Days 9-10, Kapalua and Kapalua to E-ville

Day 9: Kapalua

THB's regular (i.e., only) snorkel spot a few minutes after 8am, people are just starting to enter the water

Weather: Breezy, blue water, low to  mid 80s, intermittent light rain around 6pm

THB and DB getting their toes wet

LB sez there is a fish in this picture

The usual breakfast and the 6 of us (E is sleeping in) go to beach and twins get more edge-of-the-water play time. DB and K take twins back upstairs and LB and THB do yet another morning snorkel. THB swims with a turtle in shallow water (it is a big animal in shallow water), we see boxfish, a school of orange spined tangs and a few other first-timers.

Everybody meets up at the owners' pool mid-morning including A who is joining with LB for a week in Kehei and has arrived today. 

Lunch on the deck, THB bbqs the last of four slabs of pork ribs, the twins have their usual, and others have miscellani as we are emptying the fridge and pantry (good news: LB and A are taking the leftovers to Kehei, so not much will go to waste).

Lots of relaxing in the afternoon along with a bit of packing as we get ready for an early checkout and the drive to airport for 6 of us on the Maui-Oakland flight scheduled for 10:45am.

Look, Grandma and Mom left their devices laying around

What's Grandma's personal code?

I'm in...you?

Yep, and now all we need are their bank account apps. Are you kidding, I am going to check my Instagram comments

Dinner of pupus and 4 drinks in the hotel bar, $200.

Day 10: Kapalua to E-ville

A new dress from Blue Ginger

Weather: Breezy, blue water, low to  mid 80s, intermittent light rain around 6pm

Another stroller shot (maybe outside Maui airport)

Pack everything up and load the van and sedan. Even with A included, everything fits. About an hour to the airport where once again Hawaiian Air lives up to it's reputation: SOUR!

Hell

THB upgraded the six of us (LB is staying another week) to First Class as the now-only-switched-once ancient 767 has no "comfort" zone.  So, we get into the First Class/Priority HA line. We're waiting as 3 (THREE) people behind the counter chat away ignoring their best customers. Then the woman who helps us check-in is easily the nastiest person THB has encountered at check-in desk...and THB means any person at any check-in desk. 

Fueling up for the flight, Jasmine often is playing with her feet while drinking

Mom, I'll have the special meal

Mama Gooch's Hiyashi Chuka noodle salad (ingredients not listed on menu)

Tofu Hekka with long rice noodles (spicy!)

Chilled mini pineapple peach pie (sans whipped cream)

Same pie except it came with whipped cream

Fortunately, the flight attendants were a lot more congenial (do you think having the twins along helped win them over?). The meal was actually pretty good and the most unusual one THB had since he and K were flying back from Beijing and tried bipandbop.

J and DB taking a nap, J only slept about an hour on the flight

C apparently has the more favorable spot as she sleeps for close to 2.5 hours

Say our goodbyes to K&E&J&C at the curb and await our strange Lyft driver. How strange? His chihuahua greets us than snuggles up behind the driver's neck as he takes us back to the loft. That fit with his quirks.

THB unpacks (yeah, how boring is when THB tells you about his unpacking) and HA has done it to us again. Another first: someone opened our big suitcase, leaving it partially unzipped (THB doesn't both to lock the suitcase, who would want THB's dirty clothes and arts and crafts project?) and removes the loose coins that THB saves during the trip. Okay, THB has a habit of not carrying loose change, saving it up to donate to his local bridge club. Why would someone risk their job for $3-5 of loose change?

Next trip: in two weeks, THB goes apple picking in Tieton, about 20 miles from Yakima, right in the middle of the first round of playoffs (the A's actually qualified for at lease one playoff game, THB is in 9th heaven...that's 13 heavens above where Hawaiian Air lives).

Days 6 - 8, Kapalua

Days 6 - 8 : Kapalua (Maui)

Day 6: Kapalua

Now you can see the outcome of THB and DB's arts and crafts project; in this shot, six Cecily's and one Jasmine

Cecily inspects Jasmine's barrette or is it vice-versa?

Weather: Breezy, blue water, high 80s, no rain anywhere

Early morning snorkel for THB and LB: fabulous! Turtle popped up before we got into the water; octopus; sting ray; large eels swimming; huge trumpetfish; large schools of fish; vibrant coral (and dead coral, too).

THB fudged a bit. Actually the snorkel seemed more like late morning because the building fire alarm went off at 3:40am! The twins are up before and after the alarm and THB and DB get up to help out. Remarkably, the twins are in good spirits after de-cribbing and THB can easily tell them apart. 

When the twins go down for their first nap of the day it is actually time for breakfast. One group is going mid-morning to Slappy Cakes for make-it-yourself pancakes while THB and LB are going to snorkel (see above). The Slappy Cakes group never makes it, problems with the car seat. 

THB and DB go snorkeling mid-afternoon and the twins go to the adult pool for floating around with LB and K&E. It's hot and the snorkeling is not near as good as the 8am snorkel. The water feels great.

Now for the make-up photo shoot. THB took a lot of pics when he wasn't posing.

