Road to Hana

The first year I went to Maui I did a very quick Road to Hana trip.  Those of you who have done the Road to Hana know that it's anything but quick.  I swore that I would never do it again.  Well, five years later Aaron wanted to go, so we did.  My parents were babysitting thankfully.  The only thing worse than the Road to Hana would be doing it with a toddler.

Only this time it wasn't so bad.  Actually some of it was nice.

Rainbow Eucalyptus 

We stopped at Coconut Glen's to get some coconut candy.  They also made ice cream that was out of coconut milk and completely vegan (I thought of you Jeannie and Greg!).  I could have gone with regular flavors like coconut and chocolate, but I decided to try the unique flavors.  One was chipotle chocolate chip which was kind of good actually.  Definitely a kick at the end.  The other was red curry pineapple.  I love red curry with coconut milk when having thai food, so I was kind of excited about it.  It was ok, but not great.  The coconut candy was phenomenal!

We decided to go to the Red Sand Beach.  It was quite a hike to get in there, but I loved it.  There was a natural barrier so that there was calm water right by the beach.  We didn't have our swimsuits with us so we didn't stray too far into the water, but this is definitely somewhere I'd like to go again.  It would have been a perfect beach for Esme except that the hike there would be too hard to take her.

On the hike there we saw this "coral" tree

Beautiful Red Sand Beach

I think the key to going to Hana would be to actually stay in Hana for a day or two and make sure to go and enjoy this beach.

We also stopped at the O'heo Gulch.  I was very nervous about this.  The last time I was here the waterfalls were rushing and the Seven Sacred Pools were not even visible.  I lost my footing and almost ended up falling down into the raging water.  I would have been swept to sea for sure.  I thought that since it was a similar time of year, it would look like it again.  But it was very calm and nice and you could walk to all the pools and swim in them if you wanted to.  A very different (and much better) experience.

It's very easy to miss things on the Road to Hana and one of the things that we missed that we really wanted to see was the bamboo forest.  It was right across the road from the O'heo Gulch and we just didn't see it.  I was disappointed.

Finally we took the back road back to the main part of the island.  It is a very different world over there.  There are cattle and cattle gates and ranches.  It looks like barren prairie - a lot like North Dakota actually, except for that constant ocean view of course.

So overall, I would say that I would do the Road to Hana again just to spend more time at the Red Sand Beach and see the bamboo forest.  Who knows, maybe we'd even run into Oprah sometime!

Kaanapali at last!

Finally we got off the plane and got our rental car.  Then we went to Walmart to get supplies.  I know, I know!  We are Target snobs through and through, but there is no Target on Maui and well, we needed the basics.  Bread, milk, cheese, POG, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, Kona Beer, crackers, etc.  Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.  After shopping, we got to our hotel and this view from our lanai was our reward.

Paradise!

First article of business was to go down to the water!  We rented a cabana for the afternoon and Aaron was excited to get Esme in the ocean.  

He slowly worked his way in.  Dip those toes in!  Esme wasn't sure about this.

Turns out Esme was right to be nervous because even though the ocean looked very calm, look what happened next.

A huge wave came in and Esme and Aaron were gone!  I flipped out and went running down there.  I was certain that Esme was lost in the undertow.  But Aaron managed to keep hold of her and even keep her up so that she didn't hit the sand underneath.  Needless to say, Esme wanted nothing to do with the ocean after that.  So she went back to what she loves best, reading.

Hanging out in the cabana

Soon enough she was digging in the sand having a great time!

Yes, this girl loves the sand and sun!

Maui Bound

Hi all!

So we spent about 10 days in Maui (or do you say "on" Maui).  Either way, we were there and it was fabulous! I was nervous about traveling with Esme, I was nervous about getting any relaxation with Esme there, I was nervous about the time change with Esme, etc.  But everything turned out just great!

Esme's first flight went surprisingly well and only took two hours.  We made in all the way from our gate in the airport to another gate further down the concourse.  Yep, you read that right!  We boarded the plane and sat on the tarmac for a couple of hours due to various delays until they finally told us that we had to get off the plane and go back into the terminal.  Turns out that there was engine problems and they couldn't fix the problem outside because it was -8 degrees.  They had to take the plane into the hanger.  So we were supposed to leave at 2:30 pm but we didn't actually leave until 8:30 pm!  But Esme took it all in stride.  We took her car seat with us so luckily she had a chair just her size to sit on while we waited (which she loved).  The airline was nice enough to give us dinner vouchers so we just hung out at MSP for awhile.

