Hana Rainforest

Yesterday, we had what seemed to be a full moon. One of our twins heard that a full moon will bring jelly fish closer to the shore where she spends most of her day riding her boogie board. She pleaded with us not to go to the beach. My husband googled the full moon jelly fish subject and showed her that the increased risk doesn't happen until about 10 days after a full moon. Our attempts to convince her failed. Insert plan B....Our impromptu day of adventure to Hana. I like days like this because we have no plan. We just go and see what the day brings. After packing food and water (a must when driving to Hana) we were off. Our first stop, Twin Falls at mile marker 2 seemed only appropriate since we had twins in the car. The hike was more then I bargained for in flip flops and farther then I was up for but I made it. We took it slow and stopped to take photos of amazing wild flowers and plants that looked like they were on steroids. The farm stand was adorable and we met a guy named Mana, whose job was to hack open coconuts for customers using a machete. These were young coconuts which contain coconut water that is high in potassium and great for re hydrating. The coconut meat is near the bottom so all you need is a straw and a spoon.

Next stop wouldn't be until mile marker 32 which doesn't seem to far away however it took about 2 hours due to the hundreds of narrow, one lane, winding turns that pass breathtaking views of the ocean and waterfalls. The girls chose this next stop because of a snippet they read in the Maui Drive Guide about a legend of a princess. (note to editor: I'm thinking there should have been a disclosure about the topic content). As we arrive at our next stop we find ample parking and follow the signs to the lava tubes and blow hole area. Pretty amazing that you can just walk right out there on the hardened lava flow at the ocean's edge. Next we pasted an ancient cemetery and then found the sign about the princess. Apparently she was trying to hide from her cruel husband the chief when he discovered her hiding in a lava cave at this spot. He killed her. You can imagine the flood of questions that poured out of our kids mouths faster then I could answer them.
It was starting to get late and we needed to start driving back. We ran out of time to stop at seven sacred pools (our favorite spot to visit in Hana ). This time we would have to wave as we drove by. We were making good time (going around the back side of the island) until we literally were stopped in the road by these very pretty horses that were taking a walk by themselves down the middle of the road. Looks like they had an unplanned adventure day like us.

Tuscan Evening

Today my husband and I kept talking about our time in Italy which led me longing to return. Not possible right now, so I implemented plan B, bring a little Tuscan love to our evening. The girls love this and it's always a big hit with my husband.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken: Mix in a medium bowl, zest of one lemon, use all juice of the lemon, 4 garlic cloves chopped, 1/4 c. EVOO, S & P, italian seasonings fresh is better but you can use dried McCormick's Italian Seasoning combination rosemary, thyme......, sage, oregano, basil and marjoram. Pour into a large zip lock baggie, add 4 chicken breasts that you have washed, dried and rubbed with s & p, massage around in baggie to coat, place in refridgerator and marinate at least one hour. I leave mine in all day while at beach. Grill it on bbq when ready for dinner.

I pair this dish with Grilled Panzanella Salad: Julienne slice day old bread, I use baguette, brush both sides with evoo, grill on bbq with red, yellow bell peppers halved and red onions sliced. Next, cube up a large red and yellow tomato, rough chop an english cucumber ( I spoon out the seeds), rough chop 10 fresh basil leaves, 3 tbsp. Capers, s & p. Make the vinegerette to toss this all together: chop 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 2 tbsp champayne vinegar, 1/4 c evoo, s & p. whisk it all together in large glass bowl. Note: lightly drizzle olive oil on bread prior to tossing with vinegerette.

This meal is nice with a Sangiovese wine. Cheers!

Pool Etiquette

What happened to good old fashion pool manners? We’ve just returned from a world renowned 5 star hotel famous for their spa and pools which feature fun water slides. The over priced per night charge seems contraindicated with the reality of craziness that entails around the pool areas. First you have to get up at the crack of dawn to secure a lounge chair anywhere near a pool. That being said, my husband acting like a Dad on a mission, raced down to the pools to secure our position.

