Shake Your Coconuts

I've been to a Luau, Dave hasn't so we of course had to hit one up on Maui - my brother said we had to do one in particular.  My sister who honeymooned in Maui in May and also visited this luau....

It is right behind the grocery store we frequented, but right along the water, which made for some beautiful fun pictures....

And of course some of the fun of a luau is the history and the kalua pig being unearthed from the underground oven (Imu in Hawaiian).

After that finishes we're able to enjoy more free drinks (included with the admission) and the sights.  This photo below is with our backs to the water and looking out at the hula stage and the Maui Mountains.  Our table is just to the right of that house looking building.

 We of course had to take advantage of the sunsets!

But we're not only there for the hula dancers, but the food!

Yep, that's my plate!  Note yesterday's blog bragging about how much I lost between trips was before I ate and drank my way through vacation (although for the record I only gained 3 1/2 lbs).

And then there's of course the hula!

Of course if Dave can get a shot with the hula dancers in their coconuts... he's gonna do it!

A very memorable Monday evening. This was the first event we'd had planned that trip... I've been sharing things completely out of order and will continue to do so.

Hawaii Then, and Now

Before I left for Hawaii nearly 1 1/2 weeks ago, I was thrilled to see what progress I've made in my weight loss.  It was after my first trip to Oahu in 2006 that I looked at my picture and decided to lose weight.  We were trying to get pregnant, and it would be about 5 months later after losing 30 lbs that Drew was finally conceived.

Fast forward to this year... and 49 lbs exactly I'm going back to Hawaii, this time Maui.  Look at the difference!

2011                                    2006

My success?  Weight Watchers off and on over the past five years... and most recently I switched to MyFitnessPal - which is calorie counting.  I compared those two plans side by side for a couple of weeks and opted to go with the free option. 

Another reason for my success: running.  Training for two half marathons will slim you down a bit.  I can't help but revel in my success, I'm rather proud of it.  It hasn't been easy, but seeing the results from one luau to the next is very motivating!

We Can Find Wineries Everywhere

We're like a magnet for wine and wineries.  So when we found out there was a winery on Maui, one that makes pineapple wine no less... we knew we had to see it for ourselves. 

It's quite away from anything civilized, and that's part of it's charm.  We took windy roads to the winery which doesn't even have a physical address!  That's right we had to plug the coordinates into our GPS because they are so far in the middle of nowhere that there's no address.  But the views on the drive up were spectacular!

We're currently in Southwest Maui here, and I believe the smaller "island" is Turtle Bay where they have snorkeling expeditions and then the larger island in the distance I think is Kahoolawe (which isn't very large by the way).

Of course we had to get pictures of the scenery... our car and the landscape hehe

Only a mile up the road from those pictures we found the winery!

They have complementary tastings on four wines, but you're not allowed to buy a glass or consume them elsewhere on the property because of the type of license they have.  So instead we joined the tour of the premises.  They offer two free tours a day. 

The property was purchased somewhere around 1850 I believe and was used for sugar mills and a ranch.  The gentleman who owned it would brought hundreds of trees from around the world here, both things he bought and were gifted to him. 

In the 1980s I think it was Tedeschi (known for his winemaking in Sonoma) came to Hawaii to experiment with winemaking on Maui.  While grapes aren't plentiful, pineapples are, so came about the pineapple wine (they do have estate grown Syrah too, which we couldn't taste).

They have the barrels on the grounds, but cannot use oak barrels due to wood pests (which are responsible for ruining trees) so they use steel tanks.

The grounds were absolutely gorgeous!  So we set out to explore and have some fun.

When guests sailed in to visit the original ranch owners, they would shoot off this cannon to let them know they saw their ship arrived and would be down as quickly as possible to pick them up.  One of Hawaii's kings was known to visit and would stay in what is now the tasting room.  The distance from where this photo is and the shore is probably 3-5 miles down some steep hills.

 As I mentioned there are so many varieties of trees here.  This one Dave's standing in front of is a camphor tree.  We'll think of this trip every time we smell noxema...

This building used to be the tasting room before they moved it to a larger building.  It's one of the original standing structures and it was nicknamed the "Old Jail" because when they were renovating it for the winery they discovered a secret "basement" with shackles inside.  The winery isn't sure what it was orignally made for.

Another oddity, is this two faced statue....

The left side is the front of the statue, the other picture the back.  The locals would come up to this statue and pray and give offerings for safe voyages, successful fishing, or various other things.  It appears some still pay tribute to this guy.. er .. girl.

One case of wine later... we were feeling fantastic and Dave was making friends with everyone...

This was a totally unique experience and I'm so glad we took an afternoon to do it.  It was an awesome drive and made even better with the convertible!

Aloha!

I'm still not used to the time change, so while I'm awake at 4am Hawaii time, it's 7am at home.  That's sleeping in for me - if you consider California time acceptable on the islands... I do not, but I cannot help it.  So instead I'll torture update you on our first two nights in Maui.

