Aidan's 8th Birthday

My poor Aidan. He has somehow ended up not having very big parties compared to the other kids for the last few years. I swear it's not a middle child thing. Last year I just wasn't up to it right after having Lucy. This year, eight, was going to have to be huge! Aidan is in love with Harry Potter, so we were going to go all out. My parents were here in town for his baptism, and my Mom is also a huge Harry Potter fan (who isn't, really?). She's thrown huge HP parties before, so I was very grateful for the help. 


We made wands for the boys, which they got to pick when they arrived. We had a sorting hat and sorted the boys into their houses. They got felt ties with their house colors. We had a huge assortment of treats, including cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs, owl snacks, chocolate wands, and acid pops. We also had the absolutely necessary drink, butterbeer! The kids seemed to have a blast, especially running around and casting spells at each other. Aidan thanked me over and over for the party, so I think he felt loved and important, and that's exactly what we wanted for this special day. 

My Dad as Lucius Malfoy

Lucy was in LOVE with the Butterbeer. 

She was practically trying to climb into that cup!

Spouting Horn, again

My Mom has been with us to see Spouting Horn, and my Dad did visit while my parents were here on a cruise a few years ago, but we still wanted to see it all together. We tried to go last year when they were here, but it was pouring rain. It was the perfect weather this time and I was able to get a few beautiful shots, although not of people.

Shipwrecks Beach

Spencer was on-call while I went to Shipwrecks to take pictures for our friend's wedding. He had never been to that beach before, so we decided to head south to see it with my parents and the little girls. It was the perfect day! Gorgeous weather, warm, and very sunny. The beach is called Shipwrecks because there used to be an old shipwrecked boat out in the water, but it is no longer there.

Na Pali catamaran with Nana

My Mom was able to come and help babysit my kids for 2 days while I was in Montana and Spencer was on the Big Island for youth conference. Obviously after that, we played. She has been writing a book and going on a catamaran trip was part of the story so she needed to go for research. After the insanity of the trip we took with the kids a few months back, it was decided that just Nana, me and Sienna would go this time.

It was amazing. The weather was great and we actually got to see the Na Pali coast. So breath-takingly beautiful! The 3 of us got to snorkel in crystal clear waters. We even saw a white-tip reef shark (not to be confused with white-tip sharks). It was small and mellow, but still cool to see. I panicked for about 1 second when I saw the tail fin at the bottom, but then I realized it would be too small to do much damage. It was nice to know I wouldn't have a heart attack and die of fear. I can be rational and think. It was the perfect day.

We were so tired by the ride home!