After breakfast on our balcony overlooking gorgeous gardens, we headed down to the pool desk to obtain our magic wrist band, color of the day, Ocean Blue. Without this magic wristband, the pool police will not let you on the slides or into the pools. Pretty sure the hotel was at maximum capacity because there were people everywhere, pods of them, entire groups traveling in packs, moving about the hot flagstone in slow clogging up traffic momentum. With our feet burning we carefully tried to step in water drip spots from their swimsuits so as not to literally scream out loud, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Oh ya…."PLEASE get out of the way". Wanting to demonstrate proper pool manners to my kids, this little out burst just resonated silently in my head.

The noise, the lines, the snot dripping out of noses both young and old and really trying to tell myself that kid did not just get out of the water and pee into the pool, I wasn’t going to let that ruin our 24 hour experience. The contract should read: Parents please watch your children in and around the pools or leave. The pools are shallow, no jumping or diving, clearly this didn’t matter and astonishingly none of their parents cared. I was sitting on the edge of the pool in front of my lounge chair reading a book with my feet in the water, this little boy maybe 7, decides that I am in his path and proceeds to step over my lap dripping wet onto my book like I wasn’t even there.

Now granted all my complaining aside, this is why they have an adult only pool but oh ya, I HAD MY KIDS! What’s wrong with the 30 other yards of pool space you could have easily entered the pool? Our girls were oblivious to any of this and the day was marked as a great success.

Double Digit Birthday

I’m well under way with the covert birthday plans. My closet has been taken over by glitter, banners, stickers, ribbons and endless pink tulle, the paraphernalia is everywhere. I've been working on this giant poster size birthday card for hours. The twins are turning 10 in a few days and little do they know, their covert mom (hiding in my closet) has been working hard on making some special surprises to celebrate their happy day.

I’ve gathered birthday messages from friends back home and transferred them on to the giant card. This celebration will have a few layers. We’ll start the day before with our traditional homemade birthday dinner (they want my famous Shrimp Scampi) along with their homemade birthday cake.

After they go to bed I will decorate the house with all this endless pink and then head off to their favorite hotel for a fun afternoon in the pools. Little do they know, two of their friends from school are also on the island and will be joining us at the hotel. I shutter to think how loud their screams will be when they see each other. Still need to decorate their birthday t-shirts, even Dad will be wearing a pink shirt.

1 -2 - 3 - Strikes Your Out

Last night was a blast! We went to see Maui’s professional baseball team "Na Koa Ikaika", play against an Arizona team. My friend’s son, Donald, is one the pitchers and he pitched a shut out game the night before so he got to sit in the stands with us as he was charting pitches. Twin A was in all her glory getting the VIP treatment from Donald. He let her use the radar gun to track the speed of each pitch. He then gave the girls each a baseball which they quickly asked him to autograph. The girls were doing cheers in the stands and at almost 10 years old, were still fascinated by the mascot in a stuffed warrior suit. My husband was thrilled to have a guy to talk to about stats of the game. He had memorized Donald’s stats prior to leaving the house. We won the game 9-8. This professional baseball team just won the status of champions at the half way mark for the season.

Hot Water

A nice hot bath is soothing, relaxing, and leaves you feeling better after you leave it or alternatively it can burn you leaving a bad scar with a story to tell. Hot water is also a beautiful thing when added to cocoa mix, it has a wonderful aroma, it warms you up on a cold day and is really good when shared with a close friend. However, you need a spoon to carefully stir the mix or you end up with a big hot mess.
We all have the option to determine who we’ll be when met with hot water. Will you stir up a gossip conversation, engage in talking behind someone else’s back, be a story topper or listen and redirect the conversation to a better place. Nothing good ever comes out of gossip, not even for the instigator.
Teaching this life lesson to my girls over the years is repetitive but the message is still the same it does not age with time.
As a mom raising girls I know the real lesson is to teach them to recognize situations of hot water and for them to decide who they are going to be when they’re faced with hot water.
I know from personal experience that it feels so much better to not engage in hurtful conversations but if you find that you have……apologize. Nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes. Ask yourself, what is your motivation with your apology? Only you can decide if you are sincere with an apology.
Gossip girls are no better then a school yard bully and sadly they grow up to take their gossipy lifestyle into their grown up lives affecting and hurting so many people.
It’s really that simple. It’s a choice. Who do you want to be when faced with hot water?

