maui countdown

The post you've all been waiting for.... our trip to Maui summed up in a bunch of Top # lists.


Top 5 airplane activities for a lap toddler

1. Sleeping in momma's arms (aww... there was something about the rumble of takeoff that was very sleep-inducing for our little guy)
2. Pushing the seat recline button
3. Throwing granola bars
4. Charming our seat mates so they'd offer him baby pretzels
   
5. Reading "Hop on Pop" over and over and over...

Top 5 totally free and awesome things to do in Maui

1. Visit the Banyan Tree in Lahaina
2. Start the drive to Hana, feel completely carsick, get out and hike to some cascading waterfalls, and turn around and feel good about the "experience"
3. Embark on a personal quest to find leaves bigger than Wesley
4. Drive up the northwest Maui coast, see some gorgeous crystal blue waters and clear skies, then find the Nakelele Blowhole
5. Crash the pool and bathrooms and grounds of the nicest hotel in Maui (Grand Wailea), because your friend works there and you're entitled
   

Top 3 favorite things to do in Maui that a toddler can totally do at home

1. Chase friendly birds
2. Swing at the park
3. Drive randomly parked construction equipment and or/rental cars
   

Top 6 unexpected Hawaiian toddler calamities

1. Adversity to naps (different bed, different place, different weather... who can blame him?)
2. Heat rash
3. Sun burn
4. Allergic reaction of some sort making the face swell up and requiring a 3-day Benadryl regimen
   
5. Bee sting during a luau (or maybe it was just a bee attack and and severe fingernail scratch)
   
6. Waking up at 4 am because it's 7 am in Seattle (thank goodness this only happened once; it was awful)
   
   

Top 3 in-the-shade things to do in Maui (to protect a sun-wary child)

1. Maui Ocean Center aquarium
2. Reefdancer semi-submersible submarine
3. Let him play Star Wars with pool noodles in the pool's cabana while you and spouse take turns sun-bathing and swimming

Top 4 things you say in Maui that you say different everywhere else

1. "Aloha" (hello, goodbye)
2. "Mahalo" (thank you)
3. "Lanai" (balcony)
4. "Lava-lava" (man dress)

Top 4 most awesome things to see in Maui

1. Crystal clear blue waters
2. Hawaiian sunsets over calm oceans
   
3. An adorable toddler in a Hawaiian outfit
4. Rainbows outside your condo lanai every morning
   

Top 4 Maui dinners

1. Mama's Fish House in Pai'a: uku and opakapaka fish with yummy chocolate pie
   
2. Hula Grill in Ka'anapali: mahimahi and Hawaiian swordfish with a delicious coconut creme brulee baked in a half pineapple shell
3. Aloha Mixed Grill in Lahaina: veggie stir fry and garlic fries and fish 'n chips, oh my!
4. All-you-can-eat Hawaiian luau... 'nuff said
   
   

Top 1 thing to try to recreate at home

1. Creme brulee in a half pineapple shell (I wish I had a picture... it was awesome!!)
   
   

Top 1 thing you never had before that you tried in Maui

1. Papaya (it wasn't cantaloupe! looked like it though!)
   
   

Top 4 Maui vacation tips

1. Pick up as many of the tour guide books as you can... "Maui Gold," "Maui Drive Guide," etc. They have coupons and restaurant reviews and activity ideas and more. I love those books; I lived by those books. (But they are totally advertising-dollars-driven, so when they say "Best Ice Cream on the Island" is Dairy Queen and "Best Place to get a Burger" is Carl's Jr., I totally ignored that.)
2. Of all the rental car companies, and I had coupons for all of them, the only one to accept coupons at a Hawaiian location (not the contiguous U.S.) was Enterprise (but I was super pleased with them)
3. If the luau begins at 5 pm, but you show up at 6 pm because you're afraid of being in the sun, don't worry -- all you've missed is a super long admission and buffet line. I totally recommend this to everyone.
4. If a restaurant review says "reservations essential," but you're already on your way there, call anyway and make a reservation for 10 minutes from now. It works. When we showed up, there were totally people waiting but because we had a "reservation" they took us right to a table. So cool.
   
   

Top 5 ways to throw away your money while not realizing it

1. Not calling the "Expedia Discount Activities Line" for the Maui Ocean Center admission, and instead paying full price
   
2. Not calling the "Expedia Discount Activities Line" for the luau admission, and instead paying full price
3. Forgetting you have a coupon for a free appetizer at dinner
4. Buying souvenirs before shopping around a bit, then realizing you paid $7 too much (sigh)
5. Not having $1 bills so you have to give the valet/shuttle driver/etc. a $5
   
   

Top 4 cool animals you only see in Maui

1. Whales breaching (seen from our condo lanai)
2. Geckos crawling everywhere
   
3. Sea turtles
   
4. humuhumunukunukuapua'a (I can pronounce it... can you? it's the Hawaii state fish)
   

Top 2 trip slogans

1. "Mahalo for removing your shoes"
2. "Oh well, it's a rental" (referring to us abusing the rental car)
   

Top 7 Maui surprises

1. 88% humidity
2. the condo's shower is more aptly described as a "pressure wash"
3. Groceries are really expensive. I mean really. Seriously. What you'd pay $25 for at home, you paid $100 for there.
4. Hawaiian drivers are insane
5. The aquarium wasn't that impressive. They had a lot of fish, a couple turtles, sharks, and one teeny little octopus. No seals, no dolphins, no otters, nothing! I was expecting more. But they did have a lot of fish and some cool "aquarium tunnels" and stuff.
   
6. A person's face can swell up from a heat rash (on the toddler in question, it happened so much that the bridge of his nose got a half-inch wider and he looked like he gained 10 pounds)
7. Toddlers, at first, are generally terrified of beach water and waves. We let our toddler stand in the sand, but when the waves came up and touched his toes he cried. We met some random people during the week (since Wesley makes friends wherever he goes), and they all said it took at least three attempts to get their toddlers in the water.
   

Top 3 other general surprises learned on vacation

1. Swim diapers aren't meant to be used as real diapers outside of the water
2. An unexpected trip to the condo laundry room at 9 pm, when the laundry closes at 9:30, generally means the dryer won't work well and your damp clothes will need to be laid out all over your condo living room (with the fan on high) to dry overnight
3. Making calls, using GPS, surfing the Web for restaurants, etc., all totally drain a smartphone's battery quick
   
   

Top 3 random Maui trivia

1. March 26 (last day we were there) is a state holiday celebrating the birthday of Prince Kuhilio
2. A puzzle postcard mailed from Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday morning can arrive in rural Maryland on Monday (not bad USPS!)
3. I learned this the last time I went to Hawaii, but the Hawaiian language has only 8 consonants and uses all 5 vowels. There are a surprising number of combinations for these letters!!
   

Top 3 things you wanted to do in Maui but didn't (oh well, will have to wait for next time)

1. Visit more beaches
   
2. Get a pedicure
3. Take a pineapple plantation tour

Top 2 links

1. Our vrbo condo, which I've already written a review for (great location! perfect size! delightful!)
2. More pictures on Picasa

can your last 2-3 weeks beat this?

So, what have I been doing that I didn't even blog?

• First, Wesley got sick; he had a splinter in his foot so microscopic I couldn't even see it, and the doctor had to get it out with a teeny pair of tweezers, plus he had an ear infection
• Then, Shane and I got so ridiculously sick we couldn't function
• The whole time, I'm trying to pack and plan for our vacation
• Plus, I had a talk to prepare for Sunday at Church, which turned out pretty well
• Then, we left for HAWAII on Monday, March 22; we survived the flight! More on that later
• Tuesday, we found out Shane's brother had died from complications from leukemia, which he has been fighting for 3 1/2 years
• Wesley had a tough time adjusting to the SUN in Hawaii so we had a red, crocodile-skinned, puffy baby for most of the trip
  
• Regardless, we tried to enjoy our vacation (blog post in my brain currently)
• We had to reschedule our flights home to take us to Los Angeles, where we stayed for less than 24 hours and Wesley made lots of noise during the funeral service
• We finally got home at midnight or so Saturday, arriving to plenty of cat barf on our bed and no groceries in the house
• And now Wesley is sick again, with a crazy fever and cough no one wants to hear
• And my to-do list is taking up more columns on a piece of paper than I care to think about... and so far today, with a sick kiddo, nothing has gotten done
• Google hates me and I can't upload a picture to Blogger or see my albums on Picasa (so lame!) to relive my marvelous Hawaiian memories
  

Heaven help me survive this week.

wesley video update

For the Grandmas! Here is some of the latest and greatest Wesley footage:



Here we have our hero joining dad for some exciting video game car racing. It was hilarious! Every time Shane would try to move the controller, Wesley would swat his hand out of the way so he could do it.



Next, our little man has discovered he can climb! Luckily he isn't much of a daredevil... but perhaps we are just waiting until the mischievous gene takes effect. (He's such a good kid! No trouble!)



This one is short and sweet.... this "plop" on his bottom he does over and over again. It just makes us laugh and laugh! He loves to do it in his soft crib (obviously) and also the bathtub (not so obvious. I guess the water and splashing negates the impact on his little rear??).



