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I guess it makes sense that Blogger (or more accurately, Picasa) limits blogging/picture taking fanatics like me to a certain amount of space. What do you know? After just 2 and a half years of blogging, I've reached the end of it!

So I invite you all to follow us over to the new blog:

http://vmfamilyfootprints.blogspot.com/

It's going to look and feel very familiar, (hey, if you've got a good thing goin' why change it, right?) but it will be a brand new, space-filled blank slate for the next few years of VM Family Adventures. I'll post this new link here in the sidebar, so you can take your time to get it bookmarked. See you there!

Meanwhile, Back at Home

While Dave and I were living it up on our second honeymoon in Hawaii, things were far from boring back at home. I can't emphasize enough how grateful we were to have Mom and Dad generously fly out and thoughtfully care for the girls for the week. What peace of mind we had knowing they were in such loving and capable hands! We knew it would be work to take care of them, but it was our hope that the time with their granddaughters would allow Grandpa and Grandma to get to know them that much better. This is exactly what happened! I know this because Mom keeps calling to tell us stories about the cute little things Ella and Delia did. They forgot their camera, so we gave them our older one to use and here are a few of the pictures I found on it.
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We were all a little worried about Delia. Managing her energy and willpower takes delicate balance. She's a mama's girl and she's working on that potty training. However, she could not have done better! She was never sad we were gone and warmed right up to Grandma and Grandpa.

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The girls enjoyed a number of outings with Dave's parents. They went to the park and the cheese place. They went out to eat at Red Robin and the mall. And they got some more use out of the zoo membership. We know the girls enjoyed all these special trips to their favorite places because they have told us all about them. Dad was able to get out a bit too with some friends. One day he went golfing with men from our church and another day he went to Big Trees with an old family friend who drove up from SoCal for a few days.

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I think I'm right to assume that the best times were the ones just had at home. Ella said her favorite part of the week was playing outside with Grandma. Mom said her favorite part was simply hearing the girls singing praise songs together. The girls jumped right into their every-day activities, like dress up and baby dolls, while Grandpa and Grandma watched and learned and participated in every detail of their lives.

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Hawaii, Day 5: Pineapple Tour and Lahaina

We were technically scheduled to depart Hawaii on day five, but our flight was a night one, so we still had a whole day to enjoy. It was a little tricky because we had to be packed and checked out of our hotel by noon. We spent the morning taking a mile or maybe two (who really knows when you're strolling through sand with water lapping at your feet?) walk down the stretch of beach that connected our hotel to Black Rock. We hopped in for dip, watched paddle surfers and shared our favorite memories.

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We were so excited to find this Maui Gold Pineapple Tour for the afternoon of our final day. A pineapple bus picked us up and drove us out to the fields while a friendly tour guide named Carlos gave us lots of information and history about Hawaii and its pineapple exporting. We were surprised to learn that Hawaii is actually only responsible for about 7% of the world's pineapple growing. And though Maui Gold still owns half of Maui, they use only a small fraction of it to actually produce the fruit. It's much more profitable for them to make money off their land with tourism. Makes sense, I guess, but was surprising. Within a few years, the pineapple industry will be completely obsolete in Hawaii.

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We exited the bus into the fragrant fields to watch workers actually harvesting and hear giant-machete-wielding Carlos tell us more about the fruit. Pineapples are given a 1 to 5 rating based on ripeness with 1 being green and 5 being golden and most ripe. Most pineapples picked and shipped (the ones we eat from the store) are ones or twos. Carlos chopped up samples for us from each rating. By number 5 we were in pineapple heaven. Nothing has ever tasted so incredible! How will be ever go back to eating regular pineapple?!

We were told to wander around and select as many pineapples as we were able to carry home. Carlos said, "Don't pick the pineapple, let the pineapple pick you." Dave and I found 6 that jumped out at us, the perfect combo of gold and green. Sure enough, the ones we have eaten so far have been heavenly.
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Stuffed with pineapple, we headed over to Lahaina, the shopping, restaurant and gallery district. We spent the afternoon wandering around this town picking our souvenirs and eating a Hawaii classic, Shave Ice. Day 5 was perfect.
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Of course the overnight plane ride home felt long, but the time in Hawaii was just right. We were ready to say "Aloha" to our tropical paradise and "Hello!" to our girls. Ella and Delia had such a good time with Grandma and Grandpa. They didn't appear to miss us at all. We gave them their presents (these dresses and hair clips and some hula girl dolls) and told them all about Mommy and Daddy's vacation. Who knows? Maybe we'll make it back some day with the girls...but not for a long while. For now, I'll call this the trip of a lifetime.
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Hawaii, Day 4: Blowhole and Honolua Bay

