LIFE RECENTLY: WHY I TOOK A SMALL BREAK FROM BLOGGING

What in the world has happened to time? It has been 3 months since I last posted. And it kills me. 

But let me explain.

6 months ago Kacey was born. I was mostly concerned about how it would change things for Keira, who previously was the baby, and how it might affect our family dynamic. Little did I realize just how much it would change things for ME.

Life was good for the first month or so. I was busy with baby, understandably so. We didn't really go anywhere. We had friends over to play, but otherwise kept to ourselves. Eventually summer ended and back to life we went. Hailey started kindergarten, which in itself was a whole new transition for me. That on top of the addition of a new baby began to overwhelm me. Kindergarten itself isn't hard. But for me getting back into a routine and making two trips to the bus stop became busy. I know it sounds silly, it takes us 5 minutes to walk to the bus stop, we wait 5 minutes, then we take another 5 minutes to walk back. But coordinating that 2 times a day with the eating and sleeping schedule of a newborn was tricky. Some days it still is. 

Trying to keep up with housework, menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking... all of it plus now caring for 3 children was too much. So we often didn't have a plan for dinner. We ate a lot of nachos, a lot of eggs and potatoes, a lot of cereal... you know, the quick and easy I-have-no-idea-go-to-meals. In fact Kyle would often come home and cook dinner, because I was usually tied up with caring for Kacey. One evening, after a day that for me was quite productive- I had dinner cooking in the crock pot, a success!- Hailey saw Kyle pull into the driveway after work. She said to me, "Dad is home, he can make dinner for you now." Nothing gets past little eyes.

Laundry. Oh dear. This is the never-ending pile upon pile that took over our bedroom. Seriously. The laundry was washed, usually after someone complained of being out of underwear, but rarely was folded and put away. It got to the point that our bedroom floor was covered in clothes, most of which were clean. One evening over Christmas Break, we had a laundry folding/movie watching party. Kyle brought down pile after pile of clothes, which we sorted and folded. Laundry is a beast: once you get behind, it's hard to catch up.

I felt like my life was falling apart. I just couldn't keep up. I was totally overwhelmed and exhausted. I could handle basic needs, but not a lot beyond that. My brain became overloaded with worry and stress. I began to struggle to cope with the anxiety that crept in. It never was serious, but some days it overcame me. 

Honestly, I was bit afraid of the mother I was becoming. I lost the urge to play with my girls, to read to my girls, to enjoy my girls. Caring for them became a job and a burden. Kyle and I became a bit distant- there just wasn't time or energy left at the end of the day to enjoy each other's company. 

As Kacey has grown, so has my ability to feel like me again. I have more time to accomplish daily tasks, more time for my family, more time for me, and an increased desire to try harder. 

Life is good! We're getting back on track. We're eating real meals again, laundry is getting washed on a more weekly basis, and the house stays relatively clean. I mostly feel like me again. I'm ready to blog once more. I haven't forgotten this little blog. It's too important to our family- this is where our memories are recorded. Hang tight with me while I try to play a little catch-up on the back end of 2015. 

REALITY

The reality is everyday life with three kids is HARD. I admit it, most days I feel like I'm going crazy. The house is usually a disaster, we've eaten way too much pizza, cereal, and whatever-you-can-find for dinner; I can't seem to get anything accomplished (even just a simple trip to the UPS store to drop off a prepaid package takes me weeks to do), let's just forget about the library fines I've accumulated, and please excuse the ever constant brain fog and exhaustion.

I feel like I haven't sat down and played with Hailey and Keira in months. We've been able to sneak in some book reading here and there, but not nearly as much as we used to. We spend a lot of our time cooped up inside, the girls forced to play on their own. Thank goodness for Legos! Seriously. They have been a life saver. The girls play with them daily. Kyle will come home from work and play alongside them as well. I have come to realize how awesome Legos really are. The play is ever changing and endless. They never tire of Legos.

