Summertime

June and July

Summer always seems to fly by when there are two kids to keep busy!  We've had a great time, especially when Lucy and Betsy came to visit for two weeks.  We picked them up in Kona, spent a couple of nights in a resort swimming and playing, then the next week and a half surfing, eating, and finding 'Hawaiian style' treats for Lucy.  That girl loves her food, especially mochi.  I think we spent half of our time in the Farmer's markets and bakeries looking for the best possible mochi confections.  Betsy and I surfed every couple of days and we spent one day hiking up at Volcano with the kids.  We first went in Thurston Lava Tube, then we continued in the unlit tube, taking a trio of flashlights.  That was a weird experience, considering how much I dislike being underground.  Charlie and Emi thought it was great, Lucy and I weren't so sure.  After that we took the kids down through Kilauea Iki trail- a five mile hike around the rim of an old caldera and then across the bottom and back up.  Five miles of hiking and the kids acted like they'd been doing that sort of thing all their lives.

Lucy and Betsy flew away home and we've spent the time since playing with the boys across the street and with a family the Emi and Charlie know from school.  I signed the kids up for swim lessons for the entire month of July, and Emi was invited over to the Waikaloa to spend the 4th of July with my Dad.  My brother Peter is back for the summer, and he's been taking the kids to their swim lessons while I spend a couple of hours working on repainting the hallway and living room.  This was my big project for the summer.  No dramatic changes, it was just time to freshen it all up.