The Last Day

Thursday December 7: The trip is coming to a close, a time that is bittersweet. We are happy to be getting home, but sad to leave our home in paradise. There are some happy memories still in our minds, though, of the vacation. We have the beginning days of checking out the Condo and grounds, the multiple ocean visits, typing on this blog, multiple rainbows, the Iao Valley, snorkeling, tennis games, family time, Kahana Kastles, Lahaina swimming, boogie boarding, the road to Hana, flash floods, ugly eels, strong people lifting palm branches, relaxing, surfing, etc… But today held just waiting for the plane ride home. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing, except saying goodbye to our paradise.  

By the way...I've corrected some typos on the last blog and added something important. In rereading it, I realized that you may have gotten the impression that we spent hundreds of dollars on our dinner. Mom and Dad asked me to clarify my blog entry and you can go back and see the changes if you want.  

Coming to a Close

Wednesday December 6: Today was the day that we said goodbye to many things. tennis courts, restaurants, theaters… It was our last full day here. (Thursday is just about a full day, we are leaving at 11:50 p.m.).

We woke up this morning, knowing that our time was almost up. Although we are happy to be coming back home to family and friends, we will miss our "paradise". Palm trees, ocean… all of it.

We took off for a walking tour at the whalers’ museum in Lahania. It was interesting to see how all the whaling boats worked and survived for themselves in the ocean. After that, we went down to the Hawaiian theater where we saw the Nativity Story. I thought it was a good movie and that they made it very well. We said goodbye and went off to Canoes, a place my Dad picked but had forgotten to look at the prices. One of the menu items was $50 (steak and lobster)! We ordered the least expensive items and my brothers ordered off the children's menus. When the food came to us as my Mom said, “This is not just a meal, this is a work of art.” It was pretty and  probably the best grilled chicken I had ever had.

We went to tennis afterwards where we played tennis for the last time (mostly because my Dad broke his strings). We said "Farewell" and "Adios". I do not have any pictures of today, but I will post two of the earlier days that I have not already put on my blog. Here’s Casey playing tennis, and here’s a group photo in the Iao Valley.     

The Day is Come

Tuesday December 5: This is the picture day. This is the day that the cd for our snorkeling was developed, and the day that we went surfing. There was no morning as the first thing we did was get ready to surf. We headed off at 8:45 and made it down to Lahaina with an expectation that we would be surfers in a day (little did I know that the sport was a lot more difficult than it looks). We went out there and learned the works on surfing. I got a LONG board. Corey and Casey had a better time of it than I did and got the board going swell. I had a few good rides at the beginning, but then settled down to what I’m used to on a skateboard which is looking down to steer myself. That killed me. I fell off about every time after that. After that we went down to our Grandparents timeshare where we met with them to go snorkeling for the last time. We even saw an octopus, hiding in the coral. And as I promised, I have two photos of the snorkeling from earlier days. One of Casey, and one of some of the more common fish at Black Rock. After that we went off to play some night tennis. Hitting back and forth, back and forth. Then we went back to the Condo to relax, and that is what I am going to do.  

Kickin Back

Sunday December 3: The morning was a normal one, waking up with the light of dawn, getting ready for church, ect. But the thing that was not normal this Sunday was the church service. What struck us all as strange (especially for Casey) was that there was no sermon; just music and Christmas traditions. It helped us appreciate how important it is to worship God and not just be entertained.

When we returned to the condo, we looked outside and decided that it would be a good time to go to the beach as a family, so we walked down and swam instead of building our third Kahana Kastle (don’t worry, we’ll make one before our time is done).

Coming back from the beach, I luckily went a different way than that of everyone else. My Mom, bros, and my grandma all saw a very freaky eel with its babies dead around it. They had to come home and show us a picture of it so that we would be grossed out too, but, as you see, I made it through with only minor casualties.

Our Grandparents on my Mom’s side left after that, but not without getting a family photo. The strange thing is, though, they left to go only thirty miles away. Oh yeah, I almost forgot (I kinda wanted to)...we ran. Sprinted four and a half miles. Almost died while running. Not fun. But we made it through the pain. And later, went to sleep.

Monday, Monday

Monday December 4: Did nothing until we headed off to snorkel (I will get some pictures posted when our cd gets developed). We went to Kapalua Bay which is different from black rock in that it is mostly a black coral bottom - a perfect place for eels and sea snakes (we saw both). Getting done we came home and played a couple of games. But then we headed off to the Mixed Plate restaurant where we ate many different things (notice the title). The road out of there was a short one getting to the mall and to the Banyan tree, with birds a singing. My Mom even got a present from one of them on her head. And with that, I double-dog dared my Dad to go out there and stand in the middle for a least a minute and then he could dare me to do something. So he took his opportunity and did it. What did he dare me to do? He made me sing "Happy Birthday" out loud to myself in the park. But, I had to do it, so I did. We then made it home, going to sleep later on, with nothing more to tell. 

Christmas is Coming to Town

Friday December 1: As this morning broke, I didn’t figure that it was almost Christmas. Twenty-four days and counting. Here in Maui, it feels more like we’re getting ready for the Fourth of July except for all the Santas. While people in Montana are experiencing below zero weather, we have a pretty nice 80 degrees. The oceans are warm, the rain is warm, even I’m warm. But instead of making you all wish you were here in Paradise, I’ll recount the day’s doings.