I do think we may be on the upswing. Kacey is starting to sleep more at night and becoming more consistent in her sleep patterns. The newborn days are so precious, yet so SO hard. How can one little person occupy so much of your time? It is amazing how quickly time flies by, before I know it, it has already been 1 1/2 - 2 hours since she last ate and time to eat again. I find myself thinking all too often, "Seriously... AGAIN?" 

Through it all I am so blessed to have an amazingly understanding husband who ushers me out the door for some ME time as often as he can. (Even though I do typically end up with Kacey tagging along, we're pretty inseperable right now. A baby has got to eat when a baby wants to eat...) He plays with the girls when he gets home and he'll take Kacey for a bit and work his magic to get her to smile and almost laugh. If I need help getting dinner going, he jumps right in and gets things started. The poor guy has been sleeping in the basement almost every night for the past 2 months. He is too light a sleeper, every little noise Kacey makes keeps him up, while I slumber on. He tells me it's OK to go to bed at 9:00 and doesn't complain about what a LAME-O-BORING-SAUCE I have become. I really don't consider myself lucky... I knew what I was getting when I married this man. Best choice ever.

Blessing number two has been having my parents living just 5 minutes away. In the past two months my mom has rescued me more times than I can count. When I couldn't keep my eyes open, she watched Kacey so I could sleep. When I felt bad for neglecting my older girls, she took each of them out separately for their own special Rara time. When we were attacked by a stomach bug she spent everyday that week with us helping me survive. When I need to go to the store she tags along because she remembers how crazy shopping with small children can be. She doesn't complain when I drag her all over town looking for ridiculous items I can't seem to find anywhere. Really, having her so close has been a lifesaver. 

This third child really has thrown me for a loop. We started out good, but then in the past month it has become hard. And I knew that would happen. I knew it would get hard. But this feels so much harder than the other two ever were. I know it'll get easier over time. For now I'm just trying to keep my head above water and figure out how to adjust to having three little ones. Of course there are no regrets. I just am ready to feel normal again. 

(More evidence of my inability to accomplish anything: these pictures were taken the end of July, almost 2 months ago. I am just now finally getting them to the blog. Too bad Kacey already doesn't settle down to sleep like that anymore... Boy has she grown!)

Eight Years and Counting!

Eight years ago Kyle and I started down this journey into marriage together. Eight years ago we were such babies! I laugh to think we were just 22 years old. At the time 22 felt so old and grown up. And I was ready to start the next adventure in my life. Now I think back and wow, that really wasn't all that old. To be 22 and make such an important decision! But I did it right. I was ready and I knew exactly who wanted to share my life with.

The even crazier thought is that Kyle and I met when we were just 14. That is 16 years ago! By the time we were married we had already known each other for 8 years. I think that really helped make my decision easy. Plus, I really couldn't keep away from him, nor stop thinking about him, or talking about him...

We would stay up late talking and laughing. Sometimes we still do. Most of the time these days I'm asleep on the couch by 9 pm and Kyle is left watching TV or a movie alone. Totally lame. But my eyes honestly refuse to stay open! Part of the price of pregnancy I guess. Though I can't completely blame just pregnancy, pregnant or not I still fall asleep through my fair share of movies. It's just extra bad while my body works to grow a baby.

But seriously, Kyle is fantastic. He works hard for our family, both at work and at home. He does so many things for me, I've found myself becoming helpless. The tire on our double stroller has had a flat for a few months. Neither of us have fixed it. I mentioned it to Kyle and he nicely reminded me that I know how to patch a tube. Sigh... yes, I guess I can fix it myself. But Kyle is just so handy! :)

Eight years has brought on so many new experiences for us. Kyle spent four of those years in school at BYU. We spent one summer exploring Texas. We have two little girls and another on the way. When Kyle started his first full-time job, we started that together. We bought a house together. We do everything together. And that is exactly how I want it to be.

