Maui: Day Three

June 4, 2016
This is going to be a long one.

I got some good advice on things to do while in Maui...but only after we had arrived.
I should have thought to ask for tips early on but didn't.

I got a lot of ideas from friends on Facebook and also in texts and emails.

We had a bit of a list of things that we knew we wanted to do, though we never actually wrote it down in a handy list form.  I would just refer back to my Facebook post and my various texts.

One of the "must do" things was the Road to Hana.

So we took off early on Day Three to accomplish this.

One downside to our hotel was that it was on the far side of the island from some of these well-known attractions.  It was nearly an hour drive to get to the start of the drive to see them...

and then the actual attraction was a drive.  

We spent a lot of time driving. 

First stop: our favorite little bakery.

We got breakfast and the boys got more pie.

I got another brownie that I actually remembered to eat this time.

Since we were using the app to tell us about Hawaii as we drove, he told us of a place to visit that was just up the road from the bakery

so we made a detour and went there first before starting the road to Hana.

This first stop was the Iao Valley.

Here's how Wikipedia describes it since I couldn't think of the best words:

Iao Valley (Hawaiian: ʻĪ-ao: "cloud supreme", pronounced similar to "EE-ow") is a lush, stream-cut valley in West Maui, Hawaii, located 3.1 mi west of Wailuku. Because of its natural beauty and historical significance, it has become a popular tourist location. 

Just so gorgeous.

In this area there is also the Iao Needle.
Wikipedia again:
The Iao Needle (Kūkaemoku) is a famous landmark in the state park, a vegetation-covered lava remnant rising 1,200 feet (370 m) from the valley floor or 2,250 feet (690 m) when measured from sea level.

It was just gorgeous and the area has all these walkways to wind around and explore.

Before we went on the road to Hana, we stopped for some treats.

Frank got one of his favorite things: ice cold fresh coconut with a straw.

Carter got fresh mango.

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The Road to Hana is a 3 hour drive into the jungle 

and it's about the drive, not the destination of Hana.

The road curves through amazing jungle, past gorgeous ocean views

and has multiple waterfalls and pools to stop at.

We used the app I mentioned earlier and he gave all kind of stories and facts about the area

as well as advice on when to stop and get out to see something.

It's a very curvy road so I did the driving so as to avoid being car sick.

We stopped at many spots along the way.

It was raining pretty hard most of the day so when we stopped the arboretum, it was really coming down.
I remembered that we had purchased a beach umbrella so we pulled that out of the trunk and used it as we walked around looking at the trees.  It still had the tags on. I'm sure we looked a little funny but it worked.
We passed some other folks who were walking along in the rain wearing just their swimming suits. They were smart.

This is where we saw the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees.

These trees are so cool!

They don't even look real.

Here they are at a distance...hard to see what I'm talking about.

Here are some closeups

While we were hiking around here, we came to a pretty muddy area and I managed to trip and fall into the mud.  I caught myself, so it was just one leg thankfully, but it hurt.

Both of the boys were just standing there staring at me as I was kneeling in the mud, which I gave them crap for later.

I bought this gorgeous hat at Kmart.

My skin hates the sun and I forgot my hat at home so I had to buy a new one and this one was a cheap option.

And gorgeous, obviously.

We visited  the Pools of Ohe'o, also known as the "seven sacred pools" which are about 45 minutes past Hana.

We actually bypassed Hana and went straight there since it was getting late which Carter thought was pretty funny...

taking the Road to Hana and not visiting Hana.

We did visit on the way back just so we could say we'd been there.

This is a gorgeous area with numerous waterfalls that flow into pools and eventually down into the ocean.

It sits on a black sand beach area.

The "sand" is really more like small pebbles, but still cool.

Frank and I took a dip in the pool because it just felt like a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

It was chilly water but so nice and, obviously, beautiful!

More gorgeous views from the drive.

My favorite selfie of Frank

After this long day, we went back to the hotel and had a simple dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches.

We played cards and watched a movie from Redbox.

I won the card game, which is an important tidbit.

Today was also Ryan's birthday.

He didn't get to come with us...kind of a long story...he had originally planned to move to Hawaii in the spring so we thought he'd already be living here.

And then when it didn't work out for him to move, we couldn't find a good enough deal on tickets to bring him along.

Carter would have loved to have another brother there with him...he gets a lot of alone time with us, and although he's a good sport about it, he would prefer to have a brother along.

Happy Birthday from Hawaii, Ryan!

Maui: Day Two

June 3, 2016

We decided to check out of the tiny, gross hotel fairly early and just drive over to the other side of the island where our lodgings for the rest of our stay were located.

We looked on the internet for a place to eat breakfast and found a little bakery that ended up being a favorite place that we managed to stop at several more times during the trip.

Yummy breakfast, sandwiches and also homemade pie.

The boys both got pie and ate it before their breakfast had even arrived at the table.

I got a brownie that I forgot to eat and later it got thrown away accidentally.

so sad

The drive to our hotel was just gorgeous.

Everything is so green and lush!

