There's our home

There's our home
Originally uploaded by Renboo

So - we woke up at 4 am (8 am Hawaii time). Cyp found a great place. We are at located at Kangaroo Point - apparently roos used to live here in the early 1800s. We have a deck that is as large as our old bedroom and it looks right at the river. If you look at the short building in this picture, we are on the right hand side of the building - first floor (not ground). There are palm trees swaying outside.

If you don't look too closely, you might think we are living by the Burrard St. Bridge in Vancouver. Looks kinda similar.

We had a few hours before Cyp had to go to work, so he gave me a transit card and explained the lay of the land before he headed out. They have ferries here (kinda like the aquabus in Vancouver) but they are part of Translink (I wonder who came up with the name first). They use something called a go card. You touch it to a machine when you get on the bus/ferry and must remember to touch it when you get off, otherwise it thinks you are cruising on transit all day. It is good for buses, ferries or citycats (catamarans not unlike the seabus)

So - I slowly got ready - sunscreened the kids, packed the diaper bag and got ready to go out. Just as I was leaving I looked at the keys I had been left - there only seemed to be one. Hmmm. How to get into the secured building - is it a smart key? I propped the building door open with stroller to check - nope - key didn't work on that door.

I went back inside and loaded up with more supplies as it looked like we would be out till Cyp got back to work. We headed out.

We walked about 100 metres and found a playground - hooray. Ellis played on it for about two seconds. There were 4 other kids there (5 and under) seeming to belong to one woman. Yup - they all called her mom. She was younger and more put together than me. Hmmm. I asked her if there were any shops near by and she said she didn't know as she didn't live in the area - wonder where she came from? I didn't see any people movers (minivans) parked nearby.

So we struck off again and hit the ferry terminal (another 100 metres) and ran up and down the ramp a few times. Asked the ferry that pulled up if it was going to Sydney St? "nope, said the driver - Eagle St." It clearly said that on the ferry, but he was quite pleasant.
"you'll know the Sydney St. ferry by it's size - it's bigger, two levels and it goes the other way"

"Thanks" I said. I watched him pull away and cross to downtown. About 5 minutes later a big ferry was heading towards us. We went down the ramp to catch it.

It was the same ferry driver. It seemed like he had gone back to get the bigger ferry. Also seemed like we were the only ones traveling that day.

We got off the ferry and I asked a nearby woman if the new farm park was nearby - She said
"go straight up this street to Brunswick and turn left and you'll find the shops"

I hadn't asked about shops but that was good info to know.

We hiked up Sydney St - came to some road painting. It was all blocked off - even the sidewalk. I paused for minute - looked left and right and decided to go right.

The flagwoman chased me down the street - "you can go this way - I just have it marked off so people don't go on the paint"

People are friendly and helpful here it seems.

We got to Brunswick St. There was a fish and chip shop on the corner. Ah, it was pretty much lunchtime and we had walked pretty far.

So I got the fish and chips - it was really good and only $6. You did have to pay $1 for ketchup mind you. I decided to forgo it.

It was really yummy. Decided I wanted to move to New Farm.

The park was across the street - Cyp had told me it was Brisbane's Stanley Park. Hmm. I thought as I looked at what was basically an empty field (apparently, I missed the nice part).

We sat in the park for minute, chased some birds (their crows seem to be black and white) and then headed for the library. Library didn't open till noon so we went back to the park. Ellis found another water pipe (he's obsessed with water fountains - the drinking kind).

He played with that for a while till I got annoyed and then we headed back to the library and waited there. It was a good library - they had Mr. Men books.

Then we found the shops - Coles. Felt like I walked into Safeway. Things didn't seem too expensive, but it was hard to judge as everything was in prices per kg. I know we're metric in Canada, but our veggies still seem to be priced in pounds.

Ellis ran around the aisles like he usually does and I got a few looks. There didn't seem to be any other kids in the store.

$90 later (what did I buy? Dinner for that night?) we were out of there.

We walked sloooooowly back to the ferry. Ellis dawdled and picked up sticks, rocks, bugs etc. At one point he was about 20 feet back as a woman walked by me. She looked at me funny and then Ellis said "ouch"

"oh - you must watch out for the ants here - did an ant bite you"

"yes", squeaked Ellis

She then told me that the ants here have quite a stinging bite. Ellis didn't seem to be that upset, so I think he was ok. He stuck closer to me after that and as we continued walking I was more paranoid. There was a rattling in the bushes a little further along - that got me going!