Our flight was totally uneventful which is good, and we were giddy with excitement when we landed.  Of course who wouldn't be if you're on the islands driving a convertible!

That's Dave at the helm of our red Ford Mustang...

We landed at about 9am Maui time, so while we tried to drive to the timeshare and check in early, our room wasn't ready.  We decided to park the car and walk and explore what there is in the area.  We found a fantastic shopping/dining location and had lunch with our first cocktails of the trip (on the flight we did receive a complimentary Mai Tai but we won't count that).

We managed to get in about an hour ahead of schedule so we went upstairs and got ready to hit the pool and enjoy the sun (I was already a little red from walking around).

We found some people who were doing these adorable family pictures of the sunset so we offered to take pictures of the whole group.  They returned the favor by posing us so I have palm tree hair....

It didn't take away from the gorgeous sunset we saw right from our lounge chairs.

We then went up to our room to enjoy a few beverages on our balcony and made dinner in our room - the frugal people that we are.

The next morning I of course wasn't used to the time change and was up long before the sun was.  Rather than run, I enjoyed coffee on the balcony and waited for the rest of the world to wake.  It was designed to be a do nothing day.  And well, that's exactly what we did.  Nothing. Unless you count laying by the pool, snorkeling and drinking as doing something.  Yes we had our first adult beverage in our hands poolside by 9:45am.  It's 5 o'clock somewhere right? 

Those would be our 2nd or third drinks....

And this would be our happy hour bar.  We brought a cooler with our beverages down, but we had to order mai tais from the experts for Happy Hour!

The entire day we just lounged around and people watched. 

That night we decided to have a late dinner and BBQ some Beef Tenderloins, made mashed potatoes and salad.  And lived up the views of our pools and fountains with all the lights and tiki torches.

I love that it's 9pm at night and you are not the least bit chilled by the night air... ahhhhhh.

Today we're beginning our week of excursions.  By day we're doing some shopping and exploring a few towns.   By night, the luau - and more drinking :)

Aloha!

When The Sun Goes Down....

When the sun goes down at the campground there are two things you can be certain of especially with a loud group.  The adults will get rowdy and the rent-a-cops will bust you for it.

It all starts out perfectly innocent...

First Dave and Brian do some more cooking - and we have to hand it to them for making delicious food all weekend long!

Travis and Jonelle chillin' enjoying the adult beverages...

Drew trying to escape it all by climbing up a tree....

That is until Ms Stephanie and Brian pull out the fun glow sticks for the kids!

Mason & Drew with their glow sticks - Mason has the cool hat that he bought with his very own money!

 And all the kids together with their glow sticks
L-R: Zionna, Charlize, Mason, Troy and Drew

Then it's time to get the kids ready for bed... and then the guys bring it full circle when they get their hands on the glow sticks.   Or should I say... um.... well you can get the idea...

L-R: Travis, Brian and Dave

So both nights we were there, apparently our "neighbors" reported us for "disturbing the peace" or at least disobeying quiet time.  The second night we were much quieter and still someone ratted us out.  Even the rent-a-cop acknowledged there was no reason for the report since he never heard us the several times he drove by.  Anyway we were silenced again.

Who cares - it was all a great weekend and a fantastic time! 

S'more Much Fun!

Here's a little math problem for you...what do you get when you join 8 Adults and 5 Kids together for a weekend adventure two hours from home?  A camping trip to remember, that's what!

This trip was to the same campground we've gone since before Drew was born outside of Jackson in the Amador County foothills and it was nearly 2 years to the day since Drew burned his hands in the campfire - and thankfully mixing that many kids around a campsite and campfire didn't lead to any ER visits.  In fact it was a terrific weekend  - from the weather to the company!

Since I decided to share a plethora of pictures (do you expect anything else from me when it comes to a weekend getaway?) I'll share them over a couple of days.. rather than bore you all at once.

What's better than just chilling while camping?  I mean isn't that what it's all about?

Brian & Ed

Mason and Troy finding pine cones to fuel the fire.

And what's camping without dirt? 
L-R: Charlize, Troy, Drew, Zionna, Mason

 

S'mores!!!

Then the next morning all the kids enjoyed breakfast together!

L-R: Zionna, Drew, Charlize, Mason, Troy

The weather was pretty warm up there - the best it's been in all our years camping here!  We had a blast in the pool and splash park!

 Soaking up some sun!

L-R: Jessica, Charlize, Zionna (hiding behind the wall), Jonelle (Drew's Preschool teacher)

 Troy was enjoying reapplying the sunscreen to Ms. Jonelle.

Dave and Stephanie soaking up the sun and enjoying some adult beverages.

Since I'm pretty photo heavy, tomorrow I'll share all the stories about what comes out at the campsites when the sun goes down....