Thought this would be a great hike to start with on my blog

Sunday, February 5, 2012

I really have not kept up with this blog like I'd hoped. I am thinking I'd love to start it up again and start sharing about some of the hikes we have been doing with our little family and some of our awesome friends here. The past few months we have been doing quite a bit of hiking on the island. We probably have about 6 months left living here and we are trying to make the best of it. Today, we had a really fun day.
This morning my husband had to go into work and was going to miss the hike we had planned to go on today. I got myself and Lukas's things ready for the hike in a backpack and then made us both breakfast and got us ready for his basketball game. He played great, like usual. For a 5 yr old, he's pretty good defense. I got a text from my husband during the game letting me know he was off of work. Yea! That meant he could go on the hike after all. We went with 8 others on this hike, much thanks to our friend who got a permit for us to legally enjoy it (It's on private land and is illegal to hike without a permit. Not very many people know about this hike.)
The first trail took us to Lulumahu Falls. First, we walked through a bamboo forest and then through a more tropical rain forest area. Lots of trees, beautiful green plants, rocks, and of course stream crossings. We had to climb over big boulders in a few places. It was well worth it to see Lulumahu Falls and it really wasn't that long of a hike. It was just making sure we were going in the right direction and didn't get off track.


After finding Lulumahu Falls, we went back to the road where we started, took a left, walked a little ways down until we came to an opening in the greenery on the side of the road. Again we walked through some bamboo. We came to a fork and went left, rather than straight. Left took us to King Kamehameha III's Summer Palace ruins (AKA Kaniakapupu). It's a beautiful spot. I can definitely see why a King would choose to build there. We did explore a little and followed a nearby trail with markers to a deer stand (not sure they are called that here since there aren't deer here, ha...maybe it's a boar stand?). We turned back around and after sharing a coconut, we headed back to that fork we came to earlier.



We decided to go the way we hadn't checked out at the fork because we were told there was a small waterfall. So we hiked to the waterfall and took a few pictures before heading back to our vehicles. We were all pretty tired, especially the kids, who were quite the little troopers!





Originally, we had also planned on finding another waterfall we have been interested in but weren't able to do so today. After we got home, I did a little more research and now I know how to get to that waterfall. Hopefully in a few weeks I will be posting a new blog about the hike to those falls with pics to show for it :)

Fall

Monday, October 25, 2010

Hello again blog world. It's fall and we've been enjoying it around here lately. Friday, Lukas and I went to a fall festival on base with friends. Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch. Sunday we carved pumpkins. I cannot wait to take my little guy trick or treating. We are also getting ready for my husband to deploy. It will be his first deployment since before Lukas was born. I'm hoping all goes well and that Lukas will handle it well.

Hello Blog. Long time, no see.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

I feel like I have really neglected my blog. I would like to get back into the hang of things. Plenty has happened since my last post. I'll try to just name the most significant things.

I had to take a very last minute trip back home to Louisiana because my grandmother fell very ill. It was a very bittersweet trip but it felt good to be able to say goodbye. I got there and my parents drove us straight to the hospice where she was. She said my name when she saw me and kept saying "I love ya." and cried. That was on Tuesday, May 25. I went back for a couple of more visits. Saturday, May 29 was my last visit with her. I brought my sister Katie and my son that visit b/c Katie hadn't seen her recently and I knew she needed to. My grandmother was asleep and her breathing did not sound good. My son grabbed my sister's hand and pulled her out of the room. I turned around and my aunt and I looked at my grandmother and she had stopped breathing. She was gone. The most beautiful, most inspiring woman I'd ever known gone. Just gone but not forever because we shall meet again. She was 91 yrs old. She lived a long life and she lived a great life.

This doesn't seem nearly as significant as saying goodbye to my lovely grandmother but it is an accomplishment for me. I finished my 1st semester towards my degree in Paralegal Studies this week with a 3.6 grade average.

Not much has changed with me and my little family here in Hawaii. Lukas keeps growing up more and more everyday. My husband will be deploying in a few months but for now we are enjoying the time we have together.

Been such a LONG time

Thursday, March 25, 2010

It has been way too long since I last blogged. Plenty has happened, I'm sure. Probably way too much to put here so I will talk about recent happenings and such. My little Lukas had to have his tonsils and adenoids out at the beginning of the month just before my 28th birthday. He did really well and he no longer seems to be struggling to breathe at night and no more snoring. It's taking me some getting used to because he was such a loud breather at night before. It has made a huge difference and it's such a relief to have it over with. So it's been a little over 3 weeks since his surgery and he already had to return to the hospital Monday for some stitches after a fall :( I'm glad is okay! He is supposed to have the stitches taken out tomorrow. Should be fun...not! He will most certainly put up a fight.

In other news, I'm an online college student. I have returned to school to receive an Associate's degree in Paralegal Studies. I would really rather be going into criminal investigation but maybe sometime further in the future. My dream is to work on and help solve cold cases someday but for now I'm just trying to get a little degree so I can get a decent job when the little one starts school.
Here are some pictures from around the house. Happy Spring Time!

October

Sunday, October 11, 2009

So far, October is going okay. I broke my foot, we got a new dog, lots of appointments, decorating for Halloween...that's what is going on here. I go to a neurologist on Tuesday for my dizziness and blurred vision episodes. Next week the dog goes to the vet and the week after I go back to the orthopedic surgeon for my foot. Right now we are in the process of decorating a little bit for Halloween. I'm hoping to take Lukas to the pumpkin patch sometime soon. If we don't make it there, I guess we will just buy a pumpkin from the grocery store. The past few days, Lukas has had a little bit of a cold but he seems okay otherwise. Other than actually taking naps, he's been his normal little self. The dog is doing pretty good too other than a few accidents in the house here and there. I'll try to update after my neurologist appointment if I find anything new out.

No more crutches! Yay! :)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

This morning I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for my foot. It went well. They gave me a boot to walk around in so no more crutches. This makes me very happy. I even conquered grocery shopping with Lukas all by myself today. It was great :) It's so nice not to have to hop and hobble everywhere. It was only a week on crutches but it felt so much longer because of all of the trouble my son kept getting into. He was quite a stinker last week and over the weekend. We are loving our new puppy dog too. She is so sweet. She just hangs out with me on the couch and takes little puppy naps.

I also went blonde over the weekend. It was time for a change again.

A puppy dog and a broken foot

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I think it's definitely time to blog. Sunday was quite a day for us! We found a doggy :) Her name is Harley and she is so cute. Unfortunately, while I was taking her for her first walk, I stepped off of the curb and broke my foot! Yes, I broke it. Luckily, Harley is a sweet little lap dog and hangs out on the couch with me.