I've mentioned it before, but Kyle really is a perfect match to my personality. We have always had similar likes and interests. At our house he is fun and I am business. There have been numerous times when we have gone to text or call each other at the same time about the same thing- this happened just this past Friday. Our brainwaves must have been in-sync. There usually isn't much debate over what movie we should watch, (unless it involves aliens or is Jurassic Park, I usually veto those pretty heavily.) We can have fun doing most anything together, and I think that is most important.

Thanks Kyle for a fantastic eight years! Here's to an awesome eight-plus more! I love you and am so glad you're mine!

Thoughts on Motherhood

Let's be honest here, motherhood is one of the toughest challenges I have ever taken on. 

Ever.

I am not lovey-dovey. I am not a giver of soft and squishy hugs. I don't delight in tickles or playing dolls. Though I do I love my girls and try my hardest to show it. Usually it is expressed in the form of food; we enjoy a treat, or spend some time baking together. Often times it is spent on the couch reading books. Other times it is shown through an outing; a trip to the park, or an afternoon at Lagoon. 

Being a mother is no walk in the park. Somedays I hit a home run and feel like I am on top of the world, bursting with joy and happiness! A good many days I feel like I've been gifted a walk on base and coast through the day, nothing extra special about it other than the fact that we survived it. And then there are those days that I feel like I have completely struck out, sometimes swinging my heart out with no chance of connecting that day, heading dejectedly back to the dug out awaiting my chance to redeem myself.

Many days I feel like I'm not cut out for this motherhood gig. I know as part of being a woman it is what I was created for. But I certainly don't always feel that I, personally, was intended for motherhood- or at least not for it to wear naturally on me. Motherhood is my challenge and struggle. 

As a teenager I hated babysitting. I never wanted to hold someone else's baby. I still am perfectly happy looking and smiling, but not touching or interacting. I didn't grow up dreaming of being a mother. Of course I thought about it, and always had a list of names I liked in the back of my mind. But never was motherhood my number one aspiration. I went to college to study and get a degree. And I did it. I found myself unable to pull myself away from Kyle, so marry him I did. (And I'm still so happy I did!) Then naturally, as time wore on it became time to start a family. So we did. And I worried before that first baby was born if I would be able to love her and care for her. What if those mothering instincts that I had yet to experience didn't surface? I do not have a naturally mothering soul. 

Luckily when Hailey was born all was right in the world. Something hit me and I found myself capable of loving a baby, enjoying her company. Though I really had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't ever held a newborn before, and suddenly there I was with one in my arms, mine to care for and raise. Never had anyone relied so heavily upon me for everything. I remember thinking how odd, yet how fantastic it felt to have someone so desperately need me.

And now here I am, 5 1/2 years later, with a second little girl to care for and just two months away from welcoming a third little girl to our family. Some days I am overcome with joy for my chance to love them, and teach them, and grow up with them. Other days I am overcome with terror and worry about whether I am teaching them what they need to learn, or whether I am setting them up for future scarring and failure. They are so malleable right now, am I really using that to my advantage? Or when they hit those teenage years are they going to turn their backs on me, because I didn't prepare them well enough, or love them enough while they are young?

So often my patience wears thin, and I can see the hurt in Hailey's eyes. Sometimes she is hesitant to tell me something or ask for something, afraid of my reaction. I tend to be an uptight parent. I want the best for my children, yet it most often comes out in the form of the word "NO". Why can't I relax a little bit? Because I want to protect them and shield them. But now I see Hailey growing up and becoming so much more independent. It's hard not to do everything for her, and make all of her choices for her. It even comes down to small silly things, like giving her the opportunity to help me and allowing her to show her independence by filling up our water cups when we stop for pizza at Costco. She can do so much, if I would just let her.

I just can't let go... Me, the girl who avoided small children and babies at all costs. I have found myself struggling to give way, even just a little bit, to my babies. I guess that's natural. Maybe there is some sort of natural mommy-ness ingrained in me. Or maybe it is an overwhelming amount of love, that I haven't yet figured out how to properly express.

