Miko & Maui Sweet Maui

Aloha All,

Tonight I had a reminder of just how fortunate I am. Natalie and I returned yesterday from 4 sweet days on my beloved Maui (visiting Grandma and Grandpa). She had an absolute blast playing with them and swimming. Maui is the precious place of my wedding day and honeymoon, then 2 years later carrying Natalie in my belly, plus a few other great memories. West Maui does not disappoint. For me, the landscape is what true paradise looks likes. Staying at Napili Resort is what paradise feels like: perched on the ocean the views are incredible, sunrises and sunsets and all minutes in between, walking toward Kapalua, swimming in the ocean at Napili Bay, Sea House Restaurant (had my wedding dinner there), snorkeling, seeing turtles all day long from the lanai, hearing the ocean waves while falling asleep, immaculate units, swimming pools - what more can one want? I tend to reflect a lot while travelling as I am sure many people do and feel grateful for the ability to have the experience. Being able to see such beauty, the ability to go to different parts of the world is so wonderful. To have my girl with me (sorry Paul who had to work!) was amazing. This, in a way, was our first Mommy/Daughter girls trip and I loved travelling with her - she's becoming more grown up and can do her own hair and picks her own outfits and rummages through the fridge for snacks:). This evening Paul, Natalie and I head to the beach with our picnic supper from Whole Foods and we are approached by a little girl who introduces herself as "Miko". She first entertains us a few minutes by showing us her dancing and her music (an aluminum can filled with sand that she shakes for her music:). Natalie was shy to play and interested in a swim with Daddy but I keep talking to her. In our discussion, I come to discover this little girl lives in a van. She tells me how the couch turns into a bed and there's a table for eating and sometimes it's cold at night. She stays there with her dad sometimes and sometimes stays with her mom at her mom's place. She has never left the island of Oahu other than once as a baby to Japan. She asks if I have been to other islands and I feel guilty telling her 'yes'. I wished we hadn't eaten all of our supper and could have shared with her. She called Oahu a country and describes it as being such a big country. While she tells me this I wonder how she would feel if she knew Natalie is only four and got to go on a whale watching tour and drive the boat on the ocean - I feel sad for Miko but happy for Natalie. Miko is seven, she is sweet and her face is burned in my brain forever as well as our conversation. I thanked Miko for the nice conversation as we parted ways.

Lisa

 

The Gold Heart.

Aloha,


I have to blog about this because my little girl almost had her little heart broken - literally and figuratively. Natalie has a beautiful gold necklace with a heart charm on it that was a goodbye gift from her Auntie Lynnette. Natalie treasures it and never takes it off. It's the one the ballet girls noticed if you read the blog about that. So, earlier yesterday I tracked down this store called "BeadIt" looking for beads to craft homemade Christmas ornaments with Natalie - there's no Michael's here and well...don't get me started down that tangent! We go racing down to this store and I had told Natalie she would get to pick out beads for these ornaments and she was excited about that only to find out they don't have the kind I need at all for crafts and I can't even make them work somehow. Natalie had been whisked there in a daze as she had barely woken up from a nap and I had her in the car for this little jaunt. Naturally she was a little disappointed so she found a gold fish and red rose charm that she loved and I agree to buy for her. The clerk offers to attach it as charms to her gold necklace - everybody is happy. Later last night the three of us take a walk to the park, the necklace breaks and the original most important piece, the gold heart...missing. We find the red rose and the fish and the chain (broken) but no heart. By this time, we are at the playground and Natalie is melting down devastated as she loves this necklace because her Auntie gave it to her. Paul gets literally down on his hands and knees feeling the mucked up grass, earth, rock, mildly littered terrain while I distract Natalie playing at the playground. We fear its hopeless. Five minutes go by. Ten minutes go by. Now the sun is going down. It's hopeless. Then all of a sudden I hear Paul yell "Bingo" and there is the gold heart! Everybody is happy.  

Off to Maui tomorrow,

Lisa

This is why we are here.

Aloha All,

This past Saturday night we had the pleasure of going to the Fall Ballet Show at Paliku Theater Windward side. It was a beautiful drive along the gorgeous coastline. On the way back we stopped at the above beach appropriately named "Sandy Beach" just in time for the sun to set. It was a memorable moment with my family. Videos taken with iPhone not great quality.

Enjoy!

Lisa

Missing Waikiki?!?

 

 

Aloha!

 

How's this for a "Hawaii problem": now that we live East Oahu we find ourselves missing the sunsets when we were in Waikiki our first month. Being able to take an evening stroll and catch the sunset, fireworks, and wonder about the live outdoor entertainment in the evening is something we miss here at our new location. Even though we have many things on the plus side over here, including...oh just taking an evening stroll tonight along ANOTHER beautiful beach on our side and we just so happen to stumble along the set of Bradley Cooper's new movie! It's rough I tell ya! Sorry no photos:(.

