tis the season for surf contests

The Eddie happens only every few years, the last time it was held was in 2004. The time before that, and when we had seen it last, was in 2002. The waves have to be consistently over 25 ft for the whole day with good conditions because it is run in a single day, so it is special when it happens. In 2002 it was crowded, but not too crazy. This year was insane. I knew our beloved north shore has been under siege as of late, but I didn't know it would be like it was. People slept in their cars on the side of the road around Waimea Bay the night before because there was a chance it would be on...but we didn't know the degree of insanity until we had gotten there.
I thought it'd be on Tuesday, so we planned for it Monday night. Lunch packed, bags packed and alarm set. We got up at 5:30 and arrived at the bay before light. Sadly, we had to still park about 2 miles away- cars were already parking along side the road and people were walking.
Crazy, yes. But there's an anxious feeling in the air and everyone's in a good mood. Turtle was right: when the surf is good, nobody works.


Driving past Haleiwa. We realize we're not the only ones going to watch.


The trek. Tristan knew it was a special day.

We finally got to the bay and were greeted with this:

A bit later the commentators on the beach announced that the Eddie is on and we could hear everyone cheer.


Found a nice spot at the end of the beach with shade the whole day.


Tristan was so excited he started tearing off his pjs.

Views from the beach.



The madness. Bathroom wait: men's- 15 min, women's-30+ min.

Kelly pulling into the shorebreak.

Tristan trying to sneak away at the end of the day


I don't know if we'll go again for a while, especially since they have it live on the internet now.
But it is such an experience.


The Pipe Masters:
I wait for this contest all year, it is so sweet to watch. Huge gaping barrels close to the beach. So much fun. And all my heroes are in it.



Kelly pulling in. (gift idea: I need a sweet zoom lens)

Tristan kickin it in the Volcom house bushes.

Dane is great.

Great Dane.

Mama and T enjoying the show.

Tristan was pretty fired up by the end of the day. This what happened when we pulled him away from the beach.

One of my favorite things about winter/ Christmas time is the surf. both enjoying it and watching stuff like this. So glad my little family enjoys it too.

jon swift

Jon Swift (aka Shawn Little) came to play in Kaimuki a couple of weekends ago. This was one of those moments in my life where I wish I could have lived it all over again, exactly the way it was. It was held in a loft of a home called the "ward rafters". The woman who lives there has turned her upstairs unit into a concert venue, seating about 50 people. The room was so intimate, you felt so close to the performers, as though they were playing to YOU only. To add to the coziness of the room, we were having a thunder and lightening storm outside while they were playing. Jon threw a violinist into the mix, which melted us even more and put us all into a trance as we listened to his music. ahhhhh it was so wonderful.

Some of you may recognize the shaggy boy as Rob Machado. He's been touring with Jon to help promote his new surf film "The Drifter".

Listen to one of our favorite songs below "Run River". Beware, the video is SUPER cheesy but it's all I could really find. (It's kind of funny). Grab a tissue and Enjoy.

a blue and green thanksgiving

No altering photos here folks, these are for real. The real colors of the Big Island. This year we spent Thanksgiving with Christian's parents in Waimea. We brought the Garner family with us to join in on the fun. Great food, great scenery, visits with friends and family, it was a nice weekend.

Our friend Paul brought his zoom lens and took some shots of Christian in the water. The waves were a lot smaller than they appear. I believe the bigger swell hit the Big Island just as we were leaving.

Pololu Valley. There's actually a story behind this Valley. Long story made very short, Christian got stuck while climbing up the cliff (see second below picture, that's the cliff!), and a helicopter had to rescue him soon after he was found. He almost gave his poor mom a heart attack. Everyone thought that he was washed away at sea.

Check out that wall of rain coming in. We left just in time.

Crazy spider! The macro lens is tricky, you have to either have a tripod or be super still to get a nice clear shot. I wasn't that steady for this one.

Waipio Valley. Another black sand beach.

Checking out the black sand.

Our blue eyed baby boy.

The face.

Our attempt at a family photo.

The cute Garner family.

Sometimes we like to hang Tristan out the window while we're driving. It gives him a break from being tied down in his car seat. He loves it.

Akaka Falls

Our last day there, we headed down to the beach for a picnic (can't remember the beach name), and wandered around the tide pools. T was dying to get in the water, so we gave him a little dip.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Special thanks to JLynn for the marvelous Thanksgiving meal. My fav? the twice baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with cream cheese in them, ambrosia salad, and of course...german chocolate cake.