Will Hike for Pancakes (or Pork).

Since Ben was home (and awake) we decided to go on a family outing. Well, he had a few errands to run and I decided we would be tagging along and that we would start the day off at Boots and Kimo's, a local breakfast place that is supposed to have great pancakes with Macadamia Nut Sauce. Ben's not a huge breakfast person but it was nearly 11am by the time we got out the door so it counted as lunch for him. I knew he would love it when I ran inside to put our name on the list and noticed all of the Denver Bronco's paraphernalia. Also, because it is popular and doesn't have a ton of seating they take your name and when a table is close to coming up they come out and take your order, then when you are seated your food comes pronto...a feature which I knew would suit Ben's principles just fine (we have a slight patience problem).

We ordered an omelet and a stack of their famous pancakes and all was great (service was lacking). Then we completed our errands and were driving around when we came across a trail head that we decided to check out. A mile and a half, four stream crossings and a 400 foot elevation change later we were at Maunawili Falls. Since we were just going to check out the trail and not complete it, we were all wearing flip flops and Avery's had about a two-inch wedge on them. But she hiked all the way up by herself despite the mud and a trail thick with roots (on the way down she fell asleep on dads shoulders, using his head as a head rest). Miles got packed in by mom, which he loved of course. And I was the only one who got to swim beneath the falls (despite the warnings of leptospirosis, which I had thought was a type of leprosy but it's actually just a bacteria common in fresh water sources that wild animals might use a urinal) because I had thought we were going to the beach at some point and was wearing a suit. Had I known we were going to be going deep into the wilderness I would have brought a roll of duct tape and a knife. Ben doesn't like to hike just to so that was a small victory in itself (he only wants to hike if there is a purpose, like say, fishing, or a merit badge associated with it) because I do like to and it's challenging with two kids and only one back (although I have packed Avery on the back and Miles on the front before - just ONCE, like I said, I only have one back, I'd better preserve it).

To replenish the expended calories we hit up Keneke's for a couple Kalua Pig Sandwiches on the way home and called the day a success.

Pictures by someone else.