 

Below is a shot of one of our first few sunsets from when we were staying in Waikiki. It's one of my favorites. We do have an incredible panoramic ocean view from our new place so not to worry, it's just we don't get the sunset view here on this side.



 

 

 

 

 

Peace out,

 

Lisa

It's a three ring circus...

 

 

Okay, some of you know that I lost the diamond in my wedding ring just a couple of weeks before we left for the Hawaiian adventure. Thankfully we had insurance and it was a simple matter of filling out some paperwork to get the diamond replaced...but then we got to thinking maybe a Hawaiian ring to replace it would be pretty special instead - after all we love Hawaii, we were married in Hawaii, we love Hawaii and oh, we love Hawaii! So we held tight until we got here then started looking around at some jewelry stores here and I fell in love with one that is VERY Hawaiian in design and carries the meaning "infinite love from the heavens", and it just so happened the size 5 they had in store fit like a glove. Went home and thought about it overnight and went back to get it the next day. I tried it on one last time to be sure and my hand must have been swollen and it didn't fit! Okay, had it re sized - Too big! (you would think I would have just brought my old ring in to measure - that would have been the smart thing - too much was going on with the move and clearly I wasn't thinking), now it needs resizing one more time and that should do it. Anyway it's a "beaut" and the experience will be part of our memories here.

 

Meanwhile in other news a few updates:

 

- the trades have picked up a little and Hawaii feels once again much more like the Hawaii I know that is never unbearably hot - thank goodness!

 

- we also got a membership at the Oahu Club and it's fantastic. Outdoor Olympic sized pools, exercise rooms, yoga, wt. room Jacuzzi, tennis courts, restaurant...with super friendly staff and members. Natalie will be taking her swimming lessons here from instructors with unparalleled skills. We can go there and pack our food or eat at the restaurant and stay all day in and out of the pools etc.

 

- went to church today and it was an unbelievable experience - Natalie enjoyed Sunday School at the cutest ever little building that also hosts a Montessori school and the kids get to use the preschool room for Sunday school -it's beyond adorable indoor and outdoor. Then we walked over to the church service and I was blown away to walk into this amazing structure literally on the ocean open to the air with the most gorgeous view and breeze 180 degrees from any given pew, the minister does a Keiki (kids) sermon each week and Natalie hopped right down on the floor with the rest of the kids and listened intently, followed by a lei making ceremony where anyone in the congregation could walk up to the front and tell the name of the passed loved one they are remembering and hand a plumeria flower to a woman with a long needle and thread making this massive lei out of it. Probably one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever witnessed in my life. Sorry I took one photo of the preschool area and the church with my iPhone but they don't do it justice so I didn't bother uploading them. Will maybe try next week if it seems okay to take pictures.

 

Speaking of Natalie, she wakes up to the perfumed air of plumeria from a gorgeous plumeria tree outside her bedroom window - some mornings (if Paul is not rushing out the door to catch his bus) Paul brings one flower to each of us - very sweet.

 

That's all for now:)

 

Aloha to all,

 

Lisa

 

 

 

What a difference the "trades" make!

Aloha Everyone,
(Kailua beach above)

We've moved into our new place and it's been busy getting it furnished, into a new routine, getting ready for Halloween and FINDING WAYS TO STAY COOL. Man has it been sticky - winds from the south so we here and really no tradewinds to speak of. We don't have ac at the new place (as many homes don't here) so you have to either be at the beach or find a pool (would have been a benefit if we had rented in a high rise as lots have swimming pools). I have talked to a few people now who say September and October are the hottest months, 'cooler' weather starts November so here's hoping or else we may be a moving for that pool/ac situation.

In meantime we have been settling already into a bit of a routine. Paul's off on the bus every morning to work, Natalie and I do our thing for the day and then we either go to the beach after work or go exploring or get some more organizing/furnishings put away etc.

The next big goals are to be getting some connections for friends - we have a play date arranged on Monday and likely will get signed up for swimming lessons possibly tomorrow. Natalie started ballet here on Wednesday and she really liked it. She has a gold heart necklace from her Auntie that she wears and the girls at ballet were all checking her out and touching it and saying how much they liked her necklace, really cute.

Halloween was different here - kids trick or treat at the mall! - All the stores give out candy and there are kids everywhere in the costumes, it was crazy - a little too crazy for my likely actually - I prefer the door to door method and the sound of kids saying 'trick or treat'.

I already don't know how I could possibly send Natalie to kindergarten next year after this year of being with her every day - it's going to be tough. Yes I know, why I am thinking about that already? Cuz that's what I do! oh and because registration in Canada at her school may start as early as January and that's only 2 months away!!! Time sure flies.

Well that's it for now, it's cooled off (generally does quite nicely in the evening/night for sleeping) - Aloha to all and to all a good night!

Lisa