Happy 4th of July

Friday morning Ryan and I drove to Haleakala. The drive was yet another twisty, slow going road. We left early, which was a good move on our part. The tour buses were just arriving as we were leaving. We were the only audience one of the rangers had for his little history/geography lesson. Of course, the poor guy didn't know what he was getting into, talking to us. I think we asked a few more questions than the average audience member. Ryan the science teacher guy and me with my small background in all-things-Hawaiian, gave the guy a run for his money. :o)

Overlooking the crater. This was the only time during the week I needed my coat. It supposedly frosts at night, but it was about 50 degrees and windy while we were there at 9 am.

We were above the clouds. It kind of looks like the moon, or something, doesn't it? Rather too high for much in the way of vegetation.

Yikes! We were high. I wonder if my OB doctor would have approved? We walked the last 5 feet to the top, and were winded. The air is so thin, we just couldn't catch our breath very well. We felt good about not taking the hike around the crater.

Ryan, Danae, Tiffany and James waiting for the fireworks to begin. We were waiting for almost an hour by the railing, so we would have a good view.

As Emma would say, we felt (and looked) kind of "melty" by this time.

There were flags everywhere along the main street of Lahaina.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful!

Happy 4th of July!

On the radio, we were told that Lahaina was one of two places on the island to see fireworks. You could set some off on your own, but we didn't think that would be any fun without our girls. The fireworks started at 8 pm! Since the sun goes down at about 7:30, it's plenty dark by then. We were amused by the fact our girls were watching fireworks with their grandparents at 10 pm Pacific time, which was only an hour before we saw ours. We were a little glad it was Grandpa and Grandma that would have to deal with the post-late night grumpies and not us. (oops, did I say that out loud?) After the fireworks, we all went back to the condo and played cards.

Castles in the Sand

Thursday night after dinner, we all went down to Ka'anapali beach to walk along the beach. After a nice long walk, Ryan, James and I built a sand castle. After the sand castle was (sort of) completed, the guys started building fortifications against the tide, a la' Captain Moroni. We were just missing our Title of Liberty.

Here is the sand castle itself. We didn't come prepared with buckets or shovels, so this was all done with our hands and feet.

Ryan was trying to hold back the tide. He literally was throwing himself down on the sand when the big waves came in. He mentioned that he had sand everywhere, after we had all showered and cleaned up.

"Come Spend a Day in Lahaina"

Thursday morning was spent snorkling, and those pictures are on the waterproof camera getting developed. After lunch we went to Lahaina to walk around for a couple of hours. An itty bitty lighthouse right in Lahaina.

This appears to be where a lot of surfing lessons are given. We spent quite a while watching people try to stand up on their boards. And we decided boogie boarding looks to be more fun for the likes of us.

This is the very large Banyan tree by the old Lahaina courthouse. It's seriously huge.

We stopped for ice cream before heading back for dinner. Here Ryan is enjoying his Road to Hana ice cream (yep, that's the name of the ice cream). It is basically Rocky Road with macadamia nuts. I had macadamia, coconut and caramel in vanilla ice cream. Yum! It didn't have a cool name like Ryan's though.

Road to Hana

Wednesday was our day to take the scenic trip to Hana. It is about 56 miles from Kahului (the airport and about 45 minutes from where we stayed) but it takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive it. It was a beautiful trip. We left before 7 am and made it back for dinner about 6 pm. We stopped numerous times, partly so Ryan could enjoy the scenery. We were told the road has roughly 600 turns (we aren't sure of the accuracy of that information, but it sounds right) and many one lane bridges. Ryan and James climbing at one of the places we stopped.

Coffee beans growing wild.

I don't remember which stop this was, but the waterfall was pretty.

Ryan and I hiked up to Fagans Cross, which affords a really good view of Hana. Truthfully, looking at Hana from far away was about as good as looking at it up close. The so-called famous Hasegawa General Store was a dive and a disappointment. I don't think they've done much to the store since it opened in the early 20th century.

