Brady Springs Camping

We headed up to the mountains, Thursday afternoon, for a weekend of camping. Rob decided that Labor Day weekend would be a good time to get out of town, where cell phones didn't work, and just have a fun time.
Most of you know that camping is not at the TOP of my list of fun times, but I was actually looking forward to it. Kade was so excited, even though he had no idea what it was. He would just say all week, "go camping!" It had been almost a year since we had camped, so I'm sure he didn't remember what it was. He was just excited because we were excited.
Kade was so good in the car, and it was a long drive... We left around noon, and after a few stops, arrived around 7. He loved having Boe sitting next to him in the car. He would tell him, "lay down, puppy," and then giggle when Boe actually did it.

So here are some pics from Labor day weekend.
The Eagar Abode

Kade was hiding behind his hat. He didn't want anyone to see how dirty he was. :)
Kade and Daddy tried fishing in the creek. Every time they checked on their lines, Kade would come back and say, "No fish."

Kade and I picked a bouquet of wildflowers, to decorate our table.
We bought this awesome new air mattress that is lifted up off the ground. It was heavenly. Even the dog had his bed.
Rob was chopping firewood, with a very dull axe.
Kade loved helping Daddy find firewood, especially since he got to go for rides int the mule, or "truck" as he calls it.
Our friends, Scott, Mel, and Remi arrived on Friday. Deirdre, Gavin, Garth, and her parents showed up Friday night. Saturday morning, Wade, Jack, and Jasper showed up.
Kade was excited to see his friends and cousins. The kids loved playing in the mule.
Kade & Remi
Garth, just chillin'!
Deirdre's Dad, Rob, & Wade - showing us what he's learned on the guitar.
Hiding out from the rain.
Kade telling Mommy, "No fish!"
Playing by the creek.
Mel & Remi
Kade & Remi
Deirdre & Garth


Boys & Their TOYS!
Kade, Rob, & Mel sitting by the campfire.
The guys went up on the mountain to shoot guns. Kade did not like it. But he loved sitting on this motorcycle.
Look, I made it into another picture!
We had a blast! The dog slept for 2 straight days, without eating, after we came home. I was jealous!

Our Munchie Turns 2!!!!

I can't believe he's 2!!! And he's still so much fun. We do have the occasional tantrum, but they are pretty short-lived.

We have been telling Kade that his birthday was coming soon. And every time we mentioned the word "birthday", he would simply say, "cake!" Another response was, "want cake!" So we started out the birthday by running errands, to get some supplies for the day's events. And then we made the cake.

Kade enjoyed licking the batter off the whisk.

Daddy came home from work earlier than normal, so he and Kade made the pizza.

Kade loved making piles of cheese. Then we gave him his 1st gift, which had been covered up all day, with a moving blanket. He saw a corner of the table, first thing in the morning, and shouted out "choo-choo". So I had to keep him distracted all day, because I didn't want Rob to miss out on his excitement.

He was so in to the train table, that he wouldn't even look at the camera.

Doesn't the finished pizza look delicious? We started eating without Kade, because he was having too much fun upstairs with all of his trains.

He did eventually come down to eat pizza and fruit salad. It was yummy!

Then we ate CAKE!

(Yes, it is a big yellow blob. It's in the shape of a train, but I let Kade decorate it himself, with sprinkles and cars. Yellow is his favorite color, so we made the frosting yellow.)

Then a couple more presents.

And we made our stepping stone, with Kade's hand print.
I think he had a great birthday. The party with friends is still to come, on Saturday.

Kidless on Kaui...(except for Colton)

We were in Kaui last week, on a "couples only" trip. We went with Rob's brothers Eric and Wade, their wives Kim and Deirdre, and Rob's sister Jen and her husband Russ. We left all of the kids home with grandparents, except for Eric's oldest, 9 year-old Colton. (Eric had promised to take him the next time he went to Hawaii.)
We rented 2 vacation rentals, that were conveniently across the street from each other, and 2 cars, and we had a blast!
Here come the pics...

One of our 1st and most frequent stops was to the "Shave Ice" truck. Yum! Yum!
Enjoying our "shave" ice. (We have no idea why there isn't a "d" on shave?)
They even put shaved coconut on top, if you want. It's delicious!

We ate at this place called The Fish Market, and when Rob went inside to order, this little dog jumped up on the stool next to me. Rob lost his seat. ( The dog knew who the animal lover of the group was.)

The boys rented surfboards for a couple days. Doesn't he look tough?

Eating papaya on the beach. Doesn't get much better than that...

We went to this beautiful little place called Kippu Falls, and jumped off a rope swing. It was scary and fun! Here's Rob showin' us how it's done!

Taking pics in front of some waterfalls that I don't remember the name of...

The girls made Creme Brulee French Toast one morning and the boys made Breakfast Burritos a different morning.

Out to dinner...at Kalypso, I think.

A group shot! I think Colton fell asleep at every dinner. We wore him out!

We kayaked on a little river that took us out to Hanalei Bay. Rob and I caught a little wave and capsized on the reef. Ouch! That was no fun. Eric took Kim & Colton out to the BIG waves, thinking he could ride them in...Instead they flipped, tail over nose, and everyone was a little panicked. But it made for a good story!

We tried to take pics while we kayaked...

Rob & I tool a tour of a chocolate farm. Hawaii is the only state where the chocolate plant grows. We tasted lots of local fruit and 14 kinds of chocolate on our tour. It was really interesting.
Did you know pineapple grows on a bush?

And that vanilla beans grow on a vine?

Here is a chocolate tree. Isn't it cute?

Do we look like pros, with our walking sticks?

I think boogie-boarding was my favorite activity. We caught some awesome waves!

I think I could sit here forever....

This is my favorite picture of all the couples.

(Eric & Kim, Russ & Jen, Deirdre & Wade, Karli & Rob)

Goofin' around...

Just the girls

And the boys!

Much better...

Aren't we cute?

Out to dinner at Hanalei Bay Cafe...We had the crabcakes. Mmmmmm!

Our last day at the beach. :(

Our last dinner at Duke's. (Eric & Kim)

Wade & Deirdre

Smoochy, smoochy...

Cheese! We got a little sunburn, ON THE LAST DAY!

We had such a great time! My Mom and Kade picked us up from the airport, and Kade just giggled in the car, the whole way home. My mom had put together 10 scrapbook pages of everything that she and Kade had done, while "Mom & Dad were in Hawaii". It looks like they had as much fun as we did! (With a little less sun!)