Maui 2014 - Part 2

Jumping right back into it....

When we go to Maui we always rent a condo with a full kitchen.  It is so nice to be able to eat normal meals so you can splurge on treats. My personal favorite are Milk Chocolate Coconut Macadamias.  If you ever see them buy a bag, or ten.   They are so good and I've only ever seen them in Hawaii.  Back to healthy food...

While we were there we ate tons of fish. Aren't you proud of me?  Ono, Mahi Mahi, and Tuna to name a few we cooked at the condo.  Along with burgers, steak and smokies.  Large variety!  I ate fish every time we went out and probably every second night at the unit.  Thankfully our kids like fish, especially Grady.  James did a lot of BBQ'ing...

....while the kids did a lot of this.

You got it, the kids brought their mini sticks to Maui.  How awesome is that that while I watched the kids (and Grandpa) play ministick on the grass, I could see the ocean just behind them.  It was a dead give away that we were Canadians. 

This my friends, is my favorite picture taken post mini stick game.  My loves.

There were a lot of drinks consumed on vacation.

This one was taken on our date lunch to Mama's Fish House.  Almost a year to the day I had my first taste of fish there.  Last year the whole family went while this year, G&G took the kids and we went for a date where James ordered me a second Mai Tai as shown in the photo. I may have been a little tipsy when we left.

While we were out, my mom commented on how much the kids pee.  My kids do drink a lot which means frequent trips to the bathroom, hopefully together.  While I am used to it, G&G weren't!

We've tried to teach G&G that while on vacation it is customary to have a glass of wine every night. While we have converted John with little work, Mom is a harder sell.  Good thing most of us enjoy the $5 bottle of Moscato sweet white wine.   We just have to convert James who will only drink red.

On our trip, there was lots of naked time.  For the kids.  Every time we got back from the pool we would strip the kids down in the entrance and they would stay naked.  Sometimes for a few minutes, but often up to on hour then I'd make them put at least underwear.  My kids are not shy with their bodies.   I'm sure the time is coming, especially for Grady, where he will be more modest, but it hasn't happened yet!  It became a standing joke in the house!

The day we left for Maui, Cooper and I headed to Fanatttic (the Flames store) to pick up a xmas gift while Grady was at school.  They each ended up with 2 T-shirts, including the one that we were there to pick up.  Each got a Hitmen Tshirt and a Team Canada shirt.  Both Black.  The kids would have worn these shirts everyday if I let them. Cooper cried when his Hitmen shirt was dirty.  If the kids weren't naked, they were wearing these shirts.

It is no secret that my mom loves maps.  In this age of technology where James and I simply google things on our phone or use the GPS, my mom insists on having a paper map.  Over several trips with my mom, Grady has learned to share this love with my mom.  Here they are looking at a map in the car.

I love how Grady affectionately puts his arm on my moms shoulder.  Love! 

Grady started stopping at every pamphlet station and taking as many pamphlets as we would allow.  It soon led to only choosing one as we were getting quite a collection.  We brought all of them back home with us....

One thing we did this time that we've never done before is visit a goat farm.  It was a cool drive as it was up country and we've never really driven up into that neck of the woods.  We ended up doing a tour where the kids got to pet, feed, and eventually milk the goats.  It was interesting to say the least.

Grady absolutely loved the waves.  He got braver and braver as the week went on.  Towards the end of our trip when the waves were quite a bit bigger, we would stand at the shore with him and wait for the wave to crash on us.  Sometimes we even got salt water in our mouths.  This was one of my fave things to do with him this trip, wave chase, as we called it.

The kids mini golfed for the first time while we were there.  It was a hit!  While at times it resembled hockey more than it did golf, the kids did pretty good.  We played both 18 hole courses and I'm sure they would have played longer had we let them.  Grady even got a hole in one.  He was super pumped about it.

We were really fortunate with the weather.  In the 2 weeks we were there it rained about 4 times.  One time we didn't even get out of the pool.  The other times it was raining when we got up and then tapered off by about 9, so really we weren't rained out at all.  One day we awoke to rain we decided to make it a road trip day.   Our first stop was the bird sanctuary.  Again, something I've never done.  My mom always brings her binoculars on vacation.

