Jr. Lifeguard Race

Nate and I both competed in the Jr. Lifeguard race -- the same race that Nate raced last year with all the girls on his board and made onto the cover of North Shore News.  It was a fun 4.5 mile race from Waimea Bay to Ali'i Beach.  Nate got 3rd for males and I got 1st for females.  Here we are getting our awards.  I was super stoked because part of my award was a beautiful sunrise shell pendant -- the rarest shell in the world, only found here  on the North Shore (and really, only on this beach).

Nate's awesome cousin Chris was visiting this week and somehow got convinced he could learn to stand up paddle on Wednesday and compete in a SUP race on Saturday.  However, he did AWESOME!  Just finishing the race with no training (and a backward blade ;) is a huge accomplishment -- and he didn't even come in last!  Do you see the turtle?

 There is a woman named Sandy who comes to the races to cheer her husband on.  She happens to have a dog, which, of course, means that the girls are first to meet her.  She is super nice and once helped watch our kids at the beach at another race because Nate and I had to get something.  Here is Kezia going on a snorkel with her.

Painting the Bridge to Grandma's House

The girls have been decorating the bridge that connects our yard to grandma's.  Kezia painted the large section and Ivy and Elysse each painted a step.  Here are some pics.

And uh, Soul wanted to help with the "Sun" paint.  You know the song, "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today"?  Well, today, there literally was sunshine in my soul. ;)

Arts Festival July 2012

At the Haleiwa Arts Festival, July 2012

 The girls love the kids art booth!

 Ivy is getting her arm painted.

An artist is teaching the girls how to make stained glass

And best of all, really good music to dance to!

Smiley Soul

Soul smiles all the time -- especially if there is a camera lens pointed at him.  Here's some cute evidence.

 And this night, I snuck in on him while he was sound asleep to take a picture of him sleeping.  As soon as I pointed the camera at him, he opened his eyes, smiled for the camera, *click* then went back to sleep.  He doesn't want to miss a shot! What a funny boy!

Mainland trip: At Janae's

We arrived at Janae and Enoch's house in time for Ryden's 9th birthday!

My sister Janae planned a really fun and wet water party for Ryden.  It was so much fun, and I love having fun -- especially if there is water involved!  I think some of Ryden's friends thought his Aunt was a bit strange to be playing with all the kids.  And do you like how Janae and my hair is cut the same?!?

 Aspen feeding Soul

 Ryden and Ivy drawing

 Aspen and Elysse rocking out to my Ipod

 Soul getting to know Jayda

 All the kids reading....

Mainland Trip: On the Road and the Miracle of the Cabin

On our way again to Colorado.  We stopped at some fort from Mormon history, as well as this Indian museum and got to see petroglyphs etched into the stone.  I love the different things our girls get exposed to when we come to the mainland!

 We were nearing the Colorado border at dusk when my sister Janae, who lives in Colorado, called me up. Now, you would think that we would have already have things planned, like where to stay, what car to get, etc.  But that's not the way we were able to roll this trip, so I explained to her that we were planning on finding a place to stay once we got to Grand Junction.  But she warned us that that town usually gets really booked up, and that we should call.  Janae is so good to me, and she said she would call around as well.  We found it was true-- a lot of the places were booked, and if they weren't they wanted us to pay Waikiki prices to stay there.  Then Janae called us and suggested we call a KOA campground.  They sometimes have cabins and if we had bedding, maybe we could stay there.  So we called and the man said they happened to have 1 cabin left, and he was just about to leave, so if we wanted it, we needed to book it now.  Total price: $50.  And it was a sweet place, too!

Back on the road with the crazy kids.  After much searching, we found this car for 1/2 the price similar cars were going for.  Don't know why, but we were grateful!

Mainland Trip: At Mark and Elaine's

My cousin Mark and his wife Elaine and family are probably in the top 100 coolest people in the world.  They generously let us stay at their house in southern Utah on our way to Colorado for our family reunion.  A big highlight was being able to get our first restful sleep after all the hub-bub of trying to prepare for the trip.  We kept saying, "We made it!  We made it!"

