Friday, April 30th 2010

About 4 years ago I gave Riley a huge Lego Submarine for Christmas and he asked me to help him do it. I promised I would, but got very busy, and never did. Last night was 'man's night out' with Riley. We went to Don Pedros for dinner. Afterwards, we got the Submarine out in the Man Cave, and began building it in earnest. 3000+ pieces! It was a good time working together. Riley chats a lot. We of course didn't get it done, but it was good start, and we kept the door to the room closed so a cat doesn't kill it. We'll continue on it soon! I had a great night. Afterwards we played a football game on the XBOX together. Jennie worked late and didn't get home till 11:30! Then she was up at 6:00 the next morning and back to work!

Thursday, April 29th

This is my brother Rick's 56th birthday. He's in Oklahoma, or somewhere, we really don't know, as since his wife died he's been kind of 'travelin'. Sunday night Jennie made us all dinner, the famous Melted Cheese Sandwiches. These were here best yet. Monday we went back to work, and started digging out of the holes that our Maui trip had caused. Ame had Soccer Practice Monday and Tuesday, while the weather was good (it's now snowed icy cold hell for 2 days). Asher and Riley went to scouts last night. Jennie's Dad... almost killed himself. Yep. He has a bar hung up in the basement upon which he hangs upside down on. Well I guess Peggy came home yesterday to find him on the basement floor passed out. The bar (or whatever holds it) had broken and down went John! Knocked himself out, gave himself a concussion. We are LUCKY he's okay. Peggy called 911 and he went to the hospital, but he's okay. What a scare!

My Dad went to Oxnard for a acation so I'm taking care of the house and the dogs for a few days. Let's see, today is Thursday so that is Jennie's day she has to work late at the lab (being a supervisor, she needs to actually see the LATE NIGHT people once a week, so on Thursday's she usually works 12-9, but she had to go in a bit earlier today). She's been working on BUDGETS all week! How fun!

Last night Jennie went to bed early, so I took the kids downstairs and we had a lesson/lecture/discussion on The Kabbalah, which is this sect of Jewish Mystics and their 'take' on religion. Pretty new age, and interesting, very insightful, and all based on the concept of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. I like that and think it's good for the kids to hear about it from as many directions as possible. The kids had quite the discussion about the concept of 'freewill'. It was enjoyable. I taught them that step one on the path to Wisdom is SILENCE. They didn't like that..... (grin)!. (Step 2 is LISTENING! They liked that less!)

Wednesday night Jennie and I met with our friend Suzzanne and Wendy and Sharie (sp?) in our monthly get together and discuss life meeting. It's like a book club, only we don't talk books, we talk life. It's really cool and insightful.

So, it's Thursday morning and I'm at work. MOSTLY caught up. Good hell, can you believe? Yes! I'm mostly caught up. So I have time to actually write. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Parker and Kelly came up to Heber on Sunday to work on the NASCRAG module for 2011, which we are the authors of for the tournament at Gen Con in Indianapolis. Can you believe that? Us authors? It's cool.

Sunday

Back from Maui this week it's been busy. Rise of the Eldrazi released, a bit game that we did well on. Also getting settled in. Today Jennie took Asher shopping while the rest of us did a lot of cleaning. It is... CLEANING DAY at the Smith household. It's warm and the dogs want to go outside. Asher and I played catch.

Let's see what else we did this week. Ame had a soccer game three times this week. They lost all three, but yesterday's was the closest. She did really well, and she throws the ball in from the sideline the best of all her team, she she has to run over and do it every time there is a throw in. Wears her out because she's often on the other side of the field when it goes out! Let's see, Friday she spent the night at Taren's house and had fun. Thursday night she and I had our long planned date night. We went to Canton City for dinner, a ride on the motorcycle, shopping, and watched a movie on how to paint. Our next date night will be painting an oil painting together! I'm excited.

Jennie got her hair done, and I should get some pictures of it because it's different and really cool! I like it. She's back to work and doing here supervisor thing. She's been helping me with the NASCRAG module we're writing for Gen Con 2011.

Riley spent the night Friday at Conner's and went snowmobiling Saturday. He reported having a lot of fun doing that.