We caught the ferry home and decided to check out our new pool. Cyp had downplayed it - but is great (a tad chilly). You should have seen the look on Rowan's face when he saw it - he was ecstatic.

After that I made dinner - overcooked fried chicken thighs (It took me 10 minutes to figure out SMEG (the oven) only to discover there were no roasting pans. I marinated chicken in some dip I had picked up (as that is all I had).

When Cyp got home I whined "we have no wine" so he ran to the pub and picked up the cheapest bottle - $8. It was good.

Immediately after dinner, it was story time (7 pm). Ellis fell alseep during stories (and so did Rowan and I). We didn't wake up until 4 am the next day.

Travel Day

Tree
Originally uploaded by Renboo

I don't have any shots of our travel day, so here is a lonely looking tree.

The day was finally here that I had been dreading. Thank goodness we were rushed so I didn't have to think about things.

Mom and dad took Bob to clean him up and de-sand him (and to pump up flat front tire) and told us they'd meet us at the airport. Tracey followed in her car. Johnny and Em stayed behind. Emilie was so funny - "Bye Ellis"

Ellis - "Bye Emilie"

They really have no concept. In fact, I don't think I really do either.

We got to the airport and Cyp unloaded all our bags while I stood guard (I don't think Maui is a crime capital, but you never know). Fortunately mom, dad and Tracey were there to help me lug stuff into the aiport while Cyp returned the car.

Our Hawaiianair agent didn't bat an eye as we pulled up with all our bags. I thought he was really good (until we were about to get on the plane and Cyp said "what about Rowan's car seat - we were supposed to keep it with us for the long flight"

Ah yes. We had purchased a seat for Rowan, but he couldn't sit in it without his seat. Why hadn't that darn agent reminded me? He also made me check Bob, saying I couldn't gate check it - I didn't quite understand but reluctantly agreed. You can say I was a bit annoyed when we go to the gate and there were other strollers there (and they were just as big as Bob).

After checking our multitude of stuff we headed off to security. Time to say goodbye. This was no fun to say the least. I tried not to break down completely as this would not help Ellis on this long travel day.

Bye grandma, grandpa and Tracey. Tracey was good and sent Ellis off with a some "I'm going to get you hugs" I hope he remembers how much fun his aunty Tracey is.

Our flight to Oahu was uneventful other than we tried to get our carseat off it only to find out it had gone on an earlier plane. Darn.

When we got off and walked into the Honolulu airport Ellis said

"where are the kangaroos?"

We slogged our way over to the International departure gate where Cyp left us to go try to find a Hawaiianair agent to fix our seats (we had a group of 3 and 1 lone seat). I told him to threaten to put Ellis in the 1 lone seat. That is why Cyp went - I tend to get confrontational. While he was gone, some Hawaiianair agents came and told me I would have to move as an International flight was coming in and they had to secure the area. They made everyone move outside. One Aussie asked me who I thought was on the plane? No one special - it's just the crazy way Americans run their airports now.

They finally let us back in and then told us we couldn't go back out (great - I had planned to pick up a few necessary items for the plane). Ellis started to rebel and I started to think "oh no - we haven't even gotten on the plane yet" which is when they started to load the plane.

Cyp had managed to get us different seats and we discovered we were in the bulkhead row immediately behind business class. They were great - I had 3 seats to myself in the middle and Cyp and Ellis sat across the aisle in a an aisle and window seat. Unfortunately, no carseat for Rowan so he had to sit on my lap but I eventually figured out that I could put him on the floor in front of me with his bag of toys. I would alternate him between my lap and the floor as he got bored and that seemed to work well.

We rented a DVD player for Ellis and playing with that kept him pretty much entertained for the 10 hour flight. I must say - the kids were amazing - it was painful, but they did not really cry or act up at all. One woman we later saw in the Sydney airport who had been sitting beside us told us that we had amazing children.

Towards the end of the flight, I strapped Rowan into his seat and put the tray down - pounding on that provided about another hour's worth of entertainment. I was wracking my brains for things to keep them busy. Cyp may have had the more challenging task with Ellis. Both kids didn't sleep much.

We finally made it to Sydney where we sat in our seats until they had sprayed bug be gone on all the carryon luggage in the overhead bins. It sort of created this filmy haze as it drifted down on our heads. We were told not to worry - it's been approved for use on humans by the World Health Org. Great. I wonder about the carryon that was under the seat in front of travelers - it didn't get bug be gone.