Flipper & Friends

Today we had a fun adventure with wild dolphins. From the boat we could see a group of 30 dolphins. They were jumping up out of the water, chasing the wake of the boat and one dolphin laid on his back like a sea otter and flapped his tail for several minutes. The girls were so excited to see dolphins in the ocean and not at a Sea Park. They were very playful and entertaining to watch. The weather was spectacular. Snorkeling at the reef was awesome! Twin A and I floated around following a rainbow fish for quite a while. Twin b had an allergic reaction to the wet suit, apparently it has latex in it. Thank goodness I had Benedryl on the boat and that helped. We finished the day with rootbeer shaved ice. Yummy~

Puppy Love

Our twins are turning 10 this month. They have been begging for a dog for years. I grew up with dogs, horses, rabbits, cows, sheep and even a cat for a while, so I know how much love animals can bring you but I also know how much work they can be. Realizing this, we've decided as parents, that the girls show determination for learning how to take care of a puppy and their apparent appeal for a new member of the family has convinced us they are ready for the responsibility.
That said, we began our search a few weeks ago and came across a darling little puppy named Twix. Just the kind of puppy we need for our situation with asthma and allergies. This morning the breeder emailed me and said Twix had died. They rushed him to the vet where he was pronounced dead, no heartbeat. The mama dog probably accidently stepped on him. He was only a couple weeks old and although we had never met him in person we already loved him through his photos.
As the tears rolled down my face reading the email I knew we had entered the real reason why I never wanted to get a dog. Now I had to tell the girls the little bundle of love had died and would not be coming to live with us. Ugh...we only have our toes in this water just an inch and WHAM sucked into the reality of life with a dog and we don't even have one yet.

Makena

This morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to meet our friends for a day in Makena. Although I've been at these beaches so many times to count (and every time was great), today was ideal! The weather was perfect, visibility clear and the company was exceptional. The kids hadn't seen each other since school got out, and were over the moon to see friends from home. They built a sand house, played in the surf and searched for coral.

Parents got to catch up and visit with our toes in the sand, which felt like silk today. "What is it about Hawaii," she said, "that makes it so easy to completely relax?" My response as if it were a reflex, "the smell in the air, the vitamin D from the sun, the feel of the sand and the relaxing warm water." Doing absolutely nothing has its rewards. Reducing stress plan is working. Great day!

4th of July

We started our 4th of July at Church. Some parents of young soldiers (18-22yrs old) shared stories about their sons, there wasn't a dry eye in the church. I can't imagine the amount of sadness these parents feel not knowing where their sons are or if they died today or when they will be together again. It's important to me for my kids to know that there is something we can do to show that we are grateful for their service to our country. Through the years we've done different projects of sending things to soldiers but today we signed up for Military Hope Care Packages (organized by these parents). The girls will shop for the supplies to send to these boys and to other soldiers that do not receive anything from home. They will also include postcards and letters.

After hearing today's message at church, "the real price of freedom was paid by Jesus," (Amen to that!), we spent the rest of the day at a beautiful beach. The girls played in the sand and I read my book while my husband took a nap in the warm sun.

Later we grabbed some dinner and headed into Lahaina to watch the fireworks show. Front Street was closed and filled with people coming together to share in this traditional celebration. The show did not disappoint.

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.