We surfed on a Tuesday and Wednesday in Hawaii, then came back home to ski on Saturday! I may have mentioned that, back in September, we bought a Family Season's Pass for Mt.Seymour, and we also registered Callum and Max in ski school for 5 Saturdays in January and February. It's a good thing they had their classes to attend since I'm not sure we would have bothered going up and getting any money's worth out of our passes since the snow has been rather disappointing. There was, however, the weekend of February 22nd that was actually pretty fantastic, so we were able to take advantage of good conditions. Even Jeff and I went up to Mt.Baker and got in some amazing runs together on the Sunday.
Trying to cram in some last winter fun, we spent a Pro-D day at the arena. I confess that I really quite loathe putting on skates, so I guess it's a good thing none of my boys have been adamant about going into hockey.
Suddenly, I guess when March arrived, things have started feeling much more like Spring! Max and Simon get to hang out together at home a lot, while Callum is at school, and I try to remind Max that he can play with his younger brother when his big brother isn't home! So he and Simon pulled out the bikes and scooters and skateboards for a few hours on a warm day.
Callum has finally entered the funny-looking kid phase of his life - he lost his two bottom front teeth several months ago, but when he lost his front tooth, it makes quite a difference to his appearance!
Another warm Sunday, Jeff and I brought the kids to Crescent Beach for a little bike ride and some practice skipping stones. Jeff will be annoyed with me for including this picture, but don't we all get too distracted by our media devices sometimes?
In fact, I have come to a point with my 2 older kids where I have begun strategies to limit electronic media use. Max isn't so hooked yet, but because Callum wakes up so early in the morning, I have recently had to make a rule that he can't go downstairs to watch videos until after 6:00am (before I put a clock in his room, he would sometimes be sitting at the computer at 5:30 am!). Yes, I know I could get up at 6:00am with him to practice his Dictee or do homework with him, but, c'mon, it's 6:00am! So yes, I let him watch TV or sit at the computer or use the iPad until 7:30am, but it means he has used up to 1.5hrs out of his maximum 2hrs of daily electronic time already. Callum and Max play less and less in their playroom with their toys, mostly only when they have friends over, so if they're not using their electronic media time, they often need my intervention to play board games, cards, or set up some painting or something. They can't even play in the backyard on their own very well, (even with the playhouse we built for them!!), unless I come out to instigate fair-play soccer or baseball... I definitely feel like I need to get more positive control over my boys' playtime and make sure their brains aren't just shriveling away, losing all abilities for imaginative play and creative thought!
DAY6: After our most satisfying day at Big Beach, Cindy offered to watch the kids while Jeff and I braved the Road to Hana - him on a road bike with Sven and I with my sisters in a car, while Krista's friend, Todd, rented a motorbike for it. We enjoyed some delicious banana bread together at the little food stand early on the road, before heading out at our own pace.
We stopped at Waianapanapa (Black Sand Beach) State Park for a little exploring.
I wanted to make it
all the way to the southern part of the Haleakala park to do the Pipiwai
trail, so we headed there quickly with only a few stops. Surprisingly, none of us got
car sick on the way there.
The trail starts at the coast, to view the Seven Sacred pools of Oheo. Very cool. A satisfying little hike with a pretty decent waterfall at the end, though no pool to swim in at the base.
DAY 7: Cindy's Mom and husband Paul happened to be in Maui at the same time, so we drove north to visit her in Napili Bay for snorkeling and playing in their pool. It was the day I had my close encounter with a turtle while snorkeling - very awesome.
DAY 8: Cindy and I took the kids with Kim and Adam to do a hike along Twin Falls trail, but first stopped at Hookipa Beach to check out surfers. We were treated to some fresh coconut drink by some locals.
The Twin Falls hike was perfect for the kids, if not just a little muddy from all the rain.
(There was a small group of Japanese hikers that took a liking to Simon on the trail):
DAY 9: Monday, I had booked surfing lessons for pretty much everyone except Krista, Todd, Megan and Cindy, who watched on the beach with Simon. They guaranteed everyone would get up and we all did! It was soooo much easier than when we were in San Diego in 2008. Callum, Teddy and Max each got up on their first try! So cool. Jeff worked his butt off to get up, and Kim struggled a bit, but everyone worked hard and got seriously tired out by the end of day.
DAY 10: I really wanted to check out the Iao Valley. The kids were feeling kind of lazy that day but we got them out the check out the "needle" and the valley really was lovely. That night, Jeff and I were able to escape for an amazing meal at Mama's Fish House.
DAY 10: Our last day, we got in some beach time at Baby Beach and Kamaole III in Kihei. The whole trip, Adam and Simon shared a funny relationship, but I think they generally enjoyed eachother.
Although the trip started out a little unpleasant, with the disappointing weather, it turned out pretty awesome. I may choose an all-inclusive resort in Mexico next time, to avoid what seemed like constant food-preparation for the kids, but we'll be back to Hawaii, I'm sure. Just not in January.