We were pretty much the first off the plane and the first through customs (yay). While we were waiting for our luggage on the carousel, a customs agent came up to me (she was a close talker) and said "where you coming from?"

"Hawaii" I said

"got any shells, jewelry made with those nut things, food..."

"Cheerios and baby crackers"

"What's a Cheerio?"

Oh no! Sue was right - they don't have Cheerios!

She was happy with my answers and told me to go through the express checkout - YAY!

After being grilled by her, a man and a dog came up to me. The man said - UP! and the dog immediately pounced on me and gave me a big sniff - I guess I passed as he and the dog then moved on. Cyp missed it, but he thought it was odd that they would get the dog to jump on me. Maybe I didn't understand his Australian accent and he was actually telling the dog to get down - but then, I figure if that was the case, surely the dog had jumped on me for a reason and wouldn't they search me?

Ellis had been jumping up and down himself saying that he wanted to pull luggage off the carousel "oh no, I said - it's too heavy"

Next thing we knew, Panther was going for a ride on the carousel. Cyp had pulled everything off at this point so we had to wait for Panther to make the roundtrip.

He did - Cyp pulled him off, only to have a very distraught Ellis who had wanted to pull him off. I guess that was why he put him on - so he'd have something to pull off. Fortunately, it didn't turn into a major breakdown and we managed to get out of there.

So - 6 bags, 2 cars seat, 5 carryon and Bob. Cyp loaded two carts, I loaded one and off we went trekking through the Sydney Airport. I had said we would get a Porter in Sydney (best $20 Gaby ever spent) but somehow we managed.

And let me tell you - it is a trek. People commented on our piles of stuff - so I had to tell them we were emigrating. This led to many questions - one was "how much does it cost to ship your stuff?"

We made it to the Qantas domestic counter (basically down the hall behind the bathroom - it was very odd how tucked out of the way it was), dropped off our stuff and went through security again. I can already tell people are more friendly here. The security woman made sure to get a tray for Panther and she guessed right away what he was. Ellis was very pleased. We then hopped on a bus and drove through the airport grounds. At first I was like "this guy is a crazy driver!" but then I remembered that they drive on the other side of the road. He did seem to be going pretty fast though - maybe he was worried a plane was going to land on us.

Cyp being Cyp said - "Do you want to go to the Qantas club? Free wireless" and me being me snapped "we only have 30 minutes to our flight" but as we walked by it, Cyp said "free juice" and I said ok.

We walked in and Cyp said - "you want to email" and I snapped "no" but then I did.

three apples, a pear and some juice later we headed back out. Of course we were 10 minutes early for our next flight.

Our last flight passed in a haze. We got good snacks - olives, feta and crackers and ginger beer. Ellis started watching the ABC's and I looked over at him to ask what drink he wanted which was about the same time the woman behind me said "watch his head" He had crashed and was about to get run over by the drink cart. I propped him the other way and he slept from that point on. Our flight passed quickly and then I had to try to get him off the plane. Rowan had crashed too and was now asleep in the baby backpack. I tried to pick Ellis up with all the carryon I was also carrying. No go - I tried to wake him up - he was a limp noodle on the floor. Finally, as we were the only ones left on the plane, a flight attendant asked me if she could help carry him (Cyp was across the aisle dealing with the other carryon). "YES PLEASE"

She carried Ellis off the plane and at that point we could rearrange and Cyp could take him. We had befriended another family who were on their way back from South Carolina. They had emigrated there for 5 years with their kids and were now on their return home - relocating back to Sydney, but visiting their family in Brisbane for a week. The husband kept offering to help, but you know me.....

I told Cyp to get the stroller first and we got 1 cart ($4 each!) and then Cyp went and got our luggage. Amazingly, we managed to get all our luggage to the maxi cab. I pushed the stroller and the cart and Cyp wheeled the 4 bags that had wheels. When we got to the cab, the driver was like "you have a lot of stuff"

We explained we were moving to Brisbane. "Oh, yes? Where are you from?" "Vancouver"

"Why are you moving to Bribane? Vancouver is much nicer."

Welcome to Brisbane.

We got to our place and unloaded. Colleen the landlady was super nice and helped us in.

We crashed and woke up at 4 am (8 am Hawaii time). A long day, but things went pretty well.

