I literally forgot that this blog existed for a few years, but happened upon it and was delighted to find easily accessible videos of Zach and Zoey as infants and toddlers. I have more videos on some jump drive or hard drive or old laptop somewhere, but haven’t seen them in a decade! I didn’t know I had a few drafts still saved that I never published, so I am doing so now, nine years after I wrote this!! And I hesitate because I was wearing a scandalous bikini and don’t let my 12-year-old daughter wear one, but when she is 37 on a deserted beach with her husband on an anniversary trip, I guess I’ll allow it! 😜 This is like a trip to the past. How did we communicate without emojis?!Anyway, without further ado, here it is!
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I understand but seriously despise when regular bloggers take a long leave of absence or quit altogether. I fell into the first category for no particular reason other than becoming very busy with starting two businesses this spring. Life gets overwhelming, but I still feel it is a great way to chronicle our lives, so I will attempt a major 6 month catch up!
For our 15 year Anniversary, Corey and I got away to Maui, thanks to his parent's generosity of sharing their time share points. It was in the Maui Ocean Club on Ka'anapali Beach, one of the best in the world. Stunning 5 star luxury everywhere. It was heaven and our first real vacation away from our kiddos. We missed them dearly.
Saw bunches of turtles in the waves the first evening, as well as a stunning sunset to welcome us.
The colors on my nice camera don't quite capture the colors of
God's paintbrush that night, but we were in awe.
Obligatory swim suit photo because I got into great shape doing dozens of sit ups daily before the trip.
I don't know if I'll ever look that great again, but not bad for 37!
We haven't been to Hawaii during whale season for years, and this was one reason we decided to celebrate 6 months early. It is so entertaining to see them spouting and splashing. We spent a few amazing mornings chasing them in kayaks and got close and LOVED it!! Definitely the highlight of the trip!
The rugged northeast side of the island- an exhilarating but gorgeous drive.
One-lanes, hairpin turns that raise your blood pressure by 50 points easy!
We stopped at the art village for the first time and got a great watercolor for our collection.
The way these clouds reflected on the water was astounding to me!
Lanai, in the distance. It has been a few years since we visited, but it is one of my favorite places on earth. We stayed at the Four Seasons Manele Bay with Natalie and Ryan 5 years ago for a kama'aina rate of $280, which included golf. The same room was $800+ alone this year, so we opted for the day trip.
We experienced the most amazing snorkeling in this bay. I saw an 18 inch octopus right in front of my face! I spooked it and it hid behind a rock. I thought it was a stone fish at first because it blended into the rocks. So cool!! Tons of amazing schools of fish. I adore Lanai!
Sweetheart Rock.
There was an amazing school of giant yellow tangs we could see from the top. We tried our best to swim with them, but the water was too choppy and rough for comfort, unfortunately.
Notice the lack of any other footprints on the beach before ours. A great sign! Love this secluded beach!
The most ridiculously expensive lunch ever. $22 for a couple fish tacos and and equally pricey burger with a few hard breadsticks. That's the Four Seasons for you. But the view was spectacular!
The clouds rolled in heavy for our day trip to Hana. I've never had such a rainy Hana day.
Once we passed Hana on the loop, the SW side of the island was sunny and dry, of course.
Apple bananas. If you haven't had one of these from a fruit stand in Hana, put it on your bucket list.
They are firmer, shorter. and sweeter than regular bananas, Delicious!
Our bamboo hike. It was perfect going in, then started pouring once we got
to the swimming part, resulting in a very slick but unique hike out. Beautiful.
I love the way a bamboo forest looks from afar.
This was a really weird place we stopped on the way around the island.
Ghetto toilets, but at least we found some on the rural road.
Coolest church ever.
That cool arch on the desert side.
A couple of sunsets.
We attended the Hyatt timeshare schpiel to get two rounds of $150 golf for free. I swung twice on the first hole and this horrific UTI suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I walked back to the hotel, called my doctor for some antibiotics, and spent the next few hours in bed feeling awful. Thanks goodness for awesome docs and antibiotics. I was only down that day and felt better the next day. They wouldn't refund or exchange or transfer the golf. Lame. I could've had a massage or cash instead.
This handsome guy.
Just so someday I can say I was a 37-year-old mother of two and looked like that in a swimsuit.
Glorious snokeling outside our hotel. Hanging with turtles and all sorts of sea life.
On our way back from Black Rock our last day, this awesome Manu-o-ku (White Fairy Tern) named Fred decided he liked Corey and walked with him for a few hundred yards. Everyone was stopping to watch! We are always sad to leave the island, but it was our first time being away from our babies, and we were happy to get back to them. What an amazing way to celebrate 15 years!
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