Another view from the top.

Us at the top. James and Tiffany opted out of the hour walk, choosing to read and nap in the shade. We were very hot and sweaty when we returned, but it was good to walk. We saw mangoes, guavas, coconuts and macadamia nuts all growing wild. Ryan showed me the proper way to get fresh mangoes-- take a rotten one and throw it up into the tree to knock fresh ones down. They were sooo good. We tasted fresh guavas for the first time. I thought they tasted just kind of sweet, and Ryan thought they tasted like a sweaty horse. (How does he know what one tastes like?) Guavas are very, very seedy, like the prickly pear, or tuna.

There is a funny story from this walk, but it's too long to do justice here. Ask me in person.

Some of the stained glass windows at the Catholic church in Hana.

This was a Hawaiian hymnal. Good luck singing that!

Hamoa Beach, just past Hana. This is supposed to be the only north Pacific beach that looks like a south Pacific beach.

We thought this was a cool crab. He's well suited for his environment. Ryan took several pictures of him.

We stopped at Wai'anapanapa park on the way back. It was a very pretty beach, but it required walking down from the parking lot quite a ways. We were so tired at this point, that we just admired from a distance. This was a black sand beach, and it appeared to be hot for the barefooted people playing on the beach.

We made the trip back must faster than the drive to Hana. Everyone on the road appeared to be in "let's go home" mode, rather than the "let's look and drive" mode of the morning.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Tuesday we got up at 6 am Hawaii time. We felt like we had slept in, since that's 9 am Pacific. After we got ready for our day, Ryan and I took a drive around the northern portion of the island. The map indicates "rough road," but it really wasn't that horrible. The views were breathtaking. There was a lot less traffic than the Road to Hana, and I'm guessing the locals probably like it that way. Yep, we are in Hawaii, all right. The car rental company gave us this Subaru Impreza, instead of the economy car we reserved. It was very sporty, but got just a bit better gas mileage than our minivan.

You might be surprised how many signs like this there are in Maui... I was glad it was Ryan driving. I think they may not know how to make straight roads there. :o) I guess it goes along with the one lane bridges.

We went snorkeling at Honolua Bay. We rented gear at a place called the Boss Frog. Ryan convinced me that I could do it. So, with the help of a blow up pool toy, I swam all over the bay! So yes, even I can go snorkling. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I was sure glad I did. It was sooo awesome! We saw lots and lots of tropical fish and coral. Even the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. (It took me three days to teach it to Ryan) We went snorkeling again Thursday, and we bought an under water camera for that very purpose.

Seriously, could I look any more ridiculous?

If you can see behind me, that is a rocky beach, not a sandy one. We felt so retarded trying to get in and out of the water. The good news is, after we got back on land, we watched other people and they looked just as awkward.

A view from above at Honolua Bay. It was beautiful!

Here we are at the Royal Lahaina Luau. The price of the tickets included an all-you-can drink bar, as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet. It's a shame we still have to pay the full price when we don't drink. We had a nice selection of juices and soda. The buffet, however, was very good. And we stuffed ourselves accordingly.

The Kalua pig held by two of the dancers in the show later on. The lady in the middle was the emcee for the evening. She was very engaging and quite funny. I think the faces she made alone made us laugh. The guys were doing a "hula kahiko" or the ancient style of hula. The styles included Tahitian, Hawaiian (both ancient and modern) and Samoan. There was a guy who, for the finale, did the fire knife. My camera really didn't do justice to it, so I'm not posting one. But it was very cool. The regular guy dancers did a less intense version with the fire knife and the ladies came out with flaming poi balls. I know how easy it is to hit yourself, in spite of your best intentions, so I don't think I'd use the flaming poi balls...

We are ready for bed! 9 pm Hawaii time is too late for us....

We Are Back!

