Aloha From Maui - Day Three

On day two we spoke to some people on the beach who informed us that the turtles liked to come visit our beach around 7:00a so Sean and I decided we would head out early for some snorkeling. Each of the Kamaole beaches outside our condo are flanked by some rock outcroppings and we figured they would be good places to go. The good thing is that they have nice sandy beaches which make backing in with flippers much easier. We were going to go to the first outcropping but a local with her dog recommended we go to the next one.

The snorkeling was pretty good but we didn't see any turtles while we were out. Kerry and the kids had walked down to see us so we got out and got ready to head back to the condo. Amazingly, just as we got out of the water two sea turtles arrived and hung out right where we had been snorkeling. Good for the kids. Bad for us as we were too lazy to go back in.

Callie also brought her Maui journal down and was doing some sketching of the rocks. She would have fit right in on Darwin's ship.

As soon as we got back to the condo we packed up and headed to Lahaina and Baby Beach. It's a great beach for kids as the waves all break about 200 feet out and there are virtually no waves on shore. You can walk all the way out and still be on a sandy bottom. Carter was very excited as our previous beaches had been a bit wavy and he didn't venture much farther than where the waves came up on shore. Baby Beach was perfect for him and he jumped right in.

After Baby Beach it was over to the Hoola Grill. Brenda was very excited to have us all go there for lunch as it's right on Ka'anapali beach and the tables are right in the sand. No five second rule here. The Dukes have been to Maui the last two years and usually stay in this area so they are frequent flyers of the Hoola Grill. The food was great and the atmosphere was perfect for a nice sunny day. Carter managed to spend his $20.00 from Gub and Gampoo. Where Callie has been very selective he pretty much bought the first thing he saw. He's very happy with his treasure chest though.

I'm fairly certain the sunsets the first two days were quite amazing. We never left the lanai but the way the clouds lit up around 6:30p it was fairly obvious they were good. We didn't think we'd have any trouble seeing one but had no luck today. (Probably a good thing since I'd let the batteries in the camera die.) It' hasn't really rained since we got here but it's been cloudy and based on the forecast we may have missed our chance. We'll be trying every night.

Aloha From Maui - Day Two

Adjusting to the time change going east is very different from adjusting going west. Maui is 3 hrs behind us so it was difficult staying awake the first night and we were all out cold by about 8:30a. This didn't work out too well for Kerry who was up at 3:47a and had to lay in bed until about 5:00a when Callie woke up. Carter and I followed at around 5:30a and we were all out the door to watch the sunrise. Carter and I had to head back a bit early as Carter had some sort of trouble with his foot. We're still not really sure what the problem was.

Out first road trip was to Big Beach with the Dukes. It's a big sandy beach with some pretty powerful waves. The only issue was that there weren't any showers which resulted in a large amount of sand making it back into our car. Car rental places must have very powerful vacuums. The reason for all the sand had a few obvious sources. Callie got buried and both kids spent much of their time crawling around in the surf. I never did venture over to Little Beach. Those familiar with Maui will know why this would have been either a good or bad idea.

We left McKenna around noon and headed back to the condo for a nap and some reading time. I've finally managed to finish reading 'The Hobbit'. Synopsis - 13 dwarfs and a hobbit walk a long way and find some treasure. Hobbit walks back.

Later in the afternoon we headed to Foodland for a few final groceries and then walked back down to the beach. We've now seen two separate weddings during the week take place down there. Great spot for pictures. Dinner was burger and salad and the Dukes were over until sunset.

Aloha From Maui - Day One

Our trip started very early on Tuesday morning. I was informed of the plan the night before by Callie. We would wake up at 3:30a, the kids would be up by 4:00a and we would all be out the door by 4:30a. Despite the early morning the kids were very excited and behaved nicely. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare and had no trouble checking in. Security on the other hand was a different story. A the last minute we moved a few things around in our suitcases and ended up with the sunscreen and toiletries in my bag which we had decided to carry on. We completely forgot about the no liquid rule.

Kerry went back through security to pay the $25.00 to check another bag. (Turned out to be $35.00) We figured it was cheaper than buying new sunscreen, toothpaste, shaving gel etc.) After that it was smooth sailing and everyone got on board the plane. We were a bit worried about Callie but other than a few tears during takeoff she was fine. The flight was pretty good with Kerry sitting in a row of three between the two kids and I was in a row on the side just in front of them. There was a point where Kerry went to the bath room and I started to hear screaming behind me. Not sure exactly what happened but Carter had a nice bite mark.

Our flight arrived on schedule and the kids were quite tired by this time. Nothing terrible happened as we left however every step seemed to take a bit longer than we would have liked. Our bags were some of the last ones to get off, we missed the first shuttle to pick up the car, and the car rental lineup seemed to take forever. Where our friends the Dukes were out in about 40 minutes we took close to two hours from touch down to Costco. Apparently if you go go Maui your first stop always needs to be Costco to get supplies for the week.

Costco was very familiar and was quick.We also stopped at Kmart to get a few items that we knew we didn't need a Costco sized version of. After a quick trip to McDonald's we finally arrived at the condo. Our room is in a great spot with the lanai opening up to the pool. We're on a bit of a hill so we can see the ocean and have a great view of the grounds. We made a quick trip down the beach across the street, had a bbq dinner with the Dukes and then got ready for bed. With Maui being 3 hrs ahead, even when if we went to bed at 8:00p it was like having a 3:30a to 11:00p day. Exhausting.

