A reminder for myself today
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Being on time
Being prompt is something that I value. It shows planning and forethought, two things I love.
I grew up in a house where we were always on time. We always left having carefully calculated how long it would take to arrive at said party, doctor’s appointment, or special event. When I married my husband I inherited part of his timing issues. His was similarly cultivated over time starting in his childhood. If his family was due to leave at 8, that meant in the car at 7:55 and ready to go, no exceptions. It bled through into his adult life and subsequently mine. He has a thing about travel. And I mean a THING. We have to be there early for flights, even before that was a thing. When we didn’t have kids that meant more time for magazines and a pre-flight cocktail but with the advent of kids that became a necessity.
Throw that out the window. Kids prepare you for the unexpected.
By a miracle you are ready early to leave for school that day…..”what do you mean you spilled pomegranate juice all over yourself, the dog and the floor”.
Walking out the door to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s house…why would you color on your face with Sharpie?
Kids are the true equalizer with time. I have had to get used to being late on occasion. I still try to get there with time to spare but that happens less and less. It is more common place to call the (insert appointment name) to say we are running 10 minutes behind or apologize for being the last one to the family gathering. It takes time and planning to move more than yourself. As soon as I think we are ready to leave the unexpected happens. I have had to learn to let go. This has been a hard lesson for me to learn. Things are not always in my control and even when they are the best laid plans are just that, plans.
So here’s to late mornings and all the pending adventures that will further delay me. Continue reading
Summer possibilities
We have finished field day, the final awards have been handed out, and the bulletin boards are all empty. Summer break is upon us.
The last day of school holds so many possibilities.
As a kid it meant countless days playing outside till it got dark, waiting for your one friend who had a pool to invite you over to avoid the blistering heat, and endless trips to Sonic.
I have a unique opportunity this summer to be off work and I can’t be more excited. I find myself with that same feeling again, the promise of three months of adventures. I am looking forward to spending way too long in the pool and sneaking away for mid-afternoon treats.
Making of a Fangirl
I admire a child’s devotion. When they are into something, they are all in.
They are not interested in a subject matter. They devote every waking hour and every moment of conversation to a singularly focused topic.
My daughter’s newest devotion is My Little Pony. Yes, you heard me right my childhood has come back to haunt me once again but this time they have bigger doey eyes.
She is a true fangirl and I love it.
I get tested on my knowledge of ponies on a daily basis. Our daily conversations are littered with references to what Rainbow Dash said or how Twlight Sparkle handled a situation. It is breathtaking to watch. The sheer amount of discussion on the subject in my household dominates any other topic and sneaks into everything we do. On a recent business trip I was assigned a pony to bring along as a travel buddy. I was happy to share the locations of my trip in ‘pony’ form with her. She got such a kick out of seeing her pony travel without her.
I know she will have varied interested over the course of her life but there is something special about this first one. Her devotion will take her far in life, even if now it mostly take her to Ponyville.
Like someone else lives here
I intended this blog to be about adventures and crafts but it has been none of these lately. My excuse.
Moving.
That dreaded word I have been avoiding for years.
It seemed like a good idea. A golden opportunity to clean thing out and finally get rid of the boxes we never unpacked when we last moved. I woefully underestimated this adventure.
I have purged the house of anything that bares a striking resemblance to us as a family. And much to my daughters dismay stored 90% of her toys. I have to say it looks really nice, like someone else lives here. It reminds me of the feeling you get the last week of school, as all the bulletin boards come down and there is a kind of hollow feeling. I know this is temporary but it still is a bit unsettling.
So cheers to the next steps.
Thank You to our Elf for all her hard work
I never intended to get an Elf. Truthfully it seemed a bit odd. However, last year my darling sister had her elf, Buddy, send one to my daughter.
And so began the Elf’s job.
I never realized how much work the Elf, Diamond, would have to do. Thinking of creative things to do every night. Locking herself into an escalating game of one upping herself every night. She, I can only assume, spent a sizable amount of time looking at Pinterest to get inspiration and discussing with other Elves what they are doing that night.
And much to my surprise I found myself making Diamond clothes last year. Yes, I made clothes for the Elf. My daughter demanded that she was a girl and needed to be beautiful and I caved. So I made a skirt and decorated it. Diamond happily modeled it in the mirror that night and left a thank you note.
So thank you to my Elf and all the other Elf’s for the last minute moves and trying to be creative every night. The excitement I see every morning as we look through the house for you is the best feeling.
We have a few more weeks of Diamond’s adventures. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
A Moment
Family vacations by their very nature don’t lend themselves to a lot of alone time.
