Sunshine, Blue Skies, and the Custody School Bus

Okay Okay … I have gotten in SO much trouble from a lot of people for not updating this thing so here we go …  I am back for round 3!!! We implemented our big project on the 13th (Baileigh’s Birthday!)  I missed her actual birthday BUT we had a fabulous dinner ….

We went live on August 13th and ever since then life has been a blur!  A blissful, exhausting, blessed blur.  The first week we had three guys out here for war room — David, Terrence and Matt.  We all worked really hard but these guys were working their tails off with about two hours of sleep … and they code … hardcore.  The second week, David stayed out but Terrence and Matt headed back to the Mainland.  In return we shipped out John and Kent … I dropped them off at the airport that Friday.  They were troopers and let me take a picture of them before they left … it was brought to my attention later that they actually had matching outfits.

 

The next week FLEW by and then it was time to hop back on that jet plane and go visit/meet the rest of my fantastic Hanai family in Maui.  I even cleaned my desk at the office before I left this time … I think it threw everyone off in the office.  I kind of felt like I had to, a set of drawers were subtly placed next to my desk the weekend before I left… I think they were trying to tell me something :)  I could be on an episode of hoarders for sure.  All of that is beside the point because I’m Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkkkkkk!!!! :)  And I even suckered Teia and Sarah into taking me to the airport …

The flight was one of the most interesting ones thus far, but we won’t go into those details.  Just know it included fortune telling, faking being asleep and far too many attempts by my seatmate to make conversation.  Landed in Honolulu at 4 that afternoon, got my bags, and hiked my happy hiney over the inter island terminal to check my bags for Maui!!!   By 7:30 I was taxiing into the Maui airport to see my Maui Motha … sheer excitement.  Of course she had just gotten done with her zumba class and was all decked out in zumba wear — loved it.  We went home, met Poppa V and my bruddah Aaron, and I settled into my new room — their home has a ton of windows that offer the most incredible views it was pure happiness.

Denise had thrown together a little barbeque that night and I got to meet my aunties and their families — Aunty Del, Aunty Kim and Aunty Terri …. oh the things I learned over the weekend …

Denise made sure to get Poke so I could get my fix right away, you da best.  Aaron was a grilling machine and had cooked the steak, chicken wings, Portuguese sausage (Aunty Del made it!!!!) and shrimp.   Aunty Del brought the most delicious lemon cake and baked beans … pretty sure I ate at least half of the lemon cake throughout the whole weekend.  Aunty Kim brought layered rice and another casserole but the layered rice was my favorite :) … It was like a sushi roll casserole.  Aunty Terri made a huge delicious fillet of Slammin salmon … I made up the slammin part, but it really was quite “slammin” :)  I think it was terryaki but I’m not sure what was on top … it was great though.  It was all good, who am I kidding?  And I’m not just saying these things because they read my blog … it was so ONO!!!! ;)

 

After dinner, Poppa V and I got our Ukes out and get to strummin’ … I hadn’t gotten much practice in because of the big implementation, but I can play I’m Yours … well …. kind of.  No can sing and play though — too much coordination required.  That is something I am really going to have to practice that :) BUT Poppa V knows an Adele song and was teaching me … he played, serenaded and taught me the cords!  I am so excited to learn my Adele song!!!

On Saturday we went adventuring :)

First stop:  Aunty Del’s house.  Then we went and walked little Wailuku town :)  When I say walk the town I mean we walked a block and went into the cutest little local shop — Maui Thing.

After that we started the trek up Haleakala (House of the Rising Sun) — Watching the sunrise from here is supposed to be breathtaking and a must-see, but it is for my next trip.   We stopped for lunch at this cute little cafe on the mountain side.  From Haleakala you can see the ocean on both sides of Maui and the west Maui Mountains in the distance.  It is incredible.

