Escape to Maui

Part 1. Not sure how many parts there will be...

Dreamiest vacation I've ever had. It really was. Our agenda for the trip was: no agenda. We ended up doing a lot but it just felt so calm and relaxed and fun. Of course Maui was as gorgeous and sunny and colorful as ever. And then I was with my very best friend and favorite travel companion. Perfection.

We flew out late on Friday afternoon leaving behind our 4 darlings, and a fresh layer of cold, fluffy snow. We may have been slightly excited.

 

We flew late into the night and arrived in Hawaii at 9:00 pm local time (midnight at home) but we'd had a few naps on the plane and felt so excited to be there. Too bad that the ocean turns into a sheer black abyss in the dark of night so we couldn't enjoy the view as we drove to our hotel—Marriott Maui Ocean Club. After stopping for groceries and checking in we sank into our bed at 11:00 that night and slept so soundly.

Saturday morning we were still awake before the sun and so ready to get out in the beautiful air and see the ocean—hence, the perfect morning for a run on the Kaanapali Beach boardwalk. We ran from end to end a few times and rounded out a nice 5K before stopping to cool down by the pool. Oh my goodness I was so sweaty! I forgot about the humidity (which I actually loved except when running :) and then the heat when the sun finally rose from behind the tall resorts and hit us—near 80 degrees right away. It actually felt incredible but was a shock to the system. A very, very good shock!

Pre-run, gettin' the tunes going

 Mid-run: amazing view and sweaty lady

The rest of the day was super laid back. We hung out by the pool for a while, walked over to Leilani's for lunch and Joseph's most favorite meal in Maui—fish tacos. Then we wandered around Whaler's Village, hung out for more pool/reading/napping time, and stopped by Leilani's again for takeout hula pie to eat while we watched the sun set. We ate a light dinner back in our room and watched Date Night on Joe's laptop. I love that movie and laughed so hard. Again. Every time I see it actually. So funny I cry (the pole dance scene of Steve and Tina at the club? so ugly and awesome!)

 

 

Oh, this hipster hottie is taken!

 

My snorkeling guy. He loves it and went out exploring almost every day.

I sat on the beach and dutifully watched out for him (read good books and looked for cool rocks and shells)

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning we got ready for church (we were up super early, but we could not stay awake later than 9:00 pm HI time the night before so we still got awesomely long sleeps), went to breakfast at the huge Westin buffet, and then drove over to 9:00 am sacrament meeting. The view from our seats in church—too beautiful:

Then we wandered around Lahaina forever just window shopping and taking our sweet time. Loved our easy no plans pace. We had lunch at a fantastic spot in town called Cilantro Grill and got the highly recommended Mother Clucker Flautas—very yummy. We went back to the hotel to unwind and nap (really? how was I even tired?!) before wandering back out to the pool area to read and hang out. That evening we made spinach and fruit smoothies and microwave popcorn for dinner while we watched the Golden Globes (on very early over there—starting at like 5 pm).

Monday morning we wandered over to the Westin again, this time for a 7:00 am spin class. It ended up being just the two of us there with the instructor and of course the studio had a beautiful view of the resort and ocean. The room was pretty hot for a spin studio so again, I was a super sweaty girl but loving the workout!

 view from the studio

We went back to our hotel to shower and change, and actually pack our things to move to the Sheraton Maui just down the beach. Thanks to my sister-in-law working for Starwood hotels we got an awesome "Starfriend" rate but it was only available certain nights—had to book another place for the earlier part of our stay. During the lapse between checkout and check-in we drove up the road to Kahana for a pizza lunch, a quick pedicure at a little local joint while Joseph shopped around, and then up to Kapalua for some exploring.

We found a beautiful beach just off the Kapalua Coastal Trail. It had been raining most of the morning but had just cleared up around lunch time and the beach was almost empty. We played around for a bit and then walked up to the golf course in search of a spot we'd read about called Dragon's Teeth. We had to basically walk on the rough side of the green near the tee to get to it but it was such a cool little find. The lava formations are super ragged and whitened by the sun (like huge teeth) and the waves still crash up against it constantly making it a great place to just sit and watch nature at work. Plus the water in the bay beside it was so aqua blue I could hardly believe it. I wanted to bottle it up somehow and bring it home! We tried to capture it with our cameras but they can hardly do it the justice it deserved.

