Summer house

.. In Denmark there's a long standing tradition that people living in the cities will crave nature during their weekends. And back in 50, 60, 70 - going abroad was rare and expensive (not to the other Nordic countries, but they are/were not that different from Denmark). Thus, many people purchased small houses along the beaches (Denmark is surrounded by water, mostly, hence the island climate) and these were called summer houses. People used them mainly during the summer. Often they would be a short ride away from the city. My grandfather owned one of these. He built it himself (he was a bricklayer before he became a buildings engineer, courtesy of the free Danish education system - even back in the 50'es..) Before he passed away my aunt purchased it. Last time we borrowed it was just a couple of days before Eric was born (I actually started having contractions there)
Since we haven't lived in Denmark the last couple of years it made no sense to use it. We're just back and don't have that much vacation time to use. However, Claus was able to take a day off, so we took an extended weekend (3 days). My in-laws wanted to come, too, and since it has a small extra room there was space! We're members of a 'car sharing system' (Cars in Denmark are extremely expensive as is gas, will write a post about that I think) so we decided that with 3 little kids and a lot of luggage we would forego public transportation for once, and take a car. It took only 1 hour and 10 minutes. Trust me, if we had a car, I would buy a summerhouse in Kulhuse (well ok, it would depend on the price of course)..It was so relaxing to be 'away' from everything, even if it's just a few hours away..
 Getting ready for the beach

 At the beach

 Giving grandma a spa treatment

 Barbercue

 I love water when it's not in a tub

 Eric

 Eric touches small purple starfish - it's dead

Walking to the beach. Around ½ mile. 

 Getting old-fashioned ice creams in 'Jægerspris'

 Tent-making

Hawaii 3 - rain, cancellations, beaches etc

The last few days we had a lot of rain.We were supposed to go to a luau which is a show with a big buffet. We arrived, but it started raining, so we had to leave because the kids got cold. We got a rain check for another day. We want to our 'local' place at whaler's village (Hula Grill, I'm not kidding) and had dinner then tucked the kids in. 

The day after, still rain. Went to the beach anyway (it wasn't really cold and well, we are Danes!) We found a dead sea turtle - Eric was really upset because of that.

Silke went dipping with me, and Eric played in the sand. That evening we were supposed to go on a small sunset dinner cruise, but that was canceled due to the rain. We got a refund. We did get to see a nice sunset though. 

Day after, rain again. We tried to make it to a park, but there was a really bad traffic jam, so we gave up and took the kids to the pool which they enjoyed. We did a bit of shopping too.
Silke got to choose a nice dress, Eric a shirt with shorts.
Eric in his new clothes, pushing the button of an interesting mailbox

 We were supposed to go to the Luau where we got the rain-check, but it was canceled due to rain. We got a refund.. A bit annoying but well, that's how it is..
That was our last evening so we splurged on a nicer dinner in the indoor dining room at our local restaurant in Whale Warf. The kids even got to get a milk shake (their first!) as dessert..

The day after we packed, and on the road to the airport we made the trip to the park (it was right next to the airport) that we wanted to do the day before. Very lush, green and beautiful, however it did rain a lot..

 This is called 'the needle'

Hawaii 2 - the road to Hana

Saturday the 25th of January, we took the road to Hana. It is an 'out of this world' scenic drive, around the coastal line to Hana. Maui is not that big so if you drive without stops, the trip is 3 hours, tops. However the road winds quite a lot (understatement) and a lot of people told us we would get carsick. Eric threw up once, fortunately not in the car, otherwise nothing.

Look - the drive from Lahaina (to the left, on West Maui) to Hana (to the right, East Maui). It's really not that far since Maui is a small island. We left fairly early in the morning to get back before dark (no-one, not even Claus, wanted to drive on those roads in the dark..) around 7 AM.
Our first stop was relatively early, at the twin falls. It was a small hike, around 1 mile - so we believed the kids could do it. And so they did, running and jumping, spending some energy.. Lucia slept and ate on me, in the carrier. The kids got to share a huge coconut with 2 straws.

 Claus and the kids at twin falls - I didn't want to balance out on the rocks with Lucia in the carrier

Then we took a really long drive, because all the kids fell asleep. We stopped at a nice viewpoint where Claus and I took some nice pictures and enjoyed the view for a couple of minutes.

We drove on and around the time the kids woke up we stopped at a nice, sandy beach, where we stayed for around 1½ hour.
Eric played in the sand, and Silke frolicked in the waves. For some reason, Eric is afraid of ocean waves, so we never got him to go in the ocean while on Maui. Fortunately he loved the pools at the hotel..

On we went, and took a relatively short stop at the seven sacred pools. It was a short walk and a short hike. Here are the pics.

   

We made it to Hana, a relatively small, peaceful village on East Maui. To make it back that same day we turned around (you can't go the whole way around since there is a piece with very bad road conditions, where your insurance won't cover anything..)- we had only planned one stop on the way back, the black sand beach. We stopped and walked to the black sand beach, a rather steep descent in a lush landscape to a small beach with black sand. The plan was to stay for ½ hour, then turn back. Of course, just as we had made it down, both kids needed the restroom, so back up it was.. and then we drove back. The road is really narrow - many places there's only room for one car, so if people are passing each other, they have to give room for one another. And there is MANY turns, and many narrow turns. Claus drove the whole way for which I will be eternally grateful (as you all know I don't really like driving..) We got out of the narrow-winding-road part just before dark, and could drive the rest of the way in more normal conditions.

Black sand beach: