Zipline Times

"Welcome! You're all here for the sky dive tour, correct?" our guide, Justin said as we pulled out of the parking lot onto a main road. Our group chuckled, as  we were really  off to a 4 hour zip-line tour.  Justin's humor got  the desired effect-to humor and relax us before we put our lives in their hands as we would fly through the air trusting our lines on carabiners and cable systems.  

 We walked a short distance down a trail into a jungle and started the day on a shorter, smaller course. 

Alex, the guide, gave us instructions on how to mount the line, ride safely and  how to dismount on the opposite platform with the assist of the other guide. 

Then it was go time. 

Stuey jumped up to be the first rider of the day and wasn't scared at all. It was a proud mommy moment for me. The other adults in the group looked over and said, "wow, hes so brave". I was happy for Stuey for his enthusiasm and glad that I didn't go first!

The afternoon was speckled with fun and humor from the guides and other folks on the tour. They called the helmets "Brain buckets" and said they were so the guides could find us if/when we landed on the ground. We all nervously chuckled at the partial truth to their jokes!

 One of our guides, Alex, has led groups for 2 years and her experience really showed. The muscle memory of checking and double checking all the connections was in her hands with every movement. The guides would instinctively double and triple check harnesses and for this I was thankful. There is absolutely no room for error and everything felt amazingly safe. 

(Nonetheless, my heart still jumped up into my throat every time Nora and Stuey stepped off the platform, into mid air. A mom with an 18 and 22 year old sons on the course that day said the same thing happened to her when her sons stepped off the platform. This was re-assuring to hear, that I wasn't just a "nervous Nellie" mom)

Zoya

Stuey in sand castle heaven. 

Dinner on the porch of our house. 

Morning sun time!

Justin saying "Just to let you folks know, if I have to do First Aid, I go straight to mouth to mouth"  Laughs!

Family photo!

Nora flying through the jungle.

Watching other zipliners come onto the landing area. 

The final ziplines where we achieved speeds of 40 miles an hour!

Fabulous scenics along the way.

I think this suspension bridge got my heart beating faster than the zipline!

"Whee!!" Nora was great about letting out squeals of delight!

Getting ready to take off!

Stuey in zipline heaven. 

Zoya

Down Time

This week in Hawaii has been so good the soul.

We've found a rhythm to the day where we wake up, eat breafast on the deck- I help Nora with homework. 

Then at 8:30 or 9:00 we go down to the cove and the kids play in the water for a little over an hour. Noon hour is lunch time out of the sun or outing somewhere. 

The hours before dinner are back by the beach as the sun prepares to set. Patrick's family rotates nights for cooking dinner. On several occasions, Patrick's family has granted Patrick and I a chance to go to dinner alone without kids which has been fun. The kids get a chance to hang out with family without Patrick and I there and Patrick and I get a few minutes to enjoy a Hawaiian grown-up meal. 

This trip has been even better for my soul  than I could've imagined. The down time, and ability to "do nothing" has been fabulous. Sometimes vacations can be filled with too much of having to be somewhere, doing something and this vacation hasn't felt that way. We love our front deck and can spend countless hours reading, writing. 

Nora chillin' in the evening sun in the hammock. 

Sunrise on the point. 

Ahhh....zen moments!

Cove fun.

Stuey on helicopter Tour with his grandfather and Aunt Polly an Uncle John

Nora vs. the wave

Nora and Stuey with Granny Coco

Zoya

Underwater Issues

Despite my love of snow and cold places I have always loved to snorkel in warm water.  And for this trip to Hawaii, more than anything else, I was looking forward to the snorkeling.  In the old days affordable under water cameras did not exist, and I could not wait to test out my underwater camera.  It would be my first time snorkeling with a camera.

Here at Kauai the snorkeling has not disappointed.  We have a reef right in front of the house, the water is clear, and there are all sorts of colorful fish out there.  I've seen turtles, barracudas and even a gigantic and scary eel poking out of some rocks on the bottom.  My favorite spot to snorkel is out at the edge of the reef where there is a cliff down into the deep water.  This is where all the big fish like to hang out.

Unfortunately my underwater camera only lasted one trip.  It still works only the lens is fogged.  I got photos from the first trip, but no turtles, barracudas, eels or any of the things I found on subsequent trips.  Still, I did get some photos and now I can just enjoy the snorkeling without the worries of capturing it with my camera.  Patrick

Waimea Canyon

SNORKELING

Things are on the mend with Patricks legs. Today is the first day in weeks and weeks where I can honestly say that his legs look better...AND he is more comfortable. I am so relieved and thinking we won't have to worry about seeing the dermatologist or doctor for now.

Two days of snorkeling and swimming has really helped Patrick's leg rashes and I'm so glad to see him on the mend.

This morning right after sunrise, Nora and Stuey were so excited to get into the ocean right away. We rented little boogie boards from a surf store which the kids have enjoyed floating on.

This morning the tide was coming in which meant that the very small waves were a little bigger and exciting for the kids. They were squealing with delight and Patrick was out with them helping them manever their boards. All of a sudden Stuey started crying and said he didn't want to get off the board. He said something scared him-he felt like a fish bit him.

Tears were streaming down his face as he walked out of the water onto the beach. Nora came out as well, shivering with blood coming down her leg from a small cut on coral. It was a sad way to end the morning of swimming.

snorkeling in the cove. as Stuey says, "There are 'thousands' of fishes!

body boarding!