 The girls loved playing with Benson in their hidden playroom!  

 One day they took us four-wheeling to a waterfall in the middle of the desert.  Elysse and Ivy jumped off the waterfall!! WOW!!

 Then we went four-wheeling back. AWE - SOME. 

 Nate holding tight to the "Oh Crap!" bar.

My uncle Dale, Aunt Barbara, cousin Launa, and cousin Betsey and daughter all joined us for dinner.  ;)  Thank you, Mark and Elaine and family!  We loved being with you!

Mainland Trip Part 1: Getting on a plane

How do you get a family of 6 on a plane to Las Vegas in the middle of the summer on Buddie Passes?  Pray really hard.  As we were planning this trip to the mainland, we were looking at airfare of about $800/pp.  After searching all options, I remembered my friend who is a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines and she mentioned to me once that she has buddy passes that often go unused.  I asked if we could use them, and in her generosity, she let us use them!  The total price was $1500 -- not $4200!!!

Then we just prayed that we would be able to get on the plane going to one of the busiest spots for stand-bys in the middle of the summer.  We missed our first flight, and were able to get on the next one in the morning.  But it turned into a real blessing, because if we were to get on the first flight we would not have been able to sit all together.  Here we are rejoicing and so, so grateful!!

 Soul' first trip -- He was fantastic.

Yeah!  Turbulence Rollercoaster!!

Camping at Ho'omaluhia

It's been a long while since we had gone on a real camping trip (longer than over night) and all the while the girls have been asking when we are going to go again.

A couple of weeks ago Nate and I planned on camping this last weekend. But I didn't tell anyone because it seems like something ALWAYS comes up, and I didn't want to get anyones hopes up. Friday I packed up as quickly as I could, and when Nate finished his work and said we were good to go, I was soooo excited!!!! We packed everything into the car, and when the girls returned home from school we wisked them in the car as well. They were so surprised. All the way there they were saying how funny it was that they thought today was a regular day and then all of a sudden they were camping!

On our way to Ho'omaluhia. This place is amazing. It is true to its name, which means place of peace and refuge. You cannot come here and not be amazed at God's creations.

What I love most about camping is it's all about family. All other cares take a backseat. With so much going on with our businesses right now, it is high time our family gets the attention it deserves. I loved it! The girls found some friends to play with while we put up the tent. We cooked up some hot dogs and went to sleep Friday night. Saturday we hiked down to the pond at caught fish. I mean, we were pulling them out of the water like a greedy kid pulls candy out of a halloween basket! We lost count of how many we had each caught. I love this picture of Kezia: I was just taking photos of her fishing and happened to take one at the moment she felt her rod jerk. What a great shot!

And Ivy got the biggest fish of the day.

Sunday we went to Stake conference and then fed the ducks. We went into the banyan grove to swing on the vines, but this time most of the vines we had swung on on past trips had burrowed themselves into the soil! We did find one swing, which was super fun until it snapped, sending Elysse into a branch (no worries-- she's alright). On the way back to the campsite we stopped at our friend Nicole's campsite who happened to be camping there as well. We had a great time having dinner with them over the campfire.

Monday we played Kick the Can before heading home. It was a blast. I hope we get to go again real soon.

Happy 4th Birthday, Elysse!

Having been exposed to so many fun birthdays (Ivy's rock star party, Kezia's cat party, friends' pinata and bouncy castle parties), Elysse had some big ideas for welcoming in her fourth year. Luckily we were able to convince her that ice skating would make a great party. Actually, what really sold her was getting pizza at the ice skating rink. (Really, if you want a Burgoyne to do anything, just add food into the bargain.)

We got together with some of her friends at the beach in the morning and had lasagna (requested) and strawberry cheesecake cupcakes at night. The next day we skated as a family and had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Elysse!

Here are 4 great things about Elysse:

1. She is responsible and independent. She can do things all by herself.

2. She is learning her letters and numbers, and can write beautifully.

3. She loves to dance. At preschool, she takes center stage during the songs at circle time.

4. She is a caring big sister to Soul.