2012 has been pretty good to the Brotchie’s so far, granted it’s only been 4 days, but still…. We are living our lives with so much quality time, it’s been really great. I’ve never mentioned it on my blog the reason’s of our move from California to Hawaii. The main reason was to scale back, slow down, spend quality time with our little family. We had so much stuff, we were working HARD, for all that stuff. My husband and I wanted to show our kids that experiences and a life of personal richness should be what matters most. I’m not going to lie to you and say that life has been a bowl of cherries since our move, because it hasn’t been. It’s been a major shift in lifestyle and I’ve been adjusting slowly. I keep having to remind myself that the material stuff, really doesn’t matter. Every time I am at the beach with my kids and I see them having fun, laughing, playing, being with each other, experiencing, exploring…. it takes me to the reasons we are here. I’m grateful that I am here in Hawaii, but like I said before, I miss my mom, my dad and my brother very much. I am a mamma’s girl through and through. Anyhoo, before I start tearing up, I’ll just show you some of the pictures I took of Waimea Valley.

The falls is just a 30 minute walk through the valley. The plant life is just beautiful. Everything is lush, green and vivid…. and this is in the winter time! I’m curious to see what happens in the Spring in this place.

Macro photographers would have a field day here with all the beautiful close up’s of the plant life, every species here has a marker with the species name. I was in awe of the beauty of it all.

I took all of these photos with my f1.2L 50mm lens, which is a good all around lens, not a macro or a wide angle lens. I really wish I brought my wide angle though and my zoom, but i wasn’t in the mood to be lifting weights during my 30 minute walk.

My little B. She is perpetual sunshine. Happy all the time. She looked pretty cute in my cowboy hat.

When you make it to the falls, you also see a whole bunch of people waiting to go in as well. We got there around 3:00 so it was probably rush hour. If we had to go again, I would get there right when they open, I’m only guessing that it wouldn’t be so crowded or busy and perhaps you may get a more intimate experience with the falls. It’s just a hunch though. David and the keiki’s went in. I am happy on the sidelines, guarding the beach towels and manning my camera. The water temp is maybe high 60 degrees, a bit of a shock to the system if you’ve just come out of ocean water. But you know, they say, “Once you get in, it’s not that bad.” My clan swam over to the falls and got some of that run-off water showering them. Makes my heart burst for them to have that experience.

ANNNNND just to let you know, if you are a cell phone addict such as I, there is NO CELL SERVICE when you reach the falls… but why would you want to waste your time on your phone anyway when you are here?

Little guy said he didn’t want to swim. Adamantly refused to bring his swim stuff in case he changed his mind, said he wanted “to take a break from the beach today.” Of course he changed his mind quick when he saw the falls. Pretty sure he learned his lesson and will always have his swim stuff now when we set out for our day.

Have a great hump day!

Much Aloha,

~j