Perpetual clouds have covered the land and sucked any hope out of pretty much all of us in the Lower Mainland. This has, without a doubt, been the worst year for weather since we traded the Edmonton blue skies for this nonsense in late 2005.
Don't get me wrong. I love that the summers usually end up beautiful. I love the mountains. I love that I can play outdoor soccer year round.
But the clouds can just die for all I care.
I'm sure that would wreck something though.
So thankful for the arrival of sunshine and warmth yesterday. It is actually starting to feel like summer. Although my mind is telling me I should be on a beach...
Here's what I'm looking forward to this summer:
Manchester United in Seattle in July. I get giddy just thinking of it.
Date night with my beautiful wife to see Owl City and Mat Kearney.
Friends & family visiting. I'm not even sure when they are all coming, but the pool and the BBQ will be ready at all times.
Going to Toronto for my friend (and former intern) Ryan's wedding in August.
Slowing down...fewer nights out. More time at home.
Why do I have the feeling this will all be over way too quickly?
What do you do with endless hours of free time and sunshine? Jump in the Jeep, throw the top down and explore.
Pull over when the sign says "Scenic Overlook" and take some family pics. (It's time like these that I wish I had better photography skills.)
Whenever you need a break from that you head to the beach whenever you can convince the kids to get out of the pool.
Seriously, I still can't understand why my kids can have an entire ocean and endless beaches at their disposal, but they would rather jump in a swimming pool that is barely within eyesight of the ocean. They could chase crabs on the beach, follow fish through the coral, but we had to twist their arms to get them out of the chlorine. How does that work?!?!
Here's the view we had from our room. A nice deck with patio windows that would completely open up so you could have an unhindered view of the ocean. It was also a great place for having our dinner each night and for playing the occasional game of Ticket to Ride.
Found a little craft fair in Kihei on the side of the road where we could wander around and act like tourists and the kids could spend a few dollars on miscellaneous items, a few of which are already broken.
Highlight: Kids trying to eat a bowl of shaved ice that was almost as big as their head.
(Yes, I am whining.) Oh...and in keeping with Knott tradition we found a little restaurant tonight that we wish we would have found much earlier in our vacation.
Oh...and it's Mexican.
Oh...and I had a burrito there that blew my mind.
Oh...and I'm trying to mastermind a plan for getting us to eat there tomorrow despite the fact that there is leftover spaghetti in the fridge.
Today we spent 5 hours on the beach building sandcastles, hunting crabs, snorkeling, swimming and reading.
I also rescued a fly away umbrella for some family who decided to abandon their stuff during the lunch hour. I think I should be on the news.
I'm getting used to this life outside the office.
I joked with our pastoral staff before I left that they might want to start looking for a new youth pastor because I was seriously considering not coming back from vacation.
I'm not joking anymore.
I'm staying.
Seriously.
And you cannot change my mind.
But you can support me. Email me and I'll let you know how to contribute to my new life.
I've spent the last few months counting down to this vacation and awaiting the arrival of sunshine, so I'll be honest and say that I was a little disappointed to find on our first day here that a current weather system has blocked out most of the blue sky.
But if there's one place I'll accept some cloud cover, it's here. We still managed to turn bright red despite our best efforts to use the sunscreen. It would appear that our skin does not know how to respond to sunshine after months and months of living in some sort of post-Apocalyptic vampire world.
I digress...
Yesterday we broke out the snorkeling gear.
We took a stroll through Lahaina.
Climbed the Banyan tree.
We also enjoyed a steak dinner on our deck.
Now we're waiting for one sleepy head to awake before today's adventure begins.
Seriously, this whole rain thing is getting ridiculous. I know it's supposed to be wet out here, but I can't remember the last time we had 2 days in a row with blue skies and sunshine. I can hardly remember a day that it didn't rain. And this is the forecast that is looming:
I don't know why but I've developed a soft spot for Southern California over the years.
We just got back last night from our latest adventure. We were able to snag some cheap flights in April and decided it was time to take the kids on a "flying" vacation.
Thanks to a little help from Grandpa, the kids thought they were flying to Vancouver Island right up until we passed through the security clearance when a guard said "Take your parents on all the scary rides, ok?"
Best response from Aidan when we finally fessed up, "Does this mean we aren't going to the Island?"
