Archives: May 2014

Posted on
by

We started off the day back at the pool for a bit, then packed up and checked out of the hotel. We then headed over to see the Iao Valley Needle, the site of a battle between the king of Maui and King Kamehameha in his effort to  unite the Hawaiian islands under his rule.  We hiked all the paths around the park getting a good view of the needle as well as a trip down to the stream there and though a demonstration garden showing how they used to grow Poi.  It was a beautiful day out and the hike was a lot of fun.

On the way out of the park, we stopped at natural history center, which ended up being closed, and ran around a park with a lot of interesting looking Asian buildings from all the different Asian peoples who have made Maui their home.  We then stopped at  the Historic Baldwin Home, which is the oldest home on Maui, built by a missionary back in 1834.  The home was interesting, but Gavin didn’t like it because it didn’t have anything you could touch.

Afterwards, out plan was to drive over to Kaui and check into the Worldmark there, but it ends up we made a mistake.  We though the reservation started on Saturday but it was really Sunday.  Through the miracle of smartphones, we quickly found a room at the Hyatt Regency in Lahaina.  They are building a new building next door and they had the rooms that looked at the construction for cheap.  We headed up that way and checked in, an were quickly blown away.  It is a bit (or more than a bit) touristy, but I would stay here again in a moment.  The pool itself is worth the price being huge (they do scuba classes in it) with two huge areas connected by a swim threw grotto/cave.  One end of the pool had a really big water tube slide which the boys and I may have gone down a couple (or twenty) times.  The kids finally wore me out and me and Brenda hung out in the lounge chairs while the kids kept swimming.  The next morning we went to the penguin (did I mention they have their own colony of penguins?) and koi fish feeding.  Both Tristan and Gavin got to feed some huge Koi fish (only the trainer was allowed to feed the penguins), then they headed back to the pool.  Gavin was still in the pool when we finally had to check out at noon.  We finally left around 1pm, and drove to Kaui and checked in at the Worldmark.

I borrowed some pictures of the pool, since I can’t find mine for some reason.

Sunset at the resort

Sunset at the resort

Penguins!

Penguins!

Feeding the Koi

Feeding the Koi

Entrance to the grotto

Entrance to the grotto

Deep side of the pool. Water slide comes out under the bridge

Deep side of the pool. Water slide comes out under the bridge

Big side of the pool

Big side of the pool

Posted on
by

On the way back down the mountain we stopped for Pizza in a little hole in the wall place in a small town at the base of the volcano, which the boys liked. Afterwards we headed over to a goat farm called the Surfing Goat Dairy, where we took a tour of the farm and got a chance to milk some goats. We also took the opportunity to buy some goat cheese, goat soap and goat truffles, all of which were very good.

Gavin's turn to milk

Gavin’s turn to milk

Tristan trying his hand at milking a goat

Tristan trying his hand at milking a goat

Milking goats

Milking goats

Tristan checking the place out

Tristan checking the place out

Feeding goats

Feeding goats

Gavin meeting a goat

Gavin meeting a goat

Posted on
by

Well this is a long overdue post, blame Brenda’s book coming out.  I was kept quite busy formatting and uploading, and fixing typos and reuploading.  Anyway, it’s settled down now, so I’m going to try and catch up with my non-baseball blogging.  (Baseball is easy to do, I write up the post on my ipad while I watch the game and just upload it when I get home).

As has become a yearly tradition, Brenda’s mom Jo Ann takes the entire extended family on a vacation.  Both the boys love us and the entire month before we leave is spent answering variations of “When are we going to see our cousins?” over and over.  The boys love hanging with their cousins and Brenda loves seeing her sisters and her mom.  I’m lucky enough to get to come along, and I must admit, I’d have to try real hard to find something to complain about a vacation in Hawaii.  Heck, even if I hated Hawaii it would still be worth it to see the kids with their cousins.

We left for Hawaii  in the wee hours of the day from LAX.  Our flight was LAX to Honolulu, then Honolulu to Maui where we were staying.  It was a long flight, or at least it seemed that way.  After we landed I looked at Brenda and commented that this was just about half way to France.  That’s a flight I’m not looking forward to.  Hopefully the kids will sleep the whole way.