We made it back from Maui. What a wonderful trip! Ryan and I were able to drop the girls off at his parent's house and have a sort of 2nd honeymoon. (Thank you so much guys!!!!) It was so nice to just be Ryan and Danae again. Sometimes I think we get a little lost in being good ol' Mom and Dad, so it was nice to just be a couple for a little while. Don't get me wrong, we missed the girls terribly and talked to them at least once a day. Once when we were walking around Lahaina, we were mistaken for a couple on our honeymoon. (Gee whiz, must have been a "shotgun wedding" with me in my condition! hehehe) Here was the beach across the street from where we stayed. We stayed in Kahana, a little north of Lahaina.

We flew out Monday morning and got back really late Sunday night. In fact, by the time we made it to Ryan's parents house, it was actually Monday morning. We went with our friends James and Tiffany (also childless for the week).

I am going to try to post more pictures from our trip. It may take me a day or two. I've decided I may have a problem. Over the course of 7 days, I took roughly 350 pictures. Thank heavens for digital cameras. I apparently have some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to taking pictures. Maybe I need to search out some sort of support group..? I guess it will be fun to scrapbook when I finally get around to it in say, oh about 5 years. :o)

I went in for another doctor check up this morning. The babies seem to be fine. The nurse looked at me and said that I didn't get much of a tan. This made me a little sad. To me, I look a few shades darker. I guess those of us from English/Irish decent just don't tan well. I did use a lot of sunscreen, but if I hadn't, I'd be RED, not a little tan.

Hula Girls

This is what happens when we have nothing to do. I had my Hawaiian stuff out (for decorations for the birthday party) so this morning I let the girls try some of my stuff on. We got out some Keali'i Reichel music and spent a great deal of time dancing and shakin' our stuff. Notice, we are still in our pjs. But we're having a great time!

Here is Emma with the Hula Kahiko greenery. I'm not sure what the tongue is about.

Me with no makeup....

I think Elizabeth is trying to be the King Kamehameha statue. She was piling as many leis on as she could.

A Hawaiian Party

We had a birthday party last night. There are 3 June birthdays, so we celebrated them all at once. Becky let us take over her apartment, since technically they are moved out, but they didn't have to turn in the keys yet. Here is a picture of some of the decorations. And yes, that's sand in the corner.

We cannot have a party without food. We had Hawaiian Haystacks, rolls and shish-kabobs. Check out the fruit ones- they have pineapple "flowers." Not pictured are the (obviously virgin) pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris. Everything was soooo good!

These are two of the masterminds of last night's party: Becky and Brooke. Becky is moving from our ward this month and Brooke next month. We are sure going to miss you!!

(Front L-R) Natalie, Danae, Brooke, Lucy (holding grandson Ian), Erin and Becky

(Back L-R) Tiffanie, Mary, Kathy (Ian's mom- Ian is less than two weeks old!) and Reagran

The birthday girls: Kathy, Natalie and Reagran.

And what is a birthday party without cake? This one was made by Becky and boy, was it tasty! It, of course, stayed with the tropical theme.

Scientific Experiments

My husband has been finished with the school year for a matter of two hours, and he's already coming up with crazy things to do. We had waffles for lunch, and Ryan wanted to know if he could cook eggs in the waffle maker. Apparently you can. He called it the Poor Man's George Foreman Grill.

Does anyone else think my husband is a little crazy?

Whatever Happened to the Stork?

With the babies coming, questions have been coming up from the girls. The latest has been, "How do the babies come out?" (Does anyone else feel like squirming when these questions come up?) Hm, how can I be somewhat accurate, but age appropriate? Anything I say is liable to come up again around other people. And believe me, many things have. There was one time at church.... which led to a discussion that personal things can be discussed at home but not elsewhere. So, back to the original question. I said that babies come out in a "special place" and when Mommy is at the hospital. And now, Elizabeth goes around tugging at her underwear or diaper (depends on the moment), saying, "My babies are coming out!"