Labor day weekend

We have seasons in Hawaii-- mango season, whale season, and on labor day, Hog season! Bikers come from all over to bike around the island. We had lunch with a chapter from Maui at Tex Drive Inn in Honokaa, famous for their Malasadas-- witness the hot bavarian cream malasada above. Yes. You are jealous.


Tex was actually our first outing with baby Rosie-- she was about 5 days old and I sorely needed a (grassfed local beef) burger. She slept in her little carrier then-- this time she was an active junk food participant, and drank mommy's whole shake, and sucked the ketchup off of a pound of fries.
gaaaaaaahhhh I wish i were eating it riiiight nowwwww.....
rosie and I took the envirobuggy to the farmer's market, on the back roads through Hawaiian homelands-- rosie was a big fan of this mango Popsicle.
does John Keawe, renowned slack key artist, play at your grocery store???
Matt, the lucky sea-dog, got to spend the night sailing on the Makalii from Kona to Kawaihae, navigating by the stars, watching man-sized manta-rays and green glowing algae.
At 17 months, Rosie has learned how to write her name in the sand. juuust kidding.
Right after taking this picture my toe was chewed off by a seashell. See, we were at Hapuna-- usually there are zero shells there but Rosie and I found one when we were digging in the sand. it was perfect-- a sharp 1.5" cone, beautifully colored. i didn't want to take it home (bad luck) but i didn't want to lose it quite yet so i stuck it in between my toes for safe keeping. about 10 minutes later I feel a sudden stinging sensation on my foot and I look down and there's some kind of waving white orb on my toes-- a portugee man-o-war??? I think and flick the thing away-- and the shell goes with it. So, yes, duh-- the shell was still occupied. YIIIIIIKES! We reburied it and my toe tissue regenerated, thanks for asking.
We LOOOOOVE our chickens! look at that little egg in there. They usually lay about one egg a day each-- it's been so great to make meringues and macaroons and ice creams and custards and dressings with our very own eggs. Thank you chickens! We love you!
Rosie LOVES this cat. She's figured out how to pick it up. Poor cat puts up with it for some reason.
indignities.
We went to the Hilo Zoo with Friend ruthie! So cute these girls!!


Somehow I don't have any pictures of the rest of our labor day weekend-- we had a great time playing at grundgy, portapotty-stinking, baby-friendly Spencer beach, we went to the Imiola church on church row-- the oldest (and certainly most beautiful) church in waimea-- all koa ceilings, walls, pews-- the kahu was so wonderful and engaging. He prayed and thanked god for the motorcycles and the 49ers. Wonderful! then we made our way to Puuhonua O Hoonaunau-- the place of refuge south of kona. I love that place-- for such an intense history it has a very peaceful atmosphere. We saw the giant honus pushing the sand around on the beach, and went swimming in the shallow tidepools on the lava bench. Rosie loved the crabs and the little fish. And we had our favorite-- Teshima's for lunch! The 100 something year old grandma is still there, although the walls and counters were all loaded with flowers and banners for her daughter who just died.
We love the big island and there are many many things we'll miss when we move to Kauai next month!