Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

Traveling with a 2.5 year old is exhausting! Mainly because our toddler does not run out of steam. Although there were a few days on this vacation where she just passed out and didn't wake up for a good couple of hours. We decided to be lazy Thursday morning. We stayed a little longer in bed and got in some ocean and pool time before heading down south to the Maui Ocean Center aka a big aquarium. Once again Penny made a friend, Jude, who I think reminded her of Logan and they were inseparable for a while. I am not sure if the boy was sick or had a breathing problem but his mom kept asking him to slow down. I could tell that they weren't tourist but rather locals. The boy wasn't slowing down and when we turned our heads she ran off with the boy. Penny was good and confused and tried looking for the boy and we would have helped her but the mom obviously didn't want her son by Penny any longer so we told her we went away. It took a second but she seemed fine. There w

After spending the morning at an animal farm, we drove a few miles to our friend's Dave and Rona's beach front house in Lahaina. They were hosting a picnic lunch for the Bride and the Groom and all of the guests of the wedding. Penny's friend's Liliah and Dominic were there along with Gabriel and a few other kids, so to say that Penny had fun was an understatement. Actually, all of us had a good time in the ocean and playing on the beach. It was a really nice afternoon. Hubs and I forgot to put suntan lotion on our backs and we were burned to crisp. More hubby than I. You'd think living in California we'd know better but we don't. After an afternoon of fun we need some food so Hubs, Penny, and I head to Star Noodle to check out their food. Another Yelp finding, the place was practical empty when we showed up at 4pm but hopping by the time we left. We had noodles, salmon, salad, wontons, and donuts. Everything just hit the spot after a long time

Pre-vacation I did a lot of Yelping as I wanted to find new places to eat and new places to visit while on Maui. My searching for kid friendly activities lead me to look at the Lahaina Animal Farm. It would seem that they just opened in February and according to the many 5-star reviews a can't miss for small children. So I put it on our schedule as a place to see. After breakfast at The Gazebo we drove back in the opposite direction and started up a bit of a hill. When we got to the top we found a beautiful view of the ocean and we found the farm. I was quite impressed with the signage. With all the trouble I had in Upcountry I certainly appreciated the signage to get to this location. We drove in and again followed the signs "Park Here" and "Sign In Here." Penny immediately found some bunnies to play with as we waited for 9am to arrive. Around that time a woman headed over to the "Sign In Here" tent. She immediately began taking tickets o

We woke up refreshed and decided to venture out for breakfast. One of YELP's suggestions for breakfast was "The Gazebo." Located on the ocean in an actual Gazebo I had read that people start lining up before the doors open. We happened to get there 30 minutes early and they were right, a line had formed. Luckily we were like the 4th or 5th people in line so when it opened we got an amazing table overlooking the ocean. The waitresses were very friendly and very capable of running a full restaurant. I was impressed that our waitress was so on top of everything. I asked her what was good and she told me the top 3 items people order so we got the first two. The Banana, Pineapple, Macadamia Nut pancakes and a 1/2 order of fried rice. We also got the Mickey Mouse pancakes for Penny. We all digged in and gobbled up everything up. Penny ate a ton! For a half order the Fried Rice was huge. Hubs ate way more than he intended he said. The breakfast was really, really go

After years of avoiding this tourist trap we decided to visit it after a long morning in the ocean. We called up Dave and Verona to see if they wanted to join but they needed to drive to Costco to get supplies for tomorrow's beach picnic. I asked what Mary was doing and they said staying at home. I offered to take her to lunch and the offer was accepted. Due to her fall Verona was very worried about her mum but I promised to take good care of her. It's funny, Verona is normally the one watching my child and now I was the one doing the watching. Mary met us at the restaurant. I got us seats on the bottom level overlooking the ocean. I can see why people come because the views are amazing, the food however, is just okay. Cool Cats has better hamburgers and its just down the street. They don't have the view though. Regardless, it was fun to go somewhere new and I had a lot of fun talking to Mary. Penny and hubs took off after Penny decided she was done with the pla

