Bree turns 2

Birthday cake for breakfast? Okay!

things to do on a snow day

Have a tea party with Pink Piggy. Serve him a cookie.

Go outside and play.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
"She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew."

A delightful, thought-provoking story about being true to yourself. Stargirl Caraway drops into the world of Mica High School and stuns everyone with her originality. She is the epitome of non-conformity, and seems oblivious to the social status quo around her. This is the story of Leo Borlock, a young man who finds her outrageous, kindhearted ways irresistible despite the shunning he will most certainly face if he associates with her.

What would the world be like if we could all be so brave and quit worrying about what others think of us? I'll bet there is some anthropological group normed research out there that explains why conformity is important, but it sure was refreshing to suspend disbelief and get lost with Stargirl for awhile.

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last day in maui

The cottages we stayed in, right behind the beach. Such a perfect little walk to the sand.

Our hotel, the Royal Lahaina.

more hana

Happy snow day today! Thundersnow - love it. Bree is napping so I have a few minutes to catch up a bit more on the Hawaii trip. We continued down the Road to Hana and found a little BBQ "Smoke Shack" for lunch. Yummy! Who knew you could find such delicious food in such a random place? Thinking about it now is making me hungry...
This waterlily was in The Garden of Eden, a drive-through garden which would maybe have been more interesting at a different time of year when things were in bloom. The views were nice, and this is where we found the name of those crazy trees, so the $10 per person admission wasn't a total waste.
As we continued, we began to find the waterfalls that the Road to Hana is so famous for. Our guidebook came in really handy here. In fact, if you ever decide to visit Hawaii I would highly the blue guides - this one was called Maui Revealed. With the help of the guide, we found this waterfall, called Makapipi Falls. To find this one, you pull over shortly past the 25 mile marker, walk over to the bridge, and look straight down on top of the falls plunging into the pool below. It is impossible to see from the road, so most people just drive right over it. What I want to know, and what the guidebook did not address, is the pronunciation for it. Make-a-pee-pee Falls? Really?
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More beautiful waterfalls, and then we reached the town of Hana. WHEN we go back to Maui we will absolutely find a place here to spend the night. There is so much to see and do in this area but we needed to be back to the other side of the island and didn't want to be driving the road in the dark. A quick drive through of Hana led us to 'Ohe'o Gulch, aka 7 Sacred Pools. Impressive. The water was high this time of the year, rushing with a deafening noise, and no one was allowed to get very close. Apparently you can go and swim in the pools and waterfalls at other times, but there was no way anyone was going to attempt it today. Instead, we hit the trail in search of a bamboo forest. The Pipiwai Trail was heavenly, again we wished we had more time and had to turn around too soon. Hiking along the beginning sections led us to a huge, and very creepy, banyan tree. We halfway expected to see fairies or gnomes creeping out of it.
Just before we reached the bamboo it began to rain lightly. Of course, I had left my raincoat in the car, there was just no way to see this coming but Dan and I enjoyed it. It gave the bamboo forest and waterfalls a more enchanting feel with the hush of the rain around us, and we had the place to ourselves.
Upon leaving here, we had a decision to make. We either needed to turn around and drive back the way we came, or continue around the road and make the full loop. Most people heed warnings about the impassibility of the last stretch past Hana and turn around, but we decided to make a go of it. I am so glad we did. The road went to gravel and parts were tough, but nothing like the 4WD roads here at home. Most of the way was one-lane and you ran into issues when meeting people head-on, but again we've been there. Driving this section gave us astounding ocean-cliff views, and we got to see the windswept back of Haleakala Crater.

Happy Easter

The Reef by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of the best parts about traveling for me it picking a book to take along. This time around we went to Hawaii, and I was looking for something good to lounge with on the beach. The Reef was it - a perfect beach read. It is a story set in the Pacific, entwined with murder, greed, passion, piracy, a nasty bad guy, cursed amulets, and romance. All of the elements which make for good vacation reading. Tate Beaumont is a marine biologist with a passion for treasure hunting. She and her family form an alliance with Buck and Matthew Lassiter in the hopes of finding Angelique's Curse - a jeweled amulet with a dark past. Filled with suspense and twists, and descriptions I could get lost in, this book impressed me. It is the first time I've read Nora Roberts, and I'm thinking it won't be the last.


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crazy rainbow trees on the road to Hana

For our 3rd day in Maui, we spend the morning driving up around the north end of the island. That afternoon, Dan played golf at the Kapalua Plantation Golf Club. He was so excited to play this course, to walk the same steps as many famous golfers have. I enjoyed the afternoon at the beach with a great beach read - Nora Roberts' The Reef. Dinner was at (again, one of our favorite chains) Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Not too expensive if you stick to "the plan," and only choose items from the special menu they make available.

