As our home doesn't seem to be able to enjoy "normal" pets (sorry but I just don't want a dog and am allergic to cats), we are now the proud owners of a ball python snake. After a successful snake-sitting venture through the middle school Slithers club over the summer, we decided to honor Rachel's birthday present of making a snake a permanent part of our house. Don't get me wrong, snakes in the wild seriously make me think I'm going to have a heart attack but keeping one in a cage that you know won't kill you is completely different.
Meet Hydra, our own 3 foot + ball python whom the girls absolutely love.
Yes, I'll even occasionally hold her.
She does this yawn thing that looks like she wants to eat you and freaks Eric out but we still enjoy watching her slither on the ground.
Fall and Halloween tend to be my favorite time of the year. The weather is usually fabulous and Halloween is just a low-stress holiday for me. We had fun going punny on costumes this year. Since we were in Hawaii for our ward trunk or treat and our friends didn't have their annual Halloween party, we dressed up at a Halloween open House thrown by the Braeggers (they have great Halloween decorations including flaming pumpkins) and trick or treated around our neighborhood on Halloween.
Eric and I were Hawaiian Punch
Rachel--astronaut (what she says she wants to be when she grows up), Evelyn a leopard, and Elizabeth Social Butterfly.
The day before Halloween we had fun carving our pumpkins. Evelyn-I mustache you a question, Rachel-Jack Skellington, Elizabeth-Brace Face, Eric-I'm Batman!, me-supervising and scooping out pumpkin guts.
Ready to go trick-or-treating and bring back mom & dad lots of candy. Taxes are real people and we are teaching our kids early!
I can't believe my car and my daughter Rachel is 11 now, where has the time gone? From my one true brown-haired baby to a beautiful young woman, Rachel has definitely grown up (quite literally!).
The day before Rachel's birthday we went as a family and watched "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," a kind of spin-off movie from Harry Potter. The whole family enjoyed it. On Rachel's birthday (a Sunday, the same day of the week she was born), Lisa & Brent came over for pizza, breadsticks and a yummy Reese's cheesecake Eric made.
Opening Presents. Rachel's reaction to anything Kisses related, even the chocolate kind.
She has been working on hand knitting a scarf ever since.
Rachel is my list girl and got almost everything else on her birthday list, just not pictured: high-heeled boots (as if she wasn't tall enough already!), snake (need another post for this), and a few things she's getting for Christmas.
What we love about Rachel:
She is a great middle child who easily gets along with both older and younger sisters (even if she's a little too good at knowing how to push buttons at times).
Loves soccer and decided to go competitive this year, a real team player as center mid-defense.
Loves skirts and high-heeled shoes and can walk in them without twisting her ankle.
Is actually excited about school with a favorite subject of math. She loves the flexible seating her classroom provides this year and can choose from sitting on the floor, bouncy ball, standing, or traditional desk.
Our adventurous child wanting to try out anything new or somewhat dangerous (I'm sure she gets that from my sister Melissa). She'll probably be the one to talk me into skydiving, bungee jumping, and other thrill-seeking adventures when an adult.
Generally happy and willing to help out around the house.
For a few months Eric and I had talked about wanting to go somewhere over fall break and different ideas were bandied around--Puerto Vallarta, Moab/Arches, California. No plans had officially made when one day in August I was on Facebook (like usual) and saw Clark Howard post something about cheap (for Hawaii standards) plane tickets to Maui and Oahu. I messaged Eric and said, do you want to go to Maui? I'm sure he was thinking I was joking but after doing some research and seeing it wasn't outrageously expensive for everything, I was serious and we booked that night. For two months I planned, researched, told friends and family, but kept it a secret from the kids. As long as we don't tell Rachel there's a surprise, she's doesn't throw a fit. Friday before fall break I pretty much packed everyone up, Eric got all electronics charged and videos downloaded and Sunday morning at 5:30am we woke the kids up and told them we were going to Hawaii right now and to get in the car. That is the fastest I've ever seen them get ready in the morning.
The plane ride was long and we had a layover in Seattle but overall, everyone was happy because we were going to Hawaii! We got there late afternoon, got some delicious food from a food truck and headed to the beach across the street from our condo. The girls weren't in their swimsuits and we told them to try and not get wet, but we all know how that plays out. At least nobody fell in.
We are here and happy to be so! And yes, they wore their leis the whole day.
Monday morning was a lazy day at Charley Young beach across from our condo doing some snorkeling and playing in the water. After some downtime/nap for me, we drove south and could tell immediately that Wailea was more upscale than Kihei where we were staying. Going further down to the end of the road we drove through lava fields to La Perouse Bay and coming back stopped at "The Big Beach" or Makena State Beach with its long stretch of sand.
I don't know what it is with me and dead branches but I love having them in a picture.
I was so busy photographing Rachel in this wave that she actually got knocked down and the lady right next to us rushed to see if she was okay. Whoops, bad mom moment as the surf was a little rough as the lifeguards announced.