But what a blast we had. Exploring Disneyland, eating In-N-OutChick-fil-A, wandering through Hollywood, driving along the coast and just generally enjoying non-stop time together.
Highlights of the trip:
I drove our rental car straight off a curb thinking it was an exit from the parking lot. Lesson #1 learned: It pays to get the extra insurance.
Becca on the dance floor...only it was Bieber that was playing. Seriously...she jumped in there with very little prodding. You won't see any pics of Aidan on the dance floor...unfortunately he deemed dancing as too embarrassing.
Watching the kids get picked for Jedi Training. Aidan was thrilled to face off against his hero...Darth Maul.
Finding a Ferrari...in a mall parking lot! Sure, it was in the middle of LA, but still it's kind of funny, right?
Jumping on the Grizzly River Run minutes before the park closed. The was the most water we got hit with ever on this ride!
Acting like California tourists and strolling for stars.
In Seattle there is a giant water thingy (more descriptive words evade me due to the late hour). It shoots water out randomly in all directions. So I did what any good father would do, I offered my kids $1 if they would run and touch the "globe" and then run back to me.
Their timing was pretty good, so I lost a couple of bucks.
Becca was the first one there and back.
Aidan took some convincing, but he eventually made it.
My timing was not so good. I clearly underestimated how much water was being spewed forth by this thing.
Erin's timing was ok on the first run, but then I convinced all of them to hold still a while longer so I could take a picture. The waited while I fiddled with the camera. And then the water cooperated.
In other words, I may have been out a couple of bucks, but I got the last laugh!
I'm in the middle of two weeks off. And instead of trying to make a run for someplace warmer we opted for spending last weekend in Seattle. And now we're back and sticking around until I head back to work next Thursday for an all day sermon planning meeting.
It's day one and it's raining. Raining?!?! Vacation is supposed to be sunshine and beaches and I spent most of today on the couch. That's not right.
On the plus side I was able to get some reading done as Becca hovered around with Lego and Aidan was wreaking havoc at a friend's house. Erin? She was working.
If you're looking for some music, I'd recommend Zach Williams. Start with the song "James" and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
So, that last post will be the last bit of "shop talk" around here for the next couple of weeks. You'll have to settle for the occasional family photo and my ongoing reading list.
Every time Sir Swarls (aka The Intern) wears his red t-shirt with the word "closer" on it I have a hard time deciding whether he is making a statement that he is a closer, as in closing pitcher, or he is closer, as in "closer to crazy than other people".
Today I use the term "closer" as in "I am closer to vacation than last week."
Two Seattle City Passes arrived today in the mail via Air Miles. One more kids pass is on its way, and we'll have to fork out a few dollars for the fourth. But that means that we'll be shelling out a mere $39 US dollars for all four of us to:
Travel to the top of the Space Needle
Visit the aquarium
Visit the zoo
Visit the Science Center and watch an IMAX flick
Visit the Science Fiction Museum (or the Museum of Flight)
Go on a harbor cruise
We are closer to vacation! We are desperately needing this and I am super excited to spend some time with just my family in a city that we love to visit.
We wrapped up the trip with some more time on the beach and by doing some more snorkeling.
And in case you ever want to see a turtle, here's some advice. Just sit on the beach until someone yells "turtle".
Yup...I actually took that photo myself. I'm a regular oceanographer (that's the one that takes photos in the ocean right?).
After checking out we stored our gear, jumped in the Jeep and went exploring.
There is more beauty around every bend on this island. (The girl on the right is by far prettier than the goof on the left.)
One final sunset before heading for the airport.
I don't think our flight left until after 11:00pm Maui time. I tried to watch Iron Man on the airplane since that was the first time I've ever been on a plane that showed a decent movie during the flight. But I didn't make it.
Did you know that if you sit through an hour and a half time share presentation you can get $100 and a coupon that will get you 50% off a future stay?
Yes, we will subject ourselves to sitting and listening with absolutely no intention of purchasing anything. They figured it out early on and let us off easy. But we were ahead by that time.
I forgot to mention something in yesterday's recap. Since August 17th happened to fall on a Sunday I caved to my wife's request to go to church. (I'm usually an avid supporter of not attending church while on vacation. I'm still trying to come to grips with how I can attend church without "thinking church". It's complicated.)