We saw a total of 2 birds and 2 spiders.  Big ugly black spiders.  The kids walked the entire length of the boardwalk, so it ended up being a fun stop.  Again, something we driven by many times but never stopped to look at.  Not sure I'd stop again, but glad to do once.

Our next free stop was at the whale sanctuary we were told about at the aquarium.  It was free.  I thought it was OK, but the kids loved it.  They could have stayed all afternoon.  They had a kid station set up with lots of puzzles, blocks, and books.  Grady insisted we do this very hard puzzle before we departed.

On the way home from our day trip we stopped for shaved ice.  Grady has been asking for it all day.  It was actually more tasty then I expected but not good enough that I would ever order one for myself.  I'll stick to ice cream!

On one of our last days there we buried the kids. It was so much fun.  It started out with just the legs, then the body, and at the end everything was buried but their faces.

Cooper giggled like crazy with every scoop of sand we dumped on him.  So cute.  I was just happy that I didn't have to be buried like the parent just down the beach from us!

Lastly, I waned to talk about the fitness classes we took.  I blogged about the butts and guts class that I did just before we left for Maui and it left me feeling so motivated and excited to keep it going.  My mom is a fitness buff and she suggested we try the classes at the resort.  I didn't even hesitate at the suggestion, I was all over it, even though I never exercise on vacation.  I figure that my body needs a rest and I dont' want to stress about trying to get the exercise in.  This time it was different. I wanted to exercise.  I enjoyed the class, came out sweaty, and started the day right.  I wouldn't even think twice about doing the classes again next time we stay there.  Exercise that doesn't feel like exercise?  Sign me up!  Since getting home, I've done 2 of the free classes and intend to take full advantage of them for the next month.

This trip was fantastic!  I was really sad to leave given we don't know when we will be back.  We have some other travel plans for later this year and with Grady being in grade 1 next year, I'm not sure if it is frowned upon to pull your kid from school for 2 weeks.  I never realized how much the school holidays start to affect your vacation planning.  Unfortunately my work schedule doesn't allow me to piggy back a 2 week vacation with the March spring break.  So it my not be next year but hopefully we'll get back to Maui in the foreseable future.  It is my happy place. It may even make me happier than the mall. 

And look at that, I finished my vacation posts in only 2 posts.  Yeah me!

Maui 2014 - Part 1

When I set out to write this post I fully intended to only have one post. I started uploading pictures and just couldn't stop. Instead of focusing on what we did day by day I just want to highlight a few stories and share some of the moments that made this last vacation one of our best. Have I mentioned we love Maui?? We stayed at the Honua Kai Resort in Kaanapali in case anyone is interested. Highly recommend.

Now lets begin our first Maui post.

Last year, put Cooper down the water slide on day one because he wanted to go down and it was an utter fail and he didn't love the pool the rest of the trip.  This year on our first day a big wave hit him and he fell right over into the ocean. In his clothes.  He was never in danger, James was standing right there, but he scared himself and he was wet and cold and covered in sand.  Look closely at the picture below after we stripped him down and his body and even his head is covered.  Needless to say, he wasn't that fond of the ocean this trip.  

This trip will forever be remembered as the one where Grady learned to swim.  On the first day he started with water wings, and never wore them again.  He was swimming under water, jumping into the deep pool and didn't need any sort of flotation device.  It was amazing what 14 days in the pool did for him and his confidence.

Speaking of the pool, we went in at least once a day, sometimes twice and even maxed out at 3 times in one day.  Good thing we packed all our swimsuits as they were barely drying between wears.

The kids loved to build sand castles.  James or Grandma were usually the helpers.  I preferred to watch. James loves sitting by the ocean and watching the waves.  So much so that Cooper started telling James that all he wanted to do was go to the beach.  And drink coffee.

Grady's favorite time to swim was at night. Mine to actually.  The water was oh so warm and the pool was dead.  It gets dark in Maui at 630 so we would go from 630-7 every other night or if time permitted.  We'd still make it back to the condo for a 730pm lights out!

The waves were bigger than usual at the end of our trip.  Oahu was reporting waves the biggest they've seen in a decade.  James got out the old boogie board, but no waves found him.  The kids were super pumped to watch him, even if all he did was lay on the board.

Cooper wasn't into the pool as much as Grady.  He did wear goggles and put his face in.