After spending all day Monday, running around Upcountry we were tired when we woke up on Tuesday. We partook in the hotel's early riser breakfast but afterward instead of rushing out to see something we decided to hang out at the beach and get some R & R. Penny was excited to return to the water and it wasn't long before she made friends with two little boys, Christian and Frank from Toronto. Their nanny was with them and she got the 3 children building elaborate sand houses. Christian took one look at me and asked where our nanny was. It was really funny that he knew I was the mommy. I told him our nanny was taking her own vacation away from us. He looked at me weird and walked away. It was nice getting to know those two boys but the relationship with Penny didn't last too long as they were quite particular about how things were to be done and I think Penny pissed them off. After the glory of meeting people her own age wore off she was back to grabbing Dadd

We left the store and headed to the Surfing Goat Diary, again, this was a second trip for us but what was different this time is that we scheduled an hour long tour. Last time we arrive right before closing and were rushed. We spent a fair amount of time there exploring before the tour. We tried their cheesecake, we met the cats and dogs that roamed the place, we played in the playground, we pet and fed the baby goats that were penned up, and pursued the little store. Penny was eager to get her hands on the chocolate goat milk truffles. I must admit they did look good. I had my eyes on a t-shirt and a mug. Our tour started at 3:30pm that day and we met all the goats and learned all about the farm. But the most exciting part of the tour was getting the opportunity to milk the goats. Penny was quite a good milker. A friend later reminded me that Penny was breastfed (wink, wink). By the time the tour ended we were extremely hot. Maui was hot but also humid. We were ready to

With our first full day ahead of us, we jumped in the car and headed out for Maui's Upcountry. Our first stop was in the cowboy town of Makawao to get some pastries at Komodo's Bakery, a 119-year-old family run bakery. We enjoyed our tasty treats and proceed to walk around town. Penny was fascinated with the chickens that roamed freely around town. We must have arrive a bit too early as none of the shops were open. We did go into the General Store and an Art Gallery that was open. With our bellies full, we left Makawao and heads a bit further north to Ali Lavendar Farm. We had been there once before and really liked it so we thought we would take Penny. With sweeping views of Maui's shoreline and the most wonderful lavender fields we were surrounded by beauty. They offered a children's scavenger hunt which we explained to Penny was like the Disneyland Easter Egg Hunt. She quickly related to that idea and soon were were wondering the Farm trying to find th

Loaded up with our goodies from Costco we drove 40 minutes to Lahaina and checked into our resort, The Royal Lahaina. Penny immediately found the ice-cold pineapple flavored water in the lobby while I checked us in. We gave all of our luggage to the bellman and proceeded to our room on the 4th Floor, 4023. We opened the door to our room expecting a garden view but once we went out on the balcony we discovered we had a good view of the ocean. Of course, I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures. We immediately started unpacking our crammed suitcases finding homes for all of our items plus the Costco items. Penny started jumping on the king sized bed. It took us a good 20 minutes before we got into our bathing suits and headed down to the beach. Penny saw the pool and wanted to go in but when she saw the sand at the beach and the ocean she quickly forgot about the pool. She ran to the water and found that it was warm on her little feet. Then she discovered the big wa

Today marks the first day of Penny's second vacation, with her first being our Walt Disney World trip in Orlando, last October. I am so very excited to be able to share Maui with her as it is very special to her father and I. Yesterday, hubby met his mother halfway and dropped Moses. I took the opportunity to do some last minute shopping aka buy a dress for the wedding. Luckily, with very little time I found a beautiful dress at my favorite store, Anthropologie. A girl just can't go wrong in that store and I found a sunny, Hawaiian-ish dress that will hopefully, do the trick. I also bought Penny a little pail with shovels, some Mickey Mouse water toys, a little mermaid doll, and some silver croc shoes to wear with her pink Minnie Mouse satin dress. She probably will take them off and run barefoot knowing her so I am not sure if this is a good purchase. After the shopping was done I had the daunting task of doing laundry and figuring out what to take. I always want to

I poked my hubby 102 times in a row...(insert funny joke here). Poking has got to be the stupidest thing on FB. I am really not sure what it was intended for but of late it seems hubs and I and our friends are just trying to get a high count on the "pokes." With 100 pokes being the first step in being Queen or King of Poking. My bragging about pokes on FB has lead to other "Poking Wars" with a few other people. After several years on FB that poke button is actually getting some use!

