My Best Birthday EVER

I reeeeaaaallly, really, reaaally wanted to go camping for my birthday, and it almost didn't happen.  Rain was on the forecast for Saturday, and we were debating whether or not to go through with it.  We had already made plans to go with my friend Nicole who I share a birthday with and her family, and Jessica and her family.  Her son Mason and Elysse are good friends.  Well, everyone else was willing to risk the rain, so we went.   And we had the BEST time!  And, yes, there was no rain. ;)

The girls are such troopers.  We packed our car FULL of all our camping and beach gear, then everyone crammed in.  You can't see it here, but they are literally sitting on top of each other, with gear at their feet.  Soul in his spacious car seat, on the other hand, couldn't be happier!

 

 

 Last sunset of my 33rd year

 Woke up to a rainbow over the ocean on my birthday.  Really, what more could you ask for?!?

Sharing birthdays with my very good friend, Nicole.

 Elysse and Mason

 Okay, so to top off an awesome birthday, I took a total of 3 naps on the beach -- two when Soul fell asleep on me.  I swear my birthday was 36 hours long.

 Isn't this a cool shot of Kezia?!  Although not taken at the same time, Friday night we went crab hunting.  It was so fun!  We found over a hundred sand crabs and had fun chasing them and screaming when they were big. 

 Kezia and Ivy making a sand home.

 The look of sandy satisfaction.

 Hanging out -- literally.

 Leslie and Justin came by for a bit.  Here's Ivy and Tabitha  -- well, at least their heads!

 Elysse and Mason

 Elysse's birthday gift.

 s'mores!

 Nate picked up a coconut cake for me.  How thoughtful!  There was an astronomer on the beach who invited us over to look at Saturn through his scope.  We also played a few rounds of bocci ball.  I was surrounded by all the things I loved the most : family, friends, beach, and camping.  I couldn't have been happier.  34 is going to be a great year!

Camping at Barber's Point

Our good friends the Monsens are moving away... :( we are so sad. But happy that they invited us to go camping with them from July 5 - 7. As I was talking to Michael on the day we were supposed to meet them, he mentioned that we had to pass through a military gate to get there, meaning we needed updated car papers. That's when we realized we did not have updated insurance papers and our safety expired as well on both available vehicles. What's more, both vehicles boast big cracks in the windshield, making a safety inspection impassable.

What were we going to do? We wanted to join our friends for our last sha-bang together, and our girls were sooo excited to go camping. We tried EVERYTHING, and finally got a plan worked out the next day, borrowing my friend Nicole's truck (thank you!!)

We had a GREAT time with our friends, and at a BEAUTIFUL location. Oh my. Turquoise water with little islands sticking out. It was a Hawaiian paradise.

We enjoyed the traditional hot dogs and s'mores with roasted bagels in the morning. There was a cool playground there, unlike the cookie-cutter plastic ones that are on the North Shore. Somehow Kezia got all the kids (and Nate) involved in a castle-make believe, she being the queen, of course. There were knights, a royal dog (Ivy), a guard (Nate) princesses, the whole bit. When I walked over to the playground, everyone was playing their part. It was like walking into a dress rehearsal!

I kept having to drive out of the campsite to take care of lesson scheduling and such since they didn't have reception there. At night I must have spent too long with the headlights on because the truck died. Here I was on a military road a looong way from the campsite in the pitch dark and haven't seen any cars go by. Shoots. I was mostly worried about leaving my friend's truck there, since I would imagine a strange truck on the side of the road in a military base would be quickly towed. Luckily, a car happened by just at that moment and gave me a ride, and luckily someone had cables to help me out. And the truck was still there when we returned. Horray!

We were supposed to go crab hunting that night, but because of the truck incident, everyone was sleeping when we returned, except for Ivy who was excited to go. So we did our usual crab hunt as well. It was fun, just me, Ivy, and Nate. We kept the crabs in a bucket til the next morning so the girls and their new friends could play with them. Then we let them go.

Here are some pics, mostly of boogie boarding the next day, which the girls LOVED.

Ivy stoking the fire

There go the crabs!

Me and Jessica, my good friend. So sad to see her leave!

Camping at Kahana

Father's Day weekend we went to camping at Kahana Bay -- one of the most beautiful places on the island in my opinion.

Although we wanted to leave Friday after lunch, we didn't get out the door til 5:30!! We all packed into the van and headed off. The van makes things so much easier, maybe not safer, but easier. Just pack it all in, kids and all. No need to play Tetris with all the camping gear.

We got there in the dark and realized there were no fire pits. Nate returned to the store and returned with a turkey pan and skewers, but by the time he had returned, the girls had chosen sleep over food, even though I offered to make them bagels with cream cheese or PB&J. What Burgoyne child chooses sleep over food?!? Must have been a long day.

The next day after a breakfast of toasted bagels.

and then played on the beach. Even 25 feet out the water was still thigh deep, and with rolling waves, Kezia and Ivy LOVED boogie boarding. I guess it's a lot more fun when it's shallow and sandy. They were having so much fun. Elysse and Kezia also tried surfing.

After, Kezia, Ivy and I traversed Kahana Stream on our stand up board, going under vines and ending up at a fun tire swing. (If this all seems like you have read this before, it's becaus I've posted about a trip we took here previously. Thank you for reading our blog!)

We came back for a lunch of hot dogs and s'mores -- the dinner we didn't get to enjoy the night before.

Give me s'more of that smile, Kez!

Then we headed out for some horseback riding at Kualoa Ranch, followed with some close encounters with some animals.

Elysse found a hibiscus that matched her dress perfectly, so we had to take a photo.

The trip was sooo nice and relaxing. I love love love camping with our kids. Everyone has a great time and we feel like family, instead of two working parents with kids in between.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful thanksgiving! It is my favorite holiday by far. I love that it is a time to reflect on all we have been blessed with, and to take time out of the regular routine to do so. We made a Thanksgiving tree. I can't remember all of them, but here are a few:

Ivy wrote she was thankful for unicorns, rainbows, and mommy

Kezia wrote she was grateful for church, the Bible, nature, and mommy

I wrote I am grateful for water, kind strangers, and smiles. And when I went outside that day to find Nate, I found another thing to be grateful for: my husband who plays with our kids (and our friends' kids)

And what a better way to give thanks than over a feast with friends and family! This year we had our good friend Mara and her daughter Nicole over, as well as 3 girls I had taken paddling and found themselves with no where to go for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to have them join us.

That Saturday we headed up to Malaekahana to go camping with our friends Jason and Shana and their two boys. We had a blast!

Jessica and Michael met us up there for a bit as well. We caught 62 crabs on the beach, including one as big as a shaka. It rained as we stayed dry in the tent at night. The next morning we went to church and came back to find our friends had left. Apparently it rained enough while we were gone they decided to pack up and leave. Oh well. We had a fun time together playing Kick the Can and then got ready for another campfire. That's when we noticed our friends had taken our lighting fluid and we had nothing to start the fire with. So Kezia and I said a prayer, and as soon as we were done, Kezia said, "Look, Mom, that man is smoking!" A man had pulled up as we were praying and had lit a cigarette. I can't think of another time I had been happy to see someone smoking.

A whole lotta smoke and then slowly the fire started.

We invited our friends Natalia and Brandon and Kai to join us as well. We had a great time. I Love camping!!