Asher spent the weekend hanging out with his friend Ashton and Caleb. I think they all went to see a movie, though I can't remember the name of it. Hm... nope, I don't remember.

My Dad is heading out of town on a vacation for 2 weeks, so we'll be taking care of his animals during that time. Next Friday we are taking Peggy and John out to dinner at the Marketstreet Grill (I think we are, I haven't gotten 100% confirmation yet) as a small token of our appreciation for watching the kids for 11 days while Jennie and I were in Maui.

Unless I've forgotten anything...

Oh yes... there are a few days on the Maui trip that have photos I haven't posted yet. I plan on doing that, maybe today, but probably in a few days.

Opps....

So... you are thinking to yourself... those photos on the last post looked unlike anything one might expect on a trip to Haleakala. That's because they weren't of Haleakala. They were... of the trip toward HANA! So that got messed up. I'll take some time tonight to sort it all out. Today is day 11 in Maui as I write this.

Day 9 - Friday Haleakala

Today Jennie and I woke and went to the pool after a coffee breakfast... nothing new there, I grant you, but THEN, after reading some good books, we hopped in the car at 3:00 in the afternoon and headed up toward Haleakala. This is a huge volcano. We started in the cold blustery rain down at sea level, and drove up into lush green farmlands. I commented more than once that this looked a lot like New England, with the thick forests on either side of the road. Up up we went. First 1,000 feet, then 2, then 3, etc. Soon we entered ranch land, rife with chickens and cows. It was beautiful land. The city of Kula lies up here, along the foothills of the great Haleakala. So we kept driving, and it got drier and drier, and then we broke out of the clouds... and we were driving on the top of the world. It was CRAZY. And never wracking. You felt queasy in your stomach looking at it! Back and forth up the switch back road. Passing signs for NENE birds, and then we were at the top and it was COLD, and it was like being on the TOP OF THE WORLD. Amazing. Spiritual. Awesome. Cold. And these little birds live up there. Okay, enough! We came down, saw the sun go down, then drove into a mist (back into the cloud), saw misty cows, and came back to the hotel a few hours later for dinner and sleep. Amazing. Everyone should go up there if they can and experience it. Here are some photos!!!

Awe!!!! SWEET!

Day 8 - Thursday - Books

Hey! What happened to the rest of the Blow Hole trip? Yep, I got you covered, but I'm going to jump ahead to something else. Y'all know I'm a big reader, but the last few years have been really busy, and so I haven't read nearly as much as I would have liked. So... this trip I decided to read, and what I wanted to read were a couple books that Asher recommended to me. I shared with him so many books as he grew up, when he started discovering books he liked he decided to share them with me. So I read two books he recommended. So here are the books that we have been reading and what we thought of them so far. Included are some other books I'm reading and books that Jennie is reading. Here they are!

This is the new Stephen King book. It's a whopper, over 1,000 pages! I'm about 100 pages into it and it's interesting. Cool concept. Lots of characters.

w

This is one of the books Asher recommended. Frankly, I wasn't too thrilled about this at first. It's a teen book. And not the kind of adventure teen book I normally liked. It's about two girls, so... it wasn't exactly thrilling. Finally, as it started, one of the girls had a mother who was very very sick, depressed, and out of it. This was hard to read for me as it tripped a lot of feelings. In the end however, the book was a great look into teens, and how things are not as they seem, and how there is hope in even the worst situation. Now I'm not recommending the book per se, as a book of adventure, but it is interesting and the theme of it struck me. When the mother was so out of it that the kids were just lost, a few times it even choked me up. It is a good story about strong kids who find strength in their differences. I do recommend it. But it's just not a big adventure or anything. Not of the sort I normally like, anyway.

I have read this book many times. I always take a Glen Cook book with me on a plane because it's easy to read and I love them. This is a good one, with Lady as the Captain and Annalist of the Black Company.

Jennie read this book, and really enjoyed it. It answers a LOT of good questions. And yes... dead people DO watch you shower.

Jennie liked this book so much she told me to read it, so I have started it, but she finished today. You have to read it in increments. It's a lot of commons sense stuff but they put in words. Stuff you can feel. Good stuff.

Jennie is reading this, and is about 77 pages in. So far...good book.

Jennie read this book... and considered it very different, but very good.

