Da Hughes Ohana

Waimanalo Country Farms Pumpkin Patch

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:57:00 +0000

We went to another pumpkin patch this past weekend, this time at the Waimanalo Country farms. It had gorgeous views of the mountains and ocean and Manana Island. It was a bit cloudy and rainy, but it was all good. The main crop on this farm is corn, and they served fresh corn bread, corn chowder, pumpkin pie and a bunch of other goodies. The hay ride was also enjoyable and I learned about the history of the farm. It's great to be able to support these local farms.

Jamie and the kids checking out a parrot.

Fall break

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 05:56:00 +0000

We've had a busy and fun filled fall break so far. Last weekend Kainoa had a field trip to the Hawaii Plantation Village with the cub scouts. I didn't take my camera since we just went there a few weeks ago for Isla's field trip. But I did get a cute cell pic where they practiced teamwork and communication walking in geta.

We also went to the waterpark, Farrell's for a birthday party,

had preschool playdates and frozen yogurt outings, and chased the ice cream truck down,

all in between swim and soccer and ukulele and Japanese lessons. Whew! I'm so tired I could sleep for days! Yesterday we went with the mom's group to the Aloun Farms pumpkin patch for another educational field trip. It was super hot and dusty, but Kainoa and I had a blast. Isla, not so much. I'm not sure why, but she was just completely bratty the whole time. *sigh* 2 more days till school goes back in session and I'm soooo ready!

checking out the green horned caterpillar.

Isla did love the hayride!

Ukulele Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 03:44:00 +0000

I'm way behind blogging again, argh! Well anyway, here are some pictures and a short video of Kainoa's ukulele performance at Windward mall. You can tell from the pictures he was extremely nervous. The mall was packed that day and we couldn't even find spots to view the show very good. But all the children did so well, it brought tears to my eyes.

Can you spot him in the front?

And here's a short video:

Top 5 of the quarter

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:40:00 +0000

I love this picture of Isla taken with my phone. It bugs me that her hand got cut off, but what can you do. :)

Kainoa at his soccer game. I'm officially a soccer mom and I love it.

Kainoa also started Cub Scouts. It's been such a great program for him and I love how cute he looks in his uniform.

At his ukulele concert a few weeks ago. (Which I still need to blog about!)

I just took this picture yesterday, but its definitely one of my favorites. She was taking some self portraits with her monkey using the photo booth app. It cracked me up to see her trying to pose herself and her monkey and try to snap. Most of the pictures were of her chest but a few of them came out really good.

It seems as if most of the pictures I've taken in that past few months have been more snapshots of our life rather than me practicing with my photography. I think I use my phone more than my Nikon to take pictures nowadays. It sometimes makes me worry that I'm starting to pull away from photography, but I know that can't be true. I take at least one picture a day, even if it's on my phone. I am still obsessed as ever to learn more and more. I just need to make the time to post more on the blog.

First Pack meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:52:00 +0000

Kainoa joined the cub scouts a couple weeks ago and is a Tiger scout! He absolutely LOVES it, loves wearing the uniform, earning the badges and the friends he's made. It's been really great for him. And I just adore how he looks. :)

Equine 808 Horse Rescue Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:06:00 +0000

Today Isla had a field trip to Equine 808 Horse Rescue. It was an awesome educational experience; we got to tour their land, learn about how they are helping neglected, unwanted and abused horses, feed the animals in the petting area, and even potted a sunflower seed to grow in their garden area.

Waiting to ride the horse.

Isla absolutely LOVED riding and wasn't scared at all.

In the garden to see what they had growing.

In the petting area petting a guinea pig.

Isla's favorite were the ducks.

Back to Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:29:00 +0000

I've learned that going back to basics has really helped me to appreciate photography in a different way. It makes me think harder about composition, using available light, and experimenting with all the different editing apps out there. It really pushes me to be more creative using a cell phone as a point and shoot. I love the fact that I can edit, watermark and even make collages right on my phone. And even upload them to blogger if I want. I wish I hadn't cut off her arm here. And I totally didn't realize that I was holding the phone upside down. LOL.

Taken on Iphone, edited using the Instagram app, Nashville filter.

I shared what I learned on Click it up a Notch!

Labor Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:41:00 +0000

We had a lazy leisurely labor day weekend and celebrated my birthday on the north shore. Exactly just what I needed: time to relax, read magazines and books, let the kids play in the water, and eat shrimp and chocolate pie. Now that's my kind of birthday!

Kainoa is obsessed with catching sand crabs.

Isla just loves to frolic in the sand.

At night we went out with flashlights to catch more crabs, while trying not to step on any Portuguese Man-O-War.

First soccer game of the season. Go Sharks!

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:04:00 +0000

Kainoa had his first soccer game on Saturday. It was so cute to see him and all the other kids play. They didn't win, but did a great job. Kainoa almost got a goal. Jamie got to be a line referee too. The end score was 3-4, but all the kids had a great time.

There he is, Number 2!

Hawaii Plantation Village field trip

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:44:00 +0000

Isla had a field trip to the Hawaii Plantation Village yesterday with the Preschool group we are in. It was a great way for all of us to experience what it was like back in the plantation days of Hawaii. We toured all the different plantation homes, from the Chinese to Puerto Ricans, Filipino to Japanese. It was very educational and the kids got to do a craft and feed the fish.

Isla and her friend look so much alike. People kept asking if they were twins.

August favorite photo

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:07:00 +0000

I knew exactly which picture was going to be my favorite for August. Composition could be better, but I love his innocent expression here. He was so happy to go fishing late at night.

