Maui Built. part 5: Final Saga

I wish my life was a little more thoughtful and introspective than just a string of pictures. But it's not worth sharing all the drama taking place outside of the pictures right now anyhow. There is one really really really AWESOME piece of good news-- Lucy is half-way potty trained! She wears panties during the whole day, but not at night yet. I think the timing of my determination and patience finally colided with her being ready to do it. It took a little chocolate and a special Sleeping Beauty "potty present" to aid the trick. I'm so proud of her- even if it is only half mastered. I'm sure there'll be accidents, but she's done well so far. With that good news, here's the string of pictures:

Birthday Excursion to Iao Valley: I happened to take Jeremy to work and realized on the way it was my birthday. I should do something special, I thought. I took the kids (and myself) to Iao Valley, a very histroic Maui heritage park. And it did turn out to be a special birthday outing. It was fun just to play there all morning with the kids; beautiful, shaded. Iao Valley is where 4 streams converge together and it serves as an important water source for the whole west side of the island. They've made cool paths exploring the history of this spot to ancient Mauians. A signature area is the Iao Needle (shown in the first picture) that's on a lot of postcards. It was so early in the morning, there were still some morning clouds trapped in the valley, so beautiful.



These kids turn just about everything into a horse, by sticking it between there legs and galloping around. Horses are kinda big with the kids right now. I was impressed to see them find something to ride tandem.
The first birthday surprise I got was when we wandered into this "Interactive Nature Center." I thought just to walk around the gift shop thinking I'd come back with Jeremy and actually go through the nature center. But the cashier nicely gestured to me, "Are you local? Why don't you take the kids in, I won't charge you." Awesome! The center had just opened for the day too, so there was only one other small family of adults inside, we played around a lot.


The second birthday surprise came when I took the kids to buy a smoothie at the little cafe outside. We were just trying to waste time til we were picking Dad up for lunch. But I forgot my wallet, so we just started to walk away. Then these super cool tourists behind me just ordered it for us. I told them it was my birthday and thank you for the present. They laughed and thought the kids were cute and talked for a bit. Aah, got to love gifts from the heart.
Back at home with my birthday candles in some watermelon cookies.
Just a scene of Maui. This was a shot on the way to Lahaina. If you can look in the distance over the ocean you can see two islands- one is Molokini and Molokeawe (I'm not sure those are spelled right.) You can also see other islands from Maui- Lana'i and Molokai'i. It seems so timeless to me to think that I live on this tiny speck of land, where you can see other tiny specks of land, all of which is oblivious from the shores of very distant and much larger continental shores.
Sugar Plantation from the Hwy. There are a lot of sugar cane fields here.
Maui has a great network of youngs moms! If you ever move here, you won't be lonely. There is always something going on with these moms. I've been so impressed! And I'll miss getting to know all these great moms. The first activity I went to was a group trip to the Lavendar Farm. It was cloudy overcast day, but the garden was still very nice. We did a "treasure hunt" and got lavendar cookies for the prize. I'm not sure I liked those kind of cookies, but it was interesting to taste.

Another activity the Maui Mommies group did was an animal education class at a Vet Clinic. Lucy and Willie really enjoyed being with the animals. Course, there was a chicken that scared Willie half to death when the trainer let the kids feed her from their hands.



Guess one last update is July 4th, one of my favorite holidays. We decided we couldn't pass up the Makawao Parade. Makawao has the biggest rodeo in the state that weekend as well bringing in rodeo participants from all over the world. It's pretty big. And we definetly got our fill of horses- kids loved it. It was fun to see them all decorated. You be the judge- you pick the winner and you pick the category. The most patriotic? Best Decorated? Best Lei? Take a vote. Here's the entries:
Star-butted Horse

Flag Brigade
Mystical Bluuties
Rodeo Queen
"My Other Pet's a Minature Pug"
Mini Paints
Born to be Free
Peace Riders
Junior Polo Team
Arrreba RidersSaloon Scandalous
HorsePower...? Just look at that tongue...
After the parade we went to Stopwatch in Makawao, not our top pick (which was closed) but we did get our Maui Cattle Beef steaks. :) Afterwards we stopped for some red, white, and blue shave ice at Aloha Ice in Paia. The shave ice was HUGE, awww, so good. Then we did a little home firework show. Our neighbors out did us all around, but we just wanted to see if Dad could use a lighter (turns out he can't, lol.) Willie wasn't too sure about the fireworks. And here's Jeremy doing a little dance in the flashes of light.






PS- I just finished New Moon too.