I love how the clouds ring the tops of the green jungle covered mountains.

and of course, the water is that amazing blue that you just can't believe is real.

After we found our hotel, we spend some time exploring around the area until we could check in.

First we sat on a nearby sandy beach but we were all in street clothes, not swim suits

so we didn't stay long.

We drove around a bit until we found another pretty little beach with a more rocky shoreline.

It was a very picturesque spot.

 and

forced Carter to take a picture with us

We were about to leave when this guy comes up to us and says, "Did you see the turtles?"

Nope.

So we looked closer at that water and realized there were lots of turtles around the rocks!

So we went down and watched them for a long time.

Frank, being Frank, went straight to the car and got his snorkeling stuff out and jumped in.

Since we hadn't checked into the hotel yet, neither Carter nor myself had swim suits so we just watched from the shore.

The turtles were totally messing with Frank.

He was snorkeling around and they kept surfacing right by him, behind him or off to the side, and he could not see them!

Several people were also watching from the shore and we were all yelling and pointing and going berserk to try to help Frank find the turtles...

that tiny thing is Frank snorkeling

and when he would turn or swim in the direction we were pointing, the turtle would swim away.

It was so funny!

Finally, a really big turtle came near the shore so we screamed and pointed and acted like nuts until Frank swam that way...

Here I am pretending to take a picture of Frank, but really taking a picture of Carter.

After that we went into the town of Lahaina.

It's a cute little beachside town with lots of shops and restaurants.

We had downloaded an app that gave us a commentary as we drove around

and I highly recommend it.

The guy told really interesting facts about the island and also gave driving directions.

We all really liked it.

Plus, it's nice to hear someone say the names of the various towns and streets so that you know how to pronounce them correctly. 

It's called Full Maui GyPSy Driving Tour.

There is a tree in the center of Lahaina called the Banyan Tree

and it is just amazing to see.

It is one tree that has sent down roots which have become as large as trunks themselves

so it has become a canopy that covers a large area with all these shoots coming down and various trunks.

Hard to describe but so beautiful and amazing in real life.

We sat under the Banyan tree and at our shaved ice

("snow cone is a curse word")

and then it was time to check into our hotel.

I had seen pictures of this time share property online and it seemed pretty unimpressive,

so we weren't expecting much.

But the key to liking your mediocre hotel arrangements is to stay somewhere kind of gross for one night first!

It wasn't a big fancy resort but it was clean and nice.

It had a full kitchen, two bathrooms and a pull out couch for Carter.

Our room overlooked the pool which was pretty and clean.

We were actually impressed with the cleanliness of the whole place, they keep it in good shape.

And it turned out that we were just a short walk to the beach, which is something I didn't know from looking online.  I thought we would have to drive to the beach.

I never remember to get a picture before we make a mess of things though...

Once we were in the hotel, we just did some unpacking, grocery shopping and planning for the week ahead.

Our second dinner in Hawaii: scrambled eggs and toast.

We know to how party.

We played cards at night, like we do at home.

When we texted Ryan to tell him we had missed him for our nightly card game,

he laughed at us for doing the same thing in Hawaii as we do at home.

He has a point I suppose.

Maui: Day One

June 2, 2016
Warning: This blog serves as my journal.  I write the things that I want to remember and then I print them out at the end of each year.  I write these things for myself primarily but I also like that I can share things with family and friends. So, if you are not me and you have no interest in reading about all the details of my recent trip to Maui, I advise you to stop reading now and avoid this blog for the next few days as I write about my trip before I forget.

_______

I have detailed the difficult time we had booking this particular trip on my blog here.

The difficulty didn't end there because the airlines kept changing our flights.

Originally, I was arriving a day before Frank and Carter, but their flight got changed (twice!) so that they actually came in the same day as I did...I had only booked a small cheap hotel room near the airport so we just made do.

Carter slept on the floor of the tiny room.

I think it was the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in.

I'm still surprised that airlines can do that. 

I mean, changing the time slightly...maybe not a big deal, but to have you coming in on a whole different day?

That's kind of a problem. 

People need a place to sleep.

I don't even know how many times our flights got changed...and they just send an email telling you that you have a new flight.

It was just crazy.

Some of the changes were ok and we let them be but other changes were just too big

so Frank would have to call and complain and they would rebook us on different flights

(only to have those flights get changed later)

It happened to all of us at different times...and it sometimes affected our outgoing flight and sometimes it was the flight coming home.

We have an important family event taking place on Saturday evening so we absolutely had to be back by Saturday afternoon.

My arrival times coming home went from 10 a.m to 7 pm (at which point Frank intervened) to 2 pm and finally noon.

The final change to Frank and Carter's flight was emailed to Frank on the day of our departure only a few hours before we were supposed to leave...and it got Frank and Carter home late Saturday night.

Not ok!

We booked our original flights at those times for a reason!

So Frank was on the phone for an hour during the last hours of our vacation

and we ended up going to the airport about 4 hours earlier than originally planned so that they could catch their new flights...which also meant that I had to wait for about 5 1/2 hours in the airport for my flight.

Not that big of a deal, I just read a book, but just not the perfect ending.