And finally, this is the first book Asher recommended to me and I found it to be EXCELLENT. An adventure that I predict will one day be made into a movie. Riley has read it as well, and he loved it. I plan on having Ame read it when I get home, she should like it as well.

So... today, being the 8th day in Maui, we relaxed by the pool and got more sun, and did some reading, then walked the beach extensively, then had dinner. Oh... I almost forgot one other book!

This is a book from my childhood which Ame is reading upon my recommendation!

Meanwhile, here in Maui I used this book (which was very complicated) to figure out Jennie's relationship signs towards me, and mine to hers. It is a fun yet complicated astrology book that gives you some fun insights:

Finally I'm reading this book slowly, as it is a very challenging book about becoming a better man.

Day 7 Wednesday - Blow Hole

We woke up early today and headed out to see the Blow Hole. Now we saw this from the helicopter, but now planned to drive there! We got... a TON of pictures. We saw so much and had a great day. I will start by saying we drove north from Kanaapalli and up around the island. So first I should tell you that the southern side that we are on is very DRY. Not much rain, about 10 inches a year of rain. But about 10 miles up around the bend... and we had FULL ON RAIN FOREST. We pulled over in this muddy wallow and took a 20 minutes walk. Jennie has huge number of these photos up on her facebook page, so that's the best place to see them. I'll put a few up here so you can kind of see what we were feeling and experiencing. It was like entering another world:

Okay, our next stop was the MOON. Not quite the actual moon, but a landscape worthy of it! See you next time I get time to write and put up pictures! For now it's off to dinner!

Day 6 Tuesday

Day 6 - Tuesday

Day six we got up early and headed down to the pool. I read Hunger Games and Blue Truth, and Jennie read the Power of Kabalah. We split a burger, and had a relaxing time. Then in the afternoon we headed back to Lahaina and did some shopping, and then stopped at the Aloha Mixed Plate for dinner. It got cold!

Here is a picture of Jennie with Snorkle Gear on from the previous day. We all looked this funny! She's a good sport for posing for this photo!

Day 4 Banyan Tree

Here is a picture of the Banyan Tree back from Sunday, Day 4! It is all one big tree!!! Amazing!

Day 5 in Maui - Monday

Maui Day 5 – Monday

This morning we woke early to a soft rain and headed down to the coffee shack and had bagels and coffee. As we sat there an old gentleman wheeled out the big birds they have in the courtyard. They have 1 white Cockatoo, and three Parrots, 1 red, 1 green, and 1 blue. I got the Cockatoo to say hello!

Slathered in sunscreen, we met our boat, the Teralini 2 again, and Kevin one of the crew from the previous night. We boarded much as we did two days ago, and the captain met us with the same story about safety and a decision. North into the rain, which had the better snorkeling, or south into the sun. I voted north for some odd reason, but everyone else voted south. South it was, and along the way… we saw more WHALES! We came right up close to a mother and a calf. The calf was slapping his tail on the water, and the mother came up and started showing him how! It was awesome! Here is a synchronized picture of the two tails up in the air!

We got a fruit breakfast, more coffee and guava juice, and then we arrived at our first snorkeling destination. The first time I snorkeled, years ago, I was nervous. YES, I saw a shark and that scared the hell out of me, but I was nervous. The previous night Jennie dreamed she had been attacked by whales while snorkeling, and I dreamed Chevy Chase was friends with my parents when I was a kid and I stared in a commercial as a baby for laundry detergent. Yep… that was a tangent, but I wanted to tell you about Jennie’s dream. Turns out neither of us had anything to fear. Now… my goal, my number one goal was to see TURTLES. I went in, saw lots of fish, and saw NO TURTLES. After an hour we got out, and then everyone saw them and here is a picture Jennie took!




Here is another one!



Remember how I said the whales were cool? The Turtles are almost as cool. They are just awesome. I could be a marine biologist. I love the sea life.

