coffee mill saturday

on saturday morning we headed down to the hilo coffee mill's farmer's market. i am sure you have heard me mention this before, because let's be honest, we go here a lot. each saturday they cook breakfast outside on the griddle, this day it was hotcakes. yum! the breakfast is good, the coffee is good annnnnnd they have a petting zoo! wes so kindly held all our bags so we could get up close with the animals. c and b had a blast touching, petting, and holding all kinds of creatures. it's no secret, so did we! 

after a couple hours at the mill we took the boys home for naps and wes so kindly hung out with them so us ladies could go to town for a kid free lunch. lucky us! 

black sand, ice cream and a volcano

after the big birthday outing we took an entire day off to relax. we stayed home all day and i think that maybe beckett got dressed after his nap...maybe. i don't really remember. it was good to have a down day, but we got right back at it the next day. we left the house around 11am and didn't get home till after 8pm. whew! here is a recap of the day.

we headed south over the volcano to the ka'u district. ka'u is quickly earning a reputation for it's coffee, in fact it is said to be the up and coming coffee and has been winning all sorts of awards. there is a tiny coffee estate that leaves out a pot of fresh brew and operates totally on the honor system. they also have mac nut trees and you can just pick mac nuts up and crack them right there. this is coen's most favorite job. he cracked mac nuts the entire time we were here. beckett's favorite job was running away from his mama...imagine that. 

after fueling up on ka'u coffee and mac nuts we headed on our way to punalu'u black sand beach. it was windy, but that was actually good because the black sand is hot hot hot. i have blogged about this beach a trillion times. it really is one of our favorite spots on the island. we weren't sure how long the boys would last, so we had no expectations. we ended up settling in and spending over three hours playing in the sand, sun, and blue blue pacific. oh and we said hello to a couple sea turtles too! 

of course an ice cream break was most needed after all that sun, so we headed out to the punalu'u bake shop. after some vanilla mac nut ice cream we tossed the boys into the car and headed back towards the volcano. lucky for us, both of them napped on the drive back. 

wes flew home from denver and headed straight up to the volcano to meet us. we spent the rest of the afternoon showing our guests the active volcano that wes works on, hiking through a lava tube and enjoying some delicious thai food. everyone was totally exhausted when we got home that night, but well worth it! 

hey mamas...

birthday, beaching & butter-cream

it was extra special to have everyone visiting because wednesday was my 30th birthday! {holy moly!} wes actually got called to a fancy pants meeting in denver and wasn't here for my big 3-0. i forgave him because my friends were here, and also because he took us to a resort in kona when he got back. we spent my birthday is hilo and it was a perfect and chill way to celebrate my day. 

we started off by having lunch at short n sweet bakery. they have a cute patio with a little table for the littlest costumers. the boys munched on grilled cheese sandwiches and played with their cars and planes. such boys. 

side note: aunty shellie and uncle bubs scored big with this travel road (or runway) and car (or plane) carrying case they gave c for christmas.

after lunch we loaded up the double stroller (thank you sigls!) and took a walk through the hilo farmers market and then headed to the mokupapapa marine discovery center. 

then is was beaching time. we headed to onekahakaha beach park. this isn't our favorite beach in hilo, but it is good for the kiddos. they have put a breaker wall in so there aren't any big waves, just small kieki pools. coen is right at home on the beach and in the water, but it was so fun to watch beckett experience these things...i think it blew his little mind. 

                                          

                                          

after a full day out we headed home to cook up some dinner and put the boys to bed early. i whipped up this super easy dinner. i think everyone like it, but beckett was in love with it. like, lick the bowl and rub it all over his body in love with it. mmmmmmm gooooood.


gnocchi bake 


Ingredients

• 1 (18 ounce) package frozen or fresh gnocchi
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1 (14 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add gnocchi, and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, crumble the sausage into a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until evenly browned. Drain grease, and stir in the spaghetti sauce. Remove from heat, and carefully mix in the cooked gnocchi and half of the mozzarella cheese. Transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

we got the boys bathed and in bed while the pastry chef (lauren) was down in the kitchen whipping up cupcakes with italian butter cream frosting and a caramel drizzle. i ate two. then we curled up on the couch and watched breaking dawn. perfect ending to my dirty thirty...which wasn't dirty at all...except for all the sand we brought home from the beach.