We had a simple meal of cereal for breakfast, and got easily going through our daily tasks. You know, relaxing. But after we got tired with that, we went off to go snorkeling. Black Rock, where we went, is the best snorkeling place in Maui, and hopefully I will get some pictures of it. After we went snorkeling, we went down a little past Lahina where we rode the waves with different forms, be it boogie boarding, body boarding, or just plain drowning. We got some good pictures. Coming after that, we built a second Kahana Kastle (that’s what we named our last one), getting some more great pictures.

Almost half way done with the trip, so I will try to get as many more pictures as I can. We’re going surfing next Tuesday so I should have some good pictures of that. Wish me luck.

The Day of Driving 

Saturday December 2: The day dawned with the sound of rain, pattering down on the roof. But, that wasn’t the only thing. As I went out this morning on our lania (back porch), our river was flooding and taking over the back lawn. As I watched, it broke over the sand barrier blocking it from the ocean, and started quickly making the clear ocean water brown. Luckily, I had an original photo of the river so I can give you the before, during, and after math of the flash flood.

Casey is also keeping a blog about our vacation. Check it out at www.homeschoolblogger.com/dadspeanut.

Rain, Rain

Wednesday November 29: Today the weatherman was finally correct. The rain came. But let’s back up to before that when it was the beginning of Wednesday.

We had the lazy day with a few twists in it. I woke up, had some oatmeal, then played cards until around 9:00; took a walk on the beach where I was soaked because of upcoming waves. When my parents came back from their time share spiel, all the family went out and looked around Lahaina. Lunch took us a while to find as my Dad took us down the opposite street and walked until it became residential area. We finally made it to BJ’s Pizzeria. But this was no ordinary pizza place. This was a restaurant with Chicago style pizza here. It was the best I had ever tasted. We then walked around the rest of the area where we got this picture. It was then a straight shot back to the house where we kicked back until we had to do the most dreaded thing throughout our whole family (besides Vougers). Run. The good thing is it started raining right after we finished two miles so we didn’t have to run another two. And boy, did it rain! After that, we headed to a place (I can’t remember what it was called) where we drank some juice, or listed to some music. I even won a hat. We came back, watched about a hour of the Tour de France, and then kicked back into bed.

The Days are Just Packed

Thursday November 30: Today was the most jam-packed day we’ve had. Which if I had been back in California, you guys would think I was a couch potato. We woke up this morning and had a great rainbow from the rain yesterday, and got some awesome pictures of it. After that we went down to the beach and took a short walk along it. Then, packing up into the car, we took off for Iao Valley. It was a very amazing place, with interesting, flowers, spiders, and even rocks with people on them. A river wound its way through it, making it even more spectacular. After we ate our lunch, we went off to play a little tennis. But, the highlight of the day came at the end where we built a huge connection of walls and towers in the sand (I got this picture while we were still in the building stages). After that, there isn’t much to tell, so I will leave it to you to imagine the rest.

Hawaii Here We Come

Monday November 27: Today was not quite an ordinary day. We got up at 7:00, got ready, but did not continue with our normal tasks. Instead, we piled into the car and drove off to San Francisco where we were planned to get on an airplane that would take us out to the land of paradise: Hawaii. When we were aboard the plane and set to go we looked out and took the now normal flight. But, when we flew over Hawaii, you didn’t see the normal sights. We looked and saw about ¾’s of the island valley, with virtually no slopes or increases in the land. But then you see the last fourth. Mountain Ranges towering over everything else, it was as I had always pictured it.

When we landed and had everything on board our very nice car, we went to Costco and spent a fortune on groceries for the next 11 days. We almost didn’t fit everything into our car. We drove off to Kahana Village, where we unpacked and wound down. It was the nicest Condo I had ever seen: five TVs, a lanai that had a view to the ocean, and virtually two master bedrooms. Wow, Mr. and Mrs. Ozenbaugh!

We ended the day with watching some of "Gods and Generals" and then headed off to bed, ready for another great day in Paradise.

A Day in Paradise

Tuesday, November 28th: I woke up this morning and went outside to see the ocean going out, with the sun coming up, and the Mountains in the distance. You can see why people call it the land of paradise. We went out this morning and took an outside tour of the  Condo. Outside our room is a "river" that wraps around part of the Condo grounds. Then past that is the ocean, about 30 feet from our back porch. (We got this picture taken when we took our little tour). Our tour wound its way across the beach where we all found tons of coral. Casey, Corey, and my Mom stayed for a little while after we had gone back, enjoying the nice breeze and ocean water. After we had finished the tour, we went out to Boss Frogs and rented some snorkeling gear. We got into the ocean and saw all kinds of different fish (and hopefully, I’ll get a picture posted soon).We played some tennis before we had to head back to the Condo to see our grandparents. We then went out to Black Rock and snorkeled again. At one point it sounded like Corey was screaming about a shark attack, but then I realized he was yelling about a turtle going by. We finished the day by coming back to the Condo where we sat back, relaxed finished our first full day in paradise.