Sea life in the Chanel islands

The Chanel islands are home to some beautiful sea life and color contrasts. Mommy and I admired both while paddling not he last day on the islands. The giant kelp forests were like golden columns drifting with the currents in the turquoise water. Sea lions who liked to pop their heads out of the water and watch us while we surfed and paddled looked very wise with their long whiskers and big black eyes. We even saw a few sting rays of the dock, flying through the water under us. All these companions definitely contributed to a great trip.  We don't have many pictures of sea life because mommy or i weren't in charge of the camera so i'll just show the highlights.

Sand Dunes

                    Since we all ready had the sport of kayak surfing we decided to extend that sport when we landed on a beach with no waves but with, instead with a very steep very tall sand dune that that daddy decided to have as a wave.  So Daddy and I carried the single person up the dune(which was sand so it kept on slipping) with Kayley behind us. Then kayley and daddy got on the kayak and then kayley just fell off while  it was at the top of the dune and that was just hilarious, but it ended out well.

Kayak Surfing

On the kayak trip in the Channel Island my family and I developed a new sport. Since we had such a interesting time getting through the white waters and the breakers to our campsite, some of us decided to try to catch the waves in and surf them on our sea kayaks. Doing this was very difficult with sub par rental kayaks that are not very maneuverable. But that adds to the fun.

Zander Rolph

Nudity...?

Being naked is a very natural, liberating thing-- especially on beaches of remote, supposedly deserted, islands. Basically, every beach we land on at any time during our kayak camping adventures is automatically transported to somewhere in Europe. This makes a lot of people uncomfortable: Unsuspecting kayakers rounding a point in Canada and coming across our sort-of-solitary bay of bodily liberation, large groups of day hikers startling my dad into streaking across the sand toward his pants, and random fishing boats we hope don't have binoculars put-putting by various bare Rolph's surfing or body surfing or building driftwood teepees. It also makes Zander uncomfortable, but we make him deal with it. People are supposed to be naked, and the fact that Puritanical American society has influenced Zander more than the rest of us (probably because he has more friends) is taken as a challenge. Here are some of the pictures we got that don't classify as child pornography:

A Rolph Ativities Update by Kayley Rolph

This week has been really busy. Mia and I have been flooring like crazy people, Zander has been doing electrical, Sarah has been sanding a piece of wood and helping daddy, and mommy is still painting and getting her Bondo fix on a daily basis.

Mia and I have been installing the Versalock flooring all week. The flooring is pretty simple to install, it practically clicks together but the hard part is all the prepping and the thinking that it involves. The fact that we get paid a dollar a square foot has helped our mood and willingness to work.

The back bathroom and bedrooms have been a group effort and they are mostly finished now. But the electricity needs some help, the walls need some touch ups, and the sink in the bathroom has yet to spout water.

We are almost done with the master bedroom and bathroom. Zander and Daddy have been working really hard to get the plumbing, electrical and appliances in working order so that they can move on. As of today, the bathroom lights don't work most of the time, the fan doesn't work and needs replacing, and we are lacking in the shower door department. But it still looks pretty good even though there are very few things that work.

For the last four days Zander has been working on installing lights, fans, switches and plugs. Zander has been stuck with one of the worse jobs. to wire some of the electrical, Zander had to work in the attic which is practically a biohazard that is really hot.

The plan was to move into the back bedrooms and master by Friday so that we could work on the other parts of the house. Being us, we were behind schedule and we moved in on Saturday afternoon. Sarah and I are sharing the bigger back bedroom while Mia has the other, smaller, one. Zander is sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's old room while they moved into the semi-working master bedroom.

The end is in sight but there is still tons to do. Some of the electricity and plumbing is pretty questionable, that will be Zander and Daddy's job next week. Mommy will be working on repainting and repairing the last of the exterior. Mia and I will be finishing the flooring in the common areas and helping Daddy install the counter tops. I think that Sarah will be helping daddy install the cabinets but that is questionable. Bye.

By Kayley Sienna Rolph

master bath in progress

master bedroom

Mia's room

Sarah's and my room

cabinets and other materials in the living room

Routines and Races This Summer... BY MIA!

