Hidden Cave Trail

After we hiked the petroglyph trail(and the rain stopped)we hiked up to the caves.  The sign said these caves were used as shelter to the Ancient Americans inhabiting this area. 

There is just something about caves that are so mysterious.  The kids were facinated!!  

We only made it to the Picnic Cave because we weren't sure what the weather was going to do. The rain had stopped but the sky was looking kind of mean.

We all agree we will have to go back and explore more!

 

Sweet Girl  wanted to continue on.  So I climbed with her to the top of this sort of steep, rocky mountain.  Note to self...next time...don't wear sneakers!!  It was very slippery.  We literally slid down(and up), lol. 

This is the cave we found at the top. 

The boys stayed at the Picnic Cave while we climbed. When we came down Silly Guy was eager to show me what he did.  He had tucked his sketchbook and pencil into his back pocket when we got out of the van.   While we were climbing he found a comfy rock and sketched the cave.  He did a great job.  It was a good moment!      

Petroglyph Hike at Grimes Point

We went hiking on the Petroglyph Hike at Grimes Point.  The hike is located at what was once ancient Lake Lahontan.  Over 12,000 years ago this entire area was under about 700 feet of water.  However, when the early Americans lived here much of the area was above water.  

  

 One of the oldest petroglyph styles is the wavy or circular lines dating back to around 3,000 years old. 

 Ancient Lake Lahontan

 The straighter or angular lines are newer from 500-2,000 years old.  Some of the petroglyphs we could make out shapes.  We thought this one maybe resembled a rainbow. 

 This style of petroglyph dates back 7,000 years.  The Pit and Groove are thought to be the oldest at Grimes Point.  They were made by striking the boulder surface with a rock. 

While we were hiking we didn't even realize the storm that was sneaking up on us. It started downpouring rain and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees. 

My chilly kiddos!



On Our Way

After the airport chaos we picked up the van and hit the road.  It was a 5 1/2 hour trip. Which doesn't sound like that big of a trip but when you live on an island 5 1/2 hours seems long.  It was great though.  We were exhausted but excited. 

This picture was taken as we were driving past San Francisco. The clouds were wild!  They were level with the horizon. The picture isn't very good because it was taken from my car window while on the highway but it was so neat I had to share.

As we were driving through California...

Then we headed up the Sierra Nevada.  It was such a beautiful drive.  There was a rest stop toward the top in the Tahoe National Forest.  The kids(and doggies) had fun playing in this teepee. 

Little Man was ready to camp out and didn't want to leave. 

 

Here are some pictures as we were driving up the Sierra Nevada. We were so high up in the mountains.  I was a bit nervous with all of the turns and downhill slopes.  I was very thankful my husband was driving.

Sweet Girl ready to go hiking

Silly Guy found something to climb

Our Last Day on Oahu

Our last day on the island was a beautiful Hawaiian day!  We decided we would take a walk around historic Ford Island.  We stopped to take pictures of the USS Utah Memorial and then relaxed by the waters edge.

It was bittersweet leaving Oahu.  As much as we missed the mainland, it was our home for four years. We made some great friends, became involved with some amazing homeschool groups, and had many adventures.  

We are here

We made it to Nevada! Yay! 
It was quite the move but we are here now and starting to get settled.  After a month and 10 days in a hotel room(not that I was counting), we moved into our new house last week. 
Hubby and I have had our hands full with painting, ripping out carpeting, unpacking, major weeding, etc.  We would wake up, eat and start working until about 10 o'clock at night.  I look back over the past week and I still can't believe how much we've done.  Now that we have taken care of the "must be done" list we are taking the next week or so off to get back to routine. 
It sounds like an easy thing.  Right?
Well, while we were in the hotel we were so bad and let routine fly right out of the window.  Which in at least one way was very good.  My Little Man is now potty trained because of that routine flying out of the window. Big Yay!!  Other than that...bedtime, wake up time, mealtime, schooltime, chores, etc. are all things that have to get back to normal.   I am looking forward to normal routine again.  I think that is what I missed most over the past month or so...a normal routine and also my oven.  I couldn't wait to bake a batch of cookies (did Sunday)and through a lasagna in the oven.  Which I am planning on doing tomorrow :)

Kaena Point Hike

We had a free day last Saturday. We decided we would enjoy it by taking a hike to Kaena Point.  Kaena means "red hot" or "glowing" in the Hawaiian language.   It is located on the most northwestern point of Oahu.  The hike was very different from many of the hikes we have done on the island.

It was absolutely beautiful and we are so happy we went!

The picture above is from the left hand side of the road. I couldn't take my eyes off the beauty.  Then Sweet girl and I said at the exact same time. "That is so beautiful!" 

Once we reached the end of the highway and parked.  We set out for Kaena Point. 

I thought this formation looked like it was in the shape of a heart. Had to take a picture!

.

The entire hike the view is (in my opinion)the most beautiful ocean one will ever be blessed to see.

Silly guy spotted this formation, a Sperm Whale.

The view looking south-breathtaking!

This view is looking north.  In the distance you will spot Kaena Point. We walked for about 1 1/2 hours.  Then we decided to head back to the car.  Little man was getting tired and our water bottles were low(full sun all the way). It was a great day!!

