October 17, 2012 - A Day in The Sun Maui

Aloha All.

Today we were all off to a fairly early start with some of us exercising in various ways.  Running, walking, or heading to the gym.  The kids decided to snorkel off the beach by the villa, our home away from home.  Jonathan took them all off to K-Mart to buy some cheap snorkels which unfortunately was located almost back to the airport.  Geared up they snorkeled just down the beach from our location and also further up the beach at Black Rock.  I got a picture of them as they were preparing to head off.  The water was fairly warm and not too wavy were they were and there  was a good variety of fish according to Jonathan.  A couple of  moray's, damsels, angel fish and parrot fish.  Meaghan did very well as she is not a strong swimmer and was aided with a noodle her first time out.  They snorkeled for quite some time while Fred and I retired to the pool to relax and soak up the sun.

Lunch was cheese, crackers, wild boar pate and a Mexican bean dip with chips.  More sunning and snorkeling then we cleaned up and headed off for a walk along the beach towards Black Rock Beach, a beach at the end of Ka'Anapali Beach, about a 15 minute walk.  There Jonathan spotted a sea turtle.  The picture on the right is one Jonathan was able to get when the poor thing came up for air.  Now, there are a number of signs indicating the turtles are an endangered species, are wild animals and to leave them alone.  People, once again do not disappoint us in how absolutely stupid they are.  The turtle was harassed and Meaghan and Christopher left as they could not stand seeing how people were harassing it.  We hung around for a bit to try and get a picture but only Jonathan, who was really patient in this case, was successful in getting a video and a picture.  I have photoshopped the idiots that were surrounding and harassing the turtle out of the picture.

Supper this night was made by Christopher and Meaghan and was a Japanese curry made with pork and served with rice.  It was very tasty and enjoyed by all.  After supper we headed out for our usual walk but we were all in bed very early as the sun had got the best of us all after another day in paradise.

Sandy & Fred

October 16 - 17, 2012 - Maui Family Reunion

Aloha All,

This was our first family reunion and I was very excited to be spending time with all the kids.  Christopher and Meaghan had arrived well before us as they had an early flight out of Portland while Fred, Jonathan, Amy and myself had a late afternoon flight so we arrived after 10:00 p.m.  After settling in we headed off to bed for an early start the next day.

I couldn't sleep and was up and out around 7:30 a.m. for a walk along the promenade and there were a number of joggers and walkers out already.  I am guessing to beat the heat of the day.  By the time I got back the rest of the family was up and we headed off to grab something for breakfast.  Our first real task of the day was to decide on foods that everyone liked and then to go food shopping, so we all headed off to the local Safeway.  We all got a shock on how expensive fresh produce was, as well as food in general.  A loaf of bread was over $6.00, a cucumber was $2.49.  Our first food bill was $375.00 US and that was not for a whole week.  Yikes, you've got to eat,  and we did not want to be eating out all the time.  Once back at the villa and the groceries were unpacked we headed off to lunch at Leilani's, a restaurant on the beach.  The kids were all asked for ID before they could be served drinks.  I told the waitress they were all over 30 but that didn't matter.  Amy & Meaghan did not have their ID with them so they decided to head back to the villa to get it, and because they did, the waitress did not charged them for their drinks.  That was a nice touch.  Apparently if you look under 30 wait staff are required to ask for ID due to the strict liquor laws in Maui.  When our waitress finally returned and asked how things were Amy let her know her meal was cold so she also deducted that from our bill.  Now that was good customer service.  The balance of the day was spent sunning around the pool or on the beach, all of us catching our first real rays of sun.

Fred and I were first up on KP duty and what a delight to cook for everyone.  Something I have really missed.  Barbecued steak, potatoes and a salad was the menu for our first family dinner in well over 5 years.  After supper some of us headed out for a walk before hitting the sack.


Sandy & Fred