I struggle with receiving compliments about how I am doing as a mother. It's because I know I can do better. I know I should do better. But it's hard. And so important. Which leads me to worry and stress, because I know there are too many areas I am struggling in.

In the end though, I know this is where I belong. Off and on I have considered looking for work to supplement the income Kyle makes. I haven't ever acted upon it, because I can't drag myself away from my girls. One day, a month or two ago, after going through a bit of a rough patch financially, I sat on the couch, cuddled up with Hailey reading a book. Clear out of the blue I had the the strongest confirmation that I am right where I need to be. Right now I need to be home with my children. I need to be a mother. I need to be there for them. I am where I should be. I struggle. It's hard. But this is where I belong. Being a mother is where I belong. 

Motherhood is me.

That is something I never thought I'd say. Though this may be true, it isn't all smiles and art projects at our house. In fact, a lot of the creating and bonding I've spent so much time doing in the past has been set aside. Life is a terribly hard balance of so many good and important things. And I've found myself stuck in the middle, unsure of how to manage it all, without overloading myself. But I guess we're doing ok, as long as my girls are clothed, fed, and loved, right?

I had no intention of writing a post reflecting on motherhood so close to Mother's Day, but I've had so many thoughts swirling around in my brain the past couple of months it was time to release them. 

As a side note, do you know how hard it is to get a good picture with a self-timer? Sheesh. Especially if I have to pull my pregnant belly on and off of the bed repeatedly to see if we even captured anything worthwhile. Someday I need to invest in one of those remotes for the camera, then at least I could snap the picture right when I want it, instead of trying to quickly stage it.  

Recently

As is life, things are going on around here. Here's a little bit of the noteworthy as of lately:

Hailey completed her reading chart!

Hailey has always loved books and had a knack for remembering and quick to learn. After she mastered all of the letter sounds I began teaching her a few sight words last spring. This past fall we began pushing reading a bit more and she has taken off! Honestly, I think a lot has to do with the computer program she uses everyday. The UPSTART program is provided to us from the State of Utah, free for any child the year before they enter kindergarten. She has learned so many words from doing this program since August. I'm proud and excited for her!

To help encourage her to read outside of the program I made a reading chart for her. The goal was to reach 100 total points and then we'd head to the bookstore and pick out a new picture book for us to read together. I gave her points based on the difficulty of the book. Simple two word sentence books earned her 1 point. Books with longer length and more complex sentences earned her 3 points. As she improved in her reading I phased out the 1 point books because they became too simple. It was no easy task, it took her a few months to finish the chart. We didn't read everyday, sometimes she'd read a couple books in a day, and then it'd be a week or so before we pick up another. We weren't consistent, but at least we were doing it. When she was 9 books away from finishing she pushed through and read 5 in one day and 4 in another!

Keira is potty trained!

Potty training Hailey was what nearly swore me off of having any other children. Really, it was my own doing, she just wasn't ready when I was. When Keira started showing signs of readiness before she turned two I was worried and not prepared to start. I really, really was hoping to wait until she was older and make it easier on all of us. Turns out Keira took matters in her own hands and made it easy on us. Afraid of losing my window of opportunity, I decided to start potty training the first of February. We picked a weekend and just went for it, straight to undies, no pull ups, and a lot of trips to the bathroom. Once that girl went in the potty it was relatively smooth sailing from there. She caught on quickly and began to go immediately after she sat on the potty, every time. There were still plenty of accidents, we flew through underwear those first few weeks. Now a month later I've gotten brave enough to take her out in public sporting her undies. She is doing awesome, and I feel like I haven't done anything to help it along. Honestly, I kind of slacked off for a little while and some days she ended up in a diaper most of the day, but she still kept it dry. Last week she started waking up in the morning completely dry. I'm shocked! Unfortunately she's waking up at 6:30 instead of 7:30, I think from a full bladder. That I'm no fan of... but to have my 2 year old potty trained, I'm a HUGE fan of. Just in time to stock up on baby diapers. :)

The Hill (big) girls went to a fashion show

Kyle's sister Brittany is tall and skinny, and of course beautiful. She has modeled in a few fashion shows put on in Provo, just for fun. She was asked to do it a couple years back and has done it twice a year since. Rara Hill drove down and all the grown up Hill girls went to the show to support Brittany. 

