Bumper Stickers

My Child is an Honor Student at Lake Oswego Junior High

My Child was Student of the month at Summerwind Elementary

EVEN

My dog is smarter than your honor student

I saw this one today in a drive through.

It is blurry because I was trying to surreptitiously snap a photo without catching the attention of the big, burly, tattooed driver, presumably the father of the child referred to on his bumper:

My Child Was Bailed Out by XXXXXXX Bail Bonds

Notice that I blacked out the license plate number and the name of the Bail bondsman!  I don't want the Dad or the son (or maybe the daughter) to find me!

  

Maui Memories

For several years I have been dreaming of a trip to Maui to show our children one of our favorite places. Finally we decided it was time and invited them all to come.  Son-in-law Mark doesn't enjoy traveling so he stayed home but was happy to have Mary join us.  I so appreciate him and think he is a great husband.

As we got ready I gave myself many lectures so that I would avoid 'mothering' my adult off-spring and being totally annoying.  This was not a trip with our four 'little kids' where I did most of the planning and organizing.  This was an opportunity to share some experiences all together while allowing the 'kids' to do their own thing too.  I can hardly believe how perfectly it all worked out.

There were 5 things on my 'really, really want to do' list that I hoped to share and I did get to do all 5 with various combinations of kids.

1. Eat at Cheeseburgers in Paradise in Lahaina. Everyone enjoyed this!
2. Drive the road to Hana, hike in the bamboo forest and swim in the 'sacred' pools.  Only Johnny missed this adventure.
3. Go whale watching.  Mary joined George and me for this.  But we all saw whales from the hotel.
4. Hike to and swim in the "Olivine Pools".  Mary, Matt, George and I shared this afternoon fun.
5. Hike to the Nakalele Blow Hole.  Everyone got to see the awesome power of the ocean!

For me it was a perfect trip!!!

There were a few 'solo' excursions with no photos.  Johnny went on a night time dive and loved it except for the hypothermia he experienced.  Scott went on a horseback ride and remembered just how much he loves horses.  I got plenty of relaxing by the pool time.  Mary got a chance to shop.  Matt went ATVing and caught lots of air on the water slide. We watched the Broncos win in the playoffs while sipping smoothies and eating french fries at the pool bar. The men of the family went golfing while Mary and I were pampered with a spa afternoon. Johnny and Scott got massages one day too….Johnny's first massage!  And my husband, who is so easy to travel with, just helped and supported us all…but I think he got some relaxing, reading time too!

Only disappointment was a glitch with the plans to take the 'Bucket List' Skyline mountain biking trail down Haleakala.  I think it is always good to have one thing you want to do when you come back to a place…..next time that bike adventure WILL happen!  And there will be a next time!

Sunset

What can be better than sunset on Ka'anapali Beach!

Extra day!

Thanks to a cancelled flight all of us but Mary got to spend an extra night on Maui.  I think the reason our flight was cancelled is a bit amusing.  On the incoming flight from Portland a child went into the restroom and spent longer than the Dad thought was normal. He got worried and knocked but didn't get an answer so he just ripped the door off to get to his child.  I can understand being nervous but the flight attendants do have keys….anyway FTA regulations require a certain number of working toilets so what can you do but put a plane full of people in a hotel for an extra night and book them on the flight the following evening.  Lots of people were pretty irate but for me it was just an added bonus. The hotel was the Makena Golf Resort which is right on the beach, has beautiful rooms, and we got to keep our rooms until time to go to the airport the next night…Perfect!

Johnny read about the resort and learned that most of the shark attacks on Maui happen off the Makena beach so no one was too stoked to get in the water.  How did we spend the afternoon?  Well, Mary gave her Dad a boomerang for Christmas and we tried it out.  I mostly stood in the background and sang, "My boomerang won't come back….." which was true for awhile.  Eventually they all got the hang of it though!

I don't know why all the shots of Matt are blurry….must be his lighting fast speed!