And on the second last day, he finally put on the water wings but never let go of us.  He would float around and hold onto one of our fingers.  I am hoping that on our Kelowna trip this summer that he will take a leap and start floating on his own.  I can hope can't I?

Cooper preferred playing basketball as shown below.  Throwing a beach ball in a floating tube.  I can not count the number of times that he asked to play this in the condo.  And he got mad if you didn't play his way.

Despite Grady's new found love of hockey, he still makes time for art.  This was in a store in Lahaina where they had a little kid station set up.  The kid stood there for what felt like an hour finishing his picture.  He refused to leave the store.  He did a great job of the picture though.  You could leave the picture behind and pin on the wall, but he chose to bring it home of course!

This was one of 2 poses that John struck the entire trip.  The other one was in a chair with a book.  The guy read about 5 books no word of a lie.  I've never even him read one page of a book and yet on vacation, I didn't see him without a book!

This photo also happens to be the day many of us burned.  I burned around the rim of my suit where I missed applying my 60 sunscreen, while my mom and john burned to a crisp because they don't wear sunscreen.  I refereed to them as big and little tomato for the next few days and then they bought some sunscreen!

Cooper liked to dig in the sand and apply water and declare himself a sand monster!

Grady plugs his nose when he swims, it is just what he is comfortable with. Sometime in the first few days he scratched his cheek with his nail.  We wanted to try him in a mask so that he wouldn't need to plug his nose.  We rented one from the pool house, and while the mask was a flop, he loved the flippers.  LOVED.  It was amazing how fast he could go with them on.  He'd go in one end of the pool and pop out at the other.  So proud of him!

Before signing off on post 1, I wanted to talk briefly about napping.  This was our first trip with the kids were we had 2 non napping kids.  I was a little worried about how it was going to go.  There would be a lot of hours in the day to fill with no break. I was worried that it was not going to go well.  Thankfully I was wrong.

I was amazed how having the whole day, rather than just the morning to work with, made the day so much more relaxing.  We didn't have to rush somewhere first thing in the morning to make sure we were back for nap time.  We tended to start the day later and it didn't matter since we literally had all day.  We were able to do so much more than when Cooper was napping.  The one thing that suffered was my reading.  In holidays of the past, I spent most of nap time reading. With no nap, I only read a book and half.  I can read anytime though, spending time at the beach and pool, not so much.

Vacation Style

We just got from a vacation to Maui.  I just can't get enough of Maui.  Best.  Vacation. Locale.  Ever.   While I put together my vacation posts I thought I'd start with a little fashion post on things to pack and wear on vacation that I was actually able to at least start putting together while I sipped my coffee in the morning on the lanai... missing it already!

On our travel day, I chose to wear my leggings in the plane. First, because they are comfy, and second because you always need a pair of pants, even on a tropical vacation. 

I also wore my runners on the plane because although I wasn't planning on exercising, you never know who may convince you to try a class...

I hated how my runners looked with my leggings but I didn't have room to pack them and there was no way I was wearing jeans on a 7 hour flight with kids.  So I just sucked it up and wore them together :)

Always pack an exercise outfit. I ended up using my workout wear and runners many times to do the circuit classes at the fitness center of the resort. 

The resort offered exercises classes and after enjoying the one I took right before we left so much, my mom convinced me to try and I'm so as she did. We did 5 classes while we were there.  I've NEVER  exercised on vacation before but I wanted to do the classes so it didn't feel like exercise!

It is always important to have a great pair of flip flops.  I personally like my crocs.  Comfy and can get wet!

Maybe don't waste your money on a pedi like I did.  I had 2 toes missing colors on day 2!  I bought nail polish and remover there and reprinted them red.  

Another travel essential for me is a great travel purse.  For me, that means a small cross body so I am hands free.  But not too small, it needs to fit my sunglasses, my camera and my phone.  And if we were being totally honest... James' sunglasses.  I grabbed this cute one at the Coach outlet while we were there.  I used it for the rest of the vacation and packed it away until my next adventure.

Pack many many bathing suits and cover ups. 

I have lots of bathing suits from doing swim classes with the kids.  I try to get a trendy one piece or tankini. This year I ventured out and bought a bikini.  You know what?  I loved it.  I thought I'd feel so self conscious in it but when I looked around, people all around me were wearing them with all sorts of different body types so I decided to join them!