I always enjoy the fashion shows. It's just fun. I'm not one for fashion, not at all. But I love going and seeing the designs local designers have come up with. For this show Brittany sported a long sleeved spandex wedding dress. Of course it looked fantastic on her!

Pictures courtesy of Chelsie. :)

Kyle went rabbit hunting

One funny thing about me and Kyle's families is that both of our sisters married hunters. Neither of our families are into hunting, though Kyle's is much more firearms friendly and enjoy the occasional shooting outing. It is funny how hunting has slowly crept it's way into our lives. 

Corinne and Taylor used the rabbits they caught as bait for coyotes. They set them out in front of Taylor's trail camera in hopes of spotting coyote activity. Instead eagles have been snatching them away. I stole this awesome picture they captured on the trail camera from Corinne's facebook. :)

Kyle was invited to go rabbit hunting with my sister and her husband. Kyle invited his brother-in-law. The boys were so excited about going. I was excited for Kyle to go. It's good for him to get out and do something he enjoys every now and again. While the Hill girls were away at Brittany's fashion show, the boys (and Corinne) went out looking for rabbits. We were sent the picture of Kyle with the caption, "For the fashion show." Ha! They only nabbed a few rabbits, but I'm pretty positive they still had a blast.

Jaden's archery tournament

Kyle has some cool cousins who are each busy with their own sport. These cousins live in Colorado and are busier than ever. Seriously, I don't know how they all manage it. Aunt Jen is busy with rabbit shows (they have 40+ rabbits at their house, they show some and breed some. Each of the girls have at sometime shown rabbits in shows), Jenna is a swimmer and working at the local rec center, Jill plays competitive softball and travels for tournaments (she was just in Las Vegas and will be in Park City this summer), Jaden is busy with archery and competes mostly in Colorado, but recently made the trip to Utah to compete in Salt Lake City. 

The Saturday/Sunday portion of the tournament was a national tournament. Such a funny sight to see her shooting next to grown men! (Thank you to Brittany for the picture!)

We were so lucky to have Jaden come compete in our area! Andrew and Jaden stayed the weekend with us and it was awesome. Jaden's tournament was 3 days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Kyle made it to all three days to cheer Jaden on. We took the whole family Friday evening to watch her compete. We were shocked at how many kids were there competing, it was so fun to watch! Keira wasn't so into it, archery isn't the most fast paced sport to watch. I ended up taking the girls home early and stayed behind Saturday with Keira while Kyle took Hailey to watch some more.

The critter in the fireplace stove pipe

Two Sundays ago while laying down for a nap in the afternoon we heard scratching noises coming from the chimney/fireplace. Upon inspection, Kyle determined there was something trapped in the stove pipe of our wood burning fireplace. I was a little bit panicky... we had no idea what is was, a mouse, a rat, a bird... (Luckily we were positive it wasn't a raccoon. :) Whatever it was, it had to come out. This is what really made me nervous, figuring out how to pull off the stove pipe, while still keeping the critter contained and not letting it loose in our house. Luckily the stove pipe came off super easily, easily enough we could pull it just slightly loose, just enough to slide layers of saran wrap over both ends of it. Then we had the dilemma of where to release the beast. We didn't want it in our yard and were afraid of letting it loose out front and having it run right back into the house. So... all 4 of us went for a nice Sunday afternoon walk to the field behind our house. We put the stovepipe in the back of the stroller and walked it around the block. When we took the saran wrap off of one end both Kyle and I were expecting some sort of rodent to scurry out. Instead a starling flew out and away! I am sooo glad it was a bird, otherwise we would have the problem of figuring out how the creature got in, in the first place, and how to keep them out again. It wasn't as bad as we had feared, and put a little excitement into our calm Sunday afternoon.