Pop Quiz

Who's baby picture is this?
Might as well tell you now... I was thinking people were going to be guessing my little brothers because, to me, it looked SO much like those little "non-twin" boys, but I remembered the only ones who would probably guess that would be my own family, which I'm not sure how often they read this blog... ;)
The question was a bit of a trick because it's not really someone's baby picture because the boy is still a baby...it's Willie. After I had just given him his first full-head hair cut. Yes, first full-head haircut at 21 months. Sigh, it's always so hard to do the first one.
It's an awful haircut, if I'd known that my clippers were so rusted I wouldn't have tried. But I really was in the zone to cut it off, and I had to go with what I had. He wasn't the most cooperative as well. He's so different now!! He looks more babyish, yet more like a bully, more serious and more grown up all at the same time. I'm still getting used to it, and I'm still trying to figure out when I can trim up all the mistakes...

Maui Built. part 4: Arrival

We arrived to Maui little over 2 weeks ago. I'm going to cut to the chase and just tell you now, we're actually looking to leave Maui effective as soon as possible. This means nothing to reflect on Maui itself- we just hit a rock and a hard place and need to move out of this tough situation. The short story is all government workers have taken pay cuts (thanks Governor!) and ours is just putting us way out there. With that said, I'll tell you about the week before the week we found out that we really should leave Maui. (sigh, life is hard sometimes.)

We stayed in a hotel while we looked for a place to stay, but because that can rack up funds we we hurrying as much as possible. We checked out of our hotel on Wednesday morning and we're determined to be in a place by that night. We actually had 4 places that were all possibilities so we were confident. We even spent some time shopping- got a toddler bed for Lucy and an air mattress for because we had no beds for that night. Well around noon we had decided on one of the four, and had verbal agreed to get into this place but the landlord, at work, would have to do the contract that evening. The landlord's daughter and an uncle had showed us the place that morning. Well, we finally got to meet with her around 6pm. The main reason we had picked this place was because it was furnished. When we got to the place and were starting to do paperwork, the landlord kept making all these worried comments about the kid's safety- it was the second floor, they could fall down the stairs, there's a parking lot at the bottom, the kids will break through the windows and fall... (what?!) I slowly got the hint that this lady was trying to think of every possible reason not to have us move in not necessarily because of safety, but because she didn't want kids there. Ok, who didn't tell this lady we had kids?! That could have been so easy for them to screen us out, now we had waited all day and didn't have a place like we thought. The landlord knew our situation, and in a friendly yet sabotage way, suggested we come look at this 3 bedroom they also had for rent in a different little town. Ok (have no where else to go) so we went up to this house. It was hard to be optimistic when the place was caked in a year's worth of dirt, but we kind of thought it might work out. So we started to work out details. She kept trying to raise the rent higher than we had agreed. We stuck to our guns, not wanting to go over budget. They finally gave in and said they wanted to do month-to-month rent. Which really was just a trap for her to be able to raise rent the following month. We were not getting good feelings from being these people's renters. We did give them money (we had already taken it out of the bank for the first place we thought we were going to get). But we were going to do the contract the next day because it was getting late, the kids were hungry, not to mentioned covered in dirt from playing in the place and needed a bath (which needed to be cleaned before anyone stepped in it or they'd be making a mudslide). Well, that night was frustrated to say the least. As far as the place was concerned, I thought it could be fun- older but very big and closer to Jeremy's work. But it just wasn't ready for renters and we would have a hard time getting in ready to be live able, that was hard, and I wasn't feeling good about the whole month-to-month thing not knowing what was going to happen. That night was pretty terrible. The kids seemed to sleep okay. We were sleeping on the floor by morning as the air had all leaked out (it was a garage sale buy). We were still covered in dirt, and Jeremy was convinced because of the smell around the place, there was a dead animal somewhere. The little house was nestled between two other houses (all owned by the same person I think), it was actually connected to one of the houses by a door that was bolted. Here's Jeremy faking a smile because he really despised that place.We knew right away we just had to leave. We talked to the landlord and told our desires. She was actually really cool about it and said she'd give us all the money back and don't worry about that night. That was very generous of her really, she was looking out for us in a way. We quickly called the next place on our list to see if we could get in. And so that's where we are. A little two bedroom house behind the landlords new house in front, it has a yard and place for a garden, private driveway. It has raised ceilings which makes it seem bigger and open, lots of storage space. The kitchen is nice and spacious. We have a washer and dryer, our own covered parking space (thank goodness on both accounts!!! we were especially looking forward to that!)

I don't have any pictures of the house much yet. One thing we found out about this dry and hot place is there are a ton of mosquitoes. Apparently Lucy has the sweetest blood, she is covered in bites! She had 38 last I counted. She scratches them until they bleed and so I put band aids on them or she'll pick off the scab. This is a beginning picture, because right now I think she has like 15 band aids up her arm and legs. She thinks they're totally cool, but she looks a little ridiculous.