The black cover up I'm wearing can also be a tank and a long sleeved shirt.  It was part of a travel collection I bought at a craft show a few years back and has come in handy. 

I also recommend a beach hat. I brought a plain grey short beaked hat from home but noticed many people wearing 'beach' hats.  So I found this one.  I love the color and Grady loved the rainbow :)

I mostly need the hat to cover my frizzies.  I seriously have terrible hair in the humidity. I do not have any curl to my hair but I have all this new growth that stands straight up and I can't get rid of it without blow drying and flat ironing which I had no intention of doing more than once!

I found many of mornings and evening a bit breezy so ended up wearing my leggings more often than I ever dreamed I would. 

I also packed my denim shirt which I wore every day.  I always need to bring something with me for in the cars and in the buildings where it is so cold compared to outside with the AC blowing in you.  So I was glad I packed this outfit. 

When I packed for this trip I planned to do laundry. So I packed 7 outfits with full intention of mixing and matching my outfits.

I went with lots of solid neutral tops and printed or colored bottoms.  

I also packed my skirts that I deem too short for Calgary wear but perfect for vacation.  The polka dot skirt is one of those.  

So is this multi colored skirt I wore to Gina's stagette in Vegas last spring.  

I wore it with it flops instead of sparkly high heels for James and I's date night :). Truth be told, I put the denim shirt on as soon as the pic was taken.  I told you it was well worn on this trip.  I probably should have worn leggings but I packed his skirt and I needed to wear it once!

I think I did a good job packing.  I wore everything I packed which I must say rarely happens. I'll admit that I did have my favorites, like these joe fresh shorts.  If Superstore has them again this summer I will buy a second pair.  I get many compliments in them and they were only $16!

While I was quite proud of the fact I wore absolutely everything I packed, I can't say the same for the kids. I used the same strategy when packing for them and they insisted on wearing the same 2 black hockey tshirts they got just before we left.  Cooper preferred the Hitmen shirt and Grady, team Canada.  I might as well have packed them nothing.

I hope you found this post entertaining. I am not into dressing up or putting together complicated outfits, but I still like to feel good about what I am wearing.  I also don't wear makeup or do my hair on vacation.  Isn't that was vacation is supposed to be about?

Stay tuned for a glimpse into how we spent the past 2 weeks.

A favorite read

My favorite book of all times is memoirs of a geisha.  

I remember the first time I read the book. I was in university and it was my first 'real' book.  Like a book other than the shopaholics series or another light read aka romantic comedy where you always know they are going to get together at the end.  

I am going to go out on a limb and say it was an oprah pick. I remember reading a lot of those over my 4 years of university.  

I love the book.  While totally not my usual genre of book, I was so intrigued by this one.  The fact that it was based on a true story, the outfits, the love story, everything.  From that moment it became my favorite read.  

I reread the book on my honeymoon over 5 years later and enjoyed it as much as the first time I read.  Probably because I forgot the ending so it was like reading it again for the first time.  

Just recently I picked up the book again for the third time and again forgot the ending.  Sad, isn't it! Ha!  

I loved the feeling of starting the book knowing I was going to love it even though I couldn't remeber how it ended. 

Although I couldn't remeber the ending,I did remember key parts of the book that stuck with me over the years.  While the story line was intriguing, part of the lure of the book was the character development and the detail the author went into in her writing.  

This alone is the biggest reason why the movie wasn't great. You can't get that detail watching a movie. When has the movie ever been as good as the book really.  

I'm sure that in 5 or more years I will pick up the book again and reread it.  Hopefully I'll have forgotten the ending again by then.  There is nothing like reading your favorite book again for the first time!

Patience

Since becoming a parent, I've realized that patience isn't one of my strengths.  I am good at numbers, good at running, good at managing our household, but patient I am not.  

I can't be alone here.  

Before kids, I would have told you I was patient.   The doctor is running a few minutes late, no big deal.  My husband isn't ready to leave, I'll read a few more pages of my book.  When kids enter the picture you have to step it up 20 notches. 

Some times I find myself able to deal with my kids complete and utter meltdowns. I speak sotly, calmly, and mostly rationally. I pat myself on the back and think I handled the situation well and didn't let kids didn't 'win'. 

