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:

Hawaii 1 - Elvis, underwater tour etc...

The fligth from SD was uneventful, fortunately. It was a fairly short fligth, around 6 hours, and direct -that's why we chose it! We had to get up early though since it left at 7 AM.

Upon arrival we picked up our rental car and went to the outrigger Aina Nalu in Lahaina, on the island of Maui. Maui should be good for families with kids, and it sure was! The hotel -it's a nice place - however, when they write 'garden view' they mean 'parking lot view', although there are some plants..
Maui is very beautiful - lush and green and tropical, very different from the dry San Diego with the eternal sunshine..(yep, honestly, drove us bonkers after a while..) Nature is extremely beautiful on Maui- some of the most beautiful green places I've been is the Wayanads in Kerala, India, and Tikal in Guatemala..And now Maui! 

It was rather small - but Hawaii is expensive and space costs so that was to be expected. There was a small kichen, with a microwave, a small stovetop, fridge and freezer. When you have 3 little kids it's nice to be able to cook, and not have to go out for breakfast (nightmare).
It was a small hotel room and the big kids slept on a sofa-bed.

 Here we are at whale wharf, were we had some of the best fish and chips I've ever had. They do a really good ceviche too! The kids were very fascinated by the small umbrellas.

The kids also got a hula-lesson

We found out by chance that they have one of the very good Elvis impersonators (Darren Lee) doing a show . (to see pictures and listen to a sample click on the link) It was pretty close we decided to go (especially since we could get a discount and Lucia was free..)

It was good. Really good! I think he was even better than Elvis (not that I would know, considering that Elvis died before I turned 6 months) but my, it really was an awesome show. He changed outfits 7 times. I counted. Lucia slept and ate the whole way through (I protected her ears). Silke fell asleep during the second song, teddy bear, while cuddling her - teddy bear.. Eric actually lasted almost the whole show through - he fell asleep during the last song! Suddenly we had to get to the car with 2 sleeping bigger kids and a baby in a carrier. No mean feat I tell you but fortunately, I married superman so we made it..

Friday morning we went on an underwater tour with reefdancer. It's a boat with a glass bottom so you are submerged in water (encased in glass though!). It was ok. They have divers underwater who shows you things like starfish etc. However it was less pretty than advertised (isn't it often?) so I would say it was so-so.. Kids seemed to like it though.
Diver showing us a starfish

 Eric on the boat

That was the first 2 days - we also did several trips to the pool. There was 2 of them, one salt water and one with chlorine. The kids were impossible to get up.One of us took the bigger kids, the other one took care of baby Lucia who was still too small for the pool - she turned 6 months while at Hawaii.

The salt water pool - there's a spa behind it, with bubbles and hot water, kids loved it..

Baby Lucia, 6 months!

You can´t live 2 places

Darn. I knew this would happen.

While we lived in SD I could follow family and friends on facebook. Pictures, statuses, pregnancies, moves, babies, children growing, birthdays, milestones etc. etc. It made me sad missing out, but we also experienced so much and met so many wonderful people in the US.

Fast forward, going back to Denmark. Now I can follow friends in SD - milestones, babies, kids growing, moves, fun activities etc etc. Again we miss out.

An example: A thing we loved (well, at least Silke and I did) in SD was fairy festivals! This spring, Summers Past Farms have a fairy festival, my international moms club had a fairy and gnome party (I could see the pics on FB) and SD botanical garden has their annual fairy festival. And I hate missing out, I hate that Silke is missing out. We've been making our own little fairy gardens in the backyard to compensate.

Around 2 weeks ago a giant rainbow appeared in the sky in SD. We missed that, too! Silke loves rainbows..

J, thanks for letting me use this pic!

On the positive side- Silke has good friends right across the street. The row-house area where we live is teeming with kids, and life, and as it is summer now, those glorious, long, Danish summer evenings. I hated that they missed out on those while we lived in SD. They enjoy much more freedom and responsibilities here than in SD. Also on the plus side I don't have to fear some gun-toting crazy person while in the movie theather, in the mall, or in my kids' school. Most Danes consider people who are into guns crazy, and when one of the prominent politicians suggested that gun laws should be 'liberalized' in Denmark, there was a public cry of outrage, shaming him (of course, who would want their country to be so much less safe?)
We enjoy the wonderful nature, we are picking elderflowers in order to make elderflower tea, and to use dried elderflower in cakes and soaps etc.

And for me, one of the most positive things: I DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE A CAR!!! I really dislike driving, and being able to go everywhere by foot, bike or public transportation has lowered my stress level considerable. Yay!!

You can´t have it all, no. I know that. But allow me to miss the good things and good friends!

Fire-station visit

Several playgroup coordinators from my moms club had during 2013 arranged fire-station visits. It was always Fridays so we couldn't go - and when there finally was such a play date a Friday afternoon, I got sick! Well, what does one do?  One calls the fire station and arranges a play date, of course! (at least that's what I did..)

Station 3 in Poway has a very nice captain, so they welcomed us a Friday morning - unfortunately Silke had been hospitalized a few days before (perhaps that will come in another blog post, I'm not so sure..)
First we got a lecture about fire safety, and a nice fireman put on the gear (in 90 degrees heat - brave man!)

 The kids could see and touch his gear

 They showed us the premises, small rooms where they could rest if there wasn't a fire or any other emergency, there was a small movie theater, a gym (must keep in shape to conqueror those fires!), and a nice kitchen. Then - to the fire trucks!

 Of course we got to hear the siren (outside..)

 Oh my, I'm in heaven! So many buttons to push!

 The firemen were extremely nice and answered every question.. all in all, a success!

Feta-dressing

Another delicious, low-carb recipe:

100 grams of feta cheese
3/4 deciliter yogurt, sour cream or similar (plain!)
1/2 deciliter olive oil
1 small/medium clove of garlic
3-5 small twigs of fresh parsley
handful of fresh basil leaves (fresh oregano can be a substitute)

Put everything in a food processor or blender, mix away! Is very good on various veggies and meat, or as a thick salad dressing.

Good with almost any kind of veggie! Enjoy!

Silke's birthday (San Diego)

The 16th of February we celebrated Silke's birthday (her real birthday is the 16th of March) so she could get to say goodbye to her friends. Due to the impending move whe chose to make it easy. I created an invitation on evite, and we made sure to order a Hello Kitty cake from Ralphs, and pizza, veggie and fruit trays from outside. I filled the Hello Kitty giant pinata with fruit snacks (the ones that are made from real fruit, not the winegum ones) and small packets of marshmallows (yes, I loathe giving kids candy, but they were great fillers..) and tatoos! They spent quite a while picking all this stuff up..Bunch of photos, including the huge pinata

 The cake. Way too sweet!

 An insane amount of pizza..

 Nice, sunny day in February

 Pinata emptied

 Kids lining up to play

 Eric with his loot

 She got a lot of great gifts and they played really well - we were lucky with the weather (February in SD can be cold/cloudy/windy) but it was high sun..I also put out some bubble wands for the kids to play with

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