Settling back into BC!

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post! No, we haven't disappeared! We're just busy transitioning to life in BC again!

We came back to BC from Maui on April 10th feeling both sad and excited! Sad to leave behind all of our wonderful new friends and our Hawaiian life, but excited to see what the future holds for us! Since we've been back we've done 3 trips to Vancouver Island (8 hours each way!!) to check out possibilities there. We've decided it would be easier to just be there for awhile so we're in the midst of packing up my folks RV and will be heading back there next week to stay at a lovely campground in the Comox Valley for a month or more. It's been 2 years since we packed up the RV to do a 2 month trip through the Western USA, and we're all excited to spend some time camping again.

Since we've been back, we've also enjoyed catching up with family and friends. The kids have had so much fun with their cousins. There have been several birthdays in the family so big family gatherings and parties. John opened up the swimming pool and even through the water is only 66 degrees (F), the kids have enjoyed using it on some of the hot days we've had. John and I  have enjoyed reconnecting with some of our dear friends here, and we're all enjoying each day as the next chapter of our journey unfolds.

All the cousins at a double birthday party, the weekend after we got back. I have 3 siblings and we all have 3 kids!

Brave kids in the pool!

The beautiful dogwood tree in the front yard.

Some of my Hawaiian friends asked to see photos of where we are staying, so here you are! This is my parent's house. We moved here when I was 16.

Our last trip to the Island was just the kids and I. We spent a very fun evening down at the ocean with friends. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and water, and roasting marshmallows on the fire.

Fun times with sweet friends!!

 

We're all excited about being on Vancouver Island and I'll post more from there!



Beautiful Maui!

We have been enjoying all that this beautiful island has to offer.... beauty and natural wonders abound! Here is a little photo overview of this past week:

 

We spent an amazing morning at this beach at the very south end of Kihei. When we arrived, there was a big pod of spinner dolphins swimming very close to shore! We jumped on boogie boards and paddled out. They were jumping and spinning and really interacting with all the people on kayaks, paddle boards, and those swimming. They stayed around for at least 20 minutes. So fun!

 

Then we spent ages exploring these wonderful tide pools.  

A brittle star.

Lots of urchins, brittle stars, anemones, crabs, fish and other creatures!

We are blessed to have a lovely grassy park right behind our house. We spend hours there riding bikes, playing ball, flying kites, kicking a soccer ball. Such a great space!

I picked up this little t-ball stand, bat and ball at a garage sale. We've had so much fun with it! Unfortunately, the stand itself got hit so many times, it finally cracked and broke!

Bella and Zara had fun with foam rollers last week. They were thrilled with the magical transformation of straight hair into curly hair!

There's a paved path all the way around the park. Bella just started riding without training wheels about 2 weeks ago and is loving the freedom of it!

Taking a little break.

We live very close to the famous windsurfing and surfing beach called Ho'okipa. There are lots of sea turtles that swim in the surf there and many of them come up onto the beach to rest. It's such a privilege to see these large, majestic animals up close. 

This past weekend I spent some time in this gorgeous grove of rainbow eucalyptus. John had been for a hike that had ended up here. When he got home he highly recommended that I go for a drive to see them. So I went, ALONE!!, and just soaked up the energy of these beauties. When I got back he asked "Did you hug them?" I said "Yes! How did you know?" How could I help myself? 

 

We are enjoying every moment of life on Maui!

It's visitor season!!

We've had a lovely, busy past couple of months with visits from dear friends and family. Lots of beach time, exploring, whale watching and enjoying each others company! Busy, but wonderful!

 

Here are a few photos of our time together:

Whale watching out of Lahaina - it's peak season for the humpback whales that come here to mate and give birth each winter. It was whale soup out there!

Fun at the beach! 

The cousins had so much fun together.

Bella was very disappointed that she wouldn't be celebrating her birthday with her cousins this year, so we had an early birthday party!

After Jill left (she was here for 2 weeks), the kids and I and Mom and Dad did a fantastic, all day boat trip. First stop, snorkeling at Molokini (amazing!) then over to Lana'i where we encountered a big pod of spinner dolphins. What a treat! They were leaping and spinning and bow-riding.... Awesome!

 

Also saw some humpback whales that day. A fabulous trip... I'd highly recommend that one!

 

Grandma love.

Looking for shells at Ho'okipa beach.

 

Now everyone has gone back home and we're back to just our little family! 

A New Year's Day Adventure

We've been looking forward to driving the road to Hana and all the way around the "back side" of Haleakala since we got here, so on New Years Day we decided to make the journey. It was a lovely day with surprisingly few people on the road. According to guide books, during the winter there are an average of 1500 - 2000 cars travelling this road each day! Well, we picked the right day to do the drive! I had intended to have audiobooks for the kids to listen to on the drive, but didn't get to the library the day before. The one book we were part way through ended about 45 minutes into the trip! But the kids did so well. We left the house at 9:30am and arrived home just after 6pm. A LONG day in the car... and not even radio reception most of the time! It was a quiet, peaceful day for the most part.

It is so green and lush on the north shore, with waterfalls galore! Our first stop was Ching's Pond... a beautiful clear pool.

 

The road to Hana is a windy, narrow, crazy road! John and I drove it on our honeymoon more than 13 years ago, so it was fun to drive it again with 3 kidlets in tow!

 

We took a detour off the highway down to Nahiku. We were using the "Maui Revealed" guide book - a must-have if you ever visit Maui. Some of the locals don't like it because it gives too much information, but as the adventurers it's amazing! So on recommendation from the authors, we took this little side trip down to the ocean. The road ended at a lovely spot with beautiful views up and down the coast and another sweet waterfall. A wonderful place to stop and stretch and enjoy the view.

 

 

We took a picnic down to the beach at our next stop, a gorgeous black sand beach. So picturesque... so lovely.

 Thor loved digging in the pebbly sand.

At the same park as the black sand beach was an amazing cave filled with fresh water. It had been a lava tube and was now a cool swimming hole! Zara was the first one in (as usual!). The water was cold, but deep and fresh.

 

 

There were other caves off the main pool so John swam under and explored the bigger one.

 

 

After driving through Hana and stopping for some more food, we continued to Ohe'o Gulch (it used to be called the 7 Sacred Pools but they are not sacred and there are more than 7 of them!) This place is hugely publicized in tourist brochures as "THE" destination when driving the Hana Hwy. It is beautiful, and very unique but perhaps somewhat overrated. The water in the pools is very rust colored and looked quite uninviting. We didn't swim as it was also very windy and a bit chilly.

 

 

If you look really closely at the above photo, you can see someone jumping off the cliff to the left of the upper waterfall. That's a BIG jump. There are signs everywhere saying "No jumping" and apparently a person could even be arrested for jumping, but it's so tempting and so exciting and such a perfect place for cliff jumping that I guess it's worth the risk!

 

Thor was being a little lizard here, curling up in on a hot rock, soaking in the warmth.

 

 

 

Just a little ways past the pools, we found a stunning waterfall... about 50 feet tall, plunging into a perfect swimming pool about 7 feet deep. It was about a 10 minute hike in and we had it all to ourselves - pure bliss! A perfect ending to our day of waterfalls!

 

 

 

Past there we started wrapping around to the "back side" of the island. The rainforest turns into grazing lands, and then into dry, rocky land that slopes down into the ocean. It's amazing how many different climatic zones we went through that day!

 

 

We stopped on the side of the road to pick up these sweet little hitch hikers! Actually we stopped to watch a baby humpback whale and it's mama practice breaching! So cool!

 

A fantastic day, a wonderful adventure... a great way to start the new year!