5 on Friday - March 25th

Welcome to another installment of 5 on Friday!
This week has been busy around here and we're not done yet! The older girls are on Spring Break. While I am enjoying the relaxing mornings without the usual rush out the door to get to school, I have found myself scrambling to find things to keep Marley and Paige busy. Marley has had a couple playdates but Paige hasn't yet. Hopefully next week I can arrange something for her!

Before I ramble on too long, let's get to my 5 for this week.

1. LC turned 2

I know I already posted on her birthday but here are a couple more pictures of her on that day. These are of her and her cupcake! (We're having family over on Sunday when I'll bring out the big cake but I wanted something small on her actual birthday too!)

She ended up eating the icing and sprinkles only. Typical!

2. Maui Album

It's done!!! Yay!!! Here are a few shots, for the entire album please check out the movie on my side bar (assuming I can get it to post etc).

The cover page. Now I'm really wishing I'd used the self-timer so I could have been in the picture. Looking back through all the pictures from the trip I noticed that we never got one of all 7 of us. Too bad! Next time!!

One of the pre-Cricut layouts. I did have my Cuttlebug though so was able to do some fun things with it. The palm tree I found at a scrapbooking store.

This layout has a hidden journalling tag.

A post-Cricut layout. Greg and I took LC on a day trip to Pai'a and up the volcano to the winery. This layout is from the beaches at Pai'a where we marvelled at the big surf. Our local beach was a calm lake in comparison!

Another post-Cricut layout. The close ups below are of all the flowers and leaves I cut out for the New Dresses page.

I counted and I did exactly half of this album pre-Cricut and the other half post-Cricut. How fun! Again I'd like to give a huge shout-out to my friend Jenn for loaning me her Cricut cartidges while she's in France. I had so much fun using them to decorate my pages. And having them both forced me to finish the album and inspired me to finish the album. Awesome!

 

3. Sea Monkeys

Marley was given Sea Monkeys for her birthday from her cousins Matthew, Sophie and Sadie. At first I was skeptical (and a little flabbergasted that they still made them!) but Marley was thrilled. She finally has a pet!! Joy! It took awhile for them to hatch and then you could barely see them but we were checking in on them this morning and lo and behold, they are growing! Check it out!

Okay, so I'm not sure you can see them in this picture. Those little white floaty things are the Sea Monkeys. They wouldn't really hold still for the camera! LOL!

Marley did feel the need to make some bunny ears though!

4. Bar Keepers Friend

This is another one of those gifts that I received with extreme skepticism but I am officially eating my words. Well, thoughts actually! This stuff rocks! Thanks Mom Day!!

I used it to scrub all the pen/crayon/felt/pencil crayon off the girls' craft table and it looks better than new! The wall and the chair will require something a little bit ... um, harsher. Actually, the wall will just have to wait until we repaint! LC is one challenging kid at times!!

5. OLW Update

I have yet to write more tasks in my album but I am more or less on target with my organizational goals. I rejigged the girls' craft area again and like it even better now. They have more room on their table to craft/colour/do homework since I moved their supplies onto the "bar area". Yes, our house had one of those mirrored bar areas in the family room. Complete with scary glass shelves! Some day (after we win the lotto) I will take great joy in personally ripping it apart! Until then ... we'll find a use for it somehow!

But I digress, I was talking about my organizational efforts.

My plans to tackle the Master Bedroom this week fell short but as soon as I finish this posting I will be gathering boxes to start the mammoth task of going through all the girls' toys and books. Keep, Toss, Donate/Sell! Those are going to be my boxes. Watch out world!!

Wish me luck!

Okay, that's it for now. Enjoy your weekend everyone! Now that my Hawaii album is done I can finally turn my attention to Paige's baby album (somthing she has been patiently waiting for me to start). First up this weekend though is to try and tackle some the Apron Strings Birthday party Challenges. I've been diligently writing them all down but not able to get to them.

But first ... toys ...

See ya!

Hawaii Trip - Sunsets, Whales and Waves

I know this is terribly out of order but I wanted to finish off blogging about our trip to Hawaii. I'm taking another sick day today (WICKED sore throat!) so while the two older girls are at school and the little one is napping, maybe I can get some blogging done. Maybe.

In my last posts (post #1, post #2, post #3) I got to Luau Day on Monday March 15th ... whoah, I am so far behind!! The next day Marley and Paige decided to stay behind and go to the beach/pool with Grandma and Grandpa while LC, Greg and I went exploring. We went to Paia to check out the big surf and then drove inland to the Winery. All right, get ready for some pictures!!

