Kauai: North Shore

We've been in Kaua'i for two days now and I still can't get over how different it is from Maui. This was clear from the moment we walked off the plane. The airport was much less crowded and from the beginning it felt laid-back (as though Maui wasn't already laid back- where else in the world can you wear your bathing suit night and day and not stand out?)

Our drive between Lihue and Poi'pu was memorable. Everything I'd heard about this island is true. It's very very green and very lush. Many parts of the road are tunnelled by trees on both sides. The mountains are magestic. They're very tall, very jagged, and although they have deep erosion, every inch is covered with bright green vegitation. Although there are flowers here, it is mostly green. There are miles of beaches, many of which are recommeded by my guide book ("don't miss") but too many for us to visit in a week.

Today we drove all the way up the island to the North shore. We ended up at one of these recommended beaches, Tunnels. It was a long, arduous journey (deja vu). Gavin vommitted twice, once on the way up and once on the way down. He awoke us last night with a bad headache but we didn't know until half way up the coast that he had a case of the stomach flu. I knew something was up when he refused to get out of the car at the Waiamea river outlook (see photo of the rest of us). He lost his cookies 10 minutes after that picture was taken. Fortunately, we brought along bathing suits and hotel pool towels, so we were able to clean him up as well as the car.

We arrived at Tunnels beach in time to eat lunch (Gavin felt well enough for cherry shave ice). We changed into our suits and walked down the beach to snorkel. Tunnels was recommended as "snorkelling nirvana". To our amazement, we found a large group of green sea turtles close to shore, feeding on the algae. We were able to snorkel with them for quite a while. We were right there with them, it was amazing. We were told by a local guy that he'd never seen them so close to shore.

Once we got started back toward the South shore where we're staying, Gavin lost his cherry shave ice all over our last clean pool towel and all over me. That didn't stop him from having another one in Hanalei. We stopped at what was supposed to be the best shave ice on the island (guidebook). I had the Bali Hai Sunset served over a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream. By the time we finished eating it was dusk so we headed back down the island. I wish it hadn't been so late because I love looking at the scenery as we drive around here.

Maui, We'll Miss You

We're leaving Maui today. Each time I've seen someone with their bags in the elevator or the valet rolling a trolley full of suitcases through the lobby, I've shed a tear for their owners. Now we're the owners of the suitcases that are being packed and wheeled away. Thank goodness we have another week in Kauai or I'd really be shedding tears.

Yesterday we happened upon a parade and festival in Lahaina while we were down there with the kids surfing. Yesterday was King's Day. I took Jolie's photo with a couple of locals who were in the parade. The rest of these were taken at our Ka'anapalli beach.

Shaka!

We've had some early wake up calls the last two mornings for surf lessons. Yesterday my dad took Tristan and Jolie over to Lahaina for a lesson. They were both able to get up on their boards tanks to some excellent instructors. Notice that Tristan is making the "shaka" sign while he's up on his board. He looks like a true Hawaiian surfer (well, minus the dark, dark skin).

The four of us went back this morning to rent boards so they could surf some more. Jolie barely paddled into the water before she decided she wasn't into it today. I think she was a little nervous being out there without an instructor. She also copped up to the fact that she was afraid of the eels that Tristan saw while snorkeling yesterday afternoon. Jolie didn't actually see the eels (orange, about 2 feet long), but I guess the realization that she's sharing the ocean with wildlife is shocking to her. I tried to talk her into surfing but it didn't fly. At least we have the photos from yesterday so she can prove that she was once brave.

Tristan was having a hard time timing the waves, so he ended up joining a class for a while (same instructors as yesterday). He surfed for three or four hours before we returned the boards. Lisa even decided to sign up for a lesson, she was five hours behind us so we missed her.

Yesterday was our first real day snorkeling (if you don't count Gavin walking around with the mask on his face). There's a great reef right out from our resort. I'm glad the coral is good for something other than tearing up your feet and knees. Tristan is now an expert at snorkelling. In addition to the eels, he saw tons of urchins, schools of brightly colored fish, all kind of stuff. He and Lisa went out quite far yesterday afternoon, looking for some giant sea turtles that have been sited here. He makes a great snorkelling guide, he stays down in the water and points out wildlife to Jolie and Gavin who are not as strong in the water. My proudest achievement yesterday was getting Gavin to relax enough to enjoy the snorkelling adventure. He had a hard time adjusting to breathing through the tube while out in the waves, so I slowly eased him into it. Once he saw our friendly underwater friends (no eels) he forgot about the breathing and the swimming and the waves. He just relaxed and enjoyed it. I had to hang onto him while treading water myself so it wasn't easy but worth it. When he saw a fish he would make some noise and pop his head up to tell me. Jolie was also excited about our underwater friends, I don't know how they became our enemies between yesterday afternoon and this morning.

Dan is out on the beach with the kids right now. I'm in our villa while Mia naps. It's hard to be indoors in Hawaii. I have all the curtains open and the screen doors are letting in the sounds and smells of the ocean. I'm anxious to get out there.