Day four was the day Dave picked to relive. Like all the other days, it held quite the mix of remarkable sights. We started in the morning with our second big hike, "Acid War Zone to Blowhole." This trail name sounds strange, but it pretty well sums up the landscape we walked through. Along the northern coast there is about a mile of lava rock that has become so eroded from wind and saltwater, it looks like an alien land, like an acid war was fought there. Dave said it reminded him of the Badlands in South Dakota.

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We hiked through this for about an hour, astonished at the eerie shapes of weathered rocks on one side and the hungry ocean on the other.

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The destination for this hike was the Nakalele Blowhole. We had no idea what to expect from this blowhole. It was awesome! Every few seconds water from the violent sea got trapped in an underwater lava cave and was forced up through a perfectly round hole. The force of it sounded like thunder and shook the ground. Depending on the wave sizes and wind, the shoot could go as high as 70 feet! From some angles we got sprayed, from others we saw the rainbow that formed each time it errupted. All around the blowhole were tide pools just teeming with life, we saw crabs and lung fish and all sorts of cool things. Again, because we got there early and were a bit off the beaten path, we had the place to ourselves for the whole morning!

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Heading back, we found this too-perfect rock. It was eroded into an exact heart shape. This may be my favorite picture of the trip.

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Back at the hotel, we made lunch and changed into swimsuits. An afternoon of snorkeling and beaching awaited. Our first afternoon stop was at Honolua Bay, supposedly one of the best snorkel spots in all of Hawaii. Its giant reef and marine wildlife sanctuary house and protect a whole world of underwater tropical life. Dave and I paddled around the bay, holding hands and pointing out one Finding Nemo character after the next. We swam through schools of fish, saw huge blue ones that were "this big!" and even a large spotted blow fish.

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Next we drove up the road just a bit to relax at Maui's number one rated beach, the ritzy Kapalua. Here I did my tanning and reading, while Dave hopped right back into the water for more snorkeling. We had fun swimming and bobbing around in the waves too.

More than one person, as well as our all-knowing guidebook, told us we had to eat at Kimo's. What a neat restaurant! Our view was SO good, I could have jumped off our table right into the ocean. Our 6:30 reservation allowed us to see another sunset as we ate dinner. Day four was perfect.

Hawaii, Day 3: Pancakes, Sea Turtles and Hula Dancers

One thing I am so happy we did was some research. We knew our time in Hawaii would fly by so we wanted to waste none of it with things our guidebook did not label as "the best." We hiked the best trails, snorkeled the best beaches and ate at the best restaurants. One of these restaurants was a little hut on the beach called Gazebo. It was hailed as having the best view and best mac nut pancakes on the island. By staying on California time (going to bed shortly after sunset and waking shortly after sunrise) we were able to get there before it opened and didn't have to wait in the long line that had already formed when we were done. Check out my plate of banana macadamia nut pancakes and pineapple! Do I even need to go into extra detail about how delicious this breakfast was or how great the view was?

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After breakfast we pulled out the snorkel sets we had bought at Costo and drove to beach stop number one, Kaanapali Beach and Black Rock. This was how we did all our snorkeling-- read about the good spots, found them, parked the car and hiked to and hopped in the water. The highlight of this day was seeing 5 sea turtles swimming around with us. Dave was so close to one he could have touched it! Dave also saw an eagle ray and more colorful fish than we could even find in our "Fish of Hawaii" guide.

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Dave was happy to stay in the water all day swimming with the sea life. I snorkeled for a while, but also enjoyed laying on the beach and getting through my book.

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Our vacation package came with luau tickets. This night, we chose a luau at the Sheraton on Kaanapali Beach, the same one we had been swimming and snorkeling at all day. The food and drinks at the luau were excellent. The show was pretty cheesy, but exactly what we were expecting. A highlight was being invited up to the stage with all the other anniversary celebrators and honeymooners for a special serenade and slow dance.
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The main course of dinner was this pig that had been roasted in the ground all day. We were called to eat with a conch shell blow and then watched these Hawaiian men uncover our pig and get it ready for us.
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After dinner and before the show we watched our third sunset.

