Since the majority of my time on Maui was spent lounging by the pool, reading (Hunger Games trilogy anyone? i loved it!), soaking up sun, and sipping cool drinks, I’ll share the rest of my holiday recap through pictures. It was definitely a week to remember.
Happy Friday! Oo, and a Friday the 13th, too. Whew, these past 2 weeks have been pieces of work, so saying I’m happy it’s Friday is an enormous understatement. And what’s better on a Friday than some lighthearted entertainment?
As such, I give you Jimmy Fallon’s “Tebowie”. So awesome. Have a great long weekend, everyone!
**Warning: This post contains nothing but blatant self-promotion…**
I created a Facebook fan page for ScooterMarie a few weeks ago, but have really had no idea how to promote it or even make people aware that it’s there. I did send a recommendation for it out to friends on Facebook from my personal profile, but unfortunately a lot of you I don’t have in my friends list.
So I’m asking for a favor. Those of you who haven’t yet visited my page, or even known about it until just now, could you please jump over there when you have a quick second and give me a like? I know, I know – totally hawking my blog here, but I did warn you. Obnoxious self-promotion abounds.
You can link to my page through the Facebook button up there in the header, or else click right here:
And to those of you who “liked” me from the start, I truly appreciate it! Thank you!
Winter in Hawaii is humpback whale season, as these giant mammals migrate from the gulf of Alaska to the warm shallow waters around the islands for breeding and birthing. On the Wednesday of our week in Maui, we all went on a whale watching cruise, which turned out to be incredible.
During the 2 hour cruise we saw no less than I’d say a dozen whales. Some were various groups/pairs we would see repeatedly, but the number of sightings was very impressive. I think I had only seen 1 whale before, on our honeymoon. That trip to Maui occurred during the end of April and beginning of May, which is pretty late to see even 1.
We weren’t sure how D was going to do on the boat, especially for such a long ride. There were some meltdowns, but fortunately they didn’t last the entire trip. I did take her below deck for awhile 1) to get her out of the sun even though she was slathered in sunscreen, 2) to spare the whale watchers’ ears up top, and 3) because I was feeling like crap myself.
I need to stop pretending I don’t get seasick on boats like this, because I obviously do. Put me on something fast and direct, not slow and bobbing. Yuck. Fortunately ginger ale helped.
But the results more than made up for the twinge of nausea and the toddler tantrums. Besides seeing the whales, some of which came up right next to the boat, they put a microphone underwater at one point and we could hear some of them “talking”. It was so cool.
Mother Nature truly is an amazing lady.
Seeing as we were landing in Denver then getting ready to fly back to Milwaukee on D’s 17 month birthday, her update post unfortunately got lost in the shuffle. So here it is, way overdue…
Well, actually, there isn’t much to update. Life is basically the same as in the 16 month stats, with just a few things to note:
We love you, Squeaker!
The changes are big, bigger than I even expected.
I’m left alone, and it makes me nervous.
Feeling crushingly overwhelmed, actually.
I don’t know this feeling, and I don’t particularly like it.
It’s not my friend. It doesn’t suit me.
I wear confidence and happiness much, much better.
It makes me want to run, straight into the arms of something to which I’m better suited and truly enjoy.
But if I ran, would I make it?
Could life as we know it survive, be ok, and even grow?
Or would we stumble, fall, and ultimately fail?
Do I have the courage to risk it?
I don’t think so. No, not yet.
Do I want to? Absolutely.
Someday.
But perhaps not now.
Perhaps now isn’t the time, but it’s out there.
Waiting for me someday. Someday hopefully soon.
Not hopefully – it will be. Soon.
I will make it so.
But not yet.
I want to run, but I must be smart.
Know what I have and be thankful I have it. For now.
An opportunity? I can’t see it as that yet, but maybe.
Don’t run.
But I still want to…
I’m probably stating the obvious when I say our Hawaiian vacation was spectacular, but it was. 7 days and 7 nights in paradise? How could that not be magnificent?
We flew from Milwaukee to Denver on the night of Dec. 23, then hitched a direct ride from Denver to Maui on Dec. 24, arriving around 3:30 in their afternoon. We were terrified of how D might react to a 7ish hour flight, but amazingly she was a peach. She started throwing up at my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Denver that Friday night and proceeded to douse herself and her car seat on the way to the airport Christmas Eve morning, but why wouldn’t she? Just making sure we were paying attention and getting nervous about what was in store.
Really nervous.
Fortunately Karma must have decided to give me a break, because we saw nary a trace of vomit after that. Well, until we got the rental cars in Maui and D decided it was a good time to barf all over her car seat and my step-brother on the way to the hotel, then again shortly after arriving there. At least we made the entire flight puke and crying free, though, right? Right!
So who knows what was going on in that little stomach. A mild bug? A touch of altitude sickness? Much to my surprise that was the last we saw of the cookie tossing for the rest of the vacation, including the tail end we spent in Denver again. Thank GOD!
There is much too much to cram into 1 post to recap this holiday sojourn, so I’ll simply begin with Christmas Day itself. The weather was a little cloudy and rainy, but thankfully that cleared up after the first day or so and left us with blue skies and tanned hides.
We enjoyed a delicious brunch at the Ritz on Christmas afternoon, then watched the Packers beat the Bears in Green Bay. As you will recall, we are a family divided when it comes to NFL football, so R was a solitary happy camper after that game. Ah well. We were in Hawaii!
Ok maybe R wasn’t completely solitary in his happiness at the Packers’ win. At one point that afternoon D came out of Grandma and Grandpa’s room modeling this, an authentic signed Aaron Rodgers jersey. Daddy was elated!
Stay tuned for more of our Pacific adventures…