What do you know, Santa lives in Paia!!

The beach at Paia where there were some serious waves! Hard to tell from this picture but the waves were about 3-4 times the size of the ones we got at Kamaole 3 Beach in Kihei. LOTS of surfers and boogie boarders out the day we were there.

From Paia we went to Ho'okipa Beach Park to watch the wind surfers. The waves here were even higher! We also saw some sea turtles below but the pictures didn't turn out.

This is the view from just outside Waiakoa looking down at Kihei. The pounding tropical rain kept us from getting out at Waiakoa but it stopped in time for me to snap this pic.

Our next stop was the Tedeschi Vineyards winery at Ulupalakua Ranch. The road there was REALLY windy and I discovered that my stomach isn't as strong as it once was. I was also rapidly developing a migraine which probably didn't help the nauseau. Anyway, Greg sampled the wine (not very good according to him) while I stayed in the fresh air with LC. The picture I posted here was taken in the gardens at the winery.

Considering the windy road and how LC handled the air turbulence I was fully expecting some nastiness on the way back down, but she did great! When we got home Greg took her over to join the older two at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner while I stayed in our apartment and tried to rid myself of the headache.

On Wednesday March 17th, LC was feverish (Marley was feeling better by now, Greg was also recovering so I guess it was just her turn with the cold) so I stayed behind while the others made the usual morning beach trek. I hoped that a quiet morning would mean she'd recover enough that Greg and I could on our scheduled Sunset Cruise with little worry. It seemed to work so after a few warm up Mai Tai's at the weekly Mai Tai day at the Kamaole Sands, we hopped into the complimentary pickup van and went off to this ship.

The Alii Nui.

The start of our "sunset". This was about as good as it got because of all the low cloud etc. Oh well, the drinks were good, the company better and the whales came out to play!

This is me at the bar getting our last Mai Tais.

As soon as Canada beat the US at Men's Hockey in the Olympics Greg said his "long sleeve, cooler weather" shirt for Hawaii was going to be his hockey jersey. So here he is flying the colours!

Greg and I had a great time on this sunset cruise. The boat was fantastic, the crew was friendly, the food (appy's - or pupu's as they are called in Hawaii) were really yummy and plentiful enough to make a meal out of, and we met some really nice folks on board. And of course the whales cavorting just meters off the side really helped cap out a brilliant evening! Or was that all the Mai Tais?!

Now we skip to Saturday. Not sure what happened to Thursday and Friday ...let's check out Greg's version (posted on Trip Advisor here - be warned, he holds no punches!) ... oh right, Thursday was windy and cold (ish) so we mostly stayed indoors and I was in a foul mood for most of Friday. Hmm ... had to happen at some point on the trip, right? Plus Paige had finally contracted the cold. Ah well!

Saturday we had booked a whale watching trip through the Pacific Whale Foundation out of Maalaea. Considering how windy it had been the previous two days (beach time had to be cut short both days due to flying sand etc) we were a bit concerned that the trip would be cancelled. But the day dawned with calmer winds so off we went with Marley. When asked if she wanted to come, Paige declared she wouldn't get on the boat, so rather than risk a last minute tantrum (a classic move for her) we just didn't book her a seat at all. She went to the beach with Grandpa and had a blast.

Marley is our little super-model-in-the-making so here she is posing (surprise, surprise) on one of the play area figures (a whale head).

Greg and Marley on board the Intrigue.

There were very few whales (grrr) but here is a picture of the Mother and Baby we spotted as we were heading back into port.

Sunday was our last day in Maui but since our plane didn't leave until 8:45PM and we didn't have to check out until noon, we went to the beach one last time. Usually the waves on our beach (Kamaole 3) were gentle. Hardly worth trying to boogie board in. Good for those that want to snorkle and good for kids paddling in the break though. Imagine our surprise when we saw 6', 8' even 10' waves crashing onto the beach that morning! Greg had a BALL boogie boarding in the wash. He wasn't dumb enough to try and go out too far in that swell!!

For one final image, how's this? LC napping in Grandpa's arms.

All together now ... awwww!!!

After cleaning up, packing up and checking out, we headed for Maalaea to spend the afternoon at the Ocean Centre, with a quick stop at the Ioa Valley, before going to the airport to fly home. Those pictures are in the other camera which I have yet to download onto my laptop so you are spared. For now!

