Day 3 :: Brunch, Whales, Water Spouts

Ah, Sunday morning brunch at The Plantation House Restaurant ... Divine! This restaurant with a rich heritage as a pineapple plantation sits high upon the coast with wide-spanning views of the ocean and its highly acclaimed golf course. After feasting upon treats like Crab Cake Benedict with Roasted Red Pepper Hollandaise, the Signature Plantation House Omelette with Portuguese Sausage & Molokai French Toast, we watched the local birds fly in and out of the open air windows (no screens here ... no bugs either) and took a stroll around the grounds. Sunday brunch at its finest!

 Birds on the back of Luke's chair.

An entertaining addition to the ambience!

This morning was a bit cloudy, but the views 

were still amazing! In the distance, our condo was

just to the left of Reid's shoulder.

 Mama & her sweet little men

The great thing about Maui is that if the weather is rainy on one part of the island, you just drive a little and the sun is shining. And so was the case as we departed cloudy Kapalua to head south to sunny Lahaina to catch our whale-watching excursion. March is wrapping up whale season in Maui, where the whales venture to enjoy the warm waters during the winter, breed & raise their babies until they are strong enough to make the 3,000 mile swim back to Alaska. As we boarded the boat, we hoped to catch a glimpse or two of these magnificent creatures. Little did we think that we'd have non-stop sightings of whales all around the boat for the 2 hours out on the open waters. We couldn't believe it! Just when we spotted a whale in one spot ... another would pop up elsewhere on the horizon. Our tour guide shared some great knowledge with us on the whale culture & their behaviors, and he even gave a shout-out to our Reid because the guide shared the same name! Funny side note about the whale-watching trip ... both Grant and Reid fell asleep. Maybe it was the rocking of the boat, but they both worked in good naps!

 On the lookout...

Just a little whale watchin' with Papa...

 

The tail of a humpback whale 

with distinct white markings.

Taking a dive...

 The whales weren't the only ones in the water that day.

This Princess cruise ship was docked for the day,

while the passengers explored the island.

 Captain and Little Skipper

 Cheers to the Whales!

The whales often are sighted in groups. Here the male
whales competed to be noticed by the female whales.

 Two whales here. Can you see the spray 

and his mouth on the far right?

 All that whale watching worked up an appetite.

Time for some gelato ... yummy!

(Reid loves to sneak in funny faces in photos now.

Grant likes to sneak in bites of other people's gelato.)

After the whale-watching adventure, we did some shopping in Lahaina and then ventured a little further north on a drive. On our map, there was natural landmark for the Nakalele Blowhole, where the ocean water comes into the rock formations and spouts up high into the air. We missed the sign for this somehow on our drive out, but our adventure led us along a one-lane road to a little coastal village. If you met another car on the road, you had to pull over off the side of the road to let them pass. We stopped to ask for directions at a little house selling shaved ice and banana bread. What a hidden treasure this detour was!

 Driving into the village. And yes, chickens 

were randomly hanging out on the side of the road.

We joked that they were true "free-ranging chickens."

 View of the village tucked into the bay.

 An old church & just a few houses.

We turned around at the village, traversed the one lane road back, and eventually found our way back to the blowhole.

 

Many of the landmark signs are hand-painted.

This one was interesting with its words of caution:

"Warning: Stay clear of the blowhole. You can be

sucked in and killed. It's not a waterpark."

We heeded the warning and stayed well enough away!

 The blowhole bubbling up...

 "Thar she blows!"

 Always up for an adventure!

Day 2 :: The Great Explorers

With our first full day on the island ahead of us, we set off to explore! First stop ... Snorkel Bob's for some gear and then a quick walk down to Napili Beach. We were all beyond excited to put our toes in the sand and play in the waves ... and of course, to try out that snorkel equipment.

 Snorkel Scott encountered many fish & a sea turtle or two!

 Which way to the best snorkel spot?

Luke caught on quickly to snorkeling!

 Beach baby loved the sand!

 Reid, the sand artist!

 "Boys, today I'm going to teach you a lesson

in basic sand castle construction..."

