into the fun. Then one of the moms let our kids play with her kids in their tent (and eat their food) while Nate and I set up the tent. What a luxury that was!! One of the great things about Hawaii is how friendly the people are. It is really common for people to watch over other peoples' kids. I guess that's why everyone is called "auntie" or "uncle".

By 8:00 we had the fire going, and you would have thought the smoke was a pheromone for cats. But after we had our tinfoil dinners, they disappeared. And then with much anticipation, Nate reached for the grocery bag with the marshmallows in it. They were gone! He looked around, but then noticed the grocery bag had holes all over it. Apparently, the thieving cats found the goods and took off!! Luckily, our new-found friends had brought a load of marshmallows and it was the least we could do to help lighten their bag.

After the fire we headed for the tent. I didn't realize it was 11:30 already!!! (Our kids are usually down by 7:00. ) Needless to say, as soon as their heads hit the pillow, they were out. The coolest thing about the campsite, which we had not expected, was the view. On one side it looked over the ocean. On the other, it looked over the southern-central part of the island all the way to Diamond Head in Honolulu. So Nate and I crept out of our tents and enjoyed a bird's eye view of fireworks lighting up the sky from all directions, including a fancy show from a hotel nearby.

We thought we were all having a good time, but were corrected when Ivy woke up in the morning and asked, "Why are we still here?" We are hoping it is because often we drop the girls off at Grandma's or a babysitter when Nate and I go on a date, and then pick them up after they had fallen asleep. Which means they go to sleep in one place and wake up in another. So Ivy woke up confused and asked, "Why are we still here?"

Nate taking the girls' new friends for a wagon ride. (Over 200lbs, perhaps?)


In the morning we had fun with our wagon going sledding Hawaiian style down the hill. Nate had forgotten about the 200lb limit, so let's just say the wagon's physical appearance now has some character.







We also went on a short hike in the woods. Ivy pretended there were lions hiding in the woods, and introduced us to some of the nice ones, (which suspiciously looked a lot like tree trunks)




We hope you have a WONDERFUL new year filled with good times.