Invention of the Year

Dave drinks a lot of seltzer water. A LOT. I like it, but he loves it, and usually comes home from the store every weekend with at least a six pack or a couple liter bottles. After reading that crazy article about the wastes of bottled water, it's always bugged me that we buy seltzer. I found a machine that makes seltzer at home, and have always wanted to buy it. Well, I did!

Dave was very skeptical, telling me it was a complete gimmick and he reserved the right never to use it. But of course I argued nothing ventured nothing gained, right? So I set it up last night and we gave it a test run. Well it turns out that it's pretty easy to put bubbles into water. It worked like a charm, and we even got some free samples of soda flavors to mix in. Dave gradually came around, and by the end of the night he proclaimed it the Invention of the Year! No more waste, and no more hauling drinks home from the grocery store. It even works out to be 1/3 of the cost, which we'll probably be able to confirm in the next 2 weeks. : )

Double Your Fun

For those of you that we haven't had a chance to talk to recently, we are expecting! We were both surprised to get so lucky so soon after getting married, but even more surprised to find out we're having twins. It's been a real adventure, and nothing like I expected.

On the down side, I haven't been enjoying pregnancy nearly as much as I had hoped. I've been alternately fighting with "morning" sickness, fatigue, and grumpy body image. Turns out I have a bit of a diva buried under there! Hopefully that means that I'll be looking like Heidi Klum a year from now.

Of course the "pros" aren't really related to pregnancy, they're related to having kids. Our doctor visits have all been fantastic; not only do we love our doctor, but she's been liberal with the ultrasound machine, and we've gotten to see our little ones during every visit so far. Last time we even got a thorough anatomy check to make sure they are both looking healthy, and my eyes teared for an hour.

Right now the only serious apprehension I'm dealing with is how I'm going to cope with a body for three over the next three months. I know I'm not showing that much yet, but I already feel enormous, so what the heck is week 35 going to be like? Don't answer that.

Maui! Part 5.

Our last day in Hawaii, we checked out of the condo and drove to the southwest coast of the island, where there is another popular pocket of resorts. We walked through the Shops at Wailea (I discovered a gorgeous new brand of purses, average price $1500), and walked through the grounds of the Grand Wailea Resort, which was much grander than expected. We even spotted a couple brides walking through the hotel, which made it seem romantic! They have an unbelievable system of pools, and Dave couldn't help but admire the swim up bar. Then we walked through the Four Seasons, which was very chic and adult in comparison. We walked along the beach for a while, and had an early dinner at Longhi's back in the Shops.

And then it was time to go. We got to the airport at 7:15 pm, had an early morning layover at LAX, and arrived home in Denver (in a snowstorm) at about noon. We were happy to be home, but next time I might try a little harder to travel during the day! All in all it was a terrific vacation for us -- lots of good deals, lucky timing, relaxation, sight seeing, and time together. Just what we wanted.

Here are the rest of our pictures, if you're curious!

Maui! Part 4.

On Thursday the water was calm again and it was time to try snorkeling. I was hoping for something a little more relaxing than our crazy experience in Costa Rica, and it was. A little. We walked down to the beach, rented the gear, and pretty much walked straight into the water. Unfortunately there were quite a few corally rocks in the shallow water, so we were trying hard to get into deeper areas without getting scraped up. At the same time my mask seemed to have a steady inflow of water! So I had a minor panic attack while I was trying to dry out my mask and protect my knees at the same time. Finally we got into the deeper areas over sand, and all was well. We got to see lots of interesting fish, although unfortunately we couldn't find any sea turtles! They must have seen us coming.

We left the beach for a while to eat lunch at the nearby Honolua Store, and came back for some snorkeling in the next bay over. (The bottom was all sand, but not as many fish.) For me, the highlight of the day was actually seen safely from the beach - I got to see a full whale breach! It was tiny, out on the horizon, and I only saw it for a split second, but I'm convinced that's what it was.

We spent the evening having snacks at home, and Dave watched Lost while I read. Did I mention I got lots of reading done every day? I finished Plain Truth (Jodi Picoult) and started World Without End (Ken Follett), both very entertaining.

On Friday we hoped to go to a fancy restaurant for lunch in Lahaina, another recommendation from friends, but the restaurant was closed. So we ended up again at Cheeseburgers in Paradise. We got little cheeseburger sliders, and after the table was cleared we got into a debate about whether sliders (like those at Dave and Busters, which are excellent) are really miniature burgers, or just four quarters of a normal burger! Of course, they are mini-burgers, how silly.

