Somehow I missed the birthday post for Bela here on the blog - Instagram is just so easy and convenient lately.
She turned 13 on August 23rd so now we have two teenagers in the house!
Hubby wanted to make her birthday the BEST EVER and she really wanted to go on a hike for her birthday so we had her three best friends spend the night and went on an amazing hike.
I always try and do something crafty with the girls for her birthday and I think this was maybe the most fun yet.
We made dream catchers:
I bought a bunch of embroidery hoops and we used scraps of fabric, yarn, crocheted doilies and ribbon to make them - I love how they turned out!
The girls were thrilled too!
The next morning we set out on the hike. It's up in Kahana Valley. You have to drive past a bunch of houses and then park and walk past a few more to get to the start of the trail.
The first part is a semi-paved road and then you get to the trail. At this point you can walk about 5 minutes down a hill and get to the rope swing and river (that I will tell you about later) or you can take a path off to the right and go on a two hour hike that will end up at the river.
We wanted some adventure so we went on the two hour hike - even our littlest did it. It's fairly muddy (we were lucky it hadn't rained too much before the hike) and there are a few little creeks you have to cross - one you are probably in about knee deep. But it was fairly easy and there are even snacks (guavas and mountain apples) along the way!
There is pig-hunting in the area but we didn't see any pigs (our friend did have a run-in with one on this trail a while back though so be careful if you go on this hike!).
At the end you come down the trail to this beautiful scene. The girls had so much fun on the rope swing and just exploring the area.
