Need a bigger spoon?

 

This kid cannot get enough Kefir!

The Birds

 All over the Island of Kauai are wild Chickens. They are in the park, on the beach, hanging out at the Walmart, right outside our back door.  It was the coolest thing Annie and I had ever seen.  It made me want to let a flock of chickens loose at home.  Unfortunately there are too many predators here for them to survive.

 The roosters are stunning.

 Then there are the peacocks.  They were all over the pace when we went to the luau.

This one had a thing for Annie's dress.

Where the boys are...

The Beach!!!

 

The big boys spent the day surfing.  Annie even went out once (in complete life jacket gear).  She did not like the waves hitting her, but that didn't stop her.

Elsie LOVES sand!

And then there was the Lagoon:

Perfect for little Elsie with no waves and plenty of shallow water.

 Then Texas and Annie went and rented a board.

 We all had fun paddling around the lagoon.

 Elsie was less than interested.

Texas and Annie got pretty good at balancing.

Is this considered child labor?

The Pool

Our first day in paradise

 We were up well be fore the sun.

 Exploring in the dark.

 Our first sunrise in Hawaii!

 On the way there in the plane Annie informed me that you have to eat Pineapple for breakfast and where flowers in your hair if your going to Hawaii. 

 So for breakfast she had Pineapple and I put flowers in her hair. 

(the crazy part is these are not fake flowers)

 Elsie didn't have enough hair so she wore her lei.

 Ready for the day we went to walk around.

Annie of course found lots of nature.

P.S.  Baby jet lag is the worst thing ever.  It's 1:00 in the morning and Elsie is wide awake.  Not Good.

After

The garden exploded while we were gone.  Almost everything bolted which sucks, but nothing died.  Thank you to my awesome house sitter, Alex!  Your the best.
It's a little nerve wracking leaving your house for 11 days, when your always in the middle of growing or fermenting something.     She managed to keep all the plants, animals and fermenting cultures alive and well.  After we got back her comment to us was, "everything is so alive in your house." All the more reason to need a good house sitter. 

 Strawberries are over running their bed and blooming like crazy,

and the blueberries are covered in fruit.

 My spinach bolted like crazy.  It's snaking over into the cabbage.

 The baby chicks are not babies anymore,

but that doesn't stop my girls from loving on them.

Even I missed the girls.

Aloha!

We are home from our insanely long trip.  It was awesome.  Lots of pictures to come, only right now we have a serious jet lag issue that involves two kids and one over sized child needing mom right now.  Will post soon!  Mahalo.

Before

 Herbs toward the front are coming back strong.  The rest is lettuce coming in.

 Garlic/Parsley/Chives/Chard/Lavender

 Blueberries/Strawberries

 Cabbage/Broccoli/Spinach/Kale

 Peas/Onion

The Tomato plants, doing well despite the cold.

Chicken Barbie

 If Peta, found out what goes on in our backyard they might start picketing our front lawn.  The girls have discovered that Barbie accessories fit on the baby chicks!  Hours of fun were had by elaborately decorating the chicks. 

To the point of exhaustion.

The girls are set

 So this is the new set up for the chickens.  The big girls were less than pleased to loose space in their run, but once Texas has his grass set in, they'll be back to running the whole yard.   The baby chicks are a little young to be outside, but we pen them up in the house at night and turn on the heat lamp for them.  I'm just not up for them living in my house any more. 

 Annie is in charge of putting them up at night and opening the door for them in the morning.   I love that she's taking the responsibility seriously.   Her morning chore list is pretty long, but it motivates her to get out of bed in the morning.

Still the best dog ever

It's late and I'm so tired, but I had to post about Banjo.

We moved the chicks outside yesterday.  They have their own little mini house and mini chicken run to play in.  I'm glad to have them out of the house.  They do smell, and the constant chirping was getting to Texas.  But lets get back to Banjo...

 Elsie helped carry the chicks to their new house.

And then she thought Banjo might like to help.

He is a little irritated at first.

 

 But quickly grows fond of his new little friend.

To the point that he carefully holds his head up to keep Gertrude comfortable.

I love this dog.   Now I'm going to bed.
Goodnight.