Last dinner - champagne

Last dinner - champagne
Originally uploaded by Renboo

I was tired of lugging old camera to the beach everyday so on the last day I said - @#$% it. Of course, that was the day that Ellis finally got wet at the beach. He and Em were playing on one of those little sand cliffs that the waves cut into the beach when all of a sudden he fell off and a wave got him. Cyp had been on guard and caught him as he headed back out with the wave. I was sitting back up a ways in the shade and saw Ellis get up - jump back up on the cliff. I was waiting for the wail and the run up to me, but he just continued on as if nothing had happened! Is it all an act?

We spent our final afternoon at the pool - Ellis tossed Australian coins for Em to dive for. I headed to the ABC and spent Cyp's collection of US coins that had been accumulating since my last trip to the States ($7) and then headed back for our barbecued sea bass and salmon dinner. We also got champagne. My family isn't much for speeches. The champagne got poured and I think the speech went something like this....

"Bye"

Grandma took the kids outside after dinner so Cyp and I could pack up. We lugged everything into the downstairs room so Ellis could be put to bed - when we were just about done I heard wailing from outside. Went downstairs and saw Grandma lugging Rowan with an Ellis leech on her leg "I don't want to go insiiiiiiiiiiide!"

yup bedtime.

Packing was much easier this time - just threw everything into a bag - made sure we had the requisite toys in the carryon bags.

There goes the sun

There goes the sun
Originally uploaded by Renboo

On Sunday night mom and dad volunteered to babysit (yay) and the four of us (Tracey, Johnny, me and Cyp) headed for dinner to Mala at the Marriot in Wailea. We wanted to watch the sunset go down. The restaurant had mixed reviews but it had a view!
Dinner actually turned out to be pretty darn good and the service was great. Dinner was also the point I started to feel panicky about the fact that we weren't retuning to Vancouver. It still didn't seem real yet, but as we were sitting there having a good time, I realized that I would not be seeing Tracey and Johnny for a while. Uh, oh - getting weepy again.

Johnny and Hopscotch

Johnny and Hopscotch
Originally uploaded by Renboo

On Sunday we headed to the beach in front of the Makena Surf. Ellis started to be a bit more adventurous with his daddy here. It helped that Cyp paid a lot of attention to him. Cyp built a big river system up to a sand castle - actually I think I might have had more fun than Ellis maintaining the river. He and Emilie pretended they were godzilla and kept stomping on the castle.

Swam with some turtles and some ignorant people who kept touching and bugging the turtles.

Johnny had a brainwave and drew a hopscotch in the sand (has in Inuit look to it don't you think?) Ellis loves hopscotch (the numbers). Too bad he didn't think of it till it was almost time to go.

Turtle Poo

Turtle Poo
Originally uploaded by Renboo

On Saturday we drove to Napili beach again (cause we love it and Cyp wanted to go). Unfortunately, the waves were not so great on Saturday. Plus, there was poo in the water. I thought I cruise ship had gone by and flushed, but it turns out it was just some turtles. I had been complaining that there was poo in the water (no one really believed me until Tracey cut a piece in half). I guess someone else was concerned too as next thing we knew the MFD (Maui Fire Department) was out investigating. Turns out it was turtle poo. We got the lowdown from dad who is never afraid to go and ask questions. This led to much discussion about the quality of turtle poo verses human poo. We all decided that human poo would not stay so solid in the ocean water. Wonder what makes turtle poo so resistant to ocean waves. Hmm.

Cyp Made It

Cyp made it 4
Originally uploaded by Renboo

Cyp flew in on Friday. I had sent Ellis up to Haleakala with Tracey, Johnny and Emilie so was living the life of having only one kid. I felt so freeeee!!! Anyway, we went shoe shopping in the morning (this time spending some of Grandma's money - yay) and decided to go snorkeling at the beach across the street after lunch. We left a note on the door for Cyp.

We were bobbing in the water and this weird man that I had noticed earlier decided to swim really close to us - I was telling dad - watch out - don't step backward, when up popped Cyp! He'd left his stuff in the car and come in swimming.

