We snuck away for a quick camping trip to celebrate the birthday of our good friend and fellow crossfitter, Mat (of Mat & Tiara). Not only were we the only group to set up camp in Sugi Grove, but the clear and cloudless night sky coincided with the 2012 supermoon! The trip was a great way for us to unplug from our normal routine, slow down and enjoy the company of our friends, plenty of great food and the surrounding beauty of Koke’e State Park. Signs of summer are definitely in the air.
Gearing up for their Kauai wedding, Brittany and Jeff arrived a little early with an agenda to explore as much of the island as possible. Right after they landed we hit the South Shore in search of sea turtles, and despite poor visibility, we lucked out with a great snorkeling session! Then we wiped the sand off our feet and changed into dinner attire on the side of the road. Jeff and Brittany insisted on treating us to dinner (the first of many lavish meals during their stay!) at one of the newest and nicest restaurants in Poipu, Red Salt. After narrowly escaping multiple food-comas, we all woke up early the next morning for a day hike to Hanakapi’ai Falls. There’s no better way to catch up with great friends than hiking all day together! Swimming in the icy pool under the falls, then eating lunch on the warm river rocks was the perfect reward and recharge for the hike back. It was awesome experiencing such an incredible waterfall for the first time with Brittany and Jeff. We were also lucky enough to spot a couple rainbows as we headed home! Below is a conglomeration of pictures from the day… Photo credit shared – all the best ones were from their camera 
Many mahalos to Brittany & Jeff for such an incredible time spent together. Stay tuned for their gorgeous wedding photos, coming soon!
We had an awesome visit from our good friend Scott! He dedicated his Spring Break from UCLA’s School of Law to endure a crash course with us at Kauai Crossfit while also motivating us to try adopting his vegan diet for the week. Scott did an amazing job for a first-time crossfitter, and we were mediocre at best in maintaining his diet (backyard eggs and Portuguese sausage are nearly impossible for us to live without). Between the workouts and each carefully prepared vegan meal at home, we trekked from north to south hitting a few of the island’s highlights and hanging out in luxury at the best resorts. It was great catching up, sharing stories and exploring the island together! Thank you for all your generosity, Scott… our doors are always open and we really hope you come back soon!!!
Normally, midday on a Saturday is a popular time for surfers to enjoy the waves. This day was no different with most of the well known surf spots jam-packed with paddle boarders, body boarders, short and long boarders. Our recent summery weather has brought the crowds to the beach and we’re all happy to take advantage of the postponed rainy season. We were lucky enough to find a more secluded corner to ourselves with the added benefit of a photographer onshore that randomly decided to grab a few shots of our session together. Needless to say, we had a great day “somewhere in Hawaii”.
It was a surprisingly warm winter vacation in Washington, filled with lots of Wagner family traditions, great meals together and fun walks in woods. Instead of roasting chestnuts on an open fire, we cracked homegrown Kauai coffee beans by hand and roasted them in an air popcorn popper. With lots of beginners luck and a little research, the coffee was a success and we also got our open fire in the yard thanks to Big Daddy Wags. We took advantage of a couple sunny days strolling around the harbor and venturing into Seattle. On the way to David, April and William’s house, we made a really fun stop at the Experience the Music Project Museum where Ben snapped the coolest picture of us pretending to be rockstars…
After getting our fill of vintage guitars and Seattle’s music history, the famous Dick’s Drive-In was next on the agenda. We had the best deluxe cheeseburgers ever made. Definitely on the top of our do-it-again list for next year. Before our trip was over, we enjoyed time with our nephew William, made a few extra shopping trips, tested our awesome GoPro Christmas present, cleaned numerous buffet plates of dungeness crab and tried to make our dollars last on the slot machines at Tulalip Resort Casino. Many mahalos to the Wagner family for making everyday together special. Happy New Year!
Our Thanksgiving this year definitely stepped it up a notch. A big thanks to Jerome for hosting our feast at his beautiful beach-front home, and to Jill for coordinating everyone’s best pot-luck contribution. We signed up to bring Julia’s special cranberry salad and the turkey, which felt like way more pressure than our usual commitment of side dishes. Luckily after plenty of research, preparation, and the handy imu turkey cook-a-thon fundraiser, we can’t take full responsibility for how incredible it turned out.
The day was complete with speedminton, frisbee, and mixed drinks. Needless to say, it was a perfect sunny and beautiful celebration. We’re thankful for our families, friends, and of course the place we call home. This last picture is where we spent the day after recovering from our huge meal…
This is the time of year when Chris and I launch into a frenzy of homemade crafty projects in preparation for the holidays. In an attempt to avoid the commercialism that can often feel overwhelmingly expensive and sometimes wasteful, I decided to use recycled materials as inspiration instead.
Handmade jewelry made from beach treasure might be a nice gift for some of the ladies I know, but now what can we do for the guys?
Here’s a quick look into our day today… We woke up slowly with the rain, which cleared just in time for our morning exercise class. A quick coffee stop on the way home was followed by a little work around the house: feed the chickens, do laundry, work on holiday projects, putz around. In need of a break from our daunting to-do list, we stopped, dropped, and hopped on the bikes to go for a surf and meet up with friends at the beach. When we got home, four protein-packed omegas were waiting to be collected from our prized backyard egg-laying machines. To top it off, we’ve got one more day left in the weekend. Tough life, I know.
Scissors, spray paint, cardboard and old clothes were on the list of ingredients for our do-it-yourself costumes. They may have turned out a little shabbier than anticipated, but certainly made for a fun day of sporadic creativity. Julia and I had a great time showing off our getups with friends at a crazy costume party. This planetary moon wrangler even tried to blast off under the lights before getting drenched in his own intergalactic sweat…
We managed to sneak in another funday with the Kauai Crossfitters in celebration of September birthdays. The day was complete with a huge blow-up waterslide, live band, freestyle frisbee, an assortment of superfoods, full moon, and several hours spent on our communal mini-ramp. After complete exhaustion set in, I ended up kidnapping Jerome‘s new micro 4/3 camera and snapped a few shots of the halfpipe action. This is as close as you get to a formal black and white affair on Kauai…
It was great having Lara and Alex stay with us for part of their Kauai vacation. In the few days we spent together, we made the most of summer weather and enjoyed being outdoors, in the sun and at the beach. We had tons of fun living it up as tourists, covering the highlights around the island, snorkeling and shell hunting, plus encouraging Julia to make more lilikoi bars. It was a really nice way to catch up with good friends and end our summer break on a high note before getting back into the school schedule. Check out the slideshow…
Weighing in just shy of 100 lbs, this is the first bunch of ripening bananas from our yard. Currently, we have six other banana trees that are also flowering. We’ll definitely have our hands full if they all become ripe at the same time, but luckily our friends in the neighborhood are happy to help us out. For us this is a whole new level of gardening with amazing results!
As always, we really enjoyed our time spent with Julia’s parents. Their visit included the perfect balance of adventurous days in the water and low-key relaxation with books, naps and swinging in the hammock. One memorable highlight of their stay was when Big Daddy Wags and Our #1 Fan treated us to a special four-year anniversary dinner at Josselin’s. We all agree that our entire family excels at eating great food together. Hopefully our level of activity was enough to burn off the extra desserts. Renting boats from our friends at Wailua Kayak Adventures was another highlight that included a solo tour of Fern Grotto, hunting for rope swings, barefoot hiking through sludge, and Marty’s 100 foot shower under Secret Falls. Thanks again for stocking our fridge and filling up our gas tanks… we’re already starting to run low on supplies and need you to come back soon We miss you both! Hope you enjoy the short video (above) and photos (below).
