Kingston's 2nd Birthday Party

Kingston Hubert is officially a toddler! He talks, walks, runs, laughs, denies bedtime, all like a boy instead of a baby. He's been communicating with great words for so long, but is really forming sentences and communicating his wants much clearer now. He is confident walking away from me and exploring ((while simontaneously more pissed off when I walk away from him.)) He wants to know how everyone's "bites" are. He asks ((demands)) for the uncles to read him books on the couch, or for bites of coconut meat from John's freshly opened coconut. He wears earplugs taped to his ears while driving the big mower with Pop. He gets thrown around and picked on by the uncles, and he can hang pretty well with all! He is learning compst vs. trash. He loves the moon and stars. His favorite movies right now are The Good Dinosaur, Kung Fu Panda and Moana. He likes to help sweep and chop veggies. He loves this little herb in the garden that makes your mouth go numb, called Spilanthes, and the way he says it is to die for. He loves to spray the hose, though he doesn't get to do that too much because we conserve water due to being on a rain catchment system. So instead he plays in tubs of cool water and splashes around. We're practicing going on the potty, some days are better then others, but him running around in his underwear is so cute ((until he poops in them.)) He changes and grows everyday. As time goes on, though I miss my baby, he's more fun to live with now that we can discuss things, make jokes, play silly games, weed in the garden together, and talk about tools vs. toys. The sweet, surprise smooches and squeezes and "love you, Mama" fills my cup up more then I could have imagined. Every phase this kid has gone through has been my favorite. 

Celebrating his birthday was so fun! On his actual birthday, on Saturday, we worked a little on the farm in the morning, then opened a few presents. We went into town to get groceries for the pizza party and prep everything at one of the cafes. Alexa, Riley and Amanda helped us prep and I made potato nachos for dinner. King loves to explore the cafe while it's closed, reminds me of being at La Casa Fiesta on days it was closed. That night he must have known he was two because it was the first time he flat out threw a tantrum about not going to bed and crying to play with his toys... silly boy. 

The next morning we woke up to a downpour, which was so needed, but not on this day! We were supposed to have an epic beach day with all the awesome new beach toys I got. It said it was supposed to rain all day, and it did. So our friends recommended the astrology center and then they picked us up and we took our boys to a fun, hands on museum about the stars, planets, universe, deep ocean, and history of the islands. We played around for a while as the boys went from one thing to another then watched a video about Mauna Kea in the dome theater. After that we cruised around for some errands before ending up at the cafe to start decorating and setting up the pizza buffet. Blake made a huge amount of dough and pizza sauce while Liana and I decorated and Chase kept an eye out on the wild boys fighting/playing with each other... silly boys. 

Once the "aunties" and "uncles" (thank you, Hawaii, for installing a natural tribe by making everyone a relative) showed up, we let them free in the kitchen to roll out amd create their pizzas. It was chaotic and we learned from mistakes as we went, but it was so entertaining and made for lots of smiles and full, happy bellies (one point the whole place seemed silent when everyone was grubbing their pizzas.) One of our friends, who has her own raw vegan business, dropped off a cake she made just for K. It was a white chocolate cheese cake with a peanut butter crust. Yeah. Packed that baby full of candles and it created such a great moment for a song and for King to blow out his candles, and it was delicious. Everyone also got into Jackie's homemade ice cream with banana split toppings! Then King opened his presents and was so sweet about them. Everyone really thought about us and him in their sweet gifts. It was fun to watch them all really dote on King and reminisce about how much he's grown since we first arrived. We ended the night running those boys around while cleaning up, and finally ending with snuggles in bed. 

Reflecting on this weekend, we are so thankful and grateful for those who love K near and far. The FaceTime calls, cards and packages sent in the mail, special birthday hugs and gestures and patience really shown through to help K feel special and maybe even start to grasp the concept of birthdays. Of course what two-year-old doesn't want to have an audience?! Thank you, family, for loving on our Kingston.

To Kingston on his second trip around the Sun, 

Dream Big, Ride Far, my son, and Be Happy! We are blessed by you and love that we get to be a part of your growing up! 

xoxo, 

Mom & Pop 

Here are some of the thoughtful gifts for K: he also made out with a boogie boards, a light saber, a huge pizza slice pool floaty, trucks, a huge dragon kite, a fluffy stuffed puppy, garden gloves, and awesome books! 

