Kayaking up the umm Hawaiian River

walking on the beach next to our condo. this is where they discovered lots of black crabs in the rocks.

Seth with his Harom

Take givin it at the Luau , she was acutally in the Hanelai Newspaper

the next day. She was dancing next to the Mayor at one time . so she got into the Paper.

On our Hike to the Napali Coast. WE met up with Nate and some friends on the way back.

Thursday. Today was a spectacular day. Up early and down to the river to rent kayaks for seth , taite and I .
We padddled , raced, splashed, laughed, I got stucked in the jungle area, seth attempted the rapids,
I saved a bumble bird(huge bee) from drowning. We saw birds of all kinds, foliage of all kinds went through a banana area, bamboo area, bird sanctuary the kids thought a part of it was like the jungle cruise in Disneyland and we were looking for the hippos and the headhunters. we saw a crappy old boat or two wondering what happened to the crew. Seth found a life jacket from the rental place stuck in a tree branch hanging down , but lost it when he tipped himself over trying to be smart by paddling with his elbows(its hard to describe) We all got sunburned and it was great. Sorry no photos as I didnt want to lose the camera to the alligators. After our 2and a half mile trip up the river and then back again, we had lunch at the beach with bill watching the local surfers and feeding the birds. There was one particular one that would feed from your hand. After spending an hour or so in the hot tub and pools, bill and I went down to the kayaks again and this time went down river to the ocean and back up again. Later back to Hanalei to get taite from her friend. She was hanging out and watching them have their hula lesson while the dad played the guitar and sang. It was great I got to see apart of it. then back to the beach to do some snorkeling . It was a fun little hike down to this secret beach. kinda treacherous but we all made it safetly hanging on to the ropes that were provided.

Another wonderful day in paradise

Well today was fantastic. Taite and I woke up to hike part of the Napili Coast. We only ventured in 2 miles to the beach as it was super muddy and slippery. It was absolutely beautiful . Taite wanted to get back to meet her new friend as she was giving her surfing lessons. when we arrived at the beach we hooked up with nate williams and his 2 friends. We hiked partially back down together. At the bottom we didnt have cell phone service to get ahold of bill so Taite and I hitch hiked back to Hanalei. We were picked up by 2 of the girls we hiked with a bit. so that was great. we got to hanalie and got ahold of bill as we were enjoying shaved ice. Then we picked up seth and then back to Hanalaie beach to do some boogy boarding as the waves were awesome. Taites friend kenna came and gave her a lesson. We hooked up with nate again. They were at the same beach. After our couple of hours on the beach, back to the condo for a hot tub and then when we in there a guy told us about a sweet beach close by . we had to trek to it. as it was a steep path with railings and ropes to help us get down. So bill and I snorkeled and then back up the trail to the condo, took nate to Anini beach and then we went to town to pick up a few groceries. The day was so fun.

More Kauai

Our walk down from the hotel to the beach. Seth made a video of it. will add later.
Saw some locals and all their fish they caught, pretty impressive. taite chased black crabs around the black lava rocks. Seth went camera happy. it was a most beautiful beach and view of the mountains. church was great and taite found a new friend. Kenna a girl that lives here.
We went for 2 long walks and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and weather.
Monday we headed out early after we watched a surf demo , to the Anini beach. The tide was really out so snorkeling there wasnt to great. but exploring around was fun. we then headed to tunnels beach and loved snorkeling. The kids really enjoyed it . then back to the condo and then we dropped taite off at kennas to play beach volleyball and then they cruised around the little town on their cruisers. Bill seth and I walked around aliitle market and then came back to the condo to make our Pu PU for the PU PU. then off to the PU PU with Hawaiian music , taite called and was ready to get picked up so i went and got her and then back to the lobby. she was invited to a Luau tom as her friends family puts it on. her dad is the fire thrower and the girls dance and the mom does the drums. We are trying to get tickets to it as well. should be fun. it was another fun filled day .photos coming.