Selected pics by THB of all sorts from the photo shoot (selected professional pics will be posted later in week):

Yesterday rain, today high 80s; the shoot starts on the grass above the beach you can see from the condo, finishes on the beach

LB with ... with ... Cecily

For those of us less observant, the twins get an outfit change mid-way

Cecily on left,  Jasmine on right (maybe)

The girls are having fun as the tide comes in: one, two, three jump...the adults are getting sore knees

French Angelfish, THB's fave, not seen in Kapalua

Pics of the other wedding ceremonies on the beach just to the side of the Montage:

Maybe just a renewel of vows?

And a few random photos:

Sunset from the beach. There are probably 6 other couples on the beach awaiting this photo op

Dinner on the deck: momofuku pork shoulder dish (except we substitute pork loins), tofu for one, brewskies, wine

Day 7: Kapalua

Weather: Breezy, blue water, high 80s, no rain anywhere

Twins sleep in (K reports they were up in middle of night for a while), and DB and K&C&J head off to Slappy Cakes before 7. THB has Grape Nuts with blueberries and shares a ripened mango with LB, then we do our usual 8am snorkel. E sleeps in!

Slappy Cakes doesn't go so well (is eating there under a dark cloud?). Girls are fussy, won't go down for a nap so - damn, is THB disappointed - the twins and DB and K&E join LB and THB at the owners' pool.

Back to condo for lunch: DB and THB have leftover Momofuku "carnitas" open faced tacos with rice and avocado and various leftover salsas, brewski and an Arnie for THB (this is his metho once-a-week day, no alcohol allowed). Four take long naps, LB and THB are the holdouts. 

DB and K&E and twins do some recreational shopping at Blue Ginger, a shop that specializes in apparel for kids. And the results are in: introducing the Aloha sisters!!

J thinks C needs an adjustment

RALLY CAP TIME, C

Hat modeling in this girl's future?

DB and LB have drinks on the deck (THB alas is still having a no alcohol day), then THB and DB have pork ribs fresh off the grill with leftover rice and a small green salad for dinner while twins enjoy peas, leftover carnitas, cantaloupe, cheese, and rice. 

Another professional photo shoot, this one at 8:15am

Our condo is 2nd balcony from bottom

Book Review: Directorate S, The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistaon, Steve Coll:  Not actually all that secret as THB has read a lot of Coll's reporting in the NYer and elsewhere. Spy vs spy vs spy, with the secret orgs' national priorities at odds with what might be good for their own people, at odds with their elected officials announced policies and priorities, and of course at odds with the groups providing the funds and weaponry for all this strife. And, maybe inadvertently for the US, it has resulted in the best possible outcome: stalemates everywhere on meeting local objectives might actually thwart the spread of terrorism, though at a tremendous cost (if you think never-ending wars are costly, which they are in real terms, maybe not in reducing terrorism). Neutral

Day 8: Kapalua

Weather: Breezy, blue water, high 80s, no rain anywhere

The guy in the center is trying out the lie-flat-jacuzzi while working on an extensive sunburn. The guy on the left is looking for the switch that sends a strong electrical charge through the guy in the center. It's one of the psychological quizzes usually given to college volunteers. The guy on the far right (you can barely see him) is already burned and charred.

Big moment of the day: C takes her first 3 consecutive steps! The girl takes a few small steps for twinsisterhood. Can J be far behind? Actually, since they can crawl like demons, J will have no trouble keeping up for a while.

To save a bit of reading, today was very mundane. THB won't be hurt if you just look at the pics.

Usual morning: twins up and cheerful around 5am, coffe and toast shortly thereafter, Grape Nuts and fruit with side of mango, twins go down for early morning nap, and DB and THB do a snorkel (LB takes the morning off). 

There are twins under those pink hats

Z & LB, ex-co-workers. We saw Z 4 years ago when staying at Montage; Z's parents live in development right next door.

Quiet morning, THB and DB sit by the "big" pool and have leftover ribs and rice for lunch. After lunch we rejoin everyone at the big pool and a friend of LB's, Z, joins in and everyone takes turns dipping twins lightly in shallow water.

Gabe's first job site

K & DB cooling off

K goes with DB and THB to beach in afternoon and THB snorkels and the two women tread water to cool off.

Gabriel's second job site

DB and THB go out for pizza at Pizza Paradiso on the reco of Gabriel. Gabe works the snorkel stand and has a second job at this Greek pizza spot. Gabe comes from a long Hawaiian tradition: he smokes two joints in the morning, he smokes two joints in the afternoon, then he smokes two more. He definitely is a surfer. And he is on the soft serve line at the pizza place. One 12" inch pizza with anchovies, artichoke hearts, white onion and fresh tomato, Caesar salad, small chardonnay, Maui bikini blonde, and two 12 " pizzas to go, $100 with generous tip.

Other pics:

The kid slides her/his hand through a plastic "gotcha" and has just enough room to pluck a cheerio

Eleven month old monkeys and 11 month old kids can master this "trick"...and 4 month old crow/raven also can master this trick

THB assumes that a bunch of snorkelers jump in at our favorite spot

J is thinking, thinking, and thinking some more

C before her big moment has found another problem with the car, this time with the boot

J consults the owners' manual again...this one is going back to the shop