Maui - Day 2

Day 2 started out much like day 1, only we were a little more organized.

We had an idea where we wanted to go, the Haleakala Crater, however, we didn't quite make it there.



Instead, we headed North to Kalului, then went East to Pukalani. We started with all intentions of going to the crater, but after getting up onto the Haleakala Highway, we took a detour, and drove past the turn to the crater state park. Instead, we called an audible and decided to try the Polipoli State park.

After missing the turn to Waipoli Road (and it was easy to miss), we turned around and then started to the park.

Along the way to Polipoli was the All'i Kula Lavender Garden. Although we didn't stop, the garden was absolutly beautiful. Neither of us have ever seen anything quite like it. All lavender in various stages of growth, in manicured and well cared for gardens. It was amazing. We didn't snap any pictures because I didn't have the camera handy. That and Marta was trying to dodge gliders, who make their landings near the gardens. I had to serve lookout. Excuses, excuses.

The first thing that hits one once you get past the gardens are the trees. Most of the trees have a very unusual, yet striking color. Marta and I theorized what the color could be from; the dirt, vog (volcanic smog), smoke and soot from the the fire, but we never did find out the truth, nor did we really care. They make for some great pictures.



The road quickly became steep. Single lane road with multiple spots along the way to pull over. Switchbacks became very frequent, one about every 75 to 120 feet. After a while, we ran into some locals hiking down the road. It was very overcast and getting colder as we went further. Neither of us packed any pants. The couple also told us that there was a big fire in Polipoli a few years ago. They didn't want to discourage us, but warned us that there really wasn't a whole lot to see on the front side of the park because of it. So after driving about another 1/2 mile, we pulled over, put on our shoes and hiked up the road a little bit.

I think we may have hiked about 1/8th of a mile, but in that 1/8th of a mile, we probably gained 500-600 feet in elevation. The clouds did clear a few times, which allowed us to take some pictures, but we mostly were amazed with the clouds weaving in and out of the forest.



We snapped some pictures and then hiked back down to the Jeep. We headed back down the Haleakala Highway where we stopped and shot some pictures of Marta's favorite tree. Trees like this were seen every now again, but throughout the whole trip, we did not see one as big, nor as beautiful as this one.



We ended the day with a very nice anniversary dinner at Pacifico's. Coconut, Macadamia Nut encrusted Mahi-Mahi is a dish you all must simply try, as words cannot describe just how good this dish really is!

More pictures here.

Maui - Day 1

We recently went to Maui for our Anniversary. After 7 nights and 7 days, we didn't want to come back. The temptation was there to have the grandparents just airmail the kids over, but we reluctantly came back home.

I have uploaded all the photos we took to Flickr, as usual. However, I am going to do something a little bit different, which perhaps will frustrate some of you.

Each day, I'm going to release a new set of photos, along with a new posting, setting up our activities for that day on the island.

I know a lot of you will want to see all the photos. Be patient! It took several million years for all that Hawaiian beauty to come to life. You can wait a week to see them in photos.

Enjoy!

Day 1 - 'Iao Needle



After waking up in the wonderful condo that we had, we sat around trying to decide where to go. After a lot of "I dunno, what do you want to do" we decided to go put the top down on the 2009 Jeep Wrangler that we had, and headed North to see where the road took us.

We drove up the Mokulele Highway to Kahului, past the Sugar Mill (which isn't quite as cool as you may think.) After checking out the local Sports Authority, we headed to Wailuku and then decided to check out the 'Iao Needle. We took the long way and drove up the Kahului Beach Road before going back inland towards the 'Iao Valley. The trees were amazing!

Once at the Needle, parking was a premium. After after hiking up and checking the scenery, we quickly found out why it's so popular with tourists (naturally), but with the locals as well.



Here are more pictures of the 'Iao Needle.

Snow Mountain

This past weekend was spent with the family at the YMCA camp ground Snow Mountain, just East of Granby. We saw a little bit of everything with the weather; some rain, some snow, some sun, etc. We also got to experience what it's like to have a bear rummage through the trash at night....twice! In all actuality, we never saw or heard the bear, but there were a lot of little, muddy cub tracks all over the box that houses the trash bins.

I have also uploaded a lot of photos, including Camden's baptism, and some photos we found where we think Brenden found the camera one morning and used his brother as a model.

Click here to go to the photostream.

Update, Part 2

Today, marks Opening Day in baseball, and coincidentally is the same day that Brenden starts T-Ball.

Time is flying by, as Brenden only has 2 months left of school for the year, and Camden's 2nd Birthday is quickly approaching.

Camden is also developing quite the vocabulary of late, including "cars", "shoes", "Bella", "night, night", and "pajamas".

Marta and I have been working on getting our calendars syncronized, as I am now a proud owner of a Blackberry! Early in March, I was eligable to upgrade my phone, and after after test driving Windows Mobile phone, settled on the Blackberry Pearl. It has helped me tremendously to get organized.