Low Fat, High Carb, Plant Based Pizza Buffet ingredients: all organic

Whole Wheat dough 

Homemade roasted red bell pepper, onion, garlic and tomato pizza sauce 

Homemade pesto sauce with no oil and fresh basil from the garden 

Homemade "parmesan" with onion and garlic powder, nutritional yeast and hemp seeds 

Canned artichoke hearts and black olives 

Tomato slices 

Mushroom slices 

Bell pepper slices 

Onion slices 

Zucchini slices 

Barbeque sauce 

Fresh pineapple chunks 

Peppers from the garden 

Rosemary from the garden 

Broccoli from the garden 

Mixed greens 

Jar of chopped sundried tomatoes 

Honey 

Vegan mozzarella cheese 

BYO real cheese 

Cassava patties for the gluten free 

Land Living

Fresh Food

Farm to Table 

Sustainability 

Permaculture 

Eating off the Land 

Unprocessed 

Organic 

Simple 

Vegan 

High Raw 

As we were debating where our lives should take us in the next few years, these topics laid heavy on our hearts. And as we have changed, failed and refined our own definition of healthy eating, these terms have popped up in one way or another. Learning more and more about where our food comes from and how deeply it effects us, naturally, our hearts have called us to dig deeper and live out these passions. How and where we buy our food is a huge vote towards companies, farms and moral standings. We've learned we want to be wise about voting with our hard earned money. We want to be more educated in the food. As we become parents and are making choices not only for ourselves but for the future generations, we wanted to set up Kingston in a way to see what's really important in his years to come. The basic needs need to be met. He needs to eat and drink before he can do anything else. We wanted to take him to a place he could see where it all starts at such an early age. 

We recognize there are many other important things going on in this life. There are a lot of things that need to change in order for us to continue living on this earth; with agriculture and farming, plastics, fracking, our oceans, how we treat one another, politics, how we look at ourselves, fare trade work, sanitation, etc. How we look at food and how we look at waste and consumerism kind of all snow balls into a lot of other issues. We are learning to take our time in the process while trying our best not to just waste time. All these things need a drastic change right now, but we are in it for the long haul, so we are trying to be patient with what the world is showing us as we start to shed our old ways and learn to live in our new skin. 

Now that we have been here for almost three months we have learned so much more then I even expected. These people care big for their land and their culture and their history. They care big for the every day man and his journey. They care big for your growth and for your health. We are on indigenous land, with deeply routed history and spiritual beliefs. I knew I've always wanted to learn more about these islands and their culture, so to be here now, at my age, with someone I've been together with for nearly eight years, as a new mom with a beautifully absorbent and eager toddler, and with my toes barely dipped into a world of clean health and rescourceful living, is literally a dream come true. 

Then there is the education we are getting about plants and dirt. They were calling us, and as much as we thought we knew, we didn't know anything, though I'm so glad we knew what we did before landing here. We wouldn't have made it to this point if we didn't. This farm produces coconuts, bananas, papaya, sugar cane, citrus, lilikoi, taro/kalo, ulu/breadfruit, avocados, peppers, kales, basil, parsley, eggplant, dark greens, and so much more we are still learning about. 

We aren't taking these opportunities for granted. Living more sustainably, working on a producing farm, seeing those plants being made into delicious dishes served to the community, and being a part of this family vegetarian business is a blessing. 

>> tongan greens << 

>> banana plants <<

>> breadfruit tree << 

>> breadfruit/ulu << 

>> lilikoi/passion fruit << 

>> papaya tree <<

>> baby eggplants << 

>> kale << 

>> baby sugar cane stalks << 

>> lemon tree <<

>> ulu flower <<

Dream Big, Ride Far 

Hilo, Hawaii

I'm laying next to a napping Kingston, on a huge loft bed, in a cabin with netted windows and a porch with beautiful wood benches which overlooks lush green plants I'm still learning about and then the Hilo Bay and Pacific Ocean. My belly is full of healing, plant based foods that are fresh off this local farm. I'm not even sure what the name of the farm is... I'll have to ask ((I still need to ask.))

We arrived here officially yesterday. Ginger John, our farmer/boss/Kingston's new "grandpa", gave us a hug after picking us up with ALL of our luggage, and dropping us off at... oh last minute switch up... the best and newest cottage on the property, gave us a hug, said, "Welcome to the farm, now move in!" 

The things that have happened in the last five days have blown my mind so negatively and then hours later so positively. 

We've worked so hard this summer to live the lifestyle we've chosen, pay off debt, and then find our dream and go for it. And we are in our second year of parenthood. What a ride it's been. 

The last two weeks before we left were so difficult. You can feel the itch of change. You get in your mind that you're almost done working. You're trying not to let anyone get sick. You're still convincing every family member you'll be fine. You're having to say goodbye to every family member and friend. You're moving. You're downsizing. You're packing. You're working. You're grocery shopping and eating. You're parenting. You're at the airport with a mess of bags and you're saying goodbye to Colorado. Just like that, the mountains are under you're tiny airplane window and you're off to the unknown. 

Damn. 

We got a super awesome guy checking our bags in who didn't charge us extra for over weight ones and an additional bag. The line through security was non-existent (though they did take forever checking all my snacks but I think it's because they were so bored. They took my homemade dressing.) We got an extra seat for K on the long flight over. He napped for almost half of it! We grubbed good vegan burgers and the spring rolls we made for the plane ride. We were tired once we got to our little hotel room but it was a surprisingly good trip. We checked out the farmers market and little shops and juice bars and a cool sugar cane cafe. 