 It's a team effort on this sand castle!

 Let's bury Mom in the sand!

Sneak attack by the wave...

After several hours of playing on the beach, we ventured into town and found some delicious local fish tacos for lunch. We were anxious to see more of the area so we set out on a little drive just north of our condo and discovered this about 10 minutes away...

 Beautiful coast near Mokuleia Bay 

& Honolua Bay

 Rugged coastline

 Sandy Sleeper #1

Sandy Sleeper #2

We returned back to the condo for "dinner in" that evening. Upon arriving in Maui, we stopped at Costco to stock up on some groceries. It's funny to shop at Costco in Hawaii. They sell the basic items like Honey Nut Cheerios & Wheat Thins ... and then other items like surf boards, fresh seafood, and Hawaiian shirts.

Mama & her "keiki" ... which means "little one"

 This day goes on record for Luke as the

most accumulated hours of swimming.

Between the beach and 3 trips to the condo pool,

he logged nearly 5 hours of swimming that day!

And yet, the next morning he woke up and asked,

"Can we go to the pool now?"

 Night Snorkelers in the Pool

 Dad gives Reid a little snorkeling lesson.

Reid was all about wearing the fins!

Aloha, Maui!

My, oh, my ... oh, MAUI! Where to begin?! Our family just returned from the trip of a lifetime to Hawaii. We enjoyed 5 days on the beautiful island of Maui. We've always wanted to go to Hawaii so we decided to seize the opportunity by tagging a family vacation onto the end of a work trip for Scott. He hopped a quick flight after his conference in Oahu to meet us in Maui. Jami, the 3 boys, Papa, and his friend Kathy took a 7 hour flight direct from Denver to Maui. A little man-to-man defense worked wonders to have 3 adults to entertain the 3 boys on the flight! Our Hawaiian adventures began on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. Aloha, Maui!

We stayed on the northwestern part of the island known as Kapalua, which translates to "arms embracing the sea." This region is less commercialized and truly showcases all the natural beauty of the surroundings. Case in point ... as we walked into our condo at the Kapalua Villas, we could hardly believe the stunning 180 degree views from our windows... Well, hello, Paradise!

 

Every morning, we anxiously awaited the sunrise so we could see that beautiful blue ocean, the palm trees, and another island off in the distance. What a sight!

Morning coffee + this view from our kitchen window! 

Does it get any better than this?! 

 All smiles for Maui!

A quick pic before a family dinner!

Good morning, Maui! Sunrise just after 6 a.m.

"I enjoy long walks on the beach...

and eating my pancakes on the lanai."

Vacationing Visitors

One of our favorite messages to land in the ol' inbox begins like this, "We're coming to Colorado..." We love to catch up with friends who are vacationing in our grand state. Our most recent visitors ... Theta friend & college roomie Judy, Mike & Christy. What better way to spend the day than with a fine lunch of Borriello Brothers pizza, followed by sledding at Toboggan Hill! Darling Christy & the Leahy brothers enjoyed sledding at our favorite winter recreation spot (and even the grown-ups took a turn or two with a run down the hill!) Thanks, friends, for a fabulous day. So good to see you!

 Grant, Jami & Judy

The Pint-Sized Sledders.

(This was after sledding. It ended up being a super

warm day so they were ready to 

shed the gloves and warm gear.

At least they humored us and took a pic!)

Walk-n-Roll

Just a few days shy of turning 13 months, Grant took his first steps today! With an audience of Mom, Dad & his older brothers cheering him on, Grant was full of smiles, hugs & big steps. Watch out, world! He's ready to WALK-n-roll!

Will Work 4 Food

So ... here's a little confession. And it's about why the blog sometimes goes long spurts in between updates. Here's the scoop...

Sometimes the greatest opportunities come to you when you are not even looking. This is a story that has been in the works since February 2010. (Yes, two years ago!) I was not really looking for a "job." After all, taking care of our boys is Job #1. But it just so happened that another little side gig came along that almost seemed too good to be true, in terms of time, flexibility, and opportunity.

