Fun in the Summer!

We had a GREAT summer, and we are so sad to say goodbye to it. School starts tomorrow. :(

Speaking of, when the girls were talking about school, Kezia said, "I want to learn how to write fast." Ivy responded, "Kezia, you already know how to write fast - F-A-S-T!!"

I love love love spending relaxing time with my girls. I have more to post about this summer, but here are two pics to hold you over.

Hahaha!

Which bathroom would you choose -- the fat or the skinny lady? Talk about segregation!!!

Modeling

The girls got a chance to be models for the Star of Honolulu dinner cruise ship for their marketing material (it helps when their grandpa works for their marketing department). The girls thought it was REALLY COOL -- first of all, they got to get new dresses and shoes, second they got to be models and third they got to see Grandpa Burgoyne whom they rarely get to see. And as a benefit, we all got tickets to go on the dinner cruise at a later date.

We had come prepared for the girls to model -- definitely not for us to be in the shots as well. But they were one male short. So Nate filled in. Which would have been fine -- if his hair was cut and not greasy, if his face hadn't shown lack of sleep, and if he wasn't wearing the worst shirt possible for photos -- black and white checkered. Ha ha! Oh well...

Saying goodbye to Grandpa (Ivy really was happy -- but it was 9:30 at night!)

Elysse, who hasn't seen Grandpa since she was 2 years old, and then only for a bit, didn't want to let go.

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!

July 4th Sunset- Waimea race

Our whole family raced at the 4th of July SUP race from Sunset to Waimea. Kezia, baby bump and I went on one board, and Nate, Ivy and Elysse went on another.

Team Puppy!
Team Kittens!

550 paddlers in the water-- wow!!

Can you spot Nate and the girls? Nate is wearing red.

Kezia was our ocean photographer. Here's her view of me.

Elysse, Nate and Kezia

What's Fun about Kezia

Kezia has magic hands. I didn't beleive it at first, but it's true. That's the only way I can describe the events of last week. First, it was a game of throwing a string with a loop on the end and trying to make the loop catch on a hook on a wall. The adults tried without success. Then it was Kezia's turn. She hooked it not once, not twice, but three times in a row!

Then yesterday we were in a public bathroom washing our hands. She reminded me to wash my hands with soap, and I told her I can't because the soap dispenser is broken, showing her how I would put my hand underneath and nothing would happen. She put her hand above mine and out came the soap.

And then we went to our storage unit. Nate and Ivy went upstairs to get something and came back down with Nate saying the key wouldn't open the lock. So Kezia and I went up to give it a go. He was right-- the key wouldn't even turn. Kezia said, "Let me try," and I said, "Well, you are the one with the magic hands". One twist of the key and the lock was off. I just laughed and laughed.

So there you go -- Kezia's got magic hands.

What's Fun about Ivy

Ivy sees creativity in everything. Her mind is wild with imagination. Yesterday we were eating lunch at a party. She was a table away, but came up to me every few minutes to show me the things she saw in her food. Like the "secret passageway" in her pizza made by a bubble in the crust, or the "boat with passengers" made by potato chip crumbs in a tortilla chip. Or the white part of a boiled egg that's like a "bouncy castle". And when she shows me these things, you would think she just discovered the secret to life -- bouncing up and down and showing the same great smile as in the photo above.

What's fun about Elysse

Elysse just learned to make a "shaka" by herself. Here's a picture of her showing off her accomplishment. Elysse says the cutest things, like when we went into a public bathroom the other day and she said, "Oh, this is such a clean, delightful sink!"

Some things she says are not so cute, like when she got into the car this morning chanting, "dead woman, dead woman"

Other times I hear her quoting things she's heard her older sisters say, like "Well, the question is, ..."

Mostly, Elysse loves to give compliments. From "I like your shirt" to "You look so beautiful" to "Grandma Hicken is my favorite big thing", Elysse always has something nice to say.

The Funny Birthday Cake

I had a wonderful birthday this week. Thank you for the kind birthday wishes! I think what made this birthday so great is the attitude I woke up with: "It's my birthday so I'm going to do what I want." Sounds like a selfish attitude, but I'll tell you what, it's a secret to a great birthday.

I took things slow, took time to talk to friends even when I was supposed to be "hurrying", bought a gift for a friend who I share a birthday with, and went paddling up the river with Ivy and Elysse. We went to a restaurant that night in town where we met up with Kay and Kezia (Kezia was staying in Honolulu with Kay for the day).

It was an Indian restaurant with generous portions of delicious food. Wanting something to call a "birthday cake", I ordered the "Dankshan Ghambul" (actually I have no idea what they were called -- it was something Indian!) -- meaning 3 doughnut balls for 6 dollars. The photo in the menu displayed what looked like 3 large doughnuts, half- justifying spending so much on dessert (the other half excusing myself on a birthday treat).

So when the dessert came out, I laughed out loud! It was sooooo small that all three were no bigger than Elysse's hand!

Nate said I was being rude for laughing so hard, but hey, for six bucks, this was a real joke! Haha!

Nate placed a candle in a pancake when we got home that I got to blow out. It was a sweet thing to do.

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.