Also we have been working hard to get caught up on Lost, the TV show. We got Season 1 from the library and got through all 24 episodes in about 5 nights. We are 6 episodes in on Season 2. We are heavily addicted and have to force ourselves to stop watching so we can go to bed. If you have not yet watched this show, we both highly recommend it!

What Have We Been Up To? Part 1

It's been busy, busy, go, go, go around here.

The boys keep us on our toes, and between them and work, we are constantly doing something.

I thought it would be nice to take a break and let you know what we have been doing, on the little free time that we have.

For those that do not know, I received an iPod Touch for XMas in 2007. This past Valentine's day, I gave one to Marta. As a result, we have been heavy users of the iPod App Store on iTunes. Most of the apps we have are free, but there are those sweet programs that we were happy to pay a few bucks for. Here is a highlight of apps that we have and use with some frequency:

Fish Tycoon - A game in which you care for and sell fish. Sounds simple, right? It is, however, there are some game achievements that are by no means easy.

The Oregon Trail - A very well done remake of the old-skool, elementary school classic. Our only complaint is the game is repetitive and seems to be more drawn out than the original.

Pandora Radio - An iPod interface to Pandora.com. For those times when you want to listen to songs NOT on your iPod.

Lists - A very simple, easy to use list and to-do task manager.

iFood - An app that not only shows you recipes for various dishes, but will also take the ingredient list and place it into a shopping list format, so you can check off each item as you get it at the grocery store.

WhiteNoise - For those times when you just need to relax by the fire, the beach, the stream, etc, etc.

Backgrounds - The most descriptive apps name ever. Browse through thousands of user submitted graphics, all free for personal use, and use them as the background for your iPod.

ESPN Cameraman - This game sparked a heavy, addictive, and very competitive competition between us. Two versions of the same picture set side by side. Find 5 differences between them to move to the next picture. Not at all as easy as it sounds!

Textfree Lite - A free, very well done app in which SMS text messages can be sent and received free of charge, on your iPod touch. Specifically designed for those of us that like the iPod touch, but can't afford the iPhone!

TwitterFon - This one is more for me. A client program that interfaces with Twitter.com

Days of Thunder - Very well done and entertaining racing game based on the movie, Days of Thunder. Nice graphics with retro game play features.

Sim City - Need I say more, other that it's been updated and full of some nice nuances that separates it from the original, as well as the sequels.

That about does it. There are others, such as RSS Read and PocketGod (which comes in handy on those bad days.) But if I list every app we have, including those we loaded, tried, and removed, this would be too long of a post.

Anybody seen our camera?

Apologies for the lack of updates and pictures.

Our camera has been misplaced. More accuratly, some little boy(s) put it in a very safe hiding place.

So while our search continues, here is a little run-down as to what has been going on:

Brenden and Camden are both getting tall. Both boys are extremely smart and opportunistic. Brenden never misses a chance to help out and Camden never misses a chance to get his bigger brother in trouble.

Brenden is doing very well in school. He comes home and does "homework": a work book that teaches him how to write his alphabet letters and numbers. He is even working on making 3 letter words. It's amazing the stuff he says and knows about.

Camden is starting to form words. The early favorite word is "mine". If you are not really paying attention, it will sound a lot like "milk" and "mom" but all three are distinguishable if you listen closley. He also likes "gungle" (uncle), as well as "Bella". Each time we pull into the garage and get out of the car, he will immediately start calling for "Bella".

And speaking of "gungle", Matt survived watching the boys while we took a quick 3 day trip to fabulous Las Vegas. We jumped on a great package deal that included casino credit. We caught two shows while living it up, as we went to Blue Man Group and Phantom of the Opera. Both shows were great: Blue Man Group was very colorful and entertaining, including mass audience participation. Phantom was fun as well. We bought the "cheap seats" and were upgraded for free because it didn't sell out. We were placed dead center, 13 rows back; right underneath the chandelier! Finish it off with lunch at Margaritaville before going back to the airport, and it was a very nice trip!

Also, we have been both getting our use out of our iPod Touches. I gave Marta one for Valentines day, which renewed my interest in all the applications available through the iTunes store. Some nights, Marta can easily spend a couple of hours just looking through all the apps. If you do not have an iPod Touch (or iPhone) we very highly recommend one! There are apps for everything and anything you can think of.

Maybe one our future postings will be a list of the applications we have, as well as our ratings for each.

Anyways, once we uncover the camera, we will get some pictures up from GG Nora's birthday, as well as other pictures that we took.

XMas of 2008

The pictures from this past Christmas are up, as well as pictures from one of the first snows of the season. (Actually, they've been up for about 2 weeks now. I've just been too lazy to write anything. Sorry.)



The boys had another great holiday; both getting more toys than they can possibly play with.

Camden absolutely loves the snow! It's a shame that we haven't had any significant accumulation since the beginning of December.

More pictures of the boys playing in the snow can be found here.

More pictures of Christmas can be found here.