 

 

love the crystal clear water in Maui

 

 

love note to the darlings

 Craggy Dragon's Teeth

On our way back out we saw a little plaque naming the spot as a sacred place for Hawaiians. We hadn't seen it on the way in and in reading up on the internet wandering around it is discouraged if it's not done with respect and reverence. I certainly wasn't trying to be reverent there but the place is so stunning it's hard not to admire it with awe. I hope we weren't disruptive to the feeling of the place—it is such a gem that I'd be sad to have missed it. If you go there in the future just do so calmly and quietly, right?

In the early afternoon we got settled at the Sheraton (in our room with the most awesome view!) and spent some more time laying in the sun and reading at the pool. In the evening we ate some takeout salads we'd gotten earlier in the day and then watched as the rain picked back up and poured down in Black Rock. We watched another movie on the laptop, The Bourne Supremacy, and went to bed for the night (again, before 9:00 pm—we are certified Hawaiian earlybirds).

 

It's true by the way, the flowers in Hawaii smell just like perfume.
Oh and they are perfectly stunning too.

A Little Catch Up

I really need to get working on a Hawaii post or two but there are so many pictures (from both our phones, the underwater Nikon and the DSLR—sheesh!)

But in gathering those I found some iphone pics I wanted to add to the blog too, mostly from last month.

First, our girls' night Nutcracker adventure on December 21st. It was such a magical night! I loved having my little ladies there with me and being with my mom and sis and niece. Too much fun. We ate dinner at Kneaders in City Creek beforehand and my mom had part of the girls' Christmas gifts to give them that night—American Girl Nutcracker sets with little velvet shrugs, bracelet watches and a tiny doll's Nutcracker. So cute and such fun to get that night!

 Of course I always think back to my days backstage and dancing up there to that ever familiar music. It gives me chills every time I see it. What a grand dream for an aspiring ballerina! This year Caroline and Maddie learned dances from their ballet teacher from The Nutcracker (not the William Christensen version but close enough :) Those two were adorable watching every move so intently. I could tell those ballerinas on their beautiful pointe shoes were blowing them away. They are so strong and graceful and lovely. My mom was so kind to treat us all to the ballet and my girls and I are so very grateful—we loved our special girls' date so much!

 

 

 

A new tradition I guess, except that it kind of freaks me out: 

helping Joseph put the Christmas lights up

 Home Depot project day in December: Santa was there!

 Fun night out at Hires with my parents while they babysat the Horsley kids:

 A few more shots from the kids' music program at school:

Out in the snow at the mall one Saturday (kids were at Porter's birthday party—isn't having one little babe around for errands just the best? So easy and pleasant. Can you tell I took all 4 kids to the grocery store today? Why or why did I do that?! Darn holiday...)

 Ward Christmas party:

 Caroline's holiday report. She eagerly chose Germany for her country and wrote about Saint Nicholas Day. Loved her little artwork and excitement over a holiday I had actually celebrated as a kid when I lived there.

 I decided to try out some bangs again. So far, pretty good. But in Hawaii they were killing me—too hot! Oh and the humidity made them oh so fluffy and random. We'll see how long they last :)

 Bob was in town for an full 2 weeks. When he first arrived his parents were in Georgia (visting Flori and Rob) so he stayed with us most of the 7 or 8 nights they were gone. It was so fun having him around! We love Bob so much. The brothers fit in like 3 morning spin classes, an adventurous outdoor ride with Tommy too, and some yummy food dates 

(even some homemade ones like Tahitian pancakes):

  

And Bob even sent Joseph and me out on a date while he stayed here with the kiddos:

 

A family dinner date at Texas Roadhouse. This baby was loving it! So many yummy bites and delicious rib bones for gnawing and sucking: 

Caroline's new doll in the mermaid skirt from cousin Gracie (thanks Maggie! It is so pretty and shimmery and Cares loves it). Beans is such a classic big brother...such a silly head.

Swimming

An awesome trick for wiggly kids during these frigid days: swimming at the rec center! And even better, adding off-track friends to play with in the water.

Bentley and Noah

Lindsay and I sat with our babies and chatted while we kept an eye on the bigger kids—mainly these two going down the twisty slide a hundred and ten times.

