Alex's Little Gym graduation

Last week Alex graduated from his Little gym once again. This was his second semester attending the Little gym and we've seen a huge improvement in his physical skills. This semester lasted 4 months and at the beginning of it Alex was afraid to walk on the beam or to hang off of the monkey bars. Well, we've seen such a great improvement during this semester that we have no doubt the Little gym helped Alex tremendously in improving his athletic skills.

He learned to walk on the beam by himself and even turn 360 while on it.

Dave was teaching him to keep "strong" arms while hanging on the bar.

He even learned to hang upside down and do a flip on the bar (with the help of his instructor).

He performed one more time on the beam.
His favorite trick was to run very fast and jump over this rounded mat. He did it over and over and got really good at it.

At the end of the class every kid had to show his favorite trick. Alex demonstrated a donkey kick to everybody.
He got a medal for it and thought that he won (we won't tell him otherwise :)
It was amazing to me to see how 4 months of seemingly easy-going gym lessons taught Alex so much. I'm really glad we took him there and I appreciate all of his amazing instructors that were so patient with him and taught him so much!

Picnic in the mountains

Last weekend we spontaneously got together with some friends, grabbed everything from the fridge and the pantry and went to the mountains to have a picnic. We first tried the Spruces but the snow there, although dirty and melting, was still 3-4 feet high, believe it or not! So we drove back down the Big Cottonwood canyon and stopped at Storm mountain. That place is gorgeous, it has a mountain river right by it and very nicely maintained picnic tables and fire pits. When we got there and settled, Nico gave me a ride on his sweet-looking bike. I really liked it, although I used to be afraid of motorcycles :((

We all relaxed while our shashlik (shishkabob) was cooking.
Look at that beauty! Doesn't it look delicious? (By the way, Carine and Randall, it WAS delicious).
The kids found a little green caterpillar that they were playing with.

Needless to say, it didn't survive for very long... Good thing they're still young and don't understand that they killed it :)

Alex and Ava had a lot of fun together. They were posing for me on a huge log.

Then the adults were posing. And here is our beautiful fire :)

A close up of all of us.
The kids went out to explore the area, they even found these huge sticks that made them look like real hikers.

It was a great outing, we all enjoyed it a lot. It's not a surprise that by the end of it the kids had dirty faces- at least they got to explore to their heart's desire :))

We liked hanging out in the nature so much that this weekend we're already going back out there!!!

Last day in Maui

Our last day in Maui... Sad but at the same time hopeful. Time to come back home and also a promise that we will definitely be back.

My main achievement during this trip was that I didn't get sunburned even once! The rest of my family did. I attribute it to 2 things: lots of sunscreen and a big hat! This made it for the happiest vacation ever!!! 

After we checked out of our condo we still had a whole day ahead of us, the plane wasn't leaving until 9:40pm. We visited the local farmers market and I immediately regretted that we didn't come there at the beginning of our trip.

We then decided to take a drive along the North shore of the island. This is the view that we saw there. Very serene, beautiful and peaceful. The road gradually became a one-way road with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Two cars going opposite directions couldn't pass each other at the same point. I must admit my heart was pounding the whole time and my mom started to feel dizzy.

At the end of the road we came to a small village. It was amazing to see tourists there- people are fearless to drive on that narrow windy one-way road.. A local guy was selling leis and we would've bought some but we ran out of cash. So instead he just gave us some flowers and small flower arrangements- local people are very kind.  It made our day!

 
This is a green church that Nan and Brent told us about. I was surprised to find out that Nan actually went on that road. I myself almost had a heart attack every time I would see a car approaching us in the opposite direction!
On the way back we were looking for the blowhole. We stopped for another family photo.
Although we didn't find the blowhole but we all finally saw whales!!! There were at least 4 of them. They were blowing water and babies were jumping out of water. This is an incredible experience every time!
In the afternoon we got sucked in to yet another Marriott presentation. That resort is beautiful and would be worth buying into if circumstances were different. We came VERY close to buying it but decided to sleep on it. Meanwhile, Alex was happy playing in their kid's pirate pool. We didn't have his swimsuit with us so he just ran around in his underwear :) 

In exchange for listening to Marriott presentation we received $150 gift certificate so we spent the rest of the last day shopping and eating out. That was well worth it! Tired, we came to the airport and our flight was flawless. 

Aloha! We will be back, Maui!!!

A day of shopping

Tuesday in Hawaii we decided to dedicate to shopping. We needed to get some souvenirs and other minor things and also wanted to see what was there that we might like. 