Our flight to Maui was delayed.  Our plan was maybe half full when another later Hawaiian flight to Maui suddenly developed ‘mechanical’ problems and they had to hold our flight and move those people onto our plane, filling it up.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with their having two half full flights, one right after another.  When we got to Maui it took forever to get our luggage, to the point where Brenda went to the luggage window and to ask if our luggage got left behind, but apparently they were just going slow.  As an aside, both trips we’ve had on Hawaiian have sucked.  I know other people have had better experiences, but we’ve hated every flight with them.  By the time we finally got our luggage a ton of other flights had landed and they were literally hauling people to the rental place by the bus load.  We were spending the first two days at a hotel right by the airport, so we decided to just walk over and check in, that way I could return and get the rental car when it wasn’t so busy.  Ends up, we could have just called the hotel and they would have picked us up and avoided the walk.  It was only a 15 minute walk and after all that time on the plane I think we all wanted to stretch our legs so it worked out.

The hotel was nice, and most importantly had a pool.  The kids spend the rest of the day and the beginning of the next swimming, which they love.

The next day we headed out to start our sight seeing.  We have two traditions when we travel.  We have to visit any national park and get our national park passports stamped and do the junior ranger program there.  So we set off for Haleakala National Park, which encompasses the larger of the two volcanos that make up Maui.   It was a long twisty drive, which Tristan hates as he get’s car sick.  But we took it slow and gave him some dramamine which helped.  We stopped by the visitor center and stamped our passports and picked up the junior ranger books and then headed to the top.

First night at the hotel

First night at the hotel

On top of Haleakala

On top of Haleakala

Gavin posing on Haleakala

Gavin posing on Haleakala

10,000 feet over sea level

10,000 feet over sea level

Working on Junior Ranger badge

Working on Junior Ranger badge

All of us up high on Haleakala

All of us up high on Haleakala

Being sworn in as Junior Rangers

Being sworn in as Junior Rangers

Posted on
by

Well we had some sad news yesterday morning.  Tristan woke up to find Jeff the Bird on the bottom of his cage.  Jeff had been sick since a little while after we got back from Hawaii, but I had been taking him to the vet and he seemed to be doing much better.  When he first got sick I was really not expecting him to survive but after some antibiotics and a couple of weeks of TLC (Tristan had to have a heater in his room to keep it around 85 degrees for Jeff), Jeff was really back to his normal old self.  His swelling had gone down and he was just like his normal old self running around the cage.  So finding him like we did was very much a shock.  Tristan needless to say, is very sad.  He’s had Jeff for around 6 years now.  King, Tristan’s cockatiel, got very upset every time I took Jeff out of his cage to give him his antibiotics and I’m sure he blames me for Jeff dying.  Every time I enter Tristan’s room now, King hisses at me and runs away if I approach the cage.  Jeff is scheduled to be buried in the back yard tonight when it gets a bit cooler.

Posted on
by

Angels vs Yankees

5/13

Tristan’s last game of the season.

 

1st inning

Field – Tristan started in left field today instead of his normal right. Well the Yankees scored 7 before the angels were able to end the inning. He Yankees are undefeated this season an they are not going to take it easy just because it’s the last game and it doesn’t matter.

At Bat – Tristan was up second and struck out. The angels only got one baserunnuner on a walk and didn’t score any runs.

 

2nd inning

Field – Tristan was back phishing normal position in right field this inning. The angels did much better this inning only giving up 1 more run. Tristan fielded a ball hit to right field but didn’t make any outs.

At bat – the angels got on the board this inning scoring 1 run. Tristan did not bat.

3rd inning

Field – Tristan played 2nd base this inning. He Yankees scored 2 more making it 10-1. Tristan did not make any outs.

At bat – Tristan got up again and struck out. The angels got runners to second and third but didn’t score. The runner on hird got tagged out trying to steal home for he third out.

4th inning

Field – Tristan was back at second base this inning. The Yankees scored 3 more this inning making it 13-1

At bat – the angels scored 2 more this inning and ended the game at 13-3

 

Playing 2nd base

Playing 2nd base

Playing more second base

Playing more second base

Batting

Batting

 

Posted on
by

Angels vs gg Indians

5/10

1st inning

Field – Tristan started the game in right field. The angels gave up a 2 run home run early on in the inning. They rallied after that and did not give up any more runs getting the rid out with the bases loaded.

At Bat – Tristan batted second with the lead off runner on third and got a good hit but unfortunately it was straight at the second baseman who caught the ball. The angels scored 2 to tie the game up.

 

2nd inning

Field – Tristan was back out in right field. The angels started out good getting two quick outs. Then he pitcher hit the batter and gave up another home run to the next batter who had hit a home run in the first inning. Those were he only 2 runs the angels gave up.