Okay, so we went to the next site, waited for another boat to move out, then we got in the water a second time while the crew cooked Hamburgers hotdogs and bbq chicken. My goal was unchanged. I wanted to see Sea Turtles. I was thwarted again. I saw some cool fish, and Jennie and I stuck together as we were scuba partners. So I came back to the boat, and as I got there Kevin told me exactly where the turtles were, in what he called a Turtle Cleaning station. I swam to where he said, and lo and behold, he was right. Turtle city. There were tons of them. All on the bottom, and then once in a while they would float up to get a breath of air, sticking their little heads up above the water. It was AWESOME. They are so cool! We don’t have pictures of them in this area because we were in the water, but trust me when I tell you… it was awesome!

So then we got out, and they opened the bar and the food flowed, I ate two hamburgers, half a hotdog and a big piece of chicken! Oh yes! Then we turned the boat around, came back toward the hotel, saw some whales along the way, and got so cold and wet in the rain we went down under. Then the sun came out, and we were back on the beach! What a wonderful ride! Awesome!

So we went to hang out at the pool… but the wind came up and the rain started again, so we came back to the room, a place we don’t spend much time. I called the kids, took a 10 minute nap, caught up on blogging, Jennie read her book, called her Mom, and did some facebooking with her new photos.

Maui Day 4 - Relaxing Day

Maui Day 4 - Relaxing Day - Sunday April 11th, 2010

Today we relaxed… we woke early and went down for a nice fruit and coffee breakfast. Then we went out to the adult pool, ordered drinks and a hamburger and sat and read. I read Linda Goodman’s Relationship Signs, and Jennie read April Witch. We had a nice time in the sun and we both took swims. I don’t think I have any pictures of it, but there wasn’t really much to see anyway. Then I decided Jennie should see the Banyan Tree, and she wanted to go shopping, so the two ideas mixed well. We took Front street down to the Banyan tree and parked. Jennie got some great photos and we walked all the way up and down the place. This one guy was smiling at me from across the street while I was waiting for Jennie as she shopped for earrings and a tikki statue, so I went over across the street near him and he asked me if I wanted to buy weed! I politely said no thank you. Later when we drove by, he was speaking to some other people, no doubt making the same offer, right out in the open!

Shopping was fun, but we were tired and so we came back and went down to the hotel restaurant and I had a cheese pizza with basil and tomatoes, and Jennie had the catch of the day, an awesome Mahi Mahi with a glass of wine.

And that was day four… yes, I know. Pretty boring huh? But after that event filled Day 3, we really needed to take a break! And we did! On Monday we would see Whales again, and also TURTLES!!!

Maui Day 3 Part 3

Maui Day 3 – Saturday Part III

So after the zip line, Jennie and I came back to the hotel. It was 10:30! We had done so much that we felt energized, so we went down to the beach to swim around and lay on the beach. We found a nice abandoned umbrella with two chairs and plopped down in the sun. We alternately read and just kind of dozed. Eventually I wanted to get some snorkeling equipment, so I got up and asked around till I found some in the Whaler’s Village, which is only about 50 feet up the path. I met a nice lady named Wendy, who gave me a great deal for a week’s worth of using the snorkeling equipment, and we talked about boat rides. Well, it turned out they had a boat ride that night that was mostly empty, so would we like to go on it? Sure! So I came back and surprised Jennie with the boat ride dinner we were going to go on. We continued to lay out for a while until we were informed by a very nice lady that the umbrella and chairs we were sitting under cost $25.00 a day to rent. We moved, and had the pleasure to sit next to a pair of young guys and a young girl. One young guy, sandy blond hair, and good looking, with a big shark tattoo on his stomach, was probably the single biggest walking cliché I have ever heard in my life. I was ready to leave 20 minutes before I actually left, because listening to him was such an experience. It’s hard to describe, but if there was a cliché thing to say, he SAID IT. The most unoriginal person I have ever had the interest of overhearing. If I had written a story with him in it, the editor would have 100% rejected it on the claim that no one talks that way, no one could possibly be that cliché.

So at 4:00 we met Kevin (one of the crew)

of the Teralini 2

and took off our shoes (throwing them in a tub with everyone else) and marched single file onto the boat.

The Captain

gave us a quick lecture about safety, and the drinks and food started flowing. They warned us that it was April, and most of the whales were heading north back to Alaska and they hadn’t seen a whale all day.

Jennie and I took a picture together:

And Jennie took pictures

Until…

We saw WHALES! Lots of them. This a photo Jennie got:

And

At one point we met a little calf and his mother, and the calf breached about 50 times. Leapt right up into the air and crashed down:

But that wasn’t everything! We then saw DOLPHINS!