We decided to hit the snorkel spot that we had tried the day before (but couldn't go in as we had kids) and it was great. Saw some really big fish. After we got out, mom and dad went in for a turn. We saw them talking to another couple who were on their way out. Cyp and I were dragging Rowan around in his floaty ring at this point as the other couple were getting out. They said - "we just saw a 5 foot whitetip shark - right there!" (right where mom was). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitetip_reef_shark

We had no idea if this was a scary shark, but it certainly sounded so. It kinda put a damper on our snorkeling and when we told Tracey about it later (she had been snorkeling in the area in the morning - the time when sharky likes to eat ) she was freaked out to say the least. Turns out the whitetip is not really a danger to humans.

Maui Ribs for dinner - saved the for Cyp!

Haleakala Crater from Last Year

6304 to 6308 stitchpsd
Originally uploaded by doreen and neil ....mostly home now

This is Dad's photo from last year. Tracey and Johnny decided that they had to go so they could strike it off their list. I sent Ellis with them. After driving up to the crater (2 hours), stomping around, getting altitude sickness, they drove back down. When they got home, Ellis asked - when are we going to the volcano?

Day 10 Pics

Day 10 - What did we do Again?

Wow - can't remember what we did Thursday - this after I forgot that we had lamb chops two different nights! Yikes! I'm losing my memory.

Oh right - it's coming back to me. We decided to head out to a snorkel spot at the south end of the Island. So we drove a fair distance, looked at the spot - basically you jump into the water off the road, so decided that it was not good for the kids. So we turned around and drove back to Dog Beach, where Ellis started to whine as soon as we got there "i wanna go home, i wanna go home.....Poor guy. He must get hot sitting there refusing to swim. He does start to resemble a tomato.

Mom took Rowan in - he does love it. She only tried to drown him once :) She got caught by a wave coming back in and it went right over both of their heads. Actually, Rowan seemed to like it. He has no fear of the water. Mom was like "I did not let go of him" So weird - I'm going to spend my life negotiating between the boys I'm sure. They do not like the same things!

We had been snorkeling before that - kept getting little stings on our arms. I'm convinced it was little round orange jellyfish, but mom saw something that looked like a black triangle with a long tail, so we disagreed. Saw one turtle - he looked happy - I decided I don't really like to see turtles swimming so close to me. I get nervous. I wonder who Ellis takes after.

In the afternoon, mom and dad went snorkeling at the spot and Tracey and Johnny went to Macy's leaving me with the rotters. Took them swimming - had enough and came in for early happy hour.

We went to Fred's Mex tavern for dinner - great fish tacos! The kids got glowsticks (from Aunty Tracey who tends to buy them at least one present a day) and ran the whole way home.

Day 9 - No Water Day

So, they were turning off our water in the condo for the day. I had filled all my tubs with water (and sinks).

I accidently filled my upstairs tub with hot water. Oops. I called mom to see if they were ready to go and she said Tracey had just jumped in the shower, so I decided to use my bath. I was in for a bit when I heard dad at the screen door (I lock it). I ran down with my towel on only to see if was the man that was coming in to turn off the water. Yikes! He laughed. I was only slightly mortified.

The water was going to be off all day so we decided to go on a drive to Lahaina and Napili Beach again.

Lahaina is a cute town - I decided to spend some of Cyp's money as I've started thinking about the plane ride to Australia. I bought a cute dress and some pants. Not on sale. Tracey and dad offered to buy things to spend a bit more of Cyp's money.

We had lunch at the Cool Cat Cafe (cute waiter!) and then headed back to Napili Beach where Rowan got more wave action and Ellis roasted like a tomato.

Dinner was fantastic - lamb chops barbecued to perfection and the taro cakes were yummy.

Day 9 Pics -No Water Day

Lunch in Lahaina - Fish Tacos and Mai Tais at the Cool Cat Cafe

Em in the trees

Kids in the tree

Hula Boy for Suzy

Day 8 - Napili Beach and Lunch in Lahaina

We got off to a slow start today. Tracey swung by in the morning and marinated our lamb chops for the next day and also cooked up some taro root - she mashed it up with some carrot in preparation for taro cakes (also for the next nights dinner).

I got in an argument with Cyp and told him to find a place as he was coming in two days. He wanted to discuss them more. Sigh.

We headed out for Napili Beach (north of Lahaina). Everyone had fun there last year in the waves (not me - as I was pregnant). On the way we stopped at the gas station and dad wrecked his shoulder putting on the gas cap. There must have been an underlying muscle pull there from body surfing. Mom took over driving.

Napili beach was fantastic - the waves shoot you up the hill and are not scary. I could swim there all day. Unfortunately, I didn't wear my swim shirt and got a bit of a sunburn.