Just another day in paradise!

My Favorite….

Of course I loved just spending time with the family on our trip.  But my #1 all time favorite thing to do on Maui is go whale watching.  We have gone about five times with "Captain Steve" on his pontoon boat.  This excursion has never disappointed.  Although we didn't see as many whales as on previous trips, we saw more full breaches than we've ever seen!  How do those enormous mammals manage to so gracefully propel their 16 or 17 tons into the air?  Although only Mary went on the boat with us, we all spent time watching the free whale show from our balconies.

It's a lot harder than it looks….

That is the phrase I heard most from Mary, Matt, and John as they took a paddle board lesson.

It's quite a lot of work as you use every muscle group in your body.  Arms to paddle, legs to give added power and core to keep your balance! All three of them laughed when the guide said that they were going to paddle about a mile to Black Rock and back.  As you might guess from these photos, Johnny got the hang of it faster than his siblings. They all three gained new appreciation for the paddle boarders we often saw a mile or so out from the beach paddling around the whales.

I was content to be the photographer!

Red Dirt Dirty

Mary, George, Matt and his friend Johnny had an off road adventure.

They were warned that they would get dirty….red dirt kind of dirty with the kind of dirt they use to dye those Hawaii Red Dirt shirts!

Luckily you could rent clothes for the day. 

 The guides were willing to give Mary this shirt but she decided it probably wouldn't be of much use.  I think when she is tired of being a cub scout leader, she should wear it to den meeting!  I am quite confident she'd be getting a new calling!

I love the expression on Mary's face because it reminds me so much of the excited little girl Mary!

 Posing for the traditional 'family' shot….with traditional family happenings as Matt pinched Mary when he 'lovingly' put his arm around his Dad.  George, somewhat surprised at the behavior of our adult son to his adult sister, was about to give a fatherly talk until Mary confessed that she had been pinching or poking Matt in many of the photos.  Do they ever really grow up?  Do we really want them to?   

 Part of this excursion was several turns on the 'waterside'.  Talk about catching some air!!!

'Ohe'o Gulch or 7 Sacred Pools

Back when nobody had heard of Hana, the owner of the Hotel Hana Maui wanted desperately to attract people here.  He had a choice.  Tell people they could visit the fabulous 'Oheo'o Gulch' or the wondrous 'Seven Sacred Pools' (a name he made up).  Which do you think looked better on the brochure?  For the record there are not seven of them and they have never been sacred.  But they were beautiful and refreshing after our hike.   Maybe a little too refreshing when the sun was no longer warming them!

 Our two trusty cars that got us to Hana safely and with no motion sickness problems!

Pipiwai Trail - Waterfall Alert!

From the very first time George and I took this trail I have dreamed of taking the kids here.  Wakahiku Falls is about 2/3s of a mile in and only a measly 200 feet drop!

This four mile round trip trail has a gentle elevation gain so it is easy.  The magical part is hiking through the bamboo forest.  It truly is like walking through a wind chime when a gentle breeze blows.

 Definitely a memory making hike!

At the end the reward is Waimoku Falls which slices 400 feet down the back of a sheer wall of lava.  Now that is a waterfall!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.  Our Johnny was sick.  He had gone on a night time scuba dive the evening before and was suffering the aftereffects of hypothermia so he stayed home.  Matt's friend Johnny R. was our substitute Johnny for the day.  I love all their expressions.

 A wonderful day!

Two Cars on the Road to Hana

To quote from our Guide Book, "The road to Hana is without question the most famous and desired drive in all Hawaii, the crown jewel of driving.  It's been compared to driving through the Garden of Eden, a slow winding road though a lush paradise that you always knew existed-somewhere."  

                                     

The road is two lanes with LOTS of one lane bridges.  Most tourist literature says that there are 600 turns, although I don't know how you count.  The road is just about never straight.  For our 'motion-sickness' prone family to consider it the 'Garden of Eden' or 'paradise', there was only one way to go - slowly in open air vehicles!  Three of us enjoyed the convertible.