WAIMEA CANYON
A few hours later we headed out for a drive to Waimea canyon, which is like the grand canyon of Kauai. The ride up to the canyon was an hour on twisty-curvy roads and Nora was slumped in the back seat, clutching her stuffed Buffalo (Brownie) the entire way. She was terribly carsick. I would look back at her and her eyes would be half closed, as she just tried to not feel sick.

On the way up to the canyon we stopped at a little shrimp hut and smoothie hut. The kids got the worlds largest shaved ices and I got shrimp tacos. I'm reminded how these experiences of ice cream cones, shaved ices, etc are classic family vacation experiences for kids. Soul food for the little ones. It is so fun to experience these little moments with them.

Waimea canyon-Nora loves her xtra tuffs even in Hawaii!

Family photo at the canyon

canyon scenic

the drink spot

the worlds largest shave ice!

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION
I am so rejuvenated already. I've been doing lots of thinking about the past two months, how sick I was with a cold and how I"ll work to prevent that from happening again this next year. My new years resolution is to do less and say No more often. As my friend reminded me, saying "No" to others or commitments is saying "YES" to me. A very good way of putting it!

The Sangria options from dinner last night. Fabulous!

The deck~my favorite part of vacation. Listening to the waves, relaxing and watching the kids on the lawn. 

Zoya

Hawaii!

We arrived to Hawaii last night and are waking up with the warm breeze, ocean waves lapping on the shore and morning doves outside. Best soul food ever!

Patrick has been struggling with an allergic reaction in his legs which has been persisting since his goat hunting injury. He has had awful itching, pain and raised red welts. He went to the doctor last week and has been trying all sorts of various creams and pills to help reduce the pain, with little help.

Fortunately benadryl and zyrtec are helping reduce the intensity of the flare up but we're still not sure what caused the initial reaction.

I'm just so glad he survived the trip without too much flare up and he is here with us. I"m thinking a visit to a dermatologist is in order in the next day or two. Or just some swimming in the ocean and some sunshine could hopefully clear things up.

Open-aired Maui airport

warm breeze…heaven

Early morning swim time

Grandpa George and Stuey

Before leaving Kodiak, I was extremely tired and sick with an 8 week cold...just run down. I"m really feeling on the mend now and a winter getaway was definitely a good idea.

Zoya

Desperation Snow

Checking the news this morning it is all about the forecasted cold snap descending on the Lower 48.  There is a reason it is expected to get so cold in the eastern half of the United States.  It is because there is a serious jet of warm air coming from Hawaii up into Alaska.  It is literally pushing cold air from the North Pole down into the Midwest.  For the Lower 48 they are saying that it might bring the coldest air seen in decades.  The flip side is that Alaska is seeing an epic warm snap.

As I write this it is blowing 40 and pouring outside.  Mill Bay is a maelstrom of white and grey.  We are going to Hawaii on Monday, and looking at the satellite image for the North Pacific (click here) you can see that the same storm stretches from Hawaii to Alaska.  It's literally pouring rain from Hawaii to Alaska!

Funnily enough this sort of makes me happy.  Usually when I leave home during the winter Kodiak experiences a cold snap with lots of snow. This time it looks like I'll be leaving behind warm temperatures and rain, and I will not be missing out on much.

Still it has not been all bad this winter for skiing here on Kodiak.  On New Year's day the sun came out and we all went for a ski at the golf course.  The temperatures were in the low 40s and the snow was actually a bit soft in places.

The photos make it look like it was epically bad snow conditions.  Conditions that I have been accused of calling 'good for your technique'.  But you will note that everyone has smiles on their faces.  We had fun!  Zoya got to use the new skis I gave for Christmas, and the kids got to work on their 'technique'.

Patrick

Now that's epically bad snow conditions!

Zoya's Christmas Skis

Satellite image showing the size of the storm

The Holi-daze are over

The holidays are over and what a whirlwind it was. 

The Christmas cards still remain to be sent out but I'm trying to remain zen about the fact that only 1/2 of them are addressed. I'm glad the cards say, "Peace" instead of Happy Holidays this year!  This happens occasionally, I remind myself. I've had a lot going on. 

Last week the new physical therapist arrived to town to start working at A Balanced Approach and it has been a dream come true to have a full time therapist in the practice. Getting ready for her arrival and transition was quite a time commitment but now the hard part is done. 

Kelsea's arrival is a blessing to my practice right at a time when I'm really needing the help. She is so intuitive, enthusiastic, kind, intelligent and puts clients right at ease. From day 1 I knew that this would be an excellent transition and I could breathe easy. 

As Kelsea treated her first client in our treatment room, I was giddy with excitement. The thought of another therapist putting the treatment room to use made me really thrilled.

In two days we leave for Hawaii and the vacation can't come soon enough. I"ve been struggling with an 8 week long cold and really need some rest and relaxation (under a palm tree on a beach, preferably!). The sun and warm air should help my cold heal up.  

I asked my office manager to change the password on the business account to something I don't know so I can't be attempted to check in on work. I'm learning the art of really unplugging from my business when I'm away so I can really enjoy every moment of vacation. 

I'm ready to relax, read, swim and see family. We're meeting up with Patricks parents and sister and her family. 

Zoya

Dancing at the Eufemios!

Nora looking at ornaments with her friend Sophie

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After the party...Nora in a dress that I wore as a girl. I think its the last time it will fit her. 

Stuey with block creation!