In the beginning, a connection from a fundraiser committee ended up turning into a meeting for some graphic design work. The client -- a locally owned restaurant group. They happen to own several restaurants here in the area, and interestingly enough, one of the restaurants has been our family favorite since moving here -- Salsa Brava. Freelance graphic design. Working from home with flexible hours. Marketing amazing restaurants. Count me in! Enter Job #2.

Over the past 2 years, I've had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people and on some exciting projects. Table tents. Print ads. Shopping cart ads (cartvertising, if you want to get fancy!) Menus. Holiday promotions. On-hold message scripts. PR for a new restaurant grand opening. Website redesign. Mass email blasts. Facebook & QR code promotions.The list continues, and each week brings a fun, new challenge. This journey into the restaurant marketing world has been full of some great opportunities to learn more in my field & expand my skills ... can't wait to see what's in store for the year ahead!

So what's my schedule? I support the marketing efforts of 5 restaurants (4 in Colorado Springs & 1 in Denver) and typically work 6-8 hours a week from home, allowing the flexibility to work around the boys' schedules. The marketing magic happens in the early morning hours, while the older boys are at school & Grant is napping, or after little toes are tucked in at night. My projects are usually short-term and quick-turnaround. The restaurant world is very fast-paced, and I love the ever-changing variety of projects.

If I could have hand-picked a job while staying home with our 3 boys, a more perfect fit could not have been found! If you are interested, check out our website: www.rockymtnrg.com.

Be Mine, Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day! The Leahy lads would like to share their valentine cards with you. We had quite a chuckle taking these photos. Thank you to Pinterest for the idea. For the boys' school valentines, each card also featured an adhesive mustache. Who needs candy when you can have a fun faux mustache!?

Move over, Burt Reynolds.

Grant can rival your mustache.

To accompany G's sad face,

the small print says,

"If not, I'll be soooo sad."

Not even a mustache can hide that big smile!

Reid got to practice his handwriting

& sign his own valentines!

Oh, and we're pretty sure Reid's mustache

was on upside down!

 Luke had a variety of funny faces,

but he liked this one the best.

What a crack-up!

Hello there, SNOW!

When you think of Colorado in the winter, snow usually comes to mind. Except we haven't really had much snow since before Christmas! While we do enjoy mild winter days in the 50s and 60s, we also appreciate our winter climate & the beauty of the snow. After much waiting, we finally got our first big snowstorm of 2012 (which happened to coincide with the groundhog's prediction for 6 more weeks of winter!) For almost 36 hours, it snowed ... and snowed some more. When Mama Nature finally called it quits, about 14 inches blanketed our neighborhood (and 0 inches covered our driveway, thanks to 3 snowshoveling adventures). We wrapped up our snowy weekend with a sledding excursion to Toboggan Hill.

 Our polar bear cub in his sled.

Grant didn't make a peep the whole time

we were sledding. He LOVES the snow

and being outdoors. Yay for our little mountain man!

 Luke chose the path with the jumps ... of course!

 Trudging back up the hill...

 Catching some air! Woohoo!

 All smiles for sledding!

 I can't wait until I'm big enough to go down the hill

instead of just watching from the bottom!

 Two on the trail.

Our Sledding Crew

Celebrating Theta

Founders Day Celebration

with the Colorado Springs Alumnae Chapter

Honoring 142 Years of Kappa Alpha Theta!

It's fun to swim at the Y-M-C-A!

Swim-n-gym. Pool-then-PJs. Y-on-Wednesdays.

All code names for our fun new Wednesday night routine of swimming at the YMCA! 

Previously, Reid was a reserved swimmer, never risking that his face touch the water nor his lovely golden locks get wet. But tonight was different. Equipped with some mega goggles and his usual spunk, he decided that he would swim. Under water. Holding his breath. Getting his face wet. And his hair. 

When Reid makes his mind up to do something, he does it 110%. Full speed ahead. He is focused and determined and courageous. On this same night when he went underwater for the first time, he also decided to jump off the side of the pool and do a cannonball. And it was AWESOME!

Enjoy this video of our little fish splashing around.