Scott drove the open topped jeep.

Of course we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite places Ken-anae Peninsula.

 Gotta love those crashing waves!

 Three of my handsome guys.

Behind Mary is a very pretty waterfall but you have to really search to see it in this photo.

 Scott gets a little love from Mom and sister!

The consensus from the boys - "Mark that one off the bucket list.  Don't need to do it again ever."  This was Mary's 2nd time.  When she was a Freshman in college and we lived in Spain she came to Maui with George's brother and sisters for Thanksgiving and they took the road to Hana.  Just to give you a clue how winding it is, Aunt Karen got really car sick and she was driving!  George and I have done it multiple times but as we were driving back to our hotel on Kananapali Beach, we decided that we didn't need to do it again.  But I bet we will.  Seems like we never have time to see everything we would like to see….so I am pretty sure there will be a next time for us.

Aww…...

All because two people fell in love! 

Maui 2014

Catching up on January

Things weren't too exciting at our house for the first part of the month.  I'll update you on a few things and then you'll agree that boring and normal would be the descriptive words to use…..

I finally accepted the inevitable and put my calendar on the computer where that mysterious 'cloud' lets it also appear on my I-phone and I-pad.  I think I will really like this convenience once I get used to it.

I couldn't completely give up my paper calendar.  I've used this big day-timer for 30+ years; from the days when it was filled with preschool mother-helper schedules through the teenage years of soccer practice car pools and game schedules. Without it, the kids and I would have been at the wrong place at the wrong time way too often!

I did decide to 'downsize' to this convenient small size  Look how much more room I have on my desk now!  I already love it.

Since last year my plan to loose weight somehow got mixed up and I GAINED weight, I decided I had to do something about it.  I got a Fitbit which counts my steps and gives me a goal for which to strive each day.

George got one too so we compete.  We can send each other taunts or praise as we look at the other's progress.  I admit that my competitive side comes out at things like this.  Poor man does have to sit at a desk each day to support his wife's shopping and traveling habits so I have vowed not to taunt him! 

The Fitbit also links with "My Fitness Pal" which is a website to track what you eat and how much you exercise.

No I never have 1897 calories remaining! I wish I had 2000 calories a day but I think that would be counterproductive to losing weight.  What it helps with is that when I get the munchies at 9:00 pm, I can look and see how many calories I have left and then try to figure out what I can eat that has 50 calories and no fat and no sugar.  Celery anyone?

On a different note: The church nursery is great fun!  My favorite conversation so far:

Teacher: Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy.

Very active, talkative and cute 3 year old boy: Yes but he doesn't want us to be 'wild and crazy.'

Teacher:  But he wants us to have fun and be happy.

Same little boy: But he doesn't want us to go to jail! 

I can imagine the conversations that have been going on in that household where Dad is a busy medical resident and Mom has 4 little ones between the ages of 1 and 8!  Also loved my long conversation with another little boy who told me in great detail about his new dog Tucker.  When I started asking his Dad about the new dog, I got a blank look.  They don't have a new dog, nor plan to get a dog!  I love 2 and 3 year olds!

We added foster Guide Dog #10 - Lila! If she saw this picture and could talk I think she'd ask, "Does this picture make my nose look big?"  And the answer would be YES!

In truth she is pretty adorable and has just settled right into our home.   Little Miss Lila was not a fan of the kennel and let her dislike be known quite vocally.  I haven't heard her make a sound.  She has had all her training and will get to spend the next weeks at home with us while she waits to be paired with a blind person.  No complaints from either of us.  She is a love!

And the Broncos are going to the Super Bowl!  I remember those horrible losses in the Big Game years ago….I also remember the big wins while we were in Spain!  Hopefully this will be one of those big wins!

But by far the most exciting part of my January was getting to spend a week on Maui with this group - five of the people I love most in the whole world!  That week will be the highlight of my year I am sure!