Fun Times With Grandma and Grandpa Jesse

Just days before my mom and Jesse arrived we had a string of days like this (see the first two pictures) and I was just praying that the weather would change in time for their visit because I know how much the sun and the warmth mean to my mom. Well, God heard my pleas and blessed us with beautiful weather! Seriously, we could not have ask for more pleasant weather...for the entire two weeks! It was awesome and it allowed us to spend lots of time outdoors.

Squeezing in some playtime on the swing set in between storm sets

Just a little rain...at one point it was raining so hard it was practically a "white out"!

Mom and Jesse always keep busy doing little projects around the house. Fixing this and fixing that...

Here's Jesse trying to find and repair the leak in our van. He thinks he may have fixed it. I'll be able to tell you here in a few days as the forecast is calling for another onslaught of rain storms this weekend.

Just like Grandpa...fixin' his "car". Of course, his buddy, the stuffed gecko, is the co-mechanic.

On the first Saturday we left the kiddos home with Dave and Carolyn and the four of us Kayaked up the Wailua River. The Wailua is the widest and longest river on the island and because of this it is navigable by motor powered boats. So, unlike kayaking up the Kalihiwai River (which is pretty narrow and windy with a little more back country feel) on the Wailua you have to be aware of waterskiiers and boaters. Also, going against the current upstream and then going against the off-shore winds coming down stream make kayaking the Wailua more of a workout than the tranquil waters of Kalihiwai River. We had a lot of fun but in the end we all agreed that we'd prefer the setting of the Kalihiwai River for future kayak trips.

This is actually one of the most narrow sections...

We ended up sort of kayaking "off the beaten (water) path" and the further in we went up the river the more peaceful it got. At one point I looked up the bank and saw this cow just sitting there watching me. I half wondered if it would charge down the bank and into the water? Can cows be aggressive? I can see the headlines now, "Ha'ole woman killed when her camera's flash causes cow to charge..."

That's Daniel's red kayak docked at the entrance to the famous Fern Grotto.

The Fern Grotto (quite a tourist destination, thanks to Elvis, I think!)

The following Wednesday we biked along the Kealia Trail. This trail is less than 10 minutes from our house and it is so enjoyable! We biked it for the first time when Jake, Stacy, and Rebekah were home for the holidays and I knew then that it would be something that I'd be doing again soon.

We brought Jonathan's bike and he managed to ride for nearly 3 miles! It was a bit slow in go but he had a blast and felt like such a big boy. This boy's about ready for a two wheeler!

"Gwamma" and Jonathan

Aden and Jesse pretty much left us in the dust...let's just say, a bike with training wheels is not a fast mode of transportation!

Anyway, because of that I don't have any pictures of them riding... =(

But I do have some shots of the scenery that we enjoyed! Here's one...

and another...

and another...

Elizabeth was squawking up a storm because she wanted to climb the tree like her brothers. "Sissy, you can't so EVERYTHING that they do!" I swear the girl thinks she's 5!

The crew

One of the few times in his life when this kid can focus on the task at hand...when he is eating a "tweat"! Shave ice, baby!

Aden and Grandpa Jesse got ice cream, Mom and I got fresh fruit smoothies, Jon Jon got shave ice, and Sissy nibbled on all of the above!

Bellies full of said treats, we were fueled up and ready to head back to the starting point.

This trooper biked the entire eight miles and here he is excited to help Grandpa load up the bikes! Poor kid, his sweet face gets red like his mama's.

Well, it's a good thing we went on our bike ride 0n Wednesday because by Thursday AM my mom and I were both feeling pretty crummy. Somehow we picked up a sickness together...we had all the same symptoms (sore throat, headache, sinus pressure, runny nose, fatigue, etc.) and we came down with it at the same time. It stuck with us for the remainder of Mom and Jesse's visit which forced us to take it easy those last few days. To give us something low-key to work on we decided to start a quilting project. We set out to make (well, start the process of making) two twin-sized quilts for our guest bedroom. By the time Mom left on Monday morning we had about 1/2 of the cutting done. Now I have about 7/8 of the cutting done. I should finish cutting tomorrow. I had hoped to finish cutting tonight but the blog was whispering my name and well, a girl can only do so much fun stuff in one night. So, this is what my kitchen table has looked like for the last week. We've eaten many meals around the coffee table as of late. In fact, that fact alone is great motivation for me to finish cutting. I want my table back!

I need 864 squares and/or rectangles cut to construct this quilt...yes, EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR! I think I have about 820 cut as of now. It's too late to do math but I'm thinking that 820/864 is more than 7/8 of the way done!

My friend Lori made a quilt recently that I love and when I complimented her on it she asked if I wanted the scraps from the project. When I agreed I had no idea how much fabric she'd be giving me. There was a ton! So, I decided to make two patchwork quilts of sorts. I am using a quilt pattern that calls for six different fabrics and I think I have at least two dozen different fabrics pulled into this quilt! That's where the "patchwork" look will come in. So, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll finish them before Elizabeth graduates from high school. ;)

Some of the fabrics...browns, blues, greens, and creams