Rowan enjoyed the water with his nervous nelly mother (if you walk along the beach a bit there is a calm bay where the babies swim). Ellis played "washing machine" a bit with mom. We built a few more castles. They were looked at enviously by a little girl whose father said "well, if you didn't smash yours all the time, we could have a town like that" Ellis promptly stomped his town to smithereens after she had gone past. Then I pawned my children off on my parents and played in the waves!

We drove to Lahaina for lunch (Penne Pesto cafe or something like that). Ellis picked his own table and commanded that it was the boy's table. He didn't get his way though as just Rowan and I sat with him. He had ordered pizza and I scooped a piece when it came which started a tantrum (as he knew I was about to feed it to Rowan). I tried to rationalize with him (didn't work). He managed to stuff the entire pizza into his mouth out of spite. Tracey told me to approach it differently next time - ask him to give me a piece that I could feed to Rowan.

We had grilled mahimahi for dinner (with grilled pineapple again) yummm!!! The kids played on the grassy slopes with glow sticks while dad barbecued. It was fun.

Day 8 Pics

Rowan checking out his chair

Me at the beach

Lunch in Lahaina

Napili Beach

Day 7 - Hey We Venture Out!

Ok - we started with the beach. We went to Makena beach which had good snorkeling last year, but it was quite stirred up today so we didn't see much.

Dad came back with a snickers bar from the snack truck? We decided he'd done the exact same thing last year. Funny. Ellis of course wanted to go home as soon as we got there, but I actually managed to convince that building sand castles is fun - we built a little town (too bad my camera battery died) and he didn't want to leave it - maybe going to the beach tomorrow will be easier. I hope so. It was a bit painful this morning as Ellis did not sleep last night. Therefore I didn't either.

After the beach we came home for lunch break and then headed out to Paia - a cute little surfing town. As we were heading dad noted that there were red flags up on the beach. Huh - we wondered what that was all about. I mentioned that they put red flags up at Waimea Bay on Oahu when there were sharks in the water. We decided it must be a strong wave day (although it wasn't as bad as yesterday).

We shopped in Paia (mom bought shoes from a man that couldn't stop laughing at Rowan's legs - hey that should have been me) and then we went to Makaewao and hit the bakery again. Peach pear turnover - the pastry was soooo soft, squishy and yummy. While there we found out that a 54 year old man was bitten by a tiger shark at Kamaole I (we are across the street from Kamoale III - the beaches are very close). I guess they use the red flag system here too. Not sure if we will be hitting the beach tomorrow!!

Then we made our way to Haiku - and had dinner at the Hana Hon Cafe. Macadamia encrusted fish (can't remember what kind of fish - it was delicious though) and headed home. Ellis fell asleep on the way - hooray! I had a successful transfer and he is still asleep!

Day 7 Pics

Day 6 - Already Forgot What We Did

Oh yah - we went to the beach.

It was pretty good and then we went to the Dog store and got a costume for Molly.

That pretty much sums up our day. We are really getting into relaxed mode now.

Day 6 -

Day 6 - Pics

Maui - Day 5

Today was market day - or swap meet day.

Ellis wanted to go to the pool but we managed to convince him the market would be good (ok - I bribed him - I told him that is where we got his ukelele last year and I would get him a new and better one this year). It still amazes me that he does not seem to remember Maui or our trip last year at all.

One of the big things from last year was the sugar factory. Every time we drove by it on the highway he would say "the big smoke" "they make sugar there" I keep asking him if he remembers it this year and he looks at me kinda blankly.

They moved the market - it seems more clean now - kinda less interesting in a way. It was super hot and the kids were starting to melt so I got them blue shave ice (or something that was "better than shave ice" It appeared to be scoop ice and I almost melted waiting for the woman to scoop it. She was working as hard as she could, but there was only one of her and lots of us. It kept the kids happy though. They kept asking for tastes of mine - I think to prolong the experience.

After market we decided to go the pool. Now of course Ellis did not want to go - aargh! Finally convinced him and again he threw things into the pool for Em to retrieve. He started to throw everything in and made to grab Johnny's sunglasses but got a stern growl and backed away. He next decided to play shark and tried to bite someone we didn't know as she entered the pool. Luckily she was a good sport. With all of us in the pool, there wasn't much room for anyone else!