Family Pictures from the hike...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Critter Sitters is off

A while back I wrote about Sweet girl starting her own dog walking/pet sitting business.  Well, this summer it has taken off.  Since starting she has had four customers.  It may not sound like a lot but it was.  I am so happy she had this opportunity!  She has learned so much from running her own business. How to manage money, proffesionalism, customer service, responsibilty, interview process, etc.
She has been so proffesional and responsible!!  Recently, she let her customers know she would be leaving.  They told her, "What will the neighborhood do without you!" What a compliment!!

Pictures of Sweet girls "clients".  Photos taken by SG

Mimi- long time and loyal customer.  She walks her Monday-Friday and has pet sat for the family a few times.  Mimi is the cutest thing.  Sweet girl always brings her up the house to say hi to me(and get treats of course).  She is always so happy.

Marley- Sweet girl pet sat for her family. Marley's owner recommended Sweet girl

to her next customer.  Marley was ADORABLE and sweet!! Lap dog all the way.

Teddy- She pet sat Teddy and Buddy for 3 1/2 weeks.  It was A LOT of work. 

Teddy was a sweetheart, very loveable dog.

Buddy-  Buddy was  a sweetheart too but was scared of everything.  Bless his heart. 

I am so proud of her!!

Travel Games- Find It!

While walking through Target's game aisle I found this idea.  The game is called "Find It!"
I thought it looked like something that would be easy to make at home.  I went around the house collecting little things from junk drawers and toyboxes.  Then dyed some rice the fill theplastic bottle with.

Once the rice was dry, using a funnel I put the rice and items into a plastic bottle. 

I made a list of everything that is inside the bottle so the kids know what they are looking for.  The object of the game is to find all of the items by turning and shaking the bottle.

Items I put inside:

• A tire from a Matchbox car.  I dug into my son's bin of cars and found a few stray tires.
• A foam letter "E"
• A BB- found on the park
• A foam letter "S"
• Rubber band
• Lego
• Long green bead
• Penny
• Dime
• A little leaf-from a broken pair of jewelry
• A ice cream cone-from my daughter's Littlest Pet Shop collection
• A cup-from my daughter's Littlest Pet Shop collection
• A foam caterpillar
• Yellow Pony bead
• A small fish-from the bottom of the toy box
• A daggar- from the Playmobil box
• A pebble
• Jack
• Piece of string
• Small cork
• Rope toy-from my daughter's Littlest Pet Shop collection
• Purple heart bead
• Blue flower-small flower from the craft store.
• Green Pony bead
• A small eraser
• Paperclip
• Sea Shell
• Marble
• Screw- I found a plastic one.
• A small dinosaur

Art at the Zoo

Something new at the zoo is this painted wall along the path to the entrance.  It was beautiful and wow was it colorful!!  I thought I would post this work of art:)  

One Last Trip to the Honolulu Zoo

Last night I was doing a blog makeover- updating pics, layout, background, etc.  I realized while looking for pictures I never posted these.  We took a trip to the Honolulu Zoo a little while ago.  Little man always ask ,"Can we go to the zoo? or beach?"  His two favorite places.

This was a laid back trip.  We took our time and let him navigate us.

Our three kiddos

A family favorite... the elephant.  The zoo is in the process of making these guys a better home-yay! 

One of my favorite animals at the zoo, the giraffe.  It was kind of funny.  There was an event going on across the street at the beach.  People were letting balloons fly into the air.  They just so happened to be flying directly over the giraffe exhibit.  The giraffe's were constantly on watch  looking out for them. 

Out of all the animals, Little man was facinated by the chickens.  While Dad was running out to feed the meter we hung out and watched them (for about 45 minutes). It was feeding time on the farm.  He thought it was hillarious that they were coming into their house for dinner time.  He was watching them go up and down the ramps. The zookeeper noticed his facination. So, he brought Henry out for him to pet and feed.  Henry was such a sweet rooster.   

The zookeeper told us Henry loves to have his picture taken with the kids.

The sweet little goats.

Out of the Fog

This past week I had a rude awakening...literally. 

Every morning I have waken up with a severe headache.  I don't usually get headaches this often.  Maybe once a month I will get a minor one but nothing like what I experienced this past week.  Every night I went to bed praying it would be gone.  The next morning came and they just seemed to be getting more intense.  It was taking me about 3 hours to even function. 
On Tuesday, I woke up and it was the worse one yet.  It was pain I can't even begin to descibe and nothing I have ever felt before. You could say I was a bit frightened !! 
I struggled to get out of bed but I had to. I started to think to myself,  "What is going on?"
After about an hour and no relief I called my husband at work.  At this point I was in tears(which wasn't helping ).  He was growing concern too and told me to go to the doctor.  I hung up the phone and made an appointment right away.  I was so thankful they could squeeze me in asap. 
I arrived at the doctor's office.  I began to tell her where I was having this pain (the back of my head, radiating to the top of my head and down the neck)and descibing it to her.  Her diagnosis was a "tension headache". 
From what I understood, I have been storing the stress from this move in my neck.  Which then is affecting the nerves leading up my spinal cord.  She described it as a domino affect.  She prescribed me a muscle relaxer(at night), Motrin, gave me some exercises, and suggested that I sleep with a heating pad on my neck.  Usually, I don't take medicine but  had to cave in this time.  It was not only affecting me but everyone in the familly.  Everything was a fog.    
The first two mornings I  didn't have any relief.  I was starting to think I should go back to the doctor(or ER).   But then, this morning I woke up with a very mild headache.  How excited I was to see a light and to be coming out of the fog!! 
I am praying tomorrow will even be better:)