Being a parent is a hard job and doing that job on vacation is just as hard. You have to balance the “hey let’s do fun things” with the “if you eat anymore sweets we all know what will happen”.
So this is just me taking a moment by myself on vacation and reading 10 whole pages in a book.
Now back to trade with my husband so he gets a minute before her nap time is done.
Our Staples
I want to say that we are big adventurers.
That we are out there looking for all that is new and different.
But the truth is in Maui that is just not us.
There are things we find ourselves doing year after year that we come here. They have become our staples.
We started going to the Maui Ocean Center a few years ago. It is an aquarium that highlights the diverse sea life in Maui. It can easily be done in a morning and is very kid friendly. And thanks to Disney’s Octonauts my daughter knows more about random sea creatures than I do so she made a great tour guide. She even managed to wow some Australian tourists by rattling off the name of the Hawaii state fish, Humuhumunukunukuapua`a.
We then went to Aloha Mixed Plate, like we do every other day in Maui.
This is a low key, all outdoor, and reasonably priced place to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner on the island. They have a good happy hour daily from 2-6 and offer a daily drink special for $5.
I think we have had closes to everything on the menu. The most popular thing is the Mixed Plate which is always good. Yesterday we got the Chow Fun. This is a mix of well cooked noodles, pork, bean sprouts and green onions in a light sauce.
I got the teriyaki beef. All the plate lunches come with a side of macaroni salad and white rice. They are filling and around $9-$12.
Next door is the Old Lahaina Luau, which is one of the best luau’s on Maui. If you head to Aloha Mixed Plate at night you can listen to the music while you dine.
Maui Shave Ice and Pie
For me vacation is getting away from my every day life and routine.
Not rushing out the door to work.
Stopping to enjoy a second cup of coffee on the lanai.
Having the best shave ice at 10 in the morning.
My daughter informed me that she has tragically never had a shave ice. I sprung into action. We went down to Ululani’s Shaved Ice. I don’t want to throw terms like best parent ever but pretty sure that is what my daughter was thinking. They had lots of great favors to choose from. Of course my daughter didn’t go with the typical tropical flavor but rather cotton candy and grape.
</aI also wanted to try a new spot yesterday so we went to Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop for lunch.
It was a great find. Good sandwiches and a nice salad. Portions were generous but it was a bit pricy, $12-$15, for their signature sandwiches. They were worth the price.
We got the Ham’n and pork, pork, mmmm pork sandwiches with the out of the garden salad. Both were a great flavor combination. All served on homemade bread. My daughter got a great PB&J which she proclaimed delicious.
And then there is pie and who doesn’t love pie. Again please forgive the pictures as this experiment with blogging via my phone is a first time but they were amazing.
We opted to buy some to take home for dessert later. They were front of mind for my daughter all day. There were pies in the fridge just taunting her. Eat me!
Banana Cream Pie (mini)
I am going to make a bold statement. This is the BEST banana cream pie I have ever had. It was not too sweet and full of banana. The crust was crisp and flavorful. I would buy this agains and again.
Apple Crumb
A well balanced crumb topping with brown sugar and oatmeal. The apples were firm and the crust was crisp.
Macnut Choc Praline (mini)
The minis are the perfect few bit size. This pie was rich and creamy. Chocolate pie is not my cup of tea but my family thought it was amazing.
Beach, Pool and Naps
Another very early morning. I mean 5AM early. But it give me a chance to make the most out of the time we have here. Or that is what I keep telling myself.
We were sad to find our favorite breakfast place, the Honolua Store is closed for renovations. This place has a fairly extensive grocery/ABC style store in the front and great hot food served in the back. We came across this place years ago and it is very reasonably priced and you can eat outside on the front porch. The breakfast burrito is amazing and comes with the best salsa. I have been known to just buy the salsa to go for snack time at the condo.
Our day was pool, beach, pool, beach, lunch and pool. Which then lead to 2 hour naps. I love vacation.
There is an amazing beach walkway that takes you past lots of hotels and restaurants on the west side of Maui. We took it down and went to Dukes for dinner.
Dinner was good. I mean who doesn’t love a Mai Tai in a glass tiki head.
I had kabobs with chicken, beef, maui onion, pineapple and bell pepper. They also had a side we split of local maui creamed corn. Breathtaking.My husband opted for mango ribs. My daughter chose a cheese quesadilla, not pictured for obvious reasons.
Now off for another adventure as soon as the rest of maui wakes up.
24useablehours 