Soccer Clinic

The local high school girls' soccer team (Waimea) held a one night soccer clinic here on base! Noah was very excited about going to the clinic, but we had one problem...Noah didn't have any tennis shoes! We've lived in Kauai for almost a year and a half, so there hasn't been a need for Noah to have close-toed shoes.  Not surprisingly, Noah had grown several shoe sizes since Jacksonville!

You can kind of tell from the picture that Noah had NO IDEA how to walk in the tennis shoes! It was so funny to watch how awkward he was at first.

 

Definitely a problem that you would only experience living on a tropical island ;-)

Noah wanted to bring his own plastic soccer ball :)

During the warm-up, Noah insisted on carrying his ball...

Still carrying his ball!

I'm pretty sure he gets his soccer skills from his father ;-)

 

 

The lesson we learned from the soccer clinic is that if we want Noah to learn anything about soccer, we are going to have to find a clinic not run by high school girls! Noah had all of the girls wrapped around his little finger, and he figured out that the sillier he was, the more they giggled! Noah thrived on all the attention, and so his focus switched from trying to play soccer to trying to make the girls laugh...he did this mostly by rolling around on the ground and running around in circles :-)



Noah definitely had a great time, even if he didn't actually play much soccer!

For your viewing pleasure: more videos!!!

 

 

Our three-year-old soccer stud ;-)

 

 

Maha'ulepu Trail

In November, Lucas got to go on his first hike! Of course, he slept through the whole thing but he was there :-)

Maha'ulepu Trail





Brandi, Me, Kelly, Heidi, Rose, Angela & Jen

Gotta keep him covered up from the sun!

 

Me, Kelly & Angela

Karate Tech

Back in November, Noah had a brief foray into the world of karate (Karate Tech to be specific). Several of the older kids on base go to karate class, and Noah had been asking if he could go, too.  It was definitely against my better judgment because I didn't think Noah was quite ready but he really wanted to do it so we let him give it a shot.

Noah was in the 3-5 year old class but most of the boys were on the older end. It was pretty clear that Noah wasn't quite mature enough for the discipline and attention required at the class (especially after being at school all day) even though he definitely has the size and strength! Half the time, he was more interested in checking himself out in the mirror :-)

Needless to say, karate only lasted for about a month, and even Noah was happy to not have to go anymore by the end of the month!

I really wish they had a soccer league for his age on the island because he would love an activity where he could just run around!

We were at least able to get some cute photos out of the karate experience :-)

 

Here are a couple of videos I took (hopefully they work...):

 

 

 

 

 

Husker Power

Here are a few photos from this football season

GO BIG RED!!!

Touchdown!!!



Ely & Noah went fishing on our beach one morning, and apparently Noah got all wet so he just took all his clothes off :-)

Lucas was too focused on the game to pose for a picture ;-)

Happy Veterans' Day

For the second year in a row, we celebrated Veterans' Day at the Kauai Veterans Cemetery in Hanapepe at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"  :-)

 



Aloha Grandma J

We owe a huge mahalo to Grandma J for coming out to Kauai and spending four weeks with us!!! Thank you so much for all your help around the house and especially with the boys!

Monk Time

During Grandma J's visit, we saw a monk seal hanging out on our beach here on base!

 

Hawaiian Monk Seal

The monk seals are highly protected on the island because of their endangered status so we are supposed to keep our distance, but Lucas wanted to get a look at this guy ;-)



Also during Grandma J's visit we got to visit Kauai's Hindu Monastery. "Kauai Aadheenam, also known as Kauai's Hindu Monastery, is a traditional South-Indian style monastery-temple complex...
This powerful spiritual sanctuary was founded in 1970 by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001). It is the home of Bodhinatha and his order of 21 swamis, yogis and sadhakas from six nations. The monastery is the headquarters and theological seminary of Saiva Siddhanta Church. It is also home to Himalayan Academy, Hinduism Today magazine and Hindu Heritage Endowment.

Two traditional Saivite Hindu temples are located on the monastery's 363 acres, Kadavul Temple and the San Marga Iraivan Temple, a rare, all-granite Chola-style temple currently being carved in Bangalore, India, and assembled on Kauai."

This picture does not even do the view justice! It was one of the most picturesque spots I have seen on the island!

Lucas at one month old at the monastery