The next morning, Thursday, we hit the road early for an ambitious drive around the east side of the island known as "The Road to Hana." This area of is referred to as The Land That Time Forgot, and it is easy to see why. Scenic Hana Highway follows the coastline in a twisty, two lane fashion. Dan and I took turns driving, which was nice, because the road can be a little stressful. Not far into the drive, we happened across a grove of rainbow eucalyptus trees. Bark strips away on the trunks of these trees to reveal astonishing color. When the bark is red, it is ready to come off, and if you strip it off it leaves a neon green. Previously, we had seen some photographs in galleries while shopping of these trees, and I honestly didn't think they were real. I thought someone had gotten creative with photoshop! It was quite a surprise to come across them in person, and worth some time to photograph. I'm looking forward to seeing what Dan was able to capture.

day 2 of our Maui trip

Tuesday brought another early morning - off to experience the thrill of the zipline. We met at Skyline EcoAdventures, just a short walk from our hotel, and boarded a van for our trip up the mountain. Sadly, the awesome keen sandals I purchased for the trip did not pass the test, upon check-in I was given a pair of loaner sneakers to wear. (Dan had warned me, but I thought these sandals would have worked really well! I couldn't argue, had to wear the dusty loaners.) We then got fitted with harnesses and sexy helmets. After bumping along on a winding uphill road, our destination came into view. I confess, I began to have second thoughts.

The valleys were beautiful, the cables stretched across them did not look inviting. Our guides Luke and George humorously described the process of attaching to the cable, taking off, steering, and landing while I nervously eyed the cable and landing ramp across the way.

Can you see me?

Turns out I didn't need to worry much, it was a ton of fun!! We did four shorter "warm up" runs, took a break for some fresh pineapple, and then did 4 more runs. I found the steering to be a bit of a challenge. You used one arm to hold on to the strap and turned it to the right or left. The big fear was that you would be turned around backwards when you reached the ramp at the end of the line, but luckily that did not happen to me. I enjoyed the last four runs most of all, you had a longer time on the zip to play and look around before you had to worry about the landing. We lucked out with absolutely gorgeous weather and incredible views down the mountain to the ocean and the island of Lanai across the water. The wind did us a favor, it seems they often have to cancel tours due to poor wind conditions, which would certainly have been disappointing.

That afternoon we drove around and explored the island some, visiting the 'Iao Valley and a pretty area called The Needle, which has a tumultuous history.

Dinner that evening was at Leilani's, where we had yummy sashimi and the best mai tais ever, and fresh fish for dinner. Just another day in paradise.

zip

Our very first run, I was a little nervous...


Dan is a bit more adventerous...

romantic getaway

Last week Dan and I flew to Hawaii, without Bree.

Let me tell you, this was not an easy decision, but it is one that I am glad we made. We needed some time together that would be both relaxing and fun. On the other hand, it was hard to imagine leaving Bree behind, being away from her for more than just one night. (Something good that came of the trip is the fact that Dan and I now have a will and other legal documents in place that, hopefully, will never be needed.) I do know parents who would never leave their children, and I get it. Our first inclination was to go to Italy, which we knew we couldn't do with her at this age, but every time I thought about leaving for that long, and that far away, my stomach would hurt. We tried to come up with someplace else and considered Puerto Rico for awhile, and then we found a good rate on tickets to Maui. It took very little convincing for me to say yes to Hawaii!

This was all possible thanks to one lovely, cherished person. Our friend Nicole watches Bree during the week while we are working, and offered to keep her for our trip as well. I knew that Bree would be safe, loved, and (importantly) kept on her routine. I also knew she would have fun with other children to play with. Happily, we were able to relax on the beach and enjoy nice dinners out without worrying too much about our baby. She was in good hands.

We left via the Colorado Springs airport on Sunday morning, March 29. On our way to the airport we dropped Bree off, and I think I did pretty well, considering! We arrived in Maui a little after 5 pm Hawaii time, picked up our rental car, stopped for necessities at Big K-Mart (Dan was not happy about our first stop in Hawaii being K-mart, but I won) and drove to the west side of the island to the town of Ka'anapali where our hotel was located. After reading reviews online of our hotel, I wasn't expecting much. We had gotten a really good deal and I wasn't hoping for luxury accommodations, but we were pleasantly surprised to be given a "garden cottage" at the Royal Lahaina. We weren't in the high rise hotel building, and had a two minute walk to a gorgeous beach! Turns out, I loved our room and its location couldn't have been better.

Our first full day in Maui began with us leaving our hotel at 6 am to catch a boat to Molokini Crater for some snorkeling. On our way out we stopped to watch a couple of whales swim nearby. I tried to get a picture of the tail fluke, can you see it?



Where's Dan's camera when we need it? Chilly water, but the snorkeling was an adventure. We saw an octopus swimming around on the bottom, and when it got attacked by a fish it inked! Kind of gross, but cool, too. We also stopped and swam with the green sea turtles, an experience I will never get tired of. Our trip was a little short due to the sea-sickness of The Seafire's passengers, myself and Dan included (though I was doing WAY better with my motion-sickness patch!)



After our excursion, we drove into the town of Lahaina for some shopping and lunch, and yes, I got jewelry! This is technically our fifth year anniversary trip, after all. We had lunch at one of our favorite places, it is a chain and there are actually a few locations in Colorado, but we love the food! The lava flows went down especially easy. Dinner out that night was Japanese at Kobe Steakhouse, where we sat at the hibachi table with a nice family from Oahu and enjoyed teriyaki steak and yummy sushi.

The next day was another early morning - time for the zipline!

present

The present is the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.
- James Joyce