Kyle took Hailey fishing for the first time

Two Saturdays ago Kyle took Hailey fishing for the first time. Kyle's coworker was taking his boys and invited Kyle to come along. While Keira and I ran errands, Kyle and Hailey relaxed by the pond. I say they relaxed, but I'm not so sure it really was all that relaxing. Hailey became bored after a while and quit watching her bobber. Apparently she missed out on some fish a couple of times. They didn't catch any fish, maybe next time. She may have complained of boredom, but after they left she said she wanted to go again. Kyle is totally down with that, hopefully they'll get out again this summer. 

Kyle said on the way out to the pond Hailey brought up the point that they forgot a bag to put the fish in. Seems Hailey had the idea they would be bringing home a new pet. When Kyle explained that the only reason they would bring home the fish was to eat it. Hailey thought about it, then said, "I could do that." She may be the only one... we aren't much of fish eaters around here.

We celebrated Pi Day with Pie

Pi Day is a favorite holiday of mine. It may not be a standard calendar holiday, but it should be. A day with the perfectly good excuse to make and enjoy pie! Really, I only make pie twice a year, for Pi Day and for Thanksgiving. We deserve to have pie twice a year, right?

This year we invited our friends the Burgins over to celebrate with us. We made some pizza pie (pepperoni and BBQ chicken) and then enjoyed some dessert pie after we digested a bit. There were only eight of us total, but I made three pies. A bit overkill? No! Never... Ok... maybe, we still have pie in the fridge. But, I always make my favorite pie, pineapple sour cream. Kyle's family traditionally enjoys chocolate pudding pie, and Kyle also requested cheesecake, which really isn't pie, but it's in a pie pan, so I'll count it. It's hard to decide on just one pie, so why not three? 

Hawaii: A Week in Paradise

This post is nearing a month overdue. There were so many pictures to sort through, it took me some time to select and edit them all. Finally, here is a review of our week long adventure in Hawaii.

The last week of January Kyle and I dropped our girls off to stay with my parents and then we headed out on a week long Hawaiian adventure with Kyle's parents and sister Brittany. Kyle's dad had an optometry conference to attend on the big island, and his parents invited us to come along. A trip to Hawaii mid-winter, how do you refuse that?!

This was my first visit to the islands, and my longest plane flight. I guess I don't get out much, or at least don't travel much beyond the west coast. The others had all been before, in fact Kyle lived there for a couple of years (on Oahu) when he was about Hailey's age.

We stayed on the Kona side of the big island, where the lava rock dominates, but the weather is still fantastic. I think the biggest happy point of the trip (besides no work, no cleaning, and no children) was the food. We dined on potato/mac salad, hamburgers, and ice cream all week long. And we loved it. We also went to a Luau where we were able to sample all sorts of Hawaiian foods (including the famous Kahlua pig) and sip on fruity drinks.

We hit up a small farmers market in town where Kyle stumbled upon rambutan (pictured above), a favorite fruit from Kyle's mission to the Philippines. He has described this fruit to me before, with it's hairy-like outside, but grape-like inside. So of course we bought some. I loved it! I really wish we could have taken some home with us, but Hawaii has strict laws on the import and export of fruits and flowers. Bummer.

We spent the first few days hanging out at the resort, watching the dolphins play, and relaxing by the ocean fed lagoon. Kyle and his dad snorkeled and caught sight of all sorts of tropical fish and sea turtles. We all tried our hand at paddle boarding, which gave the rest of us a chance to catch sight of some of the fish and turtles as well. Paddle boarding was surprisingly easier than it looked, which was good- I didn't want to get dunked. Mostly we relaxed in the sun reading books and snacking on food. That sunbathing felt nice, until I burnt my chest, on the first day in the sun. I may or may not have missed sun screening my entire chest. And then I spent the rest of the week extra lathering up trying to protect it from getting worse. Later on the week everyone else followed suit and ended up with some sort of burn. We're not used to so much sun mid-winter!