We’ve settled into a worn routine, which is what makes a house a home. Yes, even a house with one-inch walls that are sometimes frighteningly hollow and an eternally dusty concrete floor. It’s the routine that makes summer feel less like summer, even in the most summer of places, despite the routine strictly mandating daily surfing. Work on the house in the morning, lunch, school-y work in the afternoon (online classes until a week ago, now it’s college essays or reading one of the books I pick from the Classics shelf at the library), swimming at 3:30, directly followed by a beach trip that I often spend with my head in a book and my toes in the coral sand.

It’s a pretty summer-y schedule, I guess (we are in Hawai’i), but I’ve always thought of summer of the time when routines, obligations, and schedules hibernate, coming out of their orderly caves in late August, all refreshed and new. I’ve honestly never experienced this type of fantastic summer before, though, and the more I wish for it the surer I am that it doesn’t exist. Rolph summers are less like ‘summers’, and more like life. Except with the family. And we are in a tropical paradise…. And I don’t plan on spending my life remodeling houses. So scratch that—Rolph summers are Rolph summers. They are very different from other people’s summers, and they are all very different from each other, while still managing to keeps the same basic characteristics. We are always together, we always go somewhere crazy, do something crazy, and keep busy busy busy. Also, there’s usually a house involved, I’ve noticed.  Routines are central though and as a family we’ve gotten good at establishing them, even on the road.

Our summer routines get old quickly because they are so fast paced and we all tire ourselves out trying to slow them down because—well—its summer! It actually works surprisingly well, and I don’t know if anyone’s noticed. Instead of all routines and schedules and obligations disappearing for the months of June and July and August, we just switch them around! The school year one ducks her exhausted head and the Rolph summer one raises his—the school year is the tortoise, summer is the hare. Two and a half months later, the hare is collapsed under a palm tree and the tortoise sniffs the air. We are all so tired out from chasing the hare around that following the tortoise is a nice change, even though it’s a race that lasts nine and a half months and we have to carry a bag full of textbooks. Life’s a race, guys! Make it a relay to keep from killing yourself from bored exhaustion—the only thing to get bored of is routine. And I’ve hit the end of my rope, personally. Figuring out that you’re whole year is a big routine will do that, especially if that big routine is actually established by someone other than yourself. Good thing I get to hop off the train next year and learn to love its smooth tracks while I bushwhack through the jungle of college and ‘real life’….

Hawaii famed

Since last week I have learned more about the surfer dudes back in the ancient times and the Hawaiian islands history. Also this week we have made progress on the house doing the final touches on the front, the back bedroom, the master bedroom and 2 of the bathrooms.

This week I found out the name of the dude who was " ambassador of surfing" back when they had the wooden boards, his name was Duke Kahanamoku who was also a famous swimmer. At the library there is a poster of him and a huge board that was wood. Also this week the waves have been nice and big but there still a bit bumpy and unpredictable.

Like you or I, the Hawaiian Isles have nick names and some of them of them are kind of funny like the Pineapple Isle, which is Lanai. Kahoolawe "the Target Isle" is called that cause the military owns it. Niihau "the forbidden isle" is called that cause it's privetley owned so no one can go on it exept for the people who own it and those invited to the island. Kawaii is called "the Garden Isle" cause of its gardens or  its just pretty cause of the rocks cause its the one of the oldest islands on the chain. Molokai is "the Friendly Isle", Oahu is "the Gathering Place" and Maui is "the Valley Isle". 

In the past week Mia and Kayley have floored the 2 back bedrooms and the master so the kids are moving back there soon but we'll be a bit squeezed but we will fit. Daddy and I installed 2 toilets, a vanity and I've also been sanding a pice if koa wood for our half wall and our breakfast bar. Zander has been doing electrical and some other stuff I don't know about and mum has been playing with paint and caulking (no bondo). This last week was the last week of swim and this last Friday we had a potluck and then swam and played games.

Next week I hope to go surfing for more than 2 hours every day and also to finish the house so we can party when Mia's friends come over, because we only have the kitchen to fix, flooring and the bathroom that we haven't finished! Hope you're having an awesome summer!

Sarah