A nice outcropping of rock separating the Big Beach and a cove made for a great photographic spot.
The light action close to sunset is pretty unbelievable when clouds are involved.
Tuesday was our long day driving as we saw it was probably the best day of weather in Hana so since everyone was up early because of the 4-hour time change (it's killer I tell you!) we loaded up the car and started to the east side of the island. First stop was Ho'okipa Beach on the north shore. Great place for surfing and to see how many sea turtles blend into the rocks.
How many can you count? There are actually 3.
The road to Hana is filled with lots of twists, turns, one way bridges, and tight squeezes on the road, thank goodness Eric was driving. We gave the kids Dramamine and were off to see how many waterfalls we could see. The first couple we got out of the car and walked a little bit to but the rocks were so slippery and things were muddy so I was fine sitting in the car taking pictures of the ones close to the road.
Our big stop was black sand beach. I'm so glad we got an early start because the tour buses and other tourists kept piling up as we played at the beach. I would call this one more black pebble/rock beach but it was still neat and very pretty.
We made it to Hana, not much there so I snapped a picture of the bay and kept going.
Red Sand Beach. The guidebook said this was a possible nudist beach so we didn't stay long (there were two people a la natural) but it was cool to see red sand.
Seven Sacred Pools. This is part of Haleakala National Park and very pretty also, but very crowded and we couldn't swim in the falls.
We hiked up to the lookout of Waimoku Falls and were beat after a day of driving and other fun so didn't continue along the very muddy path. Have I mentioned this is the lush part of the island that gets a lot of rainfall? It's beautiful but makes for wet and mud.
Instead of turning around and going the way we came which a lot of people do, we continued along the mostly one lane and one section of unpaved road on the south part of the island. It wasn't as scenic as the Hana highway but this sea arch nearing sunset caught my eye.
Day 3, Wednesday was a little lower key than Tuesday. We drove back to the end of the road and hiked the lava fields to what we'll call the coral graveyard. I think I may have convinced Eric that getting up and going early in the morning (before 7am) has its advantages as we saw two people out on the path going out and had the coral graveyard "beach" to ourselves.
Eric chilling on the rocks.
Evelyn thought she had seen some black goats along the road and sure enough, there was a whole herd or two that we saw along the path.
After our hike we cooled off at Po'olenalena Beach. I lovingly named it the Popo beach because Hawaiian names can be so long and hard to pronounce! We saw sea turtles and Eric and Rachel saw an octopus snorkeling. With low crowds and great snorkeling, it was a great beach.
Again we needed some serious downtime in the afternoon and after almost driving to Iao State Park before realizing it was closed for repairs after a severe rainstorm last month, we headed back down to the Kamaole Beaches for a sunset stroll. I'm not usually one for long strolls along the beach, at least not the ones in California but I'll take sunsets and beaches in Hawaii any day! We got an amazing family picture or two and just had fun strolling along the three Kamaole beaches.
Thursday, man the week was going by fast, we explored a little of the west side of the island. This side must get a decent amount of rain too because we saw an awesome rainbow and our first stop was muddy. We tried to go snorkeling in Honolua Bay but recent rainfall caused the bay to be really murky so we had a nice walk in the mud through pretty rainforest before turning around and trying another spot on the west side to snorkel.
After parking in the wrong spot and walking more than anticipated, we made it to Kapalua Bay. This nice cove is in rich resortville but had great snorkeling. Everyone saw lots of sea turtles, big and small, plus very colorful fish. It was a great morning.
On the way back we stopped off at the Banyan tree park. This tree is incredible and huge!
We made it back for yet another beautiful sunset walk at the beach. I wonder if it ever gets old with the locals?
Friday, last day on the island sadly. Since we had a red-eye flight back we had the whole day to play and enjoy one last sunset before heading to the airport. We went back to Po'olenalena beach and saw even more sea turtles and octopuses (everyone saw but me) snorkeling. Eric and I questioned whether we saw an eel or sea snake and turned out to be a snake eel so we were both right. Since it was the last day I thought I needed to document how we had spent our time the whole week at beaches.
All the kids got in on the boogie board action. It was a nice flotation device for Evelyn while snorkeling since she's not the strongest swimmer.
Yes, the whole family snorkeled but I only got pictures of these two.
This is Keawakapu Beach. I ran here in the dark two mornings and saw amazing stars and could hear the surf (remember 4 hour time difference was a killer for me?) but thought I'd snap a picture in the daylight really quick.
After a scare that we had to be out of the condo earlier than anticipated, we did pack up sadly and started for our last excursion--sunset over the clouds at Haleakala summit.
Bye-Bye condo in Maui
The road was twisty turny up to Haleakala summit and we almost hit a cow on the way down (COW!), but we made it just in time for sunset which was epic.
We made it to the airport just in time for our long yucky red-eye flight back to the mainland. Aloha Hawaii until next time.