 These are from Friday last week—I have never seen the pool so empty. It was also Luke's first time swimming there and he had a great time. Good thing that little babe has 2 moms continually looking out for him :)

 Olivia and Creighton

Caroline is really so good with Luke. I tell her all the time that she will be the best mommy and I can tell it makes her little heart swell with joy. That is really weird to think about right now but yes, one day I truly, deeply hope she will be a mommy, and her babies will be incredibly lucky to come to her. Such a sweet, loving girl!

2013 Goals

These are always a big deal around here. My kids especially love posing for their pictures (such hams those littles of mine!)

Joseph and I made some goals too. We are not very good posers ;) so we didn't make our own collages. This year we tried to focus more on categories for our goals including spiritual, making a happier home, trying something new, physical, and better behavior. 

My goals:

1) Attending the temple monthly

2) Using a calm voice more often instead of an angry or yelling one

3)  Riding in Goldilocks and Little Red—maybe a century ride?

4) Working out at least 4 days of every, single week 

(burning at least 500 calories during each workout--try it--it's hard! That's why I love spinning :)

5) No iPhone during dinner/family time (6-8 every night)

Party Photos

**After a long day of cleaning the house, making lists, shopping with the fam at the mall (why was it still craziness there today?) and a yummy dinner out, I am blogging. But I have my workout clothes (and shoes) on so that I will still make it to the treadmill in the next few minutes. I am letting the boys have a go on the XBOX until I kick them off the TV and watch something girly while I run (Can't Buy Me Love is on my DVR. Patrick Dempsey officially began my obsession for boys with curly hair :)

Anyway...

We set up an easy-peasy backdrop for some fun pictures 

during Luke's birthday celebration on New Year's. Enjoy:

Tillie & Caroline

Evie with Luke and Jim

Elijah

Happy Finch

Tiago & Bentley

Isabel

Porter

Nanny and Grandpa Neil with the adorable birthday bear

My cute posing Livs

From Our Break

Early in our break (Dec. 22nd) we had the annual Smith family party, this year at my mom's house. We ate yummy treats, caught up with beloved cousins, and sang Jingle Bells very loudly so Santa would hear his cue and come deliver special gifts! My big kids were elated and Luke just cried about it. It was such a fun night!

I am in love with this picture! Love these two so much. This is from December 26th. We had a very good day because Joseph was around all day to just play and hang out. He took the kids sledding, traced out requested pictures for our darlings to then paint with their new art supplies from Nanny, and later that night snuggled up with them with freshly popped popcorn for a movie night. My babes are in heaven when they get that kind of attention from their daddy.

A random collection of pics from art time to sledding to Joseph snuggling Luke and baby cousin Leo (9 months younger than my guy but they will be fast buddies I am sure :)

 

 My boys went to a Jazz game December 28th using Bentley's free tickets from playing Jr. Jazz. It just so happened to be the night Bob was going to a game with a bunch of his old friends. Joseph and Beans joined the big group of friends at Rodizio's for dinner beforehand where Bentley ate everything in sight and even tried a chicken heart. Such a fun date for both of them! I stole this pic from Joe's phone—the arena looks so pretty with the lights and fresh snow:

 

 

Our New Year's Eve was freezing cold and very low key. We had Cafe Rio for dinner (loving that it is newly opened in Herriman and just so close and convenient!) did baths for the kids, popped some colorful crackers and called it a night. Oh, and we did pose for some awesome pics too...

On New Year's Day we hosted all the LeBarons we could round up for pizza, sledding, cocoa and cake and ice cream—a 2nd celebration of Luke's birthday but also a great chance to get together and play. We were planning to celebrate Luke's nearly twin cousin Annacapri that day too but she and her fam were really needing to get back to CA for various reasons (Anna's badly burned hands being a huge factor. Sweet baby girl...) We will have to postpone a joint celebration until next year. What do you think about that Krista—should we get it on our calendars already?! :)

The crew called this jumble "LeBaron Lincoln Logs." Can you spy Evie and Elijah's feet as the perpendicular row in this craziness? 10 LeBs heading down the hill on 5 sleds!

 

Yesterday the kids were feeling restless waiting on some friends so I suggested they play with mom's hair. They were so excited to give me a real hairdo at first—Cares did my 2 braids—but then they wanted to put every last clip and bow somewhere on my head. Quite the results, no? It did earn me title of "coolest mom ever" from Bentley so it was completely worth it :)