After all that, I have to say, I was moved. Truly. The whales were amazing, and the dolphins, plus the flying Mahi Mahi, that I was just moved. I felt something important. Life out there was just cool. I was open to the universe, and God was visible and accessible.

We finished with this fantastic sunset photo by Jennie, that just summed up the beauty and magic of Maui.

And then we were back on the beach, another awesome photo by Jennie:

So what a day day three was! Of course day 4 would be a big day of relaxation and shopping, but we needed it! Day 5 we are back out on the boat! More whales, and this time we’ll show you TURTLES!!!

And finally, here is a little video I caught of the Whales!

Jason on the Zip

Here I am, on the zip itself taping my trip across. It's a bit bumpy but pretty cool!

Maui Day 3 Part 2

Here is the video of Jennie riding the zip!

Maui Day 3

So Jennie and I got up at the crack of dawn (5:00) to get to the Eco Skyline Adventures meeting place for the Zip Line experience! We get there with 10 other people, take a last bathroom break, and get in a van and head up the mountain! It's a 20 minute drive through fields that used to be Sugar Cane fields but now are just nothing. Dirty red clay is everywhere. Finally we get to a little hut with 3 horses loitering around. Turns out there used to be a trail guide ride here, yet, the guide gave up doing it, and just let the horse go. The poor beasts almost died of starvation up here, so this lady came up to save them and comes up on her own dime every day to feed and water them. The horses were pretty scruffy, and thin, but were really friendly. They came up and we got to pat them and say hello.

So we got locked into our gear, which is this harness, and this helmet, with these nice guides, then we got into the black van, and were taken to the top of the mountain. So the zip line is this cable strung between two poles over a gorge. You attach your pulley to it, which is attached to your harness. Then you run and jump and the pulley zips you along the cable over the gorge down to the other pole. Each side has a big wooden structure built so you can take off and land.

This might all make more sense with a picture? No?

Opps! That was the friendly horse! Let's instead look at Jennie in her harness and helmet!

So now you want a photo of the zip itself? Here is Jennie just starting on the zip!

Now let's see Jennie actually ON the zip! Here she is!

And here she is landing!!!!

My next post will have VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And this day isn't over, either. We will see WHALES before it is over. WHALES I tell you. WHALES!

Day 2 in Maui

Day 2 started with us racing down to the court at the Westin for BREAKFAST. Nothing like hot coffee and a buffet filled with FRESH FRUIT! Oh my! It was awesome. My favorite part almost! Then... we packed up the car and headed back all the way to the airport. Why? Well we were going to take a Helicopter Tour! We got lost along the way. Have I told you that Jennie gets upset easily in the car? She does. But we found our way back thanks to some of my firm guidance and direction on my part. We weighed in and joined two other couples. Our guide was a Hawaiian woman who had been piloting for 27 years! The helicopter rose up like magic, and away we were. This woman, Janelle, was amazing in how well she remembered all our names. Somewhere in the middle of this Jennie's camera batteries died and she had what we all call a "shit fit". She was NOT happy. Luckily I had my little camera, and I offered it to her (as she had the window seat) and she took some great pictures. Here is one of them!

The helicopter went up around the north side of Maui then over to Molokai and to the north side of Molokai which was just incredible! Then we came back, saw the blow hole, and we were back to the Heliport. An AWESOME ride. Then we went up to Paia, and had some great shopping an lunch. Britta used to have a shop up here years ago, but we couldn't find it, so if she's there, we missed her. Then we went to Costco, got shorts, shoes, flip flops, towels, fruit and ... a NEW CAMERA. I bought Jennie a cool Cannon. I should include a picture of it.

We raced home put the batteries on the charger and raced out to the Adults only pool where I took a swim, Jennie sunbathed, I got a strawberry smoothy (no alcohol) and it was so good! I went swimming, then we went back to the room, got ready for dinner at the Tropico. It was good, and Jennie got some photos with her new camera of the sun setting, and there was this guy who did music with a acoustic guitar who was good, but for the money we paid? I don't know if it was worth it. Then we came back to the hotel and like two slugs went sleep around 8:00....