Winged Wonders

Tyler and Kyle are very excited about their new blog.  They have a passion for animals, especially birds.  After watching a movie where they saw some birds being killed for their feathers they decided it was time to educate people about the beauty and magnificence of birds.  The new blog is tylerandkylesbirds.blogspot.com  They hope you find the blog enjoyable and informative. 

Samoan Pancake and Ko Pai

While Nana was here she made some Samoan dishes for the boys.  These are Samoan pancakes. We've made them before so we know the boys love them. I  think Kory ate 6!!  There wasn't even a crumb of pancake left. 

 The new dish was Ko Pai.  I'd never even heard of it when Monty asked his mom to make it but I have to say it is rather tasty and quite filling.  Sereisa said it came about when after hurricanes or storms when countries would send relief items they'd often send flower.  Well, the islanders weren't use to cooking with flower so they had to invent things.  Basically Ko Pai is like a thick dumpling in a liquid such as coco or a sugar water coconut mixture.  Nana made this liquid with burnt brown sugar, coconut milk and thickened it with some flower.  Anyway, I was skeptical, but it was good. The boys thought it looked like chicken.

Kyle even had seconds. (Pay no attention to the lack of shirts.  Like I said, it was a warm week.)

 Thanks for coming Nana.  We had a great week. 

Slip and...bump

 Nana thought it would be fun to get a slip and slide for the boys to play on as it was rather warm last week.  We hunted around and found one.  The boys were pretty excited, but we must be doing something wrong because it seemed more like a slip and bump.  Not very good sliding was going on.  However, the boys managed to get in a few good slides. 

I didn't think Makai would be interested in the idea so I didn't get him dressed.  Boy was I wrong.  In fact I think he might of had the best time.  He just played and played in the water as it sprayed him.  He stayed much longer than any of the other boys.

 It was not a hit with Trey. 

Nana's Visit

It's been a year since we have seen Nana, but she was finally able to make it out for about a week.  We had a great week.  On Monty's day off we decided to take a hike.  What a beautiful hike it was. 

Trey found this flower and made a wish!  Have you ever seen a 'wishing flower' this big?

Monty was on Makai duty.  This was not an easy task that day.  He couldn't decide what he wanted.  One thing he did know was he DIDN'T want to be in this tree.

Makai hinting to Monty that he was ready for a piggy back ride.

His begging payed off.

Our amazing hikers.

Trey cooling off. 

Mission completion.  Happy hikers near the end of our journey. 

My favorite part of the hike was the creek.  We crossed it about 7 times.  Trey was scared on the way up, but on the way back he was sure to remind me every time that he could do it on his own.  Sure enough...he did.  We also saw about 30 butterflies.  They were all just beautiful.  The wild flowers were amazing as well.  There is just something about being outside that refreshes your soul.  We were however excited to get back to the car and eat the lunch I'd packed.  One other thing we love about hiking..food tastes so good.

Rocky Drive

Yesterday Monty got off a little earlier than expected so we decided to take a drive up into the Rocky Mountains.  The views are beautiful.  I think Trey said it best when he said, "I can't believe my eyes."

 It was a little cold at the top of the tundra and thankfully Kyle was willing to share his sweater with me.  It's great to have bigger kids!

 Trey being Trey!

 We should have chosen our foot attire more appropriately, but being that it is July flip flops are what we usually wear.  We were not thinking SNOW.

 As we were driving we came across these bad boys! 

         Why did the Elk cross the road?                    Because the cars were honking its horns.  by, Kyle

 On our way down we stopped in Estes Park to go down the big slide.  All the boys love it, except Trey.

 Kyle and Kory

 Makai LOVES the slide!  When we get there he starts to run toward the slide.  He was not intimidated by the climb.

 But thankfully Tyler was there when he gave up.

 And it was worth all the effort! 

An amazingly fun day was had by all!!

What The...Hail!?

The past month or so we've had several hail storms.  Being from California these catch us off guard every time.  A few weeks ago I was at the gym when one started and I swore we were having a tornado.  The tin roof made the already loud storm sound much worse than it was.  Everyone in the gym stopped working out and we all just stared at each other wondering what we should do.  After the storm passed and I could hear again on my phone, I called home and Monty said all the boys had slept through the storm, so I finished my workout before coming home.  On my way home there was this white stuff all over the ground and it finally dawned on me that it was hail!  That's why it was so loud.  The boys have yet to wake up during a storm.  I however go outside after every storm to check out the hail.