Christmas 2012 - Reported to You in February 2013

I should probably clarify that this is February 3, 2013 and not Christmas time. I took a bit of a break from blogging this winter but I figure I should still make note of what happened at Christmas. It was a fairly typical Christmas. This was Carter's last year with Santa at Day Care. I think they've had the same Santa since Callie went there and he's great because he's one with a real beard. The parents bring a gift for each kid and Carter sat very patiently until it was his turn. I'm glad he was in the first half because as more and more kids get their gifts it gets louder and more chaotic.

Callie's Christmas Concert was pretty good. They have two sessions because it's such a big school.  I went with Barb, Reg and Sean Duke in the evening. Looking back on my own concerts I'm glad our school was small enough that we could sit beside the stage and actually see all the other kids. Kerry has to spend the evening in her classroom with her class waiting to sing. She does  get out long enough to see Callie who looked very good in her newly knitted scarf from Gub. We didn't realize why she wanted it until we saw she was singing Frosty the Snowman.

It was a good year for gifts. No giant toys and I think everyone was happy with what they got. Barb and Reg got an iPad mini from everyone and we had a similar everyone gift of a TV. Callie and Carter both got lot's of lego and Uncle Ronnie helped Carter put together his Tyrannosaurus Rex. As per usual, the first Christmas is with Kerry's family and my parents come down for New Years. We also got in our traditional fondu and had a second one with the Dukes in between Christmas and New Years. A busy time.

Christmas number two had my Mom and Dad come down just before New Years. We keep the tree up until January 1 so we put the new set of gifts under the treat and have a second present opening. (If you count Daycare, Corey and Carmen coming over, Kerry's parents and then my parents I guess technically we have four Christmas'.) 2012 was another great year. Looking forward to Maui in 2013!

Autumn Leaves

We have two maple trees in our front yard and when you rake the neighbours trees as well you end up with an excellent jumping pile. I always know when it's time to create the family calendar because Kerry starts to ask about leaf pictures. Callie just likes to jump in them but Carter was eager to help rake as well. Of course once the pile was ready it was my job to keep it together while Carter spent close to an hour jumping. He'd get up good speed coming down the slight slope and enjoyed finding new techniques. No fear.

Callie is a bit more cautious, always going feet first. She actually enjoyed rolling around in them more than jumping.

My favourite part of raking leaves is getting them into the compost pile. With a couple of turns and a mild winter it should be black gold by spring time.  Everything is all cleaned up and ticket away. Another growing season and a few hardscaping projects complete. Looking forward to next year. Hopefully adding a pond, replacing a portion of the fence and expanding the vegetable garden.

Halloween

Every year at Halloween the costume box seems to come up earlier and earlier. We still have every costume for both kids including the baby duck that both Callie and Carter wore for their first halloween. Callie would have been just three months cold and Carter only 8 weeks. Carter hasn't quite clued into any sort of gender role so Callie is able to convince him to wear all of the costumes he fits into at least once. He really pulled the witch costume off nicely.

I was hoping to spend more time on the pumpkin this hear and improve on the shading technique, however Callie had some odd ideas in her head about who got which pumpkin and Carter and I only got one pumpkin. We went with Agent P (Perry the Platypus) from Phineas and Ferb. Just a basic trace and cut. (Any pattern I do is going to be traced. I'm not that creative.) I also did a skull and cross bones for Callie which she took to the pumpkin carving contest at school. Not sure what the teachers are expecting. It's not like any of the grade two kids are carving their own pumpkin.

With such a wide array of costumes available including a couple that Kerry picked up at a garage sale up the street it was tough to figure out what the kids were going to be. I was certain that Carter was going to be Spiderman but in the end he chose the horse costume from last year. I think he felt a bit more secure plus the horse costume was much warmer. Callie didn't waiver. She was planning to go as a Pirate from the beginning. It turned out to be a very simple costume. The dress was something Gub and Gampoo picked up in Vegas and the accessories were pieces we had picked up for the Pirate Party on our Disney Cruise last year.

Pumpkin Patch

We took our annual trip to the Aldor Acres pumpkin patch in early October. Hitting the pumpkin patch at the right time is a tricky thing. It's no fun when it's cold, rainy, wet and muddy but as I discovered this year it's not quite the same when it's 22 degrees and sunny. We were able to go in shorts and a t-shirt. This year dust was the problem and all the trees were still green. I think the perfect weather is a sunny day, around 15 degrees with the leaves just starting to change.

Callie's favourite part is definitely the animals. Depending on how she does in high school biology, I can definitely see her being a veterinarian. She's happiest when it's just her and the animals. This year we got to go in the pen with some bigger rabbits rather than just the bunnies. There were also plenty of baby goats and piglets. They don't seem to have the turkey's anymore. I suspect Callie's turkey incident of '08 was not an isolated one. (She got bit on the hand.) Those things can be very mean.

Carter is not quite as thrilled with the farm animals. It's not the creatures that scare him. It's the smells. He's always had a very sensitive sense of smell. The barn also has the scary singing pig which doesn't help matters. Despite the dust the pumpkin patch itself was perfect. Lot's of big bright orange pumpkins. You pay by the width so we encourage the kids to pick out tall and skinny as they measure smaller and are cheaper. (We get our big pumpkin form Superstore for $2.99)