Hawaii- Maui!, Whales, & Hike

I was lucky enough to get to go to Hawaii with my mom and sister for 8 days. Yep, that's right- I flew across the ocean to paradise and left my kids and my good hubby home. My mom and sister treated me to it and I am so grateful for the memories and a break away from non-stop life as a mom.  It was amazing. Hawaii is truly beautiful, especially for us Idahoans in the middle of winter. All of the green everywhere and the sandy beaches were a welcomed site. It was wonderful to get to wear shorts and dresses. Sigh. I miss it. And it went way too fast.

This is one of three posts. We arrived in the afternoon, picked up the jeep, and headed to our condo on the beach. We spent the first day exploring nearby and going to Lahaina, a warf-like town with hundreds of shops lined up with an ocean view where I bought peace offerings for my kids and hubby for ditching them to head to sunshine-filled paradise. 

Our first view of the ocean

This is the reason the Hawaii license plate has a rainbow on it. We saw rainbows every day. This one is above our condo.

The next day, we went on a whale-watching catamaran boat. There are so many whales off the western coast of Maui, where we stayed. There is a bigger concentration of whales here right now than anywhere else in the world. You can just look out at the horizon and see spouts, tails, and if you're super lucky a breach (an arch out of the water onto its back). So, we of course saw lots of whales. We saw mostly moms with their new baby whales, which was sweet. But unfortunately, we only saw dorsal fins and tails which was exciting in the beginning. But no up-close breaches (which is the home run of whale watching) or heads or tail slaps. But, it was amazing nonetheless to see these gentle giants of the ocean up close. And I loved the boat ride, especially when one of our hotty boat crew members sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with his ukulele.
*We did end up seeing some close breaches and tail slaps from shore later in the week that were awesome to watch.

Our cute boat shoes

THE WHALES

Tails= Good Bye- That's when the whales deep dive and can disappear underwater for up to 45 minutes.

The third day, we went on a very adventurous drive in our sweet jeep (with yours truly as the awesome driver) and went on a hike. The drive didn't look very far on the map. Little did we know that we would be driving on a rough, one-lane roads along Maui's coastal cliffs. The scenery was truly incredible. It looked just like Jurassic Park. Our destination was the Waihee Ridge Trail that went through West Maui Forest Reserve with very lush scenery and great valley views. On our hike up, we hiked through the clouds. I thought it was cool to hike in the fog, kind of eerie, but we didn't have those cool valley views. But as we got to the top, we watched the clouds blow right off and we ended up having great views and sunshine. It was so nice to be moving outside in the warm sunshine in the middle of February. The adventure and hike were worth the crazy drive.

The road started as this...

and went to this.

How cool is this plant? Travis calls it the "umbilical cord flower". Ha, ha.

Who knew spider webs could be so pretty?

The view from the top (You can see the clouds clearing out)

The exact same view on the way up with the clouds and the way down without.

I love this picture with the clouds hovering above.

Family Ski Weekend

We got away for a fun weekend in Montana with our good friends, the Dalleys. We did this 4 years ago and have been wanting to do it again. We dropped Camden off for the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. (Thanks Becky and Richard!!!) Then we drove for 4 hours to Fairmont Hot Springs where we stayed, which is so much fun. It is a hot springs that has an inside and outside swimming pool. Our kids couldn't get enough swimming. 

We spent Saturday skiing at Discovery Ski Mountain just outside of Anaconda, Wyoming. Not many people we know have heard about this awesome family ski resort. It's a well kept secret. It is the best resort for families that we have been to. Hadley and Royal were in Kinderski all day (ski school for tiny kids) for only $50 including lift tickets, ski rentals, lunch, snacks, and all-day instruction. You can't beat that! Makenna and Prestyn were in ski lessons for older kids. So, while the kids are all in lessons, the adults get to go ski! The snow was awesome and most of the time, we had the run to ourselves. And I got to try out my brand new skis- oh yeah! We had such a fun day skiing and I am always itching to go back as soon as we are done. Then, we headed back to the condo for dinner and swimming at the hot springs. It was really snowing big flakes when we were swimming. The kids loved "snow swimming". What could be better on a winter day than skiing followed by a hot springs? 

Then, the next day Angelee and Jeff watched our kids so that Travis and I could have a ski date. The bonus was that it had snowed a few inches that night. The snow was probably the best that I have ever skied on. It was so powdery. I even hit a few black diamonds that challenged me, but were really enjoyable. This mountain has a good mix of intermediate and black diamonds, and easier runs on the other lift. It was an awesome two days of skiing and my legs were burning. :) Can't wait for next year!

My new sweet skis!

(next to my stylish, florescent Jr. High Colt poles. Ha, ha.)

 Kinder Ski Lunch Time

 Go Hadley!

 Hadley and Royal after a good first day of skiing

 Our turn with the little skiers... in lots of snow

Travis forgot his sunglasses, so he had to improvise. Ha ha.

Playful, Busy Guy

Camden is all boy. He is now 17 months old. He is so playful. He loves to play with all of his cars and trucks. It's funny how he makes the sounds when he pushes them, but we never taught that to him. Some things really are innate. It's fun to watch him play. He is also VERY busy. He seems to get busier by the day. 

He is now into climbing- onto tables, counters, sinks, toilets, beds.... you name it. While I was on the phone the other day, I found him in the bathroom sink and had pulled the plug out and was trying to shove crackers down the drain. Then I turned around again 2 minutes later and he was on top of the kitchen table. Then 1 minute later, he had pushed the chair to the garbage can and used that as his stepping stool to get on the kitchen counter. Sigh. It's begun. Good thing he is so darn cute and irresistible. 

He keeps us on our toes all day long, but keeps me laughing too. Love, love, love this super-duper busy boy. 

Here are some playing pictures from the last few months:

This is how it usually goes. Play with the toy, then push it down the stairs.

Camden gets a hold of anything the girls are playing with, like markers in this case. 

He loves his sisters' dress up.

He loves this little car set with a garage and race track.

Camden loves to color. He even colors on the paper... at first. Then he moves on to walls, tables, and books.

He loves bathtime. I love his little boats.

 Playing peek-a-boo behind the curtains.

Example of climbing on top of anything. (And yes, he had a haircut the next day. Yikes.)

Camden finally got his front teeth on Christmas Eve. They are much bigger now and now has teeth coming in on both sides of them.