My kids are very stubborn and it can take a lot of patience to wait out the storm of yelling, throwing, and door slamming.  Some may say they get this stubbornness from me, but I think it comes from their dad.  They obviously come by it honestly :)

Other times when the kids misbehave I try to use the patience I know is in there, I run out of it quickly and lose it.  The kids 'win'.  I become this crazy person whose will power is non existent.  It's like I am this person who I didn't know was hiding inside.  The first thing I start doing is raiding my voice. At this point the kids know they've got me and push my buttons further.  They smart little guys. 

When is all is over and the kids and I have calmed down and had a talk about why mommy was mad, I feel like this terrible parent who lost control.  I think about what I could have done differently and should have done to prevent the escalation of the situation.  

In the end it all comes down to working on my level of patience with the kids.  Lowering my expectations that the kids will behave like angels everytime we take them out and accepting that what makes me happy, ie. shopping, does not always make them happy.  

I don't think I'll ever be the patient person I want to be or be the person that never loses their cool or raises their voice but I will be the person that always apologizes when I lose my cool and that is always working towards being a more patient parent.  

Faux Fur Vest

It is no secret that I love the fashion blog Pinterest told me to. She is a mom of a 4 year old boy and she works outside the home. So... her fashion requirements are very similar to mine. I think we have similar tastes as I seriously want to order every thing she features on the blog. Everything.

Most recently she posted this faux fur vest on facebook. 

While I never would have thought a faux fur vest was for me, I really liked her outfit and could see myself wearing something like this. So.... I ventured on to the Goodnight Macaroon website to find that the darn thing was on sale.   It definitely looks more black on the website then in Shaeffer's pic above.

As if the front wasn't cute enough the back was enough to make we really want it. I love the extra details that make it different, or just more 'Christy'. And this little ruffle at the back was exactly what it needed to make me go from liking it to loving it.

So after admiring it at home and deciding that I did not in fact need the vest, I texted it to my sister and Deena so they could drool over it as well. Deena immediately checks her go to stores (Simons and the Bay) to see if they have anything similar and they didn't. I found one on sale at H&M (without the fantastic detail) on the website and went to the store over my lunch break to see if they had one. They did not. I texted Deena the bad news that H&M did not have one in store and this is what happened.

I had to blur out my obscenities :)

And before you know it, we both had purchase the same fur vest.  For the record, had she not bought it I probably wouldn't have either.  We are obviously a bad influence on each other.  While I contemplated my purchase I emailed my fashion friend Susan for her take and I think she put it perfectly:

 

Great shopping advice for all of us!

Since I was on the site anyway... I looked around at some of the other things they had to offer and it turned out I was a huge fan of the items in the store, but not a huge fan of the prices.  A bit high for me, but if these babies go on sale I would be tempted.  Especially this grey sweater with the plaid underneath.  LOVE.  I am not one to layer much, I find it uncomfortable, but I like the look. This sweater makes layering easy.

 

 

I adore this next one as well. Not huge on turtlenecks, but I love the integration of the 3 colors and all neutrals so great with any bottom.



This last one I thought would look great for a date night or an evening out with the girls. I love that it is a bit longer so you could throw on a pair of leggings and boots or heels and feel totally great.

I also noticed that all 3 shirts that I chose have that fake layering look. I am obviously into that right now yet don't own one....

I hope this post was adequately girlie enough to balance out all the testosterone and hockey happening around here last week.

Butts and gutts

This may come as a shock, but ive never taken an exercise class.  Ever.  Until last week that is.  

Since high school, I've always had an exercise program.  I did step aerobics in the house for many years, then I moved into an apartment with a gym and I used cardio equip, then finally moved in with James in our current house and bought a treadmill.  

I'm not a team sport person.  I was very much an independent exerciser.  

Before kids I exercised everyday. Hard to beleive now and sounds like way too much.  Then when I was pregnant  I switched to walking 5 days a week.   After kids I set my goal to 3 days a week which is where I am still at.  

My current exercise regime is to go the gym 3 out of the 4 days I work and take weekends completely off for family time.  I do the same workout every time.  10 minutes on the elliptical.  20 minutes running in treadmill.  10 minutes bike.  5 minute stretches. 