 

After lunch we drove out to he Maui Winery and I tasted pure pineapple wine for the first time!  Not bad …. not bad at all…. they actually make pineapple champagne, very eenteresting!  We didn’t stay there too terribly long before we made our way to the Lavender Farm.  Oh my GOODNESS!!!  Out of all the places we visited I think this was my absolute favorite.  It was my favorite for a few reason — it was stunning, I got a King Protea flower, and we laughed until I thought we were going to shi shi ourselves.  I will let the pictures do the talking on this one …

 

 

 

After we finished making trouble at the Lavender Farm, we stopped by the Kula Farm Market.  :) Adorable.  It is a little farmers market stand and they sell all sorts of goodies — fresh veggies and fruit, jams, spices, coffee, FLOWERS … everything … and everything was local — talk about a happy heart … I quit.  I am moving to Maui where I will farm beautiful fruits and veggies and flowers and be happy.  That is all.

 

After the market we drove allllll around and got to visit the little hippy town, Paia, where according to Denise they don’t shave their armpits and it smells like … well … you know …  OH and aunty Del tried to steal me a taste of fresh sugarcane from the side of the road … perfectly legal!  The sugarcane wasn’t ready but the sight of Delvina biting the sugarcane was priceless!! So fun :)  We stopped for round 1 of shave ice in Paia — I made my family proud and got Mac nut ice cream in the bottom.  Go ahead, judge me!

After my puka shell tour guide drove us around all day, we dropped Delvina off and got a much needed coffee from casa de villanova.

Denise and I made our way to  Lahaina (I overslept and missed the sunrise so we hustled over to the Whaler to watch the sunset … so romantic I know) :)  Not only did I get to see the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen, I got to meet sweet Marissa!!!  Marissa works at the Whaler and smuggled Denise and I a pool key so we could have front row seats for the show.  I was an eager beaver tourist and was knee deep in the water to watch the sun go down over the horizon.  After the sunset, Marissa came out and we all went to dinner at Kobe, a hibachi grill, it was so fun and delicious and and and … we ate wayyyy too much.  We knew we had a Zumba class to attend on Sunday morning so after a very enjoyable dinner, we headed back to Denise’s hood.  After getting all ready for bed, I had every intention to talk to Denise while she baked a cake for a party my hanai brother was going to the next day, but instead I fell asleep … hard … with the lights on and everything (eek, sorry Denise!!!) I mean it was midnight … who bakes cakes at midnight?  ;)

 

Woke up bright and early the next morning … hellllllllllloooooo 3:30!  Waited for a while and then decided to sneak out, make coffee and sit out on the back porch to get some work done before Maui woke up.  It was so peaceful.  Realized Denise was up at about six when I realized she was creeping on me from inside the house taking pictures and all!  The sunrise was SO PRETTY!!! Such a nice and much needed slow down.

By 8 am I was hurting.  Bad.  But I knew we were going to Zumba!  So I put on my zumba wear (complete with a new jingle bell bracelet!! #swaggy) Zumba was AWESOME!!!! Cha Cha Frenzie taught the class — he. is. hilarious!!! It was such a good class and Denise and Marissa are little Zumba barbies — certified instructors and everything!

After zumba we went back home and ate some leftovers and got ready for another day of adventure before Denise and Poppa V dropped me at the the airport :(

We saw all sorts of things :) big beaches, small beaches, long beaches, black sand beaches, short beaches, rocky beaches, raisin beaches, local beaches … well … you get it …

 

 

Poppa V and Denise took me to a delicious sushi dinner and then dropped me off at the happy Hawaiian airport … so sad!!  I was so sad to be leaving my Hanai family, but I have a feeling I will get to come back and we have already determined that it will be a longer stay — after all, we just scraped the edge of the iceberg!!

 

I had the most incredible time on Maui this weekend and it was so needed :)  – It was time for a slow down.  I am so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful, outgoing and loving family friends and coworkers.  How did I get this lucky?!

To my dearest Hanai family — that includes you aunties out there — You guys are the best, thank you so much for an unforgettable experience!! I absolutely CANNOT wait to come back for a longer trip and explore more … well that and I feel like we should consider that trip to Vegas … I know my mom would be in too!! I love you guys so much!!!

Whew! That’s a long one and I didn’t even get to include everything … guess those things will be a secret to the world and dear memory to me and the ohana :)

Time to go put on my mu’u mu’u  – LOVE LOVE LOVE — Lindsay

and I miss my fellow mainlanders … a lot … but I do love it here :)