Happy Easter

Its easter and we are enjoying the beautiful Island of Kauai. We arrived and it has been raining since Feb. The worst year in 20 they said. Well yesterday our first full day was beautiful.
Bill and Taite had a scuba experience in the pool and then we were off to the beach and a drive up the north coast with a few stops along the way. wow it was beautiful. We stopped and swam a Hanaleia bay and we rented acouple of boggy boards for the week. It was sunny and warm. Of course the day couldnt be a complete day in Hawaii with out a shaved ice. YUM.
Today is sunday and we enjoyed church in the little branch of Hanalaeia. Lots of visitors though. It was great and fun to meet new people. Taite met a new friend and she is planning on hanging out with her sometime this week.
We are now planning on going for a walk to enjoy the sun and beautiful surroundings. photos to follow

Taites dance photos from last year

Our Little Ballerina - this is from last year I finally got the photos

Taite in her Jazz outfit last year

Happy Birthday Brett! I'm sitting here waiting for 2:00 a.m. to arrive as that is when we will be loading up the car to head to calgary. We are off to Kauai Hawaii in the early morning. We have had a busy week getting things ready to go. We are looking forward to some R&R, especially Bill as he has been working really hard.
Here are a couple of photos of Taite. I finally got her photos from last year dance. As they will be having their year end dance recital in June at the Yates this year.

seth and taite at the band concert

Taite had a little solo in her grade 8/9 band concert and seth was all dressed up in his cumberbun and black bow tie. video to follow when I figure out how to do that.

TIMBERRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Portion of the tree , the top part, the little electric chain saw that I use. Bill has the He Man one.
The hollow part of the tree was full of honeybee cone stuff , layers and layers of it. it was so cool, I kept pulling out layers of it. It was crazy. Never seen anything like it.
Deeper inside it got darker and more decomposed

TIMBERRRRR!!!!! Well today down came our other cottonwood tree. the Kids and I hid in the house praying that Bill wasn't going to kill himself and that the house was going to be standing . He laid it down perfectly where he had planned. We wanted to video it but it was so frightening , we couldn't watch. We heard the huge crash and felt it, if you felt the earth move today around 3:00p.m. it could have been from our tree. It had to come down as the other one fell over last year, they rots from the inside out. As I was chainsawing parts of it I noticed a huge hollow section in a large 2 ft diameter section a massive honey bee cone home thingy.

"THERE BACK"

THERE BACK!!!!!!!!!We always know when its suppose to bring spring here in Magrath .
We are awaken by the sound of a herd of elephants walking around on our roof. A few years ago I thought it was cats chasing birds up there and I would run out and never see the cats. Then I thought it was huge rats running in the attic. Even though we don't have an attic. It kinda freeked me out during the day when I would hear the thud, thud noices again. Finally one day as I went out side and looked up on the roof and......." there they were"...... A pair of Canadian Geese. They have now decided every year to come back to our home and enjoy the beautiful view and build a nest close by. One year the nest was way up in a 100 ft tree. Every year we think the same male and female adorn our roof by sitting on a peak and scouting out the territory. Some days they look like a weather vein (sp)? up there. Its kinda cool but the poop around the yard is big. and their call is annoying as well. Taite has named the the two lovebirds, Stevie and Erckle . We also have a few woodpeckers who love to peck on our metal pipe on the roof. I think they are retarded as they ratatatat. I went out the other day to shoot it with a sling shot. I was afraid I was going to hit the window. So I had to practise a few times and then when I figured it out she was gone. She Hasn't been back for a few days. I hope she got the hint.
I also have a wreath on the front door. It was my mothers wreath and she loved birds. Well I have it on my front door and for the last three years as well I have had a robin build a nest in it. She also lays eggs . They never hatch as she leaves them. The first time she laid I put a rope across the front steps because every time anyone came to the door or I was in the living room it scared her off the nest. She eventually leaves. but still has built three nests there. I take them off as people will borrow my wreath for a wedding or Taite needed the nest for something and then I brought it inside this year as I put a different fall wreath out. I hope she will come back again this year. I haven't seen a robin yet.