Haleakala

Today we drove up country to some favorite spots and to Haleakala, the crater formed by the east Maui volcano. This trip has been full of physics lessons provided by our science-minded manfolk. Today I learned how to make myself into a sundial to determine which direction was west (we were looking for the Big island from our observatory at Haleakala). I also learned what a crater really is (basically, the caldera from which the lava spews forth). It was breathtaking to look down into the angry bowels of Mother Earth. We were at 10,000 feet which is unbelievable, considering that we were at sea level just a few hours prior.

The diversity of this island is remarkable. On our way to the crater, we passed through Kula and had lunch at the Kula Lodge. This Maui felt like a different planet than the one we've been on since Sunday. The climate was cooler, the vegetation was completely different, and there was a wood-burning stove in the back of the restaurant which made it smell like a rustic haven. We passed through major rain clouds on our way to the summit, we couldn't see 10 feet in front of us. Snow wouldn't have surprised me.

We also stopped at the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm while we were upcountry. It was beautiful and reminded me very much of France. I saw some unbelievable king protea stems which I almost bought and carried back to Utah. I kept reminding myself of the many trips back from San Diego with Birds of Paradise and the flack I took from Dan (probably warranted). The last thing I need with our large brood and baggage is a bunch of fragile flowers to baby across the islands and all the way home. I'm hoping I can get them in Kauai and hide them under my shirt (from Dan- not the TSA).

The kids did very well today, considering that we were in the car quite a lot. Lisa was given a crash course in how to entertain a baby by singing silly songs and with common household objects (in this case items found in a common car). She observed my magic from the front seat. Gavin and I also started to feel a bit car sick on our way down from Haleakala. Our descent was rather fast and windy, due in part to the fact that we were following a car driven by an avid Laker fan during the NBA playoffs. I think my dad wanted to get back to watch the game (even if it was only 3:00 here). Too bad the Lakers are going to win their title (hey, let's be honest) on Sunday when he's on the flight home.

Sunset Sail

We spent the evening sailing on the Gemini, a Maui-based catamaran. It was a beautiful night to sail, even though the surf was rough where we docked. We went swimming in the ocean before we headed out for our sail, the trade winds were making the sea angry. My attempt to go out deeper in the surf to empty my suit of its sand turned out to be a bad decision. The angry sea body-slammed me with a big wave and took my well-loved tortoise shell sunglasses with her. I hope she enjoys them as much as I have.

The same wave threw my 6'9" father to the ocean floor. Once we recovered and washed the sand out of our nostrils and earlobes, we met our sailing mates on board the Gemini. We listened to music, ate snacks and drank spirits (some stronger than others), and enjoyed the water and the beautiful Maui coastline. True to form, our adventure-seeking children sought out the most dangerous spot on the boat. The bow of the catamaran was covered with tight elastic netting with 2" holes. This, ofcourse, was the spot where they wanted to be, looking at the deep blue sea passing beneath them. There was also a perch off the starboard bow and the port bow (hey, sister I know nautical terms). This was another coveted spot.

Thanks, Gemini, for a lovely evening.

Refreshed by Mother Ocean

We've been in the ocean every day since we arrived. The kids would sleep at the beach if we'd let them. When we arrived Sunday evening, we dropped our backpacks in the room and walked down to the ocean to see Nana and Papa. Before I knew it the kids were in the water, clothes and all.

Papa taught Gavin how to boogie board and he's been having fun with his new skills. The kids also met a friend from Arizona (Nick) and spent a good deal of time digging in the sand with him. I was out in the water when a big wave washed up on their sand structure and a HUGE sand crab (the size of my fist) surfaced and ran toward the water, right toward me. Tristan's killer instinct kicked in and he picked up the boggie board and chased after it, beating it half to death.

The ocean here is much warmer than San Diego, the surf is more gentile (at least where we are) and you're easily burned by the sun. Dan gave me an astronomy lesson this morning to explain why, using our fists as models of the Earth and sun. (basically, Hawaii is on a latitude closer to the equator so it gets more direct sunlight as the Earth rotates). If you're not interested in the scientific explanation, just remember to use your sunscreen liberally if you ever come here. There's much whining and knashing of teeth when I pull it out of my bag but we've sucessfully avoided sunburns to this point of the vacation.

Yesterday Nana and Papa took us to one of their favorite spots at Napili Bay where we had lunch and swam in the bay. The water was beautiful. I've never seen such clear, blue water. The architecture was very Frank Lloyd Wright (don't know that he designed it but it reminded me of him.) I kept thinking about a book I read a few months ago, Loving Frank. We also drove through Kapalua where we saw bright orange bouganvilla, Cook pines, immaculately stacked stone walls (now I have a model for the stone wall I want to build along the flower bed on the side of our house- Dan's thrilled about that), hibiscus, a beautiful tree with tons of bright orange blossoms (need to figure out what that one is), and my new favorite, plumeria. The plumeria are so fragrant, you can smell them as you walk around. There's a picture of a plumeria blossom on the wall of our villa.

Can We Move to Maui?