I have been so bad about blogging lately! I thought I would get all caught up after school started, but now with practices and homework and bike riding it's all been put on the backburner again. Now that Jamie is back I hope to be more consistent blogging again.

Soccer practice

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:52:00 +0000

Kainoa started AYSO soccer this week. He was nervous to start at first, but he loved it. Can't wait to see him play in a game soon!

Swim

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Here are a few pictures of Kainoa in his swim lessons.

Mokuleia beach

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:45:00 +0000

Some pictures from Mokuleia beach. Went there on Saturday to go fishing with Jamie's friend Rob. The night before, Jamie and Kainoa went torching till midnight to get bait. They used nets and got fish for bait. Unfortunately they never caught anything this day with the bait.

Isla loves to be buried in the sand.

Kahuku Farms tour

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:10:00 +0000

This past Saturday we went to Kahuku farms. It was really neat to see all the different types of crops they are growing there: apple banana, papaya, japanese eggplant, cacao, among others. We got to sample some fruits and took a tractor through the farm. They had a cute little cafe there with panini's and smoothies and a big outdoor area for the kids to run around in, and the people working there were soo nice and friendly. We bought some lilikoi jelly (which is awesome!) and some fresh fruit. It was a great place to go and I would definitely do it again.

We went with the Central Oahu Families group.

a young apple banana bunch.

A cacao pod.

Isla Home Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:08:00 +0000

Yesterday was Isla's first day back at home preschool after summer. We go to a parent led preschool with circle time, snack time, fine motor activities and crafts. It was nice to be back and although she was a bit restless and wouldn't keep still, she had a good time. The theme was planets and space and they created glow in the dark space jars with stars and moons.

Night Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:13:00 +0000

ISO 100 | f16 | 30 sec exposure

This week I learned that I really need to start practicing my night photography skills more. I also learned that I need to take my tripod with me when I do take my camera out at night! This was taken at around 9:30pm on a wobbly picnic table with squid guts all over it. gross.

Check out Click it up a notch and see what other photographers learned this week:

I just had to do it..

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:49:00 +0000

I saw this picture on a blog through pinterest and I had to take pics of my kids with the hubby's flight suit.

Night Fishing

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:04:00 +0000

Last night we went fishing with a few friends. We had a picnic style dinner in the back of the van, used some squid for bait, and just hung out waiting and waiting. We were there till almost midnight and nobody, not even all the other fishermen around us, caught anything! Finally Kainoa got a tiny little fish, you can barely even see it in the picture. But he was proud and it was worth the wait for him. LOL

Kainoa and his itty bitty fish.

Bicycle adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:24:00 +0000

Well we decided to try (again) to get Kainoa off his training wheels. I've been feeling a lot of pressure to do so, especially knowing other kids younger than him are riding their bikes without training wheels. It's been a slow process because he has short legs, and is happy just riding along with the training wheels. But hopefully it won't be a painful process like last time. Anybody got any tips on teaching a kid to ride a bike without training wheels? I seriously don't remember how I learned, ( and neither does Jamie) so we are at a loss on what to do.

And here's a couple pics of Isla trying to pedal on her own bike.

She never wants to keep her barrette in her hair!

What I learned these past 2 years

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:05:00 +0000

April, 2009

August, 2011

This week over at Click it up a Notch she challenges us to post a photo from when we first started in Manual and now. Before I got my DSLR, I had a Canon film SLR, and I just shot auto on that. (I was always afraid of wasting film if I shot in Manual mode.) But I begged Jamie for a new camera the Christmas before Isla was born. He didn't think I needed one since I already had a point and shoot and the Canon was basically sitting there unused. But I vowed to make good use of a new digital camera and told him it would be my main hobby. So he got me a Nikon d40 and I researched online and did a lot of reading, practicing on anything I could. I switched a lot from P mode to A mode and S back then, and once in a while M when I was brave. I didn't know anything about ISO or white balance or anything. Back then I used to think every picture had to be shot on F1.8 and every picture had to have bokeh. I tended to have underexposed photos because I thought they looked better. I never even really paid attention to sharpness really, I was more focused on different compositions and just getting cute pics of my kids. I practiced a ton and did a project 365 in 2010. I think I've learned a lot since then! Not just with the camera but with editing also. I used to always run actions, and now I just do some basic clean edits and a few tweaks here and there. I'm still learning more and more every day, and I'm glad I proved to Jamie that I could stick with this hobby.

I shared what I learned on Click it up a Notch! Check it out and share what you learned:

First day of 1st Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:27:00 +0000

Kainoa is a 1st Grader! He had a great first day; there were about 3 students from Kindergarten in his new class, he seems to like his new teacher, and we are still able to walk with our friends to class. It's a slightly longer walk now that his class is in a building farther away, but it's not too bad. Hoping for a great year!

Seth and Des Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:21:00 +0000

Jamie's cousin Seth and his wife came to visit us for a few days in July. It was their first time on Oahu so we tried to do all the touristy stuff. Ate dinner in Waikiki, went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, shopped at the Aloha Swap Meet, went to the Dole Plantation, and cruised the North Shore. Jamie's brother unexpectedly was here for the weekend also, so it was nice for them all to hang out in Hawaii.

Favorite Photo from July

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:26:00 +0000

It was a hard choice, but in the end I chose this as my favorite photo for July. My sister in early July on Sunset beach.

Submitting to the Click it up a Notch July contest.

Mean

noreply@blogger.com (Janell) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:23:00 +0000

Here's a short video of the kids singing their favorite song. LOL.