Aloha!

We are happy to be back in the Hawaiian Islands where the skies are blue, the sun shines almost daily and the trade winds keep it from getting too hot! Actually right now we're on Molokai where the wind is blowing the red dust into our place faster than I can sweep it out! Ahhhhh.... it's all part of Hawaiian living.

We arrived in Maui on Oct. 10th and spent the first two weeks exploring and getting familiar with our surroundings. We found our rental house somewhat of a surprise.... definitely not what we had expected, or hoped, or thought it would be! A note to self: Do NOT sign a rental agreement sight unseen!! Long distance agreements like that leave WAY too much room for misunderstandings! Oh well. Lesson learned. We've decided to make the best of it, focusing on the positives: the central location from which John can ride his bike almost anywhere, the fact that many of the islands best hula halau's are nearby, the proximity to Whole Foods and even better, Mana Foods in Pa'ia, the tire swing in the tree, the porch swing in the lanai where Zara spends many hours reading....and not on the negatives: the dogs barking constantly, the roosters crowing at all hours, the motorcycles racing by, the traffic noise, the homeless camp at the end of the beach road 5 minutes away! We will be masking those noises with a white noise maker and a water fountain, and trusting that we are there for reason. It's part of the journey with more lessons to be learned.

Here are some photos from our first two weeks in Maui:

"Home" for the next 5 months or so. 

Zara in her favorite spot... the porch swing. Watching "Chubby Cheeks", one of the many wild chickens that frequents our yard.

 

Thor with his favorite little creature... a Mo'o (gecko).

Trying to beat the heat with popsicles.

This lovely tire "horse" was hung in a prickly kiawe tree when we arrived, but John moved it to this great tree in the backyard and the kids have had hours of fun on it! I love the wild orchid growing out of the tree trunk by Bella.

Giddy-up!

The kids are loving this fabric from IKEA... They are coloring it with fabric markers and we'll make something fun out of it when they are done. 

An awesome climbing tree at the home of some new friends.

One of the first things we did when we got to Maui was purchase an annual family pass to the Maui Ocean Center. We love this aquarium. It's not very big, but it's very well done and there are no mammals in captivity! We plan on making many trips here and I'm quite sure that everytime we go we'll learn something new. It's jam packed with information - too much for one trip! So we look forward to learning a little bit each time.

The Hawaiian state fish - the humuhumu'nukunuku'apua'a. How's that for a mouthful?

(Translated as the patchwork triggerfish with a nose like a pig!)

One of our favorite spots in the aquarium... the open ocean tunnel. We sit here for ages watching the sharks and rays swim around and overhead. Facinating!

 

A wonderful place to spend a few hours, getting to know some of the beautiful creatures that live in the ocean around Hawaii.

 

One night Zara and I were at Savers (the American equivalent to Value Village) and found these gorgeous colorful dishes in perfect shape. They almost jumped into our cart and we were so happy to bring them home with us! They are a lovely addition to our rather sparse kitchen cupboards and make meal times just that much more enjoyable. I LOVE colorful dishes.

At the moment we are in Molokai, catching up with friends, dancing some hula, enjoying the beaches and hanging out. John is doing some work for the neighbor that lives across the road from where we used to live here. We are staying in a suite above the barn on his property. It's just a 2 minute walk down to the beach and right on our old bunny trail so we feel right at home!

 

We head back to Maui on Saturday and are looking forward to starting the settling in process there. Things felt a bit up in the air at first, but now we're ready to start some activities for the kids, find some hula halau's and get immersed in Maui life. We spent a morning with some of the homeschooling group in Maui and look forward to more adventures with them.

 

I plan to post a lot more often now so check back regularly! Aloha!