This is a game Grandma Gottula discovered... When Wesley flips over his sippy, she would say "Whoops!" and he'd laugh and laugh. We've found he likes to "trip himself" while walking or skipping across the room, and when we say "Whoops!" it has the same effect.



Our last video for today is his newest trick... identifying body parts! We're so excited! He also knows feet ("toes" sounds too much like "nose," although feet he can pick out) and hair. It's just too precious! I'm waiting for him to start pointing to things in books; that hasn't happened yet.

Ahh, that sweet Wesley. We love him!

why i love my family, part 2

Today: Shane.

• Shane and I met ice skating on May 3, 2002. I still remember the day! It was the beginning of a spring term at BYU, and he had just moved into a ward where I had lived for about 2 years. It was an unofficial ward activity where lots of apartments just got together and went to Seven Peaks. I was having fun with old and new friends when I met him. He told me his name, but I instantly forgot it! I didn't remember his name all night. That is really unlike me! There was something about him that intrigued me; maybe it was that his smile made me forget his name!
  
  
• Our first date was to Arby's, and then we saw SpiderMan. Shane was actually pretty embarrassed by this; he wanted to take me somewhere nice, but something happened and we were way late. We didn't have time to sit down and eat and make the movie. For the movie, we sat in the very first row. We actually went with some other friends, which I think also made him mad, because he wanted the date to be "just us," and it wasn't.
  
  
• We were married January 1, 2003 (01-02-03) in the Washington, D.C., Temple. It was cold and snow was on the ground, but it was a wonderful day.
  
  
• Shane is such a smart guy. He thinks about things logically, and he always wants to do what makes sense. He's never swayed by emotions or whims or changes in the weather. It's impressive and frankly, it's a rock in a usually swaying world.
  
  
• Shane and I made a pact when we got married that "cooks don't clean" in our house. I love it! If I cook, he does dishes. If he cooks, I do dishes. It's the best. He also cleans toilets, takes care of kitty's litter box, and takes out the trash and does the recycling. I'm happy to do everything else, because these are icky jobs he does so well! Thanks babe!
  
  
• I know this is silly, but I've always loved Shane's hands and arms. They are so strong. I've always been happy to picture them hugging me and taking care of me and comforting me. He's done much of that over the years.
  
  
• Shane's mom taught me how to cut his hair. I was terrified the first time I did it. It's tough! It's not impossible, but it's tough, and I always freak out about it. But no matter how good (or bad) I do, Shane is always appreciative and I love that.
  
  
• Shane is a homebody, most comfortable lounging at home, although I am a social creature and love to go on adventures! At one point, I made a goal to do one big adventure each month. Shane is a good sport about it, and we always had fun, even if the adventures didn't turn out as planned. We snowshoed in the rain in Snoqualmie, we rode snowmobiles in Leavenworth, we went to museums, we saw the Blue Angels, we did all sorts of things. I love adventures. In fact, next week we're going to Maui and this summer, I want to go camping! I love that he always goes along for the ride, and I don't mind doing the planning!
  
  
• Shane is super smart when it comes to cars. He knows everything about everything! He knows what cars are worth, what features are best, what the latest and greatest makes and models are. Of course, this means he's usually "car shopping" -- always looking for the next addition to our family! -- but at least I know his research is exhaustive. He can also change our oil and rotate our tires and do basically everything. He's good to have around.
  
  
• He has had these pajama pants since before we were married that have fish all over them. I LOVE them. They are his "fishy pants."
  
  
• Shane's family is awesome. His parents are so generous and sweet, and his brothers and sisters love him and love each other. I am so impressed with his family! We have 14 nieces and nephews (I automatically became an aunt to 13 of them when we got married), and the one family reunion we've had so far was just a total blast. I love being a Gottula. They love to laugh.
  
  
• I love going to visit Shane's family in the TriCities because it's a 3.5- to 4-hour drive. Usually drives like that are pretty boring, but I find we have a lot of good talks. There's nothing better than just talking with your best friend.... about life, about struggles and challenges, about goals and wishes and dreams, about politics or religion or current events. All of those things. I love talking to him.
  
  
• Shane is an amazing father. I attribute a lot of it to the fact that he has a supportive work environment, and his boss encouraged him to take as much time as he needed off when Wesley was born. Shane was home with us for four weeks. It was awesome. He changed diapers, he helped with midnight feedings, he played with our little newborn. As Wesley has grown, Shane has continued to play a big part in his life. I love that he is such an attentive dad.
  
