Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail

We ventured into a tropical forest for a family hike yesterday. The wind was in sane on parts of the hike, and it was a steady climb up the ridge. We didn't make it all the way, but we did four out of the five miles, which is further than we expected to make it before the littles started melting down. In the end, there weren't any meltdowns, and it was a fun, new adventure for us to explore a tropical forest. Naomi Bear got into her chatterbox + pro-tip, leader mode from the moment her foot hit the trail - not a single break in constant narration and guiding us safely along the path. Hilarious little bear.

  Her instruction face

We went in and out of airy pine groves with long, wispy needles - not what I expected to see on a hike in Hawaii.

My favorite part of the hike were thick sections of Cook's Pine trees (I think) toward the top of the trail. This is also something I've never seen but absolutely gorgeous. 

Eventually, after a couple of miles climbing uphill over roots and rocks and mud, the little bear finally got tired and climbed onto my back for a ride. Papa took baby boy and the backpack, totaling about 40-45 lbs of extra weight. Naomi is about 35 lbs, so I opted for carrying her. It's still no joke carrying her up a mountain, but the snuggles feel soooooo good to both of us.

By the way, we bought this "toddler" carrier for the purpose of carrying her once she hits her wall on hikes. I'll occasionally put her in it around the house for a bit when she needs some mama snuggles. We've been joking about casually wearing her around town in it with a sticker on the back that says, "Failure to Launch." We must laugh at ourselves every now and then, yes? I digress.

It was a sweet forest day in Hawaii with our beautiful babes. I still can't believe we're here. Hawaii!