Kyle and I checking out our awesome sunburns. Kyle's isn't as easy to spot in the picture, but it was there pretty good.

Towards the mid to end of the week we set out to explore the island. We found a small black sand beach and got adventurous hiking over lava rock. We weren't planning on hiking, so not all of us were dressed for the occasion. I made the trek in flip flops and a dress. Maybe not the best shoes for the job, but it was still fun to get out and explore. The view of the ocean we discovered on our hike was pretty awesome. We were able to see whales in the distance breaching and shooting water from their spouts.  

The big island is the youngest island, which made for some interesting and diverse scenery. The Kona side is lava rock everywhere. It really isn't the picturesque Hawaii you think of. Still neat, but not as pretty. 

As we made our way around the island it began to green up. Up north was grassy and ranch land. Did you know one of the largest cattle ranches in the nation is on the big island of Hawaii? I had no idea, I definitely don't think cows when I think Hawaii. Although, now I might. :) 

The East side of the island is more of the lush green we imagine Hawaii to be. It is full of trees, flowers and waterfalls. I loved seeing the diversity of the island, seeing it in all stages of it's development.

We took one day to drive around to the East coast to see some waterfalls and check out the volcano. We hiked to Akaka Falls, which was a spectacular 400 ft drop.

On to the volcano we went. Kyle and I were really interested in seeing this. As we neared Kilauea we passed by Kurtistown, which of course necessitated a photo op. Kyle's dad's name is Kurtis, with a K and all.

We went to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see what we could of active Kilauea. Unfortunately the current lava flow was outside of the park and inaccessible. Sad day. We really wanted to see some lava! It turned out ok, we didn't leave disappointed. We walked through the Thurston Lava Tube, a tube formed from lava that once flowed in the area. We joked that it's real origination was from large worms, like the movie Tremors. 

After the lava tube we took the Kilauea Iki trail and hiked down into a large crater inside Kilauea. The hike was 400 ft down and 400 ft up. But it was awesome! 60 years ago the crater held a lake of lava. Now cooled and hard we were able to trek clear across the crater. It was neat to see the beginning of vegetation popping up among the desolation. There were also a few active steam vents giving some small evidence of the activity of the volcano. This was one of the highlights of the trip. It was fun to get out and hike for a few hours and see a part of nature you don't find in Utah.

We finished off the week with a day at the beach. Good sand beaches are harder to come across on Hawaii Island. We found one with some good waves for boogie boarding and playing in the surf. Kyle had a blast. So much fun he broke both boogie boards. Whoops! At least we were at the end of our trip and wouldn't be needing them any longer anyway. Kyle got me out into the ocean to play in the waves, which was super fun, except for the salt water that sneaked its way into my nose and mouth. We attempted to jump over the waves as they rolled in. Kyle was better at it than me, I found myself constantly getting swept closer to shore. Honestly, it was fun to feel the water pull me in. At the same time it was humbling and a little scary to see just how powerful the ocean can be. 

After an entire week the sun finally set on our vacation and it was time to head back to reality. Getting back to motherhood and real life took a few days (or a week) to get used to again. Admittedly, the girls may have watched an extra amount of videos that week while I tried to catch up on my sleep in the mornings. 

My parents were so nice to watch the girls for us. 8 days of parenting small children again is no easy task, especially when you've been out of practice for 15 years or so. Sounds like the girls had fun playing at the park, the children's museum, jumping at Kangaroo Zoo, and even going to the circus. While we were spoiled in Hawaii they were spoiled by Papa and Rara, which is totally ok with me.