In the past month or so I had been thinking about changing it up.   Although I can have decent cardio abilities, I am not strong.  I have no muscles and really thought it was time to tone up and try something new.  

As if it was meant to be, my gym is under new management and decided to offer 2 months of free drop In classes.   I talked to another lady doing them and she said they were great.  So I convinced my co worker to try one with me and before you know it we were at our first butts and guts class. 

I loved the class.  It was exactly what I was looking for.  The 45 minute class went by so quickly, I sweated more than I  ever imagined, and after, I felt so proud of myself.  

For 3 days I was reminded of how good of a workout I had by my achy muscles, especially getting in and out of the car.  It was that feeling that told you your muscles were worked and I loved the reminder of how hard I worked. I will be back taking the free classes and even decided I will pay for them after.  That is how much I enjoyed!

If you are thinking you need to change up your workout routine, DO IT!  It is amazing how much it has motivated me to look forward to the fun again!

First Hockey Game

A less than a week after we registered, Grady had his first hockey game.... well really it was a practice but lets call it a game for the sake of this post.

Of course on what will be our busiest day of the week for the next 8 weeks, Cooper was up at 5am.  I sent him back to bed but before 6 he called that he had to pee and after that there was no sleeping.  Shortly after 6, Grady was awake to.  It was going to be a long day.

The game started at 5:45.  I figured we should leave about 5:00 in order to get there and get all the gear on.  James thought I was crazy.  But of course I wasn't.  We used almost every minutes.

It took a solid 25 minutes to get him in the gear.  I was little to no use as Cooper sat on me like this the entire time it took James to dress Grady.

Since the young lad has been up since 5am he was good and tired and fell asleep in the car on the way to the game.  He didn't wake up like a bear as he sometimes does but he was visibly tired.

Once Grady was finally geared up we started to headed out to the rink.  Guess who had to pee???  You guess it.  James had to partially gear Grady down so he could relieve himself.  This was despite going right before he left the house.  Believe it or not, he had to get off the ice half way through the practice to pee... AGAIN.

Here is Grady all ready to get on the ice and play.  

Well... he was mostly ready.  Before we left the house he told us he was scared and didn't want to go anymore.  I had a pep talk with him and he changed his mind.  Our young Grady is very shy and timid and doesn't like going outside his comfort zone.  Wanting to play hockey was huge for him.  I never thought he would choose to play hockey.  Ever.

Here is Cooper ready to see Grady get on the ice.  

Remember that the game is played outside and we were lucky for the high of the day to reach plus 4.  It was a wonderful night to be outside and on the ice.

Grady initially wanted James on the ice.  I forgot that he had never been on the ice in equipment.  It does make getting up more difficult than without. Especially with very tight ski pants over the shin pads and socks!  Lesson learned, next time we will have him wear hockey shorts and skip the ski pants.  It was so hard for him to get around and he had no flexibility.   I came home from the game and ordered him long johns, both pants and shirt to reduce the layers needed under his equipment for the outdoor games.  I also figured out he needs a bigger jersey.  It is amazing how much bulk the equipment adds and he was like an over-stuffed sausage as he got on the ice.

Grady was very timid as he got on the ice and didn't want to go for the puck as all the kids skated around.  This program was for 4 and 5 year olds and I expected that Grady would be one of the better skaters.  I was wrong.  There were some really good skaters out there and I felt a little intimidated for Grady.  At that point, I was really concerned that it wasn't going to go well.

The first thing they did was gather in the middle where they split the group of 20 kids into 2 separate teams.  Each team took one side of the ice to do their own drills.

They did a few drills and played a few little games and then they did a little scrimmage. This is where Grady came out of his shell.  He loved it.  It was like  big game of mini sticks.  He even scored a goal.

Grady is in the red jersey

That kid skated so hard that when we took his helmet off his entire head was wet.  And he had a huge smile on his face.

When I asked him if he liked it he asked me if we could come back tomorrow and was rather upset that I told him it is only once a week.  I would call that a success.

We got home and the kids immediately settled in to watch a hockey game on TV.  Never in a million years did I see that coming so soon.  I think James has always dreamed of watching hockey with his kids and that is slowly becoming a reality.

As promised, our next post we'll girl it up with a little fashion talk!