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This one was cool because at Black Rock a guy comes out each night to light tiki torches, toss a lei into the water, pray and then cliff dive into the ocean.

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Day three was packed with good food and unusual sightings. (Sea turtles! Cliff divers! Fire dancers!) This gorgeous sunset was a great addition to it. Day three was perfect.
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Hawaii, Day 2: Road to Hana and Pipiwai Trail

Each day was incredible, but when Dave asked which one I would relive, I said "Day Two" without hesitation. On our second day we woke up bright and early and hit the 3 hour twisty- turny Road to Hana. The drive was through lush rain forests and had waterfall and shore stops every few mile markers.
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My favorite stop on the Road to Hana was the black sand beach. As soon as we walked up, it took our breath away-- the black sand and blue water making such a sharp contrast. Walking on the beach was so cool. We found it wasn't really sand, but more like tiny ball bearings or large poppy seeds. We then discovered a lava tube cave that let out into the crashing ocean. Indescribable!





Another great stop on the Road to Hana was the 7 Sacred Pools. Here we were able to actually swim in waterfall pools! As the name implies, a huge cliff supports enough water runoff to make a chain of seven waterfalls with seven pools ending in the ocean. The water was invigorating and I even took a fancy jump off the cliff into it.

I am a bit prone to carsickness and the Road to Hana's 600 curves were no exception for me. If the drive alone was the point of this day, it may not have been fulfilling. We actually made the drive to hike the Pipiwai Trail. I had read that this was the best hike in Maui and we sure weren't disappointed!

We hiked past too many waterfalls to count. This was my favorite spot. On top of one waterfall cliff you could stand and gaze in awe at an infinity pool only God could create!

We were totally safe, but here I sit at the ledge of another waterfall.

We went swinging in the giant Banyan Tree.

Dave's most memorable part of this hike was the bamboo forest. This was fascinating. The bamboo grows so tall and so thick that no sunlight gets in. It was dark and damp in it and a game of hide-and-seek proved he could literally hide a few feet in and not be visible. When the wind blew, all the bamboo clacked together making a cool noise.

The dead bamboo was really light. This one is probably five times my length and I can lift it easily. We broke some fallen shoots down to make walking sticks.

The conclusion of the 4 mile hike was to traverse across a stream and find Waimoku Falls tumbling down 400 feet-- the tallest waterfall we've ever seen. We had to just sit and admire it for a while before beginning the long hike and drive back. Day two was perfect.

Hawaii, Day 1: The Resort

Home sweet home. Sigh. I close my eyes and I see a patch of green and blue ocean framed with black lava rocks and a blue sky with a few lazy white clouds floating around. This Hawaiian getaway has easily jumped into my "Number One Vacation of All Time" spot, and we've had some good vacations. Everything about it was completely perfect and I'm still a little mind-boggled about some of the things we saw and did! One thing perfect about it was its length. To be home and hug the girls and hear about their super fun time with Grandpa and Grandma is exactly what I want to be doing today. How to blog this week, though! How to share it? How to record these memories! It's daunting. I decided I'll write one post for each day and probably write one a day so as to not overwhelm. Some will be longer than others, but each entry, because each day, in this Hawaii journal will be spectacular, I promise!

. Obviously, day one included our flight out. Fun on this day was running into good friends Sara and Arend at the airport! (They snapped the picture.) What an exciting time to connect. Not fun on this day was the 2 hour delay we waited while mechanics fixed the hydraulics on our plane. I didn't care about the wait, I was sans kids and had a 500 page book and ipod I'd been dreaming about spending time with. I did care about flying an apparently broken airplane 5 hours across the Pacific Ocean. All was fine, however.

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We picked up our rental car and some groceries and checked into our hotel-- the Kaanapali Shores. This hotel went waaaay above my expectations. Our ocean view condo with full kitchen, living room and lanai was awesome! The grounds were tropically landscaped, the beach was steps away, the 2 pools and hot tubs were refreshing. We even found a bottle of wine in our condo as a congrats for our anniversary. We would completely recommend this place to anyone looking for a beautiful but reasonable place to stay in Maui.


Part of our package was $100 to spend in the resort's ocean front restaurant. We ate a gourmet meal, watched the sun set (this picture is taken from and shows the view from our lanai) and headed off to bed early. Day one was perfect.