I am super excited to have dinner with two of my bridesmaids tonight AND a good friends of all of ours. As life happens, the friends that you make spread around the world. While I was sad to see such a dear friend return to MI, I am very happy that she found the life she was looking for and not only that, but is super successful at it! Who knew all those years ago a decision to wear a college sweatshirt would make such a big change in so many people's lives? I for one am lucky to know such great women and I am looking forward to a catch up tonight!

When my daughter was just a teeny, tiny baby, I made up this crazy song each that I would sing to her as we exited the bath tub and wiped down the excess water. I named it the "Naked Baby" song. Now two and a half years later, I still sing the song (I can't believe I remember the lyrics) each and every night but now my little girl sings it with me. It is completely bewildering that she learned the song and has come to expect it. It's moments like those that I cherish. Just like my going to bed song. Although, these days its harder to get her to go to sleep but for the one minute I sing that song to her all cradled up in my arms its just pure joy for me.

I think one of my favorite things with my 2.5 year old are the hugs that she gives me each morning before I go to work and the hugs I get when I come home from work. They aren't just "hugs" but rather "Big Hugs." She loves going around giving people "Big Hugs." I can't help but smile each and every time she says the words. I hope that she continues to give me "Big Hugs" as she gets older but just in case, I am enjoying each and every one right now.

Picture of my little "intermediate" swimmer with her favorite, guy, Daddy!

So it happened. The person who made my life a living nightmare for a year and three months was fired yesterday. I received the news by trusted confidant. No one ever wants to celebrate the loss of a job but this person was truly toxic. Toxic at work and to my mental health. I had a hard time accepting I lost my job. Probably because I always wanted to work there and they took that from me. I wasn't surprised I lost it because I didn't fit in and it was made clear I wasn't wanted. I didn't participate in their gossip so they punished me for it and the cost was my 9 year career. Frankly, looking back I wouldn't want to still be there because I was miserable and who wants to be miserable?...but they still took my job and I guess that is what hurts. They not only "took" but they made me feel something I never want to feel again "unworthiness." I hate that they made me feel that way because I know better but yet they made me feel that day in

It's a happy Friday! Day 2: Positivity Challenge (post three good things for five days and challenge two people to do the same) Today I challenge Stephanie Schoel and Stephanie Hale 1. Happy to Ms. Penny, who woke up this morning and pee'd in the toilet all by herself! No reminders or anything. 2. Grateful to know a person with courage, who stood up to a bully. 3. Happy that my mom is sending a box of swimsuits and shorts for Penny for our vacation, cross that off my to do list.

Theresa Olah challenged me to this Facebook game about coming up with 3 things you are grateful for 5 days. 1. Looking forward to vacation in 16 days! 2. Tried on a pretty dress that's been wrapped up in my closet and it fits! 3. Happy for my bro, who is moving back to MI.

Throwback Thursday: Japanese Exchange Student in Shiga, Japan 1991. Um, that was 23 years ago. Yikes!

This year, we went to two Fourth of July parties. One at The August's and a block party at The Regul's. Early in the day we headed over to Mike, Jon, and Amy's for a bit of BBQ, swimming, and homemade carrot cake cupcakes which were oh-so-yummy! We had a great time hanging out with them. We had them practically to ourselves until it was time for us to leave which was about 2pm, then a few other guests came over. We headed home and I washed the chlorine out of my newly colored hair, grabbed some guac that Hubs made, put Moses in the car, and we headed down to Inglewood for the rest of the day. When we arrived we found Danielle's brother Joe Bosco in the kitchen making a 7-layer cake which seemed out of the ordinary for Joe. We quickly ran into Mike Montez and his fiancé, Allison, who were in town from Portland. Jung of course, was there as part of the LA crew and then some of Toby's friends had driven down to partake in the block party fun. The only person