When we finally got to LAX we found out that our plane to Maui wouldn't be leaving until the next morning.  They were giving people vouchers for a hotel room.  Unfortunately, we were the last ones off the plane because we had our hands full with the car seat, diaper bag, stroller, etc.  It was close to or after 11pm and there were only two people working so the line was moving very slow.  We didn't get up to the counter until after midnight.  We knew we had to be back early in the morning so we just asked if we could get a toiletry bag and we would just stay at the airport.  Well the very nice lady who was helping us looked at Esme and said "That baby needs to sleep in a bed not an airport!".  So she walked over to another counter and grabbed us a hotel voucher for the Marriott which is where the first class people were staying.  It was the closest hotel to the airport. (They put everyone in hotels starting with the ones closest to the airport and by the time we had gotten up to the counter they were down to hotels which were several miles away.)

So we jumped in the shuttle and away we went.  The next morning we went back to the airport and although we had heard rumors about how awful security could be at LAX we walked up and they saw that we had Esme and a car seat and stroller and they sent us to the front of the line.  It was great!

Esme did so well on each leg of the flight and made a lot of friends with all the people around us.  It took a long time to get to Maui, but as soon as we got off the plane and smelled the ocean air, it was all worth it.  We changed Esme into her summer clothes and the first thing she did was to lounge while waiting for the rental car to pick her up.

Esme and Buddy - we made it!

She relaxed right away.  This further verifies my thoughts that she's going to be a warm weather girl and turn her back on the snow and cold as soon as she's able. :)  At this point I'm sick of the cold myself and I say more power to her!

BOSU Diva

I've been really good with my resolutions!

I finished another book a couple of days ago.  Sarah's Key was A-MA-ZING!!!  I really liked it.  I cried at the end which is no surprise, I cry any time there's a good story.  Thanks to KKL for suggesting it!  I knew it would be good because my mom read it on the way home from here to New England.  All in one day!  I feel a little bit bad for my dad because I doubt she was very good company!

My second resolution was to do 40 crunches every day until my birthday.  So far I've done it, even when I was sick with bronchitis and didn't go anywhere for 4 days I still did my crunches.  In order to make sure I have really good abs by August, my goal would be that at the end of the time I could do 40 dead bugs.  Here is what a dead bug looks like.

Now imagine starting on a BOSU ball!

This is my goal.  It is not pretty right now, but I keep working at it.  And maybe then I will post a picture of me actually doing it!

Anyway, but tonight as I was working hard towards my goal Esme decided to help.  This might be one of the best videos I have of her.  Check out the hand on the hip!

Look out world!

40 x 40 x 40

I've decided to make two resolutions this year.  Partly because it's a new year and partly because I'll be turning 40 in August.  Normally, I'm not a big resolution person but for whatever reason this year I'm all for it.

Resolution number one is to read 40 books by the time I've turned 40.  I believe there are 32 weeks between the first of the year and my birthday.  I've already finished two books and it's January 12th.  So far so good.  The test will come soon enough though.  I usually do really well for several weeks and read a ton.  However, after that I may not read anything for 2-3 months.  Hopefully I can find enough interesting books to keep me going until August.  I actually think this may be the harder of the two goals.  One of the books in particular that I'd like to read is about 800 pages (more on that when I decide to take it on) and I would imagine that could slow me up quite a bit.  So I'll have to find some lighter reads to keep it balanced.

I guess if push comes to shove, I read "Go Dog Go" and "Ten Little Ladybugs" quite often with Esme. :)  But hopefully I can get 40 "grown up" books!  The first two I've read so far are:

The Girl Who Played With Fire
by Steig Larsson
Overall, I thought it was pretty good.  I got a little lost in all the characters, but I did really like it.  I would say that I liked it as well but not better than his first book.



And

Second Wind: One Woman's Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents

 by Cami Ostman

I LOVED this book.  It definitely made me want to get out there and start running again.  She is a "back of the pack"er and runs at about the same pace I do.  If she can do it, I can get out and do my little runs.  I'm excited to get ready for a couple of races this spring and summer.

My second resolution is to do 40 crunches every single day until I turn 40.  I have been able to keep that up so far pretty easily.  I thought this would be the more difficult of the two resolutions, but 40 crunches is pretty easy to squeeze into a day.  I think I need to up the ante a little bit and make it that I can do 40 "dead bugs" on a BOSU ball.  Now THAT will make it more difficult.  Maybe I could also read a book while I'm doing it for an extra challenge. :)

Next book up is:

Sarah's Key

by Tatiana de Rosnay

Daddy's toy.

This fall Aaron was thinking about getting a wheel barrow.  But then the idea of a wagon caught his attention and he decided to go with that.  Last night he decided to put it together and Esme is a huge fan.  So is Raggedy Andy.

Get ready Andy, here we go!

Whee!

Practicing my parade wave!

A Target girl like mom!

Esme's still "reading" all the time.  Magazines, books, newspapers, whatever she can get her hands on.  This morning she was checking out the Target ad during breakfast.

And she may as well look for a coupon while she's at it.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...