Vegas, Baby!! and Grandma Hicken's visit

October 31st we took off to Vegas, just Nate and I. My mom was so nice to come out and watch the girls for us while we took advantage of the free trip I had won. I was really hesitant about it all though. Was it really going to happen? Who had ever heard of "Omni Airlines" anyway? So I was relieved when we saw the plane and just had to take a photo of it.

When we got to the gate we noticed we were "one of those things that's not like the other" -- we were the only white folk and the only ones under 50, or not toting along a senior citizen. I'm telling you, the wheelchair line for the plane was at least 15 chairs long!! Apparently, Vacations Hawaii markets to old Philipino/ Japanese Hawaiian residents. (And don't worry if you haven't heard of Omni air. It's a charter plane, but must be for pilot training because both ways had bad turbulence and hard landings.)

We got to the California hotel and got our *free* meal coupons, and ate like royalty each day!!!

Paying just a dollar or two extra, we got to go to some really good buffets. I came home with a belly for sure, but there will be plenty of surf this winter to shave that off.

Another BIG highlight was going to sleep when we wanted and waking up when we wanted. Or at least when I wanted; Nate got up earlier to do work.

We brought our skateboards and skated all around town.

We seemed to be the biggest show in Vegas, with so many people commenting on our big skupboard (www.skupboardhawaii.com), which is like a mini surfboard on wheels. I'll tell you, skating is the best way to see Vegas. We were too high to see the "newsstands" and too fast to be bombarded by the pimp card passers. Plus it was just fun, and helped us burn some calories before our next big buffet.

I will admit that Tuesday I tried doing a trick and fell on my tailbone, which put me off alignment and tore ligaments, I was in a lot of pain, but grateful I could still skate for the rest of the time. And grateful to see a chiropractor once I returned home.

We also watched the show at the Circus,

played at the arcade,

(having finally beaten Nate in air hockey, I had to post this photo!)

shopped at the M&M store,

went Go Karting

and rode the New York New York roller coaster, at $14 a head!

Here we are after the roller coaster, I with air-blown hair, and Nate looking like he had a near-death experience!) Way too expensive, but it was worth it.

And what's Vegas without a Wedding Drive- Thru? Had to get a shot there. ;)

It was wonderful being able to have time together without kids and act like, well, kids again, riding around on skateboards with no schedule or plan.

The girls had a GREAT time with Grandma Hicken, as did I when I returned home. She said she just wanted to make good memories for the girls, and I think she accomplished that. They all seemed so happy. When I returned, we talked, went to the farmer's market, the beach, played games in the park, played Pit, and went to a hula performance in the park. The night before she left Nate and I were tour guides for the Mormon temple open house. Mom got to take the girls on the tour of the temple, which they thought was amazing. THANKS, MOM!!

Mom the "tickle monster" with Elysse after preschool

Mom spent the whole morning on Tuesday preparing for a lesson on Egypt she was willing to give to Kezia's special location exploration class. She was able to enthrall the children.

There were 6 turtles on the beach while Mom was here with 6 in the bay! That's a record in my book. See if you can find 5 in the photo.

Preparing for Halloween

Elysse is getting ready for Halloween. She's picked out her pumpkin on a field trip to the pumpkin patch, been wearing her raggedy snow white outfit to be sure it'll perform well on Halloween night, and practicing all her silly faces.

Our Menehune Champs

The Menehune contest was ON this weekend, and the girls did an OUTSTANDING job!!!

* I cannot get my videos to load, but I will soon, so please check back soon! ;)

Thanks to all who sent out their virtual cheer. The waves were ideal, the weather was gorgeous, and the crowd was rocking.

Kezia

Kezia hit the waters at 9am, after an inward struggle of fear, charged the waters and tried catching wave after wave, successfully riding 2 in.

At the lineup with the other 7-9 yr old girl competitors. Kezia's in white.

I am so grateful for this water patrol man who kindly took Kezia under his wing out there and helped her out.

Catching the wave...

Getting up,....

and she's riding!!!

Here's her second wave:

Part of the cheering section

Her friend Moon helping her in

Oh yeah, I was a proud mom (still am beaming)

And does she look happy or what?!

And the true reason she competed: The goodie bag ;)

IVY

Ivy competed later in the afternoon in the kokua division for kids ages 3-6, In this division "anything goes" and everyone's a winner. Although during practice she was hesitant to ride te waves by herself (without someone on the board with her), she decided to go at it alone (with Daddy pushing her). She was "no fear" going out there.

On her first attempt she wiped out, going under the water and the board flipping upside down above her, but like a champ she got back on and went for another wave. At one point she said she was done, but when I told her she still has a few more minutes left in her heat, she went for it. Yeah, Ivy!

Getting ready for her division and totally psyched that she scored the pink jersey

I was to catch her as she came in, and I tried to play photographer at the same time. Unfortunately, I didn't capture one of her waves and the other is not that great, but here it is anyway.

Can there be a bigger genuine smile??

The winning team coming in

Jessica Monson and her sons, Natalia and Kai and her friend Krystal all came to cheer us on. We had a fun time chilling at the beach surrounded by friends. Ivy found this cool path between volcanic rock. When a wave crashed you'd get sprayed and water would run up your feet.

At one point, Elysse gave us a scare by disappearing on us. I found her way on the other side of the beach looking for her daddy. I'm so glad I found her before she had left the beach, which was where she was headed.

Night Surfing

Some of the most fun I have ever had occurred this last Friday night. The girls were tucked into bed and Grandma was home. With a full moon overhead and no breeze, Nate and I headed out to the beach to night surf (of course, no pics).