Alex saw us all reading on the lanai every day and he got the idea! He was "reading" a book there too. I have to say I miss reading a book while listening to waves, birds and being just comfortable enough: not too hot and not too cold. It's a magical environment there. The wind doesn't let you get too hot and the temperature consistently stays at 85 during the day and 69 at night. We didn't have air conditioning in the units and it was the best possible solution. I think air conditioning there would make it too cold due to high humidity. When we went to tour Maui Marriott the air conditioning in their units made me miserably cold. 

We went to the Front St of Lahaina to do our shopping. The first thing we did was buy some fresh flower leis since we realized that we only had 2 days left in Hawaii and we still hadn't bought any leis! The lady who sold them was so nice that she gave Alex a lei for free!!! I noticed that people who live in Hawaii are very nice, friendly, care-free and always appear to be happy. How do they do it? I guess I'll have to move there to find out. At least this is the impression I got from my 3 trips to the Hawaiian islands so far. They're not by any means rich, they sell souvenirs on the streets that they often make themselves right then and there but they appear to have no cares in the world. Amazing!

This wooden sculpture was made by one of these sellers. He spent 5 weeks making it. The details on it are incredible! The quality is 100% better than any "made in china" souvenir you could ever buy. I think that souvenirs like this one make most sense, they are real, authentic, made in front of your eyes by people who live in Hawaii. He was asking $4500 for it. You can put a lamp behind it to create a magical effect (the eyes, nostrils and mouth are cut out so the light would shine through). I really did wish that I had that kind of money. First, I could help this amazing artist and second, I could have this one of a kind, authentic souvenir in my home to remember of my trip forever.

We had lunch at Dave's favorite restaurant- Cheeseburger in Paradise. He had one of those, I ordered a portabello sandwich (which was delicious!) and my mom said she wanted anything as long as it didn't have any bacon in it. So what did we order for her? BLT! I don't know how it happened but when she got her food she just looked at piles of bacon with disbelief. Sorry, mom! I don't know what happened... Nevertheless, it was delicious and she fully enjoyed her meal.
This is a little beach next to the restaurant and it had little crabs that would come out of their houses, run quickly towards water but as soon as they saw any human being they would quickly run back to their homes. We watched them for a while. So cute!

Koi pond at the Wharf's shopping place. Alex played there for a while while Dave and I talked to a Marriott guy.

This is my mom's new dress that she bought on Front St. We also got her a flower (for her hair) that was made by a local out of soft clay and looked just like a real flower (I got one too). He gave us an incredible deal. People in Hawaii are very kind.

The first time during our stay it started pouring rain. The sun was still shining bright.
It didn't stop Alex from going swimming. Dave had to drag himself there with him. Although later they told me that it was the best swim of the week- water was very warm and the rain didn't bother them at all. 

After a short but powerful rain storm we all went outside. I walked on the rocks looking for crabs and little fish (and I found plenty), Dave snorkeled with turtles, Alex and babulya sat on the shore watching the ocean.

Tomorrow is our last day in Hawaii. We leave here in the late evening so more pictures and adventures are coming!

Luau

Monday we decided to go to a botanical garden. We had a few choices and finally chose to drive to the Garden of Eden. I remembered it being half-way to Hana, which is a long, narrow road with lots of turns and bridges. Although it's a very beautiful road- it is in a very tropical setting with lots of vegetation and beautiful trees and flowers- it is not an easy road to survive. Dave thought that the Garden of Eden is much closer than that and we headed that direction. It took us 1.5 hrs to get there but we found it and had zero regrets!!! The garden has a natural setting with the most gorgeous view of the east side of Maui and the ocean. It had many peacocks, which Alex loved. He was chasing them all over the gardens. The air there was very clean and humid. It seemed a lot hotter there than right next to the ocean, due to lack of wind. Man, it really is hot and humid in the tropical areas of the island! 

Dave found a new hairdo for himself. Looks nice!

This was the most amazing palm tree any of us have ever seen! It is HUGE and majestic. The leaves on top fan out making it look like a huge fan.
This was my favorite spot. The water lillies in the pond are beautiful lavender and the view of the ocean is breathtaking. You can see waves crashing on the shore right between me and Alex in the distance. I could sit there forever watching the view.
At the end of our walk through the gardens we all signed the guest book and believe it or not Alex signed his own name. Go Alex!
We got back home just in time to get ready and go out again to a luau. We went to the Hyatt Regency luau. Our feast started with a huge roasted pig (yummy!!!) that they cook in the ground under the palm leaves for 8 hrs.
Watermelon was Alex's choice of food for the night. He had a huge plate of it.

The show was amazing. My mom has never seen anything like it so she took a thousand pictures and we had to finally confiscate the camera from her :)

At the end of the night the artists took pictures with us. I couldn't believe how pale and pink we all look compared to them!!! And I thought we were somewhat tan!

Aloha!