We started talking to the other people in the pool - found out they were from the Vancouver area too. Dad mentioned that we were moving to Australia after this and the man in the group said "oh, my friend's daughter and husband just emigrated to Melbourne" Turns out his friend's daughter is Sue! Small world.

Today was mom and dad's turn to go shopping so Tracey and I stayed with the kids - I sat on the lanai with Tracey and Rowan just sat inside happily entertaining himself - turns out he was ridding himself of about 4 days of poo. I had been starting to worry - he should be clear now for a few more days.

I had been feeling a bit bad that we hadn't been to the beach across the street yet, so we all trekked down there. A group of boisterous (perhaps slightly drunken) people had set up a slip and slide and were challenging passers by to have a go. Well grandpa went for it - I think it was about 4o feet? They set it up on the grassy slope down to the beach. I was worried gramps would break a hip, but he was ok - didn't go as far as the drunken lot. Tracey went next - she made it pretty far so I decided I had to try. Apparently I stopped right before the start of the slide and gingerly lay down. I felt like I was going fast! nope. Too bad I forgot my camera.

It was way too rough to snorkel - Tracey went in and disappeared (she apparently got kinda scared about coming back in as the waves were breaking quite far out) and dad got a little shaken by a big wave. Mom came in to have a go and managed to ride a few waves - pretty good! I think she might have gotten a bit clobbered by one. I had fun too, but was still fairly cautious and kept calling out - ooh, here comes a big one and then running to shore.

We lost our cook tonight - she went out for dinner! So we had to fend for ourselves. Before I knew it, it was 7 and time for Ellis to go to bed.

It will probably be beach again tomorrow.

Day 5 pics

Maui Day 4

So,

I must be getting more relaxed - not feeling the need to write anymore. Heh. I think Ellis must be feeling a bit more relaxed too - we haven't been butting heads quite as much.

Yesterday we were going to go to Secret Cove - south of Wailea - we were supposed to look for telephone pole E2-3. Tracey, Johnny, Mom and Em went on ahead as Ellis slept in till about 8. He woke up and I thought we were headed for a breakdown - he asked for noodles (I had made both pancakes and an egg sandwich hoping to have all bases covered). There were some leftover noodles from lunch the day before so I tried to pawn those off on him. That didn't fly. He dumped the noodles on the floor. So I decided that as he was going to be difficult anyway, I might as well get to go the beach so I phoned dad. He came down to get us and as I was preparing myself to get Ellis to get into the car, he gladly climbed right in. He also gladly accepted pancakes and munched on them while we tried to track down Tracey et al. Go figure.

We found Secret Cove, but no Tracey. The beach was beautiful, but small - rocks enclosed the beach and the waves crashed in through a narrow opening. We figured they decided it wasn't kid friendly. So off we went to find them. Luckily we guessed the right way - they had gone back to big beach (featured in pics below). Not dad's favourite place, but I liked it.

Em played washing machine with Grandma (at one point a wave knocked over grandma - and she said "don't worry - I've go a good grip on Em - I'm taking her with me" Uh, good I guess.

I've turned into a wave chicken - I used to love playing in the water, but maybe it's been too many years of Cyp saying "play in the sea yes, but never play with the sea." That plus the time in Mexico where I scared myself silly and the fact that I was pregnant last year (and maybe I associate Maui with being cautious) or it could just be too much coffee (no Cyp to steal the last cup). Whatever it is - I get jittery just looking at waves. So sad - as there are great waves to play in. No snorkeling yesterday - too rough.

The waves carved out a little cliff in the sand and grandpa showed El and Em how to slide down it - Ellis decided he could ski down it. It was funny.

That afternoon grandpa and grandma minded the children and I headed out shopping with Tracey and Johnny. Having just cleared our house of stuff, I ended up not wanting to buy anything. Johnny commented that the only thing I picked out at the store was alcohol. I just find it amazing that you can walk into Safeway and buy wine and cider.

We came back to spell off grandma and grandpa - took the kids swimming with their new waterwings. Ellis freaked out in the pool - didn't want to float and the pool turned into their favourite game - Ellis tossing in the waterwings for Em to retrieve.

Finally caught the sunset and then headed back to condo for pork and grilled pineapple. delish. Ellis has been cleaning his plate. Rowan too!

Day 4 Pics

I finally ran down and caught the sunset

Final swim of the day

Barbecuing again

These were more fun out of the pool

Don't you think I could be a model?

Big Beach