Then on Wednesday we got picked up by the WWOOF couple we have been talking with for the last three months. Even though we had weird vibes we pushed through thinking it was nerves. They took us to pick up more camping gear and we headed deep into the jungle to their property. Like deep deep. We arrived at a gravel driveway with three car ports, a small shed, and a tiny ply wood shack. There was trash and half burnt trash all over. There were car parts lying around. Everything was drenched. The guy handed Blake a bush saw and said "here's where you'll clear out a spot for your tent." It was 5 in the afternoon and we had to pull everything out to set up, eat dinner AND bush sack our way into a thick ass jungle to set up our tent on an I level swamp? "Oh and here's the hose for your shower, the bucket for your poop, and I turn the water and electricity off whenever I like." 

It was a rough, rough, rough night. I was so beyond mad. I couldn't believe this guy thought this was ok for a baby. I mean, he showed up to this property and made everything that he has now, so his mind set was "this how you make it in Hawaii." He was also single with no kids when he did this. This is not, NOT, what my lowest expectations were. We woke up and started packing up muddy and wet rain gear and had to tell them this wasn't going to work out. (Their last WWOOFer left after one night.) Lucky for us he said he'd give us a ride back into town. So we shoved it all in his tiny van (including a massive canopy we picked up with all the poles, without a box because the rain destroyed it.) The girl from across the street, Marissa, walked over with her baby boy, Finnegan, to welcome us and we had to disappoint her. She was super sweet and hugged Blake when he told her we were vegan. She is a strong Mama for being all the way up there while her boyfriend, Hunter, worked and slept in town four days a week. But her kind words and happy attitude helped us right at a super low point. 

>> the only picture I got at our first spot... his face says what we felt for the whole 16 hours we were there<< 

We were dropped off at a hotel we weren't sure had room for us in downtown Hilo. Thankfully they gave us a room for one night and also pointed us in the direction of someone who could help us find work/trade. She didn't have a spot for us but gave us a number for Ginger John. She told us he was a serious farmer who worked you, but you'd learn a lot from him ((she ended up being way right.)) We text John explaining our situation and he called two minutes later and set up a little interview with Blake in the next few hours. Kingston and I grabbed a smoothie bowl from the farmer's market while waiting for Blake when he pulled up in a huge farm truck and said "get in!" We were rushed off the Sweet Cane Cafe to meet John's wife, Jackie, who runs 2.5 cafes here in town. The cafe was beautiful. Jackie was beautiful. Our conversation and honesty was beautiful. He then decided to bring us to the farm to take a look at what he had. The tour was grand, and dirty, and real. Kingston was off his game with everything that had gone in the last few days and almost blew our interview (just kidding, but for real.) We discussed the parenting aspect and of what coming to this farm might look like and concerns with having a young one around so much equipment, water holes, compost piles. etc. We met some of the people on the farm and they were awesome and encouraging (and looked like they had been working hard!) 

The next day we waited for the phone call from John to tell us yay or nay as we went to the laundry mat and Blake took things back to Walmart. As we had our things packed up and on the curb outside, a barefooted blonde man sauntered by looking for some wifi. We chatted a bit and he said his son looked like Kingston. I asked his name and he said "Finnegan." Wait... What's your name?! Hunter. Wait!! We were just up at your place (40 minutes from town in the deep jungle in the middle of nowhere) and met your son and girlfriend!!! What?! How crazy! We ended up really hitting it off and he offered up a tent spot for us if things didn't go our way. What a kind man. He actually ended up using Blake's phone to call the first WWOOF guy who was so disappointing to get a ride! Too funny. 

John called and said he talked with everyone on the farm, and they all agreed that a family would be great to bring aboard. Yay!! They even picked us up with all of our stuff! And so it began. 

Every morning we have woken up with a "is his real?" attitude. Did the last few days really happen? Did we get rescued? Are we in a good place? Is it too good to be true? Do we really have a view of the ocean outside our window? 

Adjusting to a new state, new climate, new food, new family is a lot. It's taxing and stressful. But if we never got out of our comfort zone we'd never know what else is out there. And we've found helping, kind strangers and a place we could only dream of in our heads. This is just a step in the direction we are hoping to go. But this has been a big step. No matter how long we stay here, we know it's possible to live off the land, on solar energy, with composting toilets, and in a small community with those who care about the same things. Being here now, we are thankful we packed our bags, said goodbye, took the long flight, and most importantly asked around for help when we were in a tight spot. We are learning this island is very extreme. She will make you or break you. She has a lot of amazing things to offer but you better work hard with an open and humble heart in order to obtain those things. Good life lesson. 

Dream Big Ride Far, friends!