Eel encounter

Sunday was a day of rest for us. We didn't plan anything and just let the day go as it would. We also took a day off from taking pictures (Dave was grateful for that). In the morning we celebrated Mother's Day by going to a brunch at the Kaanapali Beach resort. The food was plentiful and delicious. They even had sushi rolls, oysters, and all kind of seafood available. There were also plenty of breakfast and lunch items, including fruits and desserts. We ate to our desire and watched the hula dancing, singing and fashion show. This resort made a good impression- it seems like they have many activities there and it is a very cheerful (busy) place. It made me appreciate the condos we're staying in- we feel so much more private and relaxed here. This is truly a place for a restful vacation (just the kind I needed after a busy year of graduate school). We walked around the resort a little after breakfast- it is actually located right next to the Black rock (great snorkeling there), so a pretty great location!

We relaxed at home all afternoon. I read my book on the lanai listening to the ocean, Dave played games, Alex played with his toys and watched cartoons and my mom did something upstairs- I think she slept :))

Closer to the evening we went to the Napili beach and took our snorkeling gear. My mom decided to try snorkeling. At first she had a hard time breathing under water (it takes some practice to figure out exactly how to do it for those that haven't done it before). THen she slowly figured it out and went out with Dave. She saw lots of fish and was very excited and proud of her accomplishments.

Alex was playing on the beach with a couple of older boys (7-8 y.o.) and had great times. Dave and I then went out to snorkel together and we got to this place in the middle of the cove where corals come very close to the surface and it got a little freaky when every wave would push us around. We were looking for a turtle that Dave saw earlier. Suddenly, Dave started to yell my name under water and I swam toward him. He pointed to... a huge eel on the bottom of the ocean that was hiding between the corals. It was light blue and yellow in color and looked HUGE to me. It was opening and closing its mouth looking at us. I almost freaked out but I haven't heard before that eels attack so we kept staring at him. Eventually, I decided I didn't want to be the first to find out that eels bite and swam back to the shore.

It was actually a very nice, relaxing day for all of us. Get ready for new adventures tomorrow!

Memories...

This is a post for Saturday. After breakfast Dave and I decided to snorkel again since last night wasn't as successful. The mornings here seem to be most active times for turtles. We actually got surrounded by them while swimming (you can see one in the picture very clearly) but they're pretty harmless if you don't come too close. We also saw some HUGE blue and yellow fish (3-4 feet long!). They were swimming in the middle of the cove and little fish were picking stuff off of them- very funny to see. I was amazed to see how MANY fish there were down there!!! Man, I wish I bought an underwater camera...

Alex was looking for little crabs on the rocks and actually found them- they were hidden in the shells, had blue eyes and red "feet" (I don't know what they're called), and they were crawling in the puddles of water that stays between the rocks after the tide goes back down. Alex also saw a fish "kindergarten" where all the baby fish learn to swim. He enjoyed it the most because he could see them very close.
I found a huge Hibiscus flower on the ground and of course it had to go in my hair.. until it wilted a couple of hours later :( It's getting hotter here every day and winds are dying down.

This is our official family photo of the year. Nana and Pa are getting it for their wall in Hungary (oops, spoiled the surprise).
After snorkeling we got ready and went to Maui Marriott where we stayed last time. The resort is huge, they've built a couple more buildings. It brought back some great memories... This place was Alex's first Hawaii experience. They have a great kiddie pool and Alex wanted to swim there very badly so we promised him we'll come back to stay at this resort very soon!

We walked along the boardwalk of Kaanapali and wondered into the Whaler's village. The food at restaurants there smelled so delicious that we couldn't pass it up- we sat down at the Hula grill. Great place by the way. It's outdoors, right by the beach and views are to die for! Yummy!!!
Walking along the boardwalk we came across the hammocks in the shade and we all jumped on one. The view there was also pretty. Very "classic" Hawaii photo- ocean, beach, and palm trees.
I have to admit it was so comfortable I almost fell asleep- and I would have if family didn't kick me off of it so we could keep going...

The rest of the day we spent driving to the South Maui- Kihei, Wailea and Makena. Kihei we didn't like at all and wouldn't recommend to anyone to stay there. Wailea, however, was beautiful but I could tell- pricey. We stopped at the Wailea beach and spent the rest of the afternoon there. I forgot my camera in the car so no pictures.. We had great fun in the waves, which were a bit bigger than at our beach at Napili. Even Alex, to my surprise, got very comfortable swimming and rocking in the waves. Wow! Then I got bitten by something in the water (I'd like to think it was a jelly fish) but it didn't stop me from swimming (frankly, not many things would...).

In the evening Dave and I had a date and went to the Lahaina Grill- great food and atmosphere- white linens and napkins and classy service. However, not an every day kind of restaurant- $$$$. We had a coupon and I heard great things about it. No regrets. Recommended for once-in-a-lifetime experience. Aloha!