Koko Head Crater Like Dat.

Aloha!

Oh my goodness, we are in the last days of August!  How did THAT happen!?  Well, it’s a cozy, rainy day here today, so I’m kind of in the mood for a little fall weather.  Which I know I won’t exactly get, but still.  Oh, but did I mention that we are taking a trip to the Pacific Northwest this fall!?  I am SO excited to get my fall-fix!! (More on my love of seasons and how I have come to terms with NOT having them– on THIS page, in case you haven’t stumbled upon it yet. )

So, in other news, it turns out that I am going to Maui tomorrow.  There is a surf contest that Josiah and Luke are signed up for which somehow I had forgotten about.  (These things happen to me.)

And…
I love Maui.

I love to travel.

I love surf contests.

So, that should be fun.
Also, this time I’m only taking Josiah and Luke, so Sandra will watch the other two during the day, and Dave will be home afternoons evenings.  And though I’ll miss them both terribly, let’s be honest–Maui will be simpler without the two year-old factor, so I’m thankful.

Meanwhile, today I am cramming three days of school into this one day, and hoping that the boys retain some information that I am giving them, because Heaven knows I’m not.   (These things happen as well.)

Yesterday we took the day off school to hike Koko Head Crater.  When we planned the hike I had no idea that I’d be leaving for Maui on Thursday, which is a good thing because I am pretty sure we wouldn’t have taken the day off for a hike if I knew that.  And it was a ton of fun.  I mean, the kind of fun that involves pain and heavy breathing.  And sweat.  If you like that kind of fun, then you would have thought it was fun.

Fun, and SO beautiful.

We planned the hike weeks ago with my friend Judy and her boys as we thought it would be a great hike for our aussie friend Greg to do while he was on-island.  Judy had something come up, and couldn’t go in the end, so it turned out to be just Greg, and my boys and I.   I was glad to have Greg along because he carried my heavy backpack, and kept the jokes coming, and made my boys want to show off and get to the top quickly.

He also happened to be with one of my boys, (who I probably shouldn’t name,) when he threw up his breakfast on the side of the trail.  It was a bit of a scene, but absolutely added excitement to the day.  (These things also happen around here.  Unfortunately.)

And don’t worry–Jonah the unnamed one is fine.

Important note for future Koko Crater enthusiasts:  Take your time.  Showing off doesn’t pay off.

Now aren’t you glad you stopped by today?

Here’s the pictures from yesterday:

First, Jonah–full of enthusiasm at the start…(CHECK OUT THAT HILL, would ya!? It’s an old trolley track.)

At the top, the view is spectacular.
The boys are sitting on some old bunkers.  Bunkers can add all kinds of mystery and intrigue to what most of us just call a hot hike.  If you have boys you probably know that.

Jonah, feeling a lot better, at the top.  With “Uncle” Greg.  (Say goodbye to Greg–he’s on the plane back to Australia now.)

Me and boys.  Ready to make our way down that crazy hill.

And I only show this next shot so you can see the climb down a little better.  I conveniently bent over so you could see.
Yes, it does seem to basically drop off, doesn’t it?
Exactly.

Did I mention that I’m not walking very well today?  Greg was quite confident that he wouldn’t be sore at all.  I hope he comments here to report on that one.
(Keeping in mind that lying is a sin.)

I might do this hike again.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and that made the painful climb worth it.
For a thorough write-up on this same hike, with awesome photography–check out Christie Nix’s guest post HERE.  Her post will also be filed under my “Visitors Forum” (Which is getting a name change, by the way.)  ***And to all of you who have visited Hawaii–please send me any photo, comment, or recommendation from your experience to be posted there as well.  Click HERE for more on that!

Now I do hope you’ll stop in tomorrow because I have a post all ready to share which is all for a very good cause.

And then you can be sure I’ll check in at least once from Maui.  Because I’m pretty sure there are some Maui fans out there, and I’ll be thinking of you.

Loha-

monica
(GM)

PS  Up & Riding kicked off their new BLOG  recently, and just featured MY GROMS in their new “Ohana Lookbook!”  They are welcoming submissions from all of you as well, so go over and check it out!  (And feel free to comment there with how much you love those Swanson boys! )