-Ok back to Day One-

I arrived around noon, got the rental car and went to the hotel.

It was ok, but not great.

The rooms were kind of dirty, so I wasn't thrilled, but it was just for one night.

The grounds were fairly nice but the hotel looks much better in pictures than it did in real life.

I seriously just laid around and waited for the boys to arrive.

I read, I watched tv, I walked around a little bit

and it was so fabulous.

The guys flight came in around 8:30 PM

and we got some dinner 

(so fancy...we went to Burger King)

and just crashed.

It felt later to us

and we are terribly boring.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Let's start with the bad (and the ugly)

since I'd rather end with the good.

I came home from vacation to see that not only had I missed the blooming of all of my peonies,

but they had drooped and been rained on and were just totally done being flowers.

I knew that this would be the case since they were just blooming as I left a week ago.

Still, it's just a sad sight.

Look at that lily trying to help out by being all pretty.

 I did search all through the bush, in the rain, to see if there were any pretty flowers left.

I was able to rescue 3 flowers and they are now in a vase in my house.

So, even the bad and the ugly had some good.

The other thing that I came home to was 

a whole bunch of gorgeous, red strawberries on my strawberry plants!

It's hard to see, but there are lots of strawberries hiding in there.

I grabbed my medium sized mixing bowl to go out and pick...

I didn't want to be too optimistic and bring a bigger bowl,

but I should have!

I ended up filling the bowl up twice.

And there are still lots of strawberries on the plants in various stages of ripeness.

Seriously, so so good.

Lasts

My life is full of "lasts" right now

because my last kid turns 18 today.

As I made the traditional birthday signs and hung them on the walls

I was all nostalgic over all the lasts.

I make these signs for the kids on their birthday and they usually include a few things that are going on in their lives.

For Carter, the list seemed awfully long and full of momentous things!

-graduated high school

-got into college

-going on a mission

-voting

-leaving to live in Japan, for Pete's sake!

Yes, it's time for some adulting.

All of the lasts come with a lot of firsts for him and for me.

for example:

First time he will live on his own.

First time I will be an empty nester.

I'm so grateful for this kid.

He was a last kid by 5 years

so he has been told that he is spoiled and his parents' favorite by his brothers.

His life was different in some ways, as all last kids lives are.

We had more money, so I wasn't as stingy at McDonalds.

He was the only one at home at various times, so we were more easy going when he wanted to eat out.

I remember he would ask to go to steak on a week night...and Frank would say yes! That never would have happened with the other kids.  But when you go from a family of 6 to a family of 3, eating out just seems so much cheaper!

(yes, my life revolves around food)

He went on some cool vacations...but then, so did the other boys...he just went on more of them.

He got to go on a school trip to Europe which none of the other boys got to do.

The best they got was Disney World for a senior trip.

(Those who wanted to...ahem, Austin)

But, in my defense (and his), he saved his money since 6th grade to be able to go to France someday

and my other kids never had that much drive to go any place.

He's a good kid.

And, let's be honest here, they are all spoiled.

At least a little.

Carter is:

funny

moody

responsible

cranky

smart

sweet

thoughtful

fearless

giving

messy

self conscious

spiritual

goofy
driven

loving

He isn't all these things all the time.  But he is all these things.

Happy Birthday Carter!

aka My Last Kid to become an adult.

Lately

Lately, almost every night,

we sit around our little dining room table at night and play games.

This won't last because soon there will only be 3 of us living here

and then only 2.

For now, there are 4 of us, the perfect number for games.

We play

 hearts, 

a game our neighbors taught us that is actually called "Oh Hell" but we call it 7-1-7, 

we've recently added Scrabble.

Ryan often brings up wanting to play the Game of Thrones board game

but we never do.  Mostly because of me...I hate those kind of games.  Like Monopoly and Risk and Game of Thrones (though he swears I would like it).

Anyway, it's been so much fun!

We joke and laugh and gang up on Frank.

We write asterisks in our score book when someone does something dumb or says something funny.

We think of our friends, the Mattinsons, whenever we do this because they introduced the idea of a score book and asterisks to us.

Before that, we would just keep score on any old scrap of paper nearby.

We recently filled up our first score book and Frank can't wait to go through it and see how many times he has won.

Frank gloats about winning all the time

and then goes on to win most of the time

but occasionally not.

We gloat when we beat him

and give him a hard time about being too arrogant.

The kids check their phones too much

and miss their turns.

We harass Frank for not being able to spell.

He takes it all in stride.

thankfully.

Frank, whose eyes are really dry these days,

(a side effect from his bone marrow transplant)

sits with his eyes closed when it starts getting late...

but he still keeps playing.

Carter will sometimes say he doesn't want to play or isn't in the mood,

but we harass him into playing and he ends up having fun.

It used to be that we would stop at a decent hour because of school or work

but lately we've been playing till midnight

or until Frank's eyes just can't take it anymore and he begs to go to sleep.

It's summer after all and our days are numbered until Carter leaves.

It feels like we need to cram in a bunch of family time while we can.

I'm going to miss it, this little nightly ritual of ours.