Anyway, we found one that started at 8am and was held in a oceanfront restaurant ("church on the beach" seemed like a neat idea at the time.). Now, I don't want to sound too critical, but that's 75 minutes of my life that I won't get back. Seriously, it was actually painful. It fulfilled almost every bad stereotype of church you've probably ever heard. In fact, I was contemplating leaving midway when a mom & two kids seated at the table next to us decided to get up and leave. I had missed my window of opportunity.
Anyway on to the next day...
August 18
We slept in until 8:30am. And since we were still a little tired from all the travel the day before, we had to settle for the beach. I know...rough life, eh?
We also decided to head out on some jetskies for an hour. What a blast! But I think the highlight of that adventure was just sitting on the jetski amidst a school of dolphins. There must have been 25-30 dolphins swimming around us, so we just sat and watched for the last 15 minutes of our rental time.
And I was too lazy to bring the waterproof camera! Sheesh!
After some more beach time in the afternoon, we headed into Lahaina to grab some grub and do a little shopping. I think we hit up every little shop on Front Street and nearly got lost in a little obscure, back-alley bookstore that was floor-to-ceiling books. (Hey, we needed some more reading for the beach!)
As you notice, there weren't many photos from this day. Erin took a picture of me napping after my strenuous day at the beach. It's not that pretty, so here's the other picture.
Around 10:00am we jumped in the Jeep and decided to hit the infamous road to Hana. It's 53 miles from Kahului to Hana but the drive will take at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours (sometimes longer depending on your stops).
Approximately 600 curves (not that I counted). 50-some bridges (most of which are single lane). It's safe to say that this is a full day journey in and of itself.
We grabbed some Carl's Jr beforehand (can you say "burrito and Mountain Dew for breakfast"?).
I enjoyed my meal.
Erin? Not so much.
We made the trip to Hana as long as possible by stopping at almost every little place that the map told us would worthy of checking out.
Tree climbing.
Waterfalls.
Black sand beaches.
Road signs (Erin's favorite one).
Sacred pools.
Oh...and I drove topless.
By the way, did you know that the rental company will charge you $75 if you don't put the top on the Jeep before you return it? While I didn't have to learn this the hard way, I am grateful that the valet at the hotel knew what he was doing. I think he saved me $75.
However, we did find out that as soon as you take the top off the Jeep, it is likely to rain, even in Maui. We got soaked! But within 15 minutes the rain and the clouds were gone.
We stopped at Hana Bay for supper. Did you ever want to know what Subway looks like after sitting in a Jeep for almost 6 hours?
Yeah, it was as disgusting as it looks.
We had to settle for fish crackers and a wedge of pineapple.
We ended up sitting behind the "college crew" on the plane. You know, the cool guy (who tries to order 2 beers 10 minutes into the flight) and his cool girlfriend (who like tries to like enjoy the like trip with her like friends). Then there's the other couple (quieter and more subdued than couple one, but almost identical looking at first glance). Then there's the jock. And let's wrap it all up with the geeky guy. It was a 6 hour cultural experiment.
By the time we got off the plane in Maui, got our rental vehicle, figured out how to get the windows down in said rental vehicle, bought some supper and got checked into the hotel it was 2:44am BC time. And just what do two tired and hungry people eat at 2:44am?
Judge for yourself.
August 15 (The 10th Anniversary)
The alarm clock didn't go off (as I don't set it on vacation) but the numbers almost scared me.
Seriously, what was I doing up at 7:45am?!?! On a freaking vacation?!?!
We spent all day hanging out, buying books & groceries, swimming, snorkeling (saw a turtle), and watching the sunset. Then we took in a meal at The Outback Steakhouse. Mmmm....cheese fries!
And a grown up conversation. Sometimes I forget what those are like. You just get used to kids voices and kids stealing the conversation. And you're usually in a hurry to get out of the restaurant so you can get them home and to bed in time. But not tonight.
Funniest moment: being asked if we were on our honeymoon. I guess Erin looks young!
FYI, I married the prettiest girl in the world.
August 16 (More Beach)
Up at 7:00am?!?!
If you know us, this is beyond unusual. We're late sleepers. But I guess we wanted to suck every moment of sunshine out of this trip that we could.
At least I could use the time to do a little reading (one of the few items that was on my agenda for the week). What else? Well, is there anything else to do but hang out on the beach? Swim. Read. Swim. Snorkel. Read. Repeat. Any questions?