Well, there you have it. Our trip to Hawaii. Thanks for putting up with the long posts. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed sharing our little adventure with you.

Hawaii Trip - My First Luau

March 15th 2010 - We decided that since this was my first time in Hawaii (as well as the girls') we wanted to give them the experience of going to a Luau. As cheesy and commercial as they maybe have become, we wanted it! Greg agonized for months over which one to take them to - the expensive "authentic" one in Lahaina that was an hours drive away (both ways) or the less expensive (nobody's pretending ANY of them are "cheap"!), kid-friendly one a 10 minute drive away in Wailea? As much as I may have wanted the more authentic experience, my vote was for the one which had the best shot of serving food the girls would actually eat, and which happened to be a short drive (or, potentially, cab ride) away. So off we went to the Wailea Beach Marriott!

Here are Greg, the girls and Grandpa Day in the gardens. Paige was being particulary uncooperative in the picture department that night. She and Marley and Greg were out earlier in the day throwing the frisbee around and she got hit in the nose. Which immediately started bleeding profusely! Being the poor, sensitive soul that she is, she spent the rest of the trip CONVINCED that her nose was bleeding every time it even slightly ran! So here she is clutching a tissue that minutes before was pressed against her nose! Poor kid!

Marley on the other hand requested pictures of her by the beach at sunset! How can two girls be SO different?! Same gene pool! Honest!!

Part of the pre-luau fun was picking up our free shell leis and (in the girls case) getting a traditional Hawaiin tatoo. Marley got a turtle ...

... and Paige got a flower. Had to sneak this picture of it though!!

Me and the girls (and the sunset).

A beautiful Maui sunset!!

While we were taking pictures we saw this turtle just below us. He was a little stuck in a tide pool but managed to swim free pretty quickly. The girls were thrilled! I also saw a Humpback whale breach just off shore. Totally cut my wonderful MIL off mid-sentence when I saw it too!!

The Luau began ...

... the drinks were flowing (and Greg had caught Marley's cold so I had to drink for the both of us. Shucks darn!!) ...

... and when it was all over, Marley just had to get a picture with her favourite pretty ladies!

Poor Paige didn't last. She got freaked out when the first performer was lighting the torches and then watched the first few dances from the safety of Grandpa's arms. Eventually Grandma and Grandpa had to take her back to our resort as she was just too distraught. It's too bad, but considering that the last performer of the night was a (kick ass I might add) fire dancer from New Zealand (?) it was probably a good thing. The rest of us enjoyed our evening. The food was good, the location was beautiful and the performance everything we could have asked for. Marley was mesmermized! She got to learn some Hula dancing at the start of the night and used her birthday money to buy a wooden sculpture of dolphins with her name carved into it. All in all, a good time!

Hawaii Trip - One week in

Happy St Patrick's Day! Actually it's pretty much over in my normal time zone but here in the Aloha State the green beer is still flowing! Greg and I got a date night tonight thanks to the wonderful babysitters we are travelling with (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!) We went out sailing on a Sunset Cruise. SO much fun!! We even got to see some whales about 20' from the boat!! Unfortunately we seemed to always be on the wrong side of the boat whenever the whales decided to come in for their close ups! I haven't downloaded the pictures yet so have no idea if we got good ones or not. If so I will post them at a later date.

Here are some pictures of our trip so far ...

Our first morning - the Expedia briefing at the pool ...

... and our first evening meal together in our suite.

Day two - Marley took a sick day!

Fooling around.

Maui Tacos for lunch - yum!

Day three - the start of our usual routine. Beach in the morning ...

... "the camp" ...

... exploring sand for the first time.

In the afternoon we went into Wailea to check out the expensive shops ...

... and have an ice cream ...

... somebody LOVES frozen treats!

Usually we go to the pool in the afternoon but on Day four we went in the morning ...

... and then went to Lahaina in the afternoon. This is at a view point where we saw ...

... some whales! (I REALLY need a zoom lens!!)

In the Banyan tree in Lahaina.

With our Ululani Shaved Ices - YUM!!!

Paige took some time out from our walking explorations to catch some bubbles at Bubba Gump Shrimp. That black object on the red chair is the bubble machine - basically a good 20 or so wands attached to a rotating arm that takes them through the soap solution while being blasted with a fan. Quite ingenious really! Might have to try making something like that myself!

So that was our first 4 days here. Stay tuned for the next 4 ... including the Luau and a sunset cruise!!