Our Most Ambitious Hike Yet?

The Kukui Trail to the bottom of Waimea Canyon (and back up) may have been our most ambitious hike to date.  It offers several challenges in the form of elevation change, steepness, exposure and heat.  Certainly not the longest trail Maddie and I have ever hiked, but 2.5 miles down and 2.5 miles back up with 2500 feet of elevation gain and temperatures in the mid-80's combine for a pretty tough hike.  Maddie seemed to enjoy the hike despite the annoyance of mosquitoes at the lower elevations near the river.

View from lunch spot

Once we got away from the mosquitoes, we spent about an hour under the shade of a tree soaking up the view and having lunch.  With the shade and the breeze, the temperature felt much less oppressive.  After that short respite, I started the march out of the canyon which took about 1 long, hot hour.  Maddie laughed her way to the top - I only hope she was enjoying herself, not laughing at her hot, sweaty, worn-out dad.

Killer Views of Wai'ale'ale

A few weeks ago, Em, Maddie and I had a day together to hike and Em had the foresight/luck to choose the Moalepe trail featuring wide-open views of Wai'ale'ale.  One caveat: Wai'ale'ale is the wettest place on earth, so I've seen the top unobstructed by clouds only once - on the Blue Hole hike.  However, on this day, the weather would be on our side.  Maddie was an angel and we had views to the top of Wai'ale'ale the entire hike, so needless to say we had a tremendous day.  A few pictures which certainly don't do justice to this awesome spectacle.

Ladybugs, Dynamite and a Housewife

Halloween was a good time this year.  We celebrated twice: once with Maddie in a wholesome fashion distributing candy to the neighborhood kids and once with our friends at a Halloween bash in our neighborhood.
Maddie was a ladybug and didn't seem to mind her costume once we managed to get her into it.  She enjoyed the constant activity of all the children arriving at our porch in their colorful costumes.  It was a cool evening (by Hawaii standards) so we wore sweatshirts and sipped our drinks while Maddie crawled around like a ladybug and helped with the candy.

MMMMMMMM...candy!

MMMMMMMMMM...alcoholic beverages!

Maddie gets the munchies when she drinks.

Later, while having dinner at the Kalaheo Cafe, Maddie decides she is NOT a vegetarian.

Who's number 1?

A few nights later, we put Maddie to bed and had a babysitter stay while we went to Joe and Chelsae's house.  I was Napoleon Dynamite, Em a housewife, Joe was Slash and Chelsae went straight 80's style. 

 We had a few drinks and then departed to a big party down the street.  It was already hoppin' by 9:30 when we arrived and Joe jumped right into the action playing guitar for the Guns 'n' Roses karaoke. 

Despite several "costume" cops, the real cops still came at one point due to the noise - a definite sign of a good party.

Em acting the part.