  
• Some of Wesley's favorite games, Shane discovered first. Wesley loves being tossed onto the couch and then rolling off -- giggling giggling giggling. Shane discovered that. Wesley loves spinning in the office chair over and over -- giggling giggling giggling. Shane discovered that. Wesley loves stomping in rain puddles in the parking lot -- giggling giggling giggling. Shane discovered that. There are many more. Dads are great to play with.
  
  
• Although things haven't always been perfect in our marriage (whose is perfect??), we constantly work on it. I always find myself wanting to be better when I'm with him. I think that is the sign of a good relationship: when you strive to improve so you can be the very best you can be for that other person. Because he's worth it.
  

I love you, babe. Happy Birthday to Shane!

birthday creation up for vote

Well, my handsome son is having a birthday in May. It's only March, but I get so excited about these kinds of things. I think this year I might have a party. Not sure yet. But I definitely, at the bare minimum, want to make an awesome cake.

I'm having a hard time deciding. Here are some cakes on the shortlist: what is your vote??

I. Rubber Ducky

Marshmallow knobs, blue Jello, and non-edible duckies! What's not to love?


II. Airplane cake

What son of a Boeing engineer wouldn't love an airplane cake?

III. Animals on a train

I'd make 4-5 "cars," each a different color. And use real Oreos for the wheels, duh!

IV. Farm Cake

This one is my favorite so far; it would make a great party theme, yeah? And look at all that cake to share! Yum! (Plus Wesley's new favorite song is Old MacDonald...)


V. Bulldozer Cake

I had to throw this one in here, since Wesley loves construction equipment. However, I'm not sure I could handle it. I'm pretty sure this is a tough cake to make, and my finished product would look nothing like this.


VI. Easy M&M cake

Lastly, the relatively simply but colorfully exciting chocolate-candy-decorated cake.

Comments? Vote! Or if you think I should consider another cake, feel free to send along a link. Big decisions like this require months of consideration!

And, for those of you keeping track at home, yes, Shane's birthday is next week and I am planning to make some pretty amazing cupcakes for him to take into work. But only a 2-year-old gets an amazing cake like one of these for his birthday. Trust me, I don't think Shane feels left out ;-)

why i love my family, part 1

(I stole this idea from Janelle, who stole it from someone else. All during 2010 I plan to honor my family, conveniently on their birthdays.)

Today: my Dad.

• My dad can fix anything. He built our house. He set it up so our stereo system feeds into the kitchen so we can listen to music while cleaning and cooking! He put in a central vacuum. I mean, how amazing is that?
  
  
• My dad has had his own company since 1978. He is an electrician, and I love to think if I ever have a faulty plug I could 1) call him and tell him to come fix it, or 2) call him and have him tell me how to fix it. Discounted electrical services for life!
  
  
• When I was a kid, I remember going on jobs with him. Once, he wired a Toys R Us and it was an overnight job... we got to stay up all night running around the Toys R Us while dad worked. It was AWESOME!
  
  
• At the end of elementary school, I was going through some serious "growing pains" and persuaded my dad to take me to the chiropractor with him. Chiropractors are "worth their weight in gold," dad would say. Afterwards we'd get Arby's for dinner. I felt much better after a year or two of adjustments and roast beef sandwiches.
  
  
• While I was in high school, dad had an emergency once and went to the hospital. I was so scared. I realized how much I loved him, and I prayed really hard everything would be OK. I still remember his powerful stories about how the Lord did take care of him.
  
  
• Dad was a good example of taking care of our family spiritually. We had Family Home Evenings and as much as we complained, we had family scripture study and prayer. I'm grateful for long talks about Church doctrine.... he may not even remember the times we talked about ghosts and cleansing by fire and all sorts of things, but I do!
  
  
• At Christmas dad would always listen to Mannheim Steamroller. It made me crazy for years... I just rolled my teenage eyes and said, "not another Mannheim Steamroller Christmas!" But now that I'm all grown up, it's not Christmas without Mannheim. Dad even bought me tickets to one of their concerts my first winter away from home at BYU!
  
  
• I still remember the birthday card dad gave me when I turned 18. I cried for a long time. And now that I have my own son, I can feel a little bit how he felt. Raising a child is tough work. Seeing them turn out OK (I think I'm OK!) is probably pretty rewarding.
  
  
• Dad loves milk. For many Christmases, we kids would get him various "moo-juice" mugs, always trying to get the most creative one. The best were the one from Kurt engraved with "Milk Mug" from Things Remembered, or the GINORMOUS ONE (still takes the cake) from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, or the teeny one from me with the cow and "moo" on it.
  