My favorite part of the entire trip was our whale watching boat ride. We went with a tour company called Trilogy, and it was exactly what I was hoping for. The boat was big but not too big, the crew was really nice and knowledgeable. And we got to see lots of humpback whales up close! Legally the boat can only come within 100 yards, but if you shut off the boat, and the whales drift over, they're not required to abide by the rules. There was one whale that was floating around only a few yards off the deck of the boat, it was amazing. At one point we got to listen to their underwater singing by microphone. We also got to see lots of flippers splashing, lots of picturesque whale tails, and even a little conga line of boys chasing a girl. Unfortunately, whales are pretty tough to catch on camera.

It was also really fascinating to learn some of the details of their migration. Apparently they estimate 6,000 whales hang out right off the coast of Maui where we were!

After the tour, we stopped for happy hour at a nearby restaurant, picked up a fish dinner at the Honolua Store, and headed home for the rest of the fixings.

Maui! Part 3.

Wednesday of our week in Hawaii we drove down to Kaanapali for the day. Dave got a close haircut at a local salon, then he rented a surfboard for an hour to give it a try on his own. The owners of the rental shop kindly set up a lounger and umbrella for me, which was lucky because I was roasting! Afterwards we stopped for a HUGE shaved ice, which was awesome! Dave said he hadn't seen me so happy on the entire trip. We walked through Whalers' Village, and picked out some new surf trunks for Dave at the Honalua Surf shop. In the evening we stopped at the Honolua Store near the condo, a little general store with a food stand in the back, and got a dinner of mahi and vegetables that was yummy. After our happy hour back at the condo we settled in to watch Project Runway, a great way to end the day.

Maui! Part 2.

On our second day in Hawaii, we drove to Lahaina for the day. We found Cheeseburgers in Paradise right away, a recommendation from Thomas and Sunday, so we got lunch there. It felt so hot in the sunshine, but gorgeous to look out onto the ocean from a second story open air deck!

Dave took a surf lesson in the afternoon, while I walked the Front Street strip, ending up happily at Cold Stone Creamery (sidenote - their banana ice cream is to die for). We met for happy hour after his lesson, looking out over the water again, and headed back to the condo for R&R.


On Tuesday, Kapalua beach was actually closed due to lively water and a dangerous undertow, so we decided to spend the day at the Ritz! We relaxed by the pool, people watching and looking out at the ocean until lunchtime. Then we headed down to the beach in front of the hotel for lunch - very pricey, but we had a pork bbq and pineapple sandwich that Dave has vowed to reproduce in Denver. We went back to the pool for a really nice swim, and we both especially loved floating on the rafts staring up into the palm trees.

Later in the day we drove up to Honolua Bay to watch some serious surfing. It was a gorgeous sunset, and there were about 30 world class surfers, heading into a rocky cliff. Yikes!

After sunset we went back to Pineapple Grill for dinner. It was so relaxing to sit outdoors for dinner in February...

Maui! Part 1.

Dave and I got to spend last week in Hawaii, and it was a terrific vacation! We left last Saturday morning, and caught a couple lucky breaks at DIA to get onto the flight on time. We had lunch in San Francisco (clam chowder!), and took off for Maui. Unfortunately this was the low point of the entire trip, there was a fantastic rainstorm in San Fran, and it seemed to stretch on forever. The combination of a long flight and a bumpy flight might win this one the award for worst flight I've ever experienced. But Dave did win a random drawing for some chocolates, so that was pretty funny.

We got to Hawaii during the sunset on Saturday night, and after struggling with maps and directions a few times, settled into our condo. We walked to a great nearby restaurant called The Pineapple Grill.

The next day we spent exploring the vicinity. Dave stopped at the grocery store to stock the fridge, including a couple pineapples grown locally that we cooked on the grill. Our condo was on the property of the Ritz Carlton resort, so we checked out the pool, and walked down to the beaches nearby. There was a gorgeous afternoon rain shower, so we took a nap, took a dip in a small pool next to our building, and settled in to watch the Oscars. (Incidentally I really didn't have any strong feelings about it this year, but it's fun to watch and I love Jon Stewart.)

The photo above was the view from our balcony, we were on a lovely golf course with a view of the ocean!