Aloha From Maui - Day Five

It's Saturday and we decided to check out the local Farmer's Market. We were not impressed. It was about eight tents in a parking lot and you'd think you'd be able to buy a pineapple from a market in Maui but apparently not. We pretty much just drove through the parking lot and left for the beach. Today we decided to try out Uala beach as it wasn't far from us and a friend of Kerry's was planning on being there. Unfortunately we didn't connect but the snorkeling was excellent and Carter had great fun yelling at the waves.

We headed back to the condo for lunch before walking down to the local shaved ice place with the Dukes. Shaved ice is essentially a snow cone or slurpy but rather than crushing ice they have a machine that shaves very thin layers off. Similar to a snow cone they add the syrup to the big pile of Ice. I had Strawberry and Banana. Carter had 'Sharks Blood'. Callie had Blue Raspberry and Bubblegum. Kerry had Pina Colada and Cherry. Very sweet but when it melts it's probably only about a quarter of a cup total.

In the afternoon the kids spent some time at the pool and we decided we would order pizza for dinner. I had no idea where we were going and Sean had had a few drinks so it took us a bit of time and a few phone calls before we found it. We looked for the sunset and again had no luck. Only two days left. We may have to settle for the Maui flowers.

Aloha From Maui - Day Four

We're finally starting to get up a t a regular time. Between 6:00a and 7:00a. Unfortunately that is 9:00a and 10:00a in Vancouver so getting back to work on Wednesday is going to be tough. Callie and Kerry have started a regular trip up the road to a cinnamon bun place. Pretty good though I'm glad Kerry eats the macadamia nuts off it before I get it. Carter has been the last one to wake up each morning so I hang back and watch woodworking videos on the iPad.

Today was a very exciting day as Sean had convinced Kerry that they were going surfing this morning. I'm sure it sounded like a better idea when Kerry had a few drinks in her the evening before. By morning she wasn't so sure. Land training was quick. Only about 15 minutes and then it was out on the waves. Kerry had a tough go of it for the first hour or so but she managed to get up about 5 times before it was over. The toughest part was the way she would wipe out. Typically quickly and face first.

By the time she was done she was very close to throwing up. It was definitely a great experience for her though and I'm proud that she never gave up. Believe me. After watching her for 45 minute it wasn't looking good. :)
The kids were quite content to stick to the beach. Callie and Kennedy met a friend named Julia and they spent most of the time trying to create a sand wall in the surf. About every third wave would wash over it. Unfortunately I accidentally ended their attempt when I asked them what they would use it for.

In the afternoon we headed to Moose McGillycuddy's with the Dukes for Happy Hour. Beer was $3.00 and mixed drinks were $4.00. (I'm fairly certain there's not a lot of alcohol in the mixed drinks. The beer is probably a better deal.) Dinner was back at the condo and consisted of steaks and giant over-priced potatoes. We watched for the sunset again but we didn't bother going down to the beach as it was very obviously still too cloudy. It's not looking good for a Maui sunset.

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.