Practicing Aloha

Winter in Saskatoon this year was bitter cold, so we were so thankful to break away and go to warmth! We met our friends Megan, Josh, and Meredith in Maui, Hawaii over Eric's spring break week. We had a wonderful time. Annabel loved the weather, loved running everywhere, and experienced many new things such as grass!! When she first saw grass she pointed at it, did a little grunt, and then laughed. Kind of like "what's this silly stuff?"

Taking a Maui Onion chip and fruit break on a very, very curvy road trip on the Road to Hana. Later we tried coconut milk ice cream.

A black rock beach

Baby Beach
Shallow and calm; perfect for toddlers!

February is whale season in Maui.  From the beach, we could watch humpback whales splash, breach, swim, and dive.  They were sooo close!!  One time we watched a pod of three swim between two kayaks!!  The whales were by far my favorite part of the trip. 

Eric snorkeling

Pizza at Honu, named after the tortoise reserve near the shore.  During dinner we saw a few heads pop out of the water.

Megan and Meredith

Annabel loved running on the pathways (and the resort hallways!)

At first she wasn't too sure about sand touching her skin, but I see she warmed up to it.

With Annabel's fair skin (and my own), we loaded on sunscreen and limited our beach time.

The villa had organized fish feeding times which Annabel enjoyed.  When we walked by this area, Annabel would make her high-pitched fish sound "blub, blub, blub."

Tuckered out from swimming!

Annabel's hair loved Hawaii.  It sprung right up!

We spent a lot of time in the morning sitting or eating breakfast out on the lanai, enjoying the warmth and the sounds of the birds.  We were up about 6 am every morning, which actually worked great as then we were tired around 9.

I mentioned the hallways as one of Annabel's favorite things.  Well, the elevator was another.  She stood towards the back and would dart out as soon as the door opened.

 

 

 I couldn't believe how daring Annabel was on the water slide.  I bet we did this 20 times until she was shivering and I told her to say 'bye bye' to the slide.

We enjoyed a few servings of shave ice and fish tacos. And loved the gelato! Annabel tried her first delicious papaya.  I especially like the guacamole and pineapple.  We ate quite a bit of fish and a few Lava Flows by the pool.  Annabel started talking more during the trip and for Meredith and Josh she said Mimi and a very German sounding Jocque.  She continues to say Mimi-Jocque a lot, including every time she puts on her blue shoes, her hat or if we talk about swimming or mention Hawaii.  I think it's fair to say she really enjoyed them and her time on the island.  And, we are confident that when she says Mimi-Jocque she also includes Megan. We give many thanks to Al and Susan for allowing us the opportunity to stay at a beautiful place in paradise. 

Europe Trip Part 2: Krakow, Poland

It's been a while since Europe Trip Part 1, but here we go with Part 2.

From Prague, we took the train to Krakow, Poland.  We learned a great tip for future train travel, which is to first get on the train, any car, then make your way to your seats.  We about missed the train.  It seemed like everyone and their dog was all trying to get on the same car.  We waited in line, Eric got on with our luggage (and all important paperwork) and Cameron, Annabel, and I were next to get on with the stroller.  All of sudden the doors shut, Eric hit the open door button, the three of us quickly got in, the door shut again, and the train took off!!  Later when we discussed what would have happened had we been left behind and we figured Eric would have just gotten off at the next stop and returned, but it would have cost us all another ticket.

The trickiest part of traveling in a group with 2 babies was carting luggage around.  We tried to pack light, but still had too much.  When we first arrived in a new city, we had all of our luggage and would have to make a game plan about who was taking what in order to get on and off the tram in the tiny window of time they allowed.  The babies were usually in a carrier at these times, but a few times Annabel was in the stroller, so we would move quickly and one would meet me at the door to help get the stroller off.  One time I got stuck behind a lady using both sides of the rails to enter (and not letting people get off first) and I about got my foot caught in the door when it quickly shut.

These nights were some of my favorites; just hanging around at the apartment.  This night we had a bunch of unique, delicious stone-fired pizzas.

The Cloth House, now filled with a souvenir market.

A lot of the restaurants have an area for kids to play.  We found Europe to be very kid-friendly.  We were at one restaurant where they brought toys to the table and the waitress even followed me into the bathroom to assist with a diaper change because she knew they didn't have a great change table set-up!

Perogies were the most common meal in Poland.  They are potato dumplings filled with meat, cheese, or sauerkraut.  It's a popular dish in Saskatoon too, as we have a large Ukrainian population.

Ladies, he's single......

We toured this castle and grounds.  During WWII, this castle was taken over by the Germans.

This was my favorite area in Krakow.  This square was so beautiful and was surrounded by a lot of restaurants, pubs, and shops.

Krakow is a big city, but feels very small as a lot of interesting (maybe touristy) things are all in this same area.  From this square, you can walk to the castle.  We stayed at an apartment just a short walk from this square. 

At an outside restaurant

After a couple nights in Krakow, we sadly parted ways with Cameron(who headed back to the U.S. via Prague) and we headed off to Warsaw.