It was surreal. The whole reef lit up under the moon's light and stars dazzled up above. Black lines in the distance meant a wave was coming...or maybe it didn't. It was hard to tell, so sometimes a wave would come up and surprise us, but most of the time we were able to anticipate them alright. We caught wave after wave after wave and laughed at the fact we had the whole break to ourselves. What a luxury! Being in the dark, it was difficult to tell the height of the wave, so sometimes we'd have a big drop while catching the wave, or a big drop while going over the wave. We laughed, joked, played around, and had a most amazing time in the water at night. In fact, it was so fun we went Saturday night as well!

For those of you who are thinking we are out of our minds, I will tell you we went on stand up boards. I liked being able to see below us and did not like the thought of dangling my legs in the water. There happened to be a security guard on the beach because of the Menehune contest, just in case something happened. And the waves were chest high at the most.

Documented proof

Happening to have my camera in hand, I had to capture this moment of Ivy praising her mommy. I hope I won't need it for proof 10 years from now, but just in case I do, here it is. ;)

The girls are surfing!

The Menehune contest is this coming weekend. This is the surf contest for the kids, and the kick-off to the surfing contest season. Both Kezia and Ivy want to enter, despite their experience on the water. But their determination is still there, especially after learning that all contestants receive a t-shirt and a goodie bag. I was really impressed when I asked Kezia what we should do if her heat was on Sunday. She quickly said, "We'll just cancel the contest, then."

So we decided we'd better start practicing.

I was absolutely blown away the first day we went out. The waves were pretty sizeable, and even though we were only on the inside waves, they still had quite a bite! But Kezia wasn't even faded, and she called out, "Let's go! Let's go!"

Nate paddled out with her and pushed her a few times. Then they went out together and Kezia tried surfing side by side with Daddy.

Then to our surprise, she said, "I don't want you to come with. I want to go out all by myself." Wow. Was this the girl who just a year ago was terrified of the shore break?!?

So off she went, and like a giddy mom watching her child ride a bike alone for the first time, I watched her paddle out into the surf and try to catch waves. She fell off her board and her board flipped over, but like a pro she flipped it right back over, got back on, and tried to catch more waves. I was glowing this whole week -- in fact, I'm still glowing!

Ivy was no less a champ. She is in the kokua division, meaning she can have help in the water. Nate pushed her, and one time she fell off. It was pretty scary for her, but she got right back on the wave and rode one to shore. When she got to shore, she said, "That was scary, but it was so fun!"

Even Elysse played the "No Fear" card by playing in the rough shore break.

And can you believe I didn't have my camera to capture the moments?!?!

With it being Fall Break this week, we've been going out to the beach to practice as much as possible, but ironically, although the waves continue to get smaller and smaller, the girls' fears have become bigger and bigger. Both of them have caught more waves, and Elysse even caught one, but we'll see if their nerves allow them to compete this Saturday.

Here are some pics of them surfing and our time on the beach during the week:

Look how far they went out -- they're the 2 specks on the inside of the lineup (lineup: where the surfers gather to catch the waves). (Ivy and Elysse are playing in the foreground)

Once Elysse went out with Daddy to catch some inside waves. It was the wrong time to go out, since a set just came through, and she got pounded in the face three waves in a row. Thinking she'd come in shaking and fearful, I was surprised when she said, "That was fun. I liked that!"

And here is Kezia catching the Wave of the Day:

There was such a beautiful sunset one night, I want to share it with you in progression:

wow.

If you would like to send the girls some motivational comments, or give them a call, I'm sure they'd love it!

Happy Birthday, Nate!

Nate's birthday was this last week!

Kezia set up a pinata in a paper bag the day before.

(here we are with our pinata prizes)

If there is someone who is hard to find a gift for, it would be him. His passion is stand up paddling, and as the editor of supsurfmag.com, he's usually able to get what he wants for a very steep discount, so no need for me to pay full price for something! But there was one thing that is always on his mind that he does not get discounts on, and that is food. So I made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast and (drumroll please) BACON. And not just the skimpy transparent bacon. I got him the thick and juicy kind.

Kay gave him a new white shirt and nice shoes, a well-needed gift. The girls, as always, were so thoughtful in their gifts. Ivy colored pictures of him and made him a ball out of tape and streamers. Kezia asked me what he really wanted. I said a massage, so she gave him tickets for a free massage and a gold necklace. As a gift from me he received frozen burritos, beef jerky and Milano cookies. It turned out to be a gift for me as well, since he hasn't complained once this week of being hungry. ;)

Since it was conference weekend, and he said he was able to lie around without a bit of guilt, and even got the pleasure of a midmorning nap. (see him in the background?)

Our good friends the Plotts came over and we walked to the beach to watch the surf.

(Elysse, aka, snow white, promenading to the beach)

The girls and I walked around the rocks looking for shellfish.

(Ivy relocating a mollusk into her collection)

Nate received calls from family and friends. Thanks for calling!

Nate at 34 -- Does this man look relaxed or what?

Kay made chicken curry and Kezia and I made beef and broccoli for him. We had a bunch of friends over to enjoy the delicious chocolate-coconut cake Kay made. The crowd was bigger than we expected, and we crossed our fingers that there will be enough for everyone, and yet somehow we ended up with leftovers! And it wasn't because it didn't taste good.

So I hope he had a good birthday -- full of "Man"-food, plenty of rest, and good friends.

And then the day after, another birthday gift -- a new company sent Nate a "Skupboard" to review for the magazine. It's like a skateboard, but more geared toward surfers, kind of like a surfing training board, and it's super fun.

Kezia and Ivy had fun with the box of peanuts the board was sent in...

...but was it just a box of peanuts?!?