Now that we were settled into a place, it was time to go exploring! Our first journey was to Hana on the famous "Road to Hana" to see Jeremy's running buddy from BYUH and his daughter. They've visited us a handful of times, but we were excited to finally visit them. The drive to Hana is about 52 miles of 617 turns and 46 one lane bridges. It's crazy, a little scary, and absolutely beautiful! I think it's one of the pretties scenic drives I've done.


When we got to Hana we searched out our friend who was surfing at this beach that I can't remember the name of for the life of me... but it's known for it's red, black and white sand. It was really cool, nice sand to play in. The break was a little rough to take the kids in very far, but they had tons of fun playing in the sand and chasing dogs around the beach. It was starting to get overcast and rainy before I got out the camera, so I don't have a bunch of pictures.

Maui Built: part 3.5: Follow-up Side Note

A while back I did the Homemade Gift Challenge. For the first five people who commented on my post, I would send them a wonderfully handmade handicraft. Umm, obviously noone has any confidence in my skill level because noone even wanted a homemade gift by moi! I get it, I get it- I got the hint, don't worry. My blessed mother was the only one who responded- after all these years, she still tries to plant that seed of encouragement. ;) Anyway, this was a little bit over the top I guess you could say, but like I said, she was the only one who even responded (truth be known her comment wasn't one of excitement but rather kind of a "what are you doing courtney?" sort of comment). Well, fashioned now in the driveway of my mom's house are these 3 cute little day and night driveway signs. By day, you see a cute owl, blue birds, or flower. By night, your car lights will reflect a whimsical moon and stars scene shining brightly!
I made these signs from a Family Fun idea, and with the blessing of the barn I had practically all the supplies I needed at my fingertips! I was excited about the project, and so I even made another set for my friend the Ignacios. Unfortuneately, I decided I wanted to make them the day before we were going to Portland to see them, so I had to finish them in one day. It was kind of a late night. It always takes you longer than you think. That was a Thursday, and that weekend we were going to the coast, and then the next morning leaving for Hawaii... so finishing the set for my mom was kind of an ordeal as well. I was out the night before the airplane making Jeremy drive a stake into the ground to get them set in. The ground was too hard. We thought we were just going to give up. But a sleepless night befell me that night, I awoke early and set right to work with a couple of plain old garden tools on a new plot and worked until all 3 signs were proudly situated in the center isle of my mom's circular driveway. Yes, I told you this project was a little over the top. :) I wasn't the only one up early working though. That was the weekend that Mom flew Travis out to get done a bunch of odd jobs. That kid worked so hard the whole weekend! My work was nothing compared to him, I finished in an hour and half; he had to run change out of his work clothes while we were pulling out of the driveway for the airport! We managed to take this picture right before we got in the car. Someday, I will see the "night" side of these signs that I made.
Of course the personalized touch- adding the family brand or symbol to the back of the sign in reflective tape. I sign that beckons the visitor a farewell as well as a come again.
Thanks Betsy for your cute handmade gift! I'm glad that there are people that find joy in handmade crafts as a gift of love!

Maui Built. part 3: the Reason

So the whole reason we took the trip to Oregon was the Newport marathon Jeremy signed up for. But I might quickly add a second runner up, would be seeing our old and awesomest friends the Ignacio family! We dragged these guys down from Seattle to visit the with us in a whirlwind afternoon at the Portland zoo. I won't go into how stupid I was... for not thinking to invite them down to stay with us for a couple days...stupid, stupid, so sorry guys. We were sick with colds and the kids had pink eye or something and it just wasn't on my mind to have company. Such a big bummer. But anyway, Thanks for making the trip anyway you guys! It was so fun to see you and your cute kids! So, the real reason we made this big trip to Oregon, besides r&r, was Jeremy had signed up for the Newport Marathon. The bum had ditched out the year before when he had also signed up, so he was determined to do it this time. But unfortuneately he wasn't as determined in keeping up his training. He barely ran a handful of times in the 3 months prior to the marathon. But the trip ended up being the same weekend as our anniversary, so thanks to Grandma!! we had a wonderful (and a little painfully sore, well, Jeremy only) getaway. I had fun chasing the marathon participants around the course in the old, old, beat up (and I mean beat up!!) 1989 pickup truck. Glad I can still have memories in that thing. I would go cheer on marathon participants at any race because, man, it's just a long ways and they deserve it. Jeremy did what he'd probably call awful, but you have to give him props for finishing I guess. He was cold, in pain, and a little defeated. These two videos are backwards- the first video is of the finish, see Jeremy's pained expression, and the nice lady joggin by him to the finish line. I love the announcers commentary too! ;)
This is the start- Jeremy's in red bottoms and a white tank top, look for him towards the end of the video (the first guy you see in red/white is actually probably not him), if you can watch it slow play, you'll see Jeremy totally elbowing this other guy, so pushy! :)