At bat – t he angels got some good hits but were unable to score. Tristan did not bat.

 

3rd inning

Field – Tristan played 2nd base this inning. The angels had a good inning getting he three Indians batters down in order.

At bat – Tristan was up second this inning but. Struck out. He angels scored 1 more run and left runners on 2nd and 3rd this Inning

4th inning

Field – Tristan was in right field. He Indians struck for 3 more runs this inning. Making the score 7-3

At bat – the angels had an exciting inning but only managed t score 1 run making it 7-4. Tristan will be up first next inning.

5th inning

Field – Tristan is playing 2nd this inning.  Tristan made the 2nd out at second then he fielded at hit and threw the runner out at first for he third out. The indians scored 2 more runs this inning making it 9-4.

At bat – Tristan was up and worked the count to 3 and 2before getting a good hit into right field. He then stole second. He came around to score two batters later. Tristan waste only run the angels scored this inning making the score9-5.

 

6th inning

Field – Tristan played 2nd base again this inning the angels gave up 1 run this inning making it 11-5.

At bat – The second batter this inning hit a home run for the angels. That was it for the angels losing the game 11-6.

Playing right field

Playing right field

Playing second base

Playing second base

Keeping an eye on the runner

Keeping an eye on the runner

Getting ready to tag the runner

Getting ready to tag the runner

Batting

Batting

Leading off at 3rd base

Leading off at 3rd base

Posted on
by

Angels vs Giants

5/3

 

1st inning

At bat – Tristan came up with the lead off batter on second. His coach had him do a sacrifice bunt to get the runner to third which he did perfectly. The runner was able to score on a hit by the next batter. The angels scored 2 this inning.

Field – Tristan started in right field. The angels had a good inning and didn’t allow any runs.

 

2nd inning

At bat – the angels got runners to 2nd and 3rd with no outs but were not able to score.

Field – Tristan sat this inning. The angels played well but gave up one run.

3rd inning

At bat – Tristan came up with a runner on third and two outs and drew a walk on 4 pitches. Tristan stole second and then scored on a good hit by the next batter. The angels scored 2 this inning making the score 4-1.

Field – Tristan was back out in right this inning. The angels did well sending the giants down in order.

 

4th inning

At bat – the angels threatened his inning but were not able to score. Tristan did not bat this inning.

Field –  Tristan sat this inning. The angels played well and sent the giant batters down in order.

5th inning

At bat – the angels scored one more this inning. The giants got the third out with Tristan on deck so he will be up first next inning.

Field – Tristan was out in right this inning. The giants came back strong and scored 5 runs taking the lead and winning he game.

 

Getting ready to slide into second

Getting ready to slide into second

Stealing second base

Stealing second base

Leading off at first base

Leading off at first base

Playing Right Field

Playing Right Field

Batting

Batting

Posted on
by

SA Angels vs Angels

4/29

1st inning

Field – Tristan started in right field. The Santa Ana winds are blowing like mad today which should make the game interesting. My chair tries to leave without me every time I get up. The angels gave up one run to the Santa Ana angels but had a good inning overall.

At bat – Tristan was up second but struck out. The angels only got one hit this inning but were not able to score.

 

2nd inning

Field – Tristan sat this inning. The angels had a good inning defensively giving up no runs and getting a double play.

At bat – Tristan came up with the bases load but hit the ball right back to the pitcher for the third out. The angels scored three runs this inning.

3rd inning

Field – Tristan sat again this inning. The angels had another good defensive inning only allowing one hit and no runs.

At bat – the angels had a good hit this inning but did not score. Tristan did not bat.

4th inning

Field – Tristan was back out in right field. Tristan had a ball hit out to him but the wind got it and it just died dropping in front of him. The SA angels scored 2 runs this inning to tie it up at 3 each.

At bat – the angels went down in order this inning.

5th inning

Field – Tristan was in right field this inning. The SA angels scored one this inning to take the lead. They left the bases loaded though so it could have been much worse

At bat – Tristan came up with a man on third. He hit the ball to the shortstop and was narrowly thrown out at first but his hit allowed the runner on third to score.  The angels came back strong this inning scoring 5 runs.

 

6th inning

Field – Tristan was in right again this inning. Tristan caught a fly ball for the third out to end the game. The angels got all three SA angels out in order this inning. 8 – 4

At bat –

In Right Field

In Right Field

Playing Right Field

Playing Right Field

Batting

Batting