  
• Dad loves Star Trek, Dr. Who, Knight Rider, Voyagers, CBS Sunday Morning with Walter Cronkite, and more. Who else would watch Red Dwarf with me on Saturday night if not my dad?
  
  
• I taught my dad to be a good tipper! I loved to complain about rude customers when I worked at the Olive Garden. Now, whatever waitress keeps my dad's milk glass full gets a nice 20% tip!
  
  
• Dad was into computers before anyone else I knew was. I was very cool and computer literate in 1994. He had a cell phone back when they plugged into the cigarette lighters. It was huge and hideous, but it was cool! My favorite technology of dad's was his beeper, since we could plug our AA batteries into it to find out if they were going dead. And for a kid who goes through a lot of AAs with various electronic video game toys, that beeper came in handy! (Dad always called it a beeper, never a pager.)
  
  
• Dad loves family activities. He isn't afraid of going out to watch a meteor shower at 4 am with his daughter. We'd go camping in rain and wind and bugs and have a great time, even though our tarps wouldn't stay staked down. We'd go to the Home Shows and collect as many free keychains and pencils and ReMax stickers as possible. How else would I ever have gotten to the top of the Space Needle if it wasn't for my dad visiting Seattle and really wanting to go? Thanks for the best $25 lunch-size caesar salad I've ever had, Dad!
  
  
• I remember after my first car accident. I was completely horrified at what had happened. I wrecked a car, I split my thumb, I was in desperate need for help. My dad rescued me. I felt so grateful for him, even though I knew he was a little mad at me for wrecking his car (don't worry, it was old and cheap, although still a car) and probably driving too fast. I wanted to be defensive, but I knew at that point I needed to be humble.
  
  
• Dad always gets the best deals! He loves woot.com, he shopped at Sam's before people knew what Sam's was, and he has like 800 credit cards and a strict formula on what he buys with what so he gets the best rebate. Is that impressive or what?
  
  
• I'm so grateful for you, dad. You give so much time to me. All those memories I have, I'll cherish forever.
  

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

zoo-mazed

Saturday was fun. For the first time in the 5 years we've lived here, we visited the Woodland Park Zoo. It's the Seattle area's main zoo (although I think there are others). It was huge and fun and exciting! We thought Wesley would love it, and I think we were right. It's a good thing, too, since we bought a year membership! (You kinda have to, to make it worth it... admission is pricey! And the zoo is um, ginormous, so we didn't even get close to seeing everything.)

At first we saw some ho-hum things, and I found myself quoting Jurassic Park, "Um, are you planning to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour?" There was one point where all we had seen so far was the rear end of a zebra.

Then, we saw the hippos! They were sleeping. Shane actually turned to me and said, "Look, they have real hippos here." Yes Shane, I thought, it's a zoo.

It only got better after that! We were super impressed. Some of the things we saw include:

• A giraffe eating greenery off a fence with his huge black tongue
• A siamang (primate of some kind) giving another siamang a noogie
• A male lion hacking up a hairball (or maybe just coughing or chatting with his sweetie girlfriend lion, since then she started hacking, too)
• An elephant picking up dirt with his nose and then flinging it all over himself
• Two sloth-bears (yes, you read that right) being introduced by zoo staff, but not taking a liking to each other and making quite the racket to tell us about it

Wesley was a big fan of the waffle fries from the food court, animals that make sudden movements (birds and primates are good for that), and the Zoomazium, of course.

The Zoomazium is like this giant indoor kids play "interpretive" center, where the goal is to experience nature by play. There were chunky plastic "tinker toy" parts where kids could make bugs (a little over Wesley's head, but I made a bug, and the little boy next to me named Ian told me all about his bug), a giant treehouse with slides, stuffed animals, wooden "blocks" that you could build a tree with, and more. It was a fun little place! And seeing how it um, started to rain (welcome to Seattle!), we were glad to have the refuge. (And, I gotta shout-out to myself, since the company I work for did the structural engineering for Zoomazium, so we're pretty cool. Lots of arched wooden beams, baby!)


My favorite animal: the flamingo. Shane's favorite? He liked the tapirs; they are basically mini hippo-ish dudes with anteater noses. We saw one chowing down on a log. They were very social and active, sauntering around and saying "howdy" at the windows to the onlookers. Pretty funny!

My least favorite: the bug exhibit. Tarantulas and cockroaches and beetles, oh my. I can see my little boy loving it though... as he gets older. Heaven forbid.


So there's our report!! We had a wonderful and successful family outing. I loved that we all went to the zoo together, and I can't wait to do it again!