What better time to bring back the blog than during our two weeks in Hawaii? Don't get your hopes up (yes, I'm talking to you, Grandmas). The only reason I have the time to do this is because there are no toilets to clean or weeds to pull here in Maui. At least not for tourists.

We arrived Sunday evening after a long, arduous journey by airplane. It was an entertaining journey for some, Delta treated us all to our own flat-screen entertainment devices. There was an assortment of movies, games, music, flight maps, etc. to keep us busy during the long flight. Some of us (a.k.a Dan) even read 40 or so pages of our book. Others of us wrestled with a 17-month old and 4 year old who were easily bored by other means of entertainment. When we finally landed, we transferred our luggage to another air terminal (forgot to check it all the way as we were on two different airlines) and flew over to Maui. By the time we'd secured our rental car and packed ourselves and our brood in, the stress was running high.

There's something about driving through paradise that calms the spirit (even the pesky spirit of a grumpy, tired child... or 2 or 4 of them). The drive from the airport in Kahului to Ka'anapali (near Lahaina) was gorgeous. Maui is a lot different than I expected. It's not built up or commercialized at all. There are some large resorts in the area where we're staying, but you don't see any of that from the road. It feels very small-town and pristine. We've only seen a very small area of the island, but so far it's breathtaking.

I'd only been here 12 hours before I was trying to figure out how we could live here permanently. What sort of jobs could we get that would support us here? What kind of place would we live in? It probably wouldn't be a 4500 sf / 5 bedroom place like we have now, but living in paradise would make the close quarters tolerable. I even pictured the kids in a Hawaiian school by day and walking barefoot and surfing in their spare time.

A girl can dream anyway...

Blog Burn-Out

I'm sure the world has been waiting with baited breath, wondering why I haven't blogged since December 16th.

The year 2009 for me has been all about re-examining my priorities. I've taken a break from the blog to look at where I spend my time. With each addition of my children, the time I have to myself, to do what I want to do, has been whittled down to almost nothing. So while I've been holding onto that little bit of time for dear life, I've been thinking about what I want to do with it. My conclusion? I'm only going to do things that are fulfilling to me; that bring joy to my heart.

There are so many things in my life on the "to do" list. The laundry, driving kids here and there, homework, school projects, the grocery shopping, cleaning up messes. I don't like the fact that my blog is often another item on that list: "I haven't updated my blog for x number of days, I better do that."

I think blogging has made it way too easy for people to keep up with each other without making much of an effort. Rather than calling my sister, sending her a note or even an email, I can check in on her goings-on, become a voyeur of her life, at the click of a mouse. Why bother giving her a call? I have my update. Sometimes we're too shy even to post a comment on a blog. What's up with that? The person has put themself out there, exposed themself, and we're too intimidated to see our comment in black and white?

I've also asked myself who I'm blogging for. Myself? Others? Probably both. I love the fact that I can look back 2 1/2 years and see photos of Gavin as a two year old on the beach in Monterey. I've documented things on this blog that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. That's a great gift. On the other hand, I feel like blogging has become a fad. Everyone has one and they're often superficial. A bragfest. They're a way for us to show our good side. How many people blog about the other side of life? Not many. But that's not real. I'm at a point where I want my history to be complete. That's why I'm going to continue blogging, journalling, whatever you want to call it; but I'm going to do it for myself in private.

Several years ago I read through the personal history of an ancestor. One of his decendants had printed and bound the information in his journals. I was amazed at how much this man had written but how little he'd said. Through hundreds of pages of this history, I read about what time he'd risen from bed; the chores he'd completed and even when he'd retired to bed. But I knew nothing of his feelings, his thoughts or aspirations. Really, it was the mundane stuff of daily life that he'd documented. It was disappointing to read through one of the few personal histories in my family and feel that after doing so, I knew nothing about him. I guess that's what I've thought of as I've pondered the fate of my blog. I want to spend my time documenting that which will be meaningful to myself or others down the road. So that's what I'm going to focus on for now.

P.S. Now just to decide whether joining Facebook is something that will be fulfilling or just another huge distraction?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Is it just me or is Christmas coming particularly fast this year?

I've spent the last several days working on some projects I'm giving some very special people. I wish I could post photos but I don't want to spoil any surprises. Let's just say that as usual, I had big ideas and not nearly enough spare time to pull it off gracefullly. Come to think of it, I have absolutely NO spare time right now. What was I thinking?

My family has been eating such delicacies as hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and the like. I haven't worn makeup for almost a week. Over the weekend I even had the kids eating breakfast one at a time because our kitchen table AND counter were covered with partially-completed projects. The Sunday before last we ate dinner on the back patio because it was the only place we could sit down together (Hey, it was Sunday, afterall. It would have been sacrilege to eat off paper plates on our laps.) I think my long-suffering husband will be glad when all the crafting tools and supplies are shut happily away upstairs.

In other news, today we got round two of four big storms headed our way. It's nice to have some snow to get us in the Christmas spirit. I'm just glad I have four-wheel drive because there's a lot of it.