Where We Belong

Thursday morning we pretty much got up and got ready for the beach. A little packing continued while we waited for each other. 

It was cloudy to start out and the water was about the same, still kind of rough, and not that great to be in. It was not, however, super windy like the couple of days before so that was nice. Later in the day the clouds cleared away and it got sunny. 

We spent the morning crying on the beach enjoying our last beach hours and talking about things that would need to get done when we got home, like renewing my driver's license which expired on my birthday. 

After lunch some of us started towards the pool and then showers. After I was all cleaned up I was able to complete my packing and rest for a bit. Aka blog. Then the rest of the crew arrived to shower and pack and go through food and finish laundry and everything else which has to be done before a family leaves Maui. In the midst of that Mom and I got to slip away and get pedicures. 

This is the view from my bed that I'm going to miss. 

And this view while driving.

Mom and Gabe had to take a shuttle to the airport as the mini van could not hold all of us, much less all the luggage. The rest of us left at 6:02. The goal was 6:00. It's a record! 

In the car the other kids retold all their surfing stories and what the should and shouldn't have done on each wave. 

Dad returned the renal vehicle while we waited at the curb...

crying.

Once we were all together again we went through security. For the first time in my life I was terrified to go through. I didn't have my passport to be current ID. And, as I already stated, my license had expired. They totally could have told me I couldn't fly. 

Mom decided to divide up the kids and have Dad take three and her take three and try to "these are my children" approach hoping they would not think that I or Chloe looked 18. Chloe's group went first and she was immediately asked for ID (which she had). Mom and I started sweating. 

The guard took one look at me and asked if I was 18. We said yes and he asked for ID. I gave it to him. He scanned it. He said it was expired. And let us all through. Praise God, hallelujah! I wasn't arrested and I got to come home. Whew! Never. Doing. That. Again. Ever. 

But the rest of security was crazy too. Chloe and I both got patted down. Her for no reason. Me because of my hair. Then Gabe's backpack was taken and searched. When we were finally all through with all of our bags (I almost left mine on the belt...) everyone was sighing with relief. 

We got the the gate and dropped all our bags. Then went to the restroom. 

I did way better flying alone. With so many people I kept leaving my bags and I almost face planted while walking. 

Dad took all us kids to get dinner while Mom guarded the millions of bags. 

I think that was maybe the first time I ever ate at Burger King. I had a veggie burger. *Ducks* 

Eating. Chloe was there too. 

Our flight didn't leave until 9:30 so we had some time to eat and clean up and put on jeans and sweatshirts.  

Boarding.

So excited. Not.

She asked and they obliged. 

He got the sweet end of the deal.

Yes, we were photobombed.

No, we didn't see it until afterwards.

Leaving Maui.

I watched it until there were no more lights to be seen.

The flight was about 4 and 1/2 hours long. We all tried to sleep. We all sort of failed. None of us find it very easy to sleep on planes. Christian even let me lay across his lap. I think I dozed. I did discover that hats are great for wearing over your face to block out light, though! I've never worn a hat before. Until I bought one while we were in Maui. 

About to land in San Fransisco. 

We arrived at 5:30 am and all went to our next gate. The layover was 2 hours long and gave us enough time to rest, stretch, and eat a little something. 

Breakfast and sunrise.

The second flight left at 7:30 and was 3 hours long. The seatbelt sign was on pretty much the whole time because of all the turbulence. I think some people were able to sleep. Our landing was extremely  bouncy and rough. 

Gramma, Aunt Candice, and Brennen brought us our truck and Dad was able to get all of us and all our bags in it. We were not expecting for that to work, but were very grateful it did. 

We were in...

...but not by much.

We all went to Jamba Juice in Southlake Town Center and enjoyed catching up some by the fountain. 

I walked over to Starbucks to see if my friend was working and she was! I just wanted to say hi to her and I didn't have any money with me. She blessed me so much by offering me whatever drink I wanted. My Pumpkin Spice Latte was so good. 

Now they sleep.

We got home a little after 4:00 and unloaded all our stuff. I pretty much went straight to the piano. I missed it. So. Much. Playing the piano is a way I release stress, calm down, and process, plus I just really enjoy it. I was so excited to be able to play a few songs from memory without hesitation or mistakes! 

Everyone worked on unpacking for a majority of the rest of the day and Mom and I started working to go through our stuff and find things to get rid of. 

While we were away we noticed once again that we really don't need a lot of things to be happy. We all pack very light to go to the beach because all we wear is swimsuits and pajamas a majority of the time. Also, we don't need "toys" or a lot of other things because we just spend time enjoying the beach and visiting with other people and playing games and being creative. At home obviously there are different dynamics, but we still have so much more than we need. 

So as soon as we were unpacked Mom and I both got started and already there is a large pile of things to take to our church's garage sale in a couple weeks. 

Once everything was mostly taken care of and put away (around 8:30 pm) the others turned on American Ninja Warrior. 

We were all really tired having not slept on the plane much, but because of the time difference it was still mid afternoon for us so going to bed would have been useless. I think most everyone stayed up until at least 10:30. I went to bed at midnight. 

That moment when:

Your brother decides to order your meal even though you are standing right there.

Your siblings get you confused so that when you get on the airplane you try to kick people out of the seats you thought were yours.

You almost face plant in the middle of a crowd and get told by the people giggling behind you that you were very graceful.

The Herd: Quoted 

"Prefect crying weather." -Me on the beach  

"What is that?" -Dad and Me at the same time.

"It could be something gross." -Ava

"It came from the freezer, it won’t be gross." -Dad

"That's the fish Christian caught and smashed and cut up!" -Chloe 

"Dad, that is gross!" -Me

"Thank you for buying food Mom and Dad." -Mom reminding everyone not to complain.

"You’re welcome." -Chloe very sleepily. 

"Hey, what?" -Mom

"oh oops, sorry, thank you." -Chloe

"what did she do?" -Ava

"She took credit for something she didn’t do!" -Mom 

"Whew, we are through. I thought I was going to have to call Mark and ask him to come get you." - Mom after we got me through security 

"I'm still shaking, I'm so glad they didn't tell me I couldn't come." -Me 

"They gave me a pat down again!" -Me leaving security 

"Why?" -Mom

"Because I have long hair." -Me 

"That's what they said? Was it a woman?" -Mom

"I think so...I can't remember." -Me 

"Let's see how many times I can almost forget my bag." -Me after almost walking away from my carry-on for the second time.

"I was talking to that woman and she asked, 'Are all those your kids? I thought you were their sibling or something!'" -Mom

"It took all of about 2 minutes for one of Keely's coworkers to ask me how old I am." -Me 

To Maui, Group 3

Monday morning Mom left us in the condo alone *gasp* went to go get coffee and have her quiet time on the beach with the sunrise. *Exhale, sigh* The rest of us woke up slowly and did morning things. 

Midmorning Mom and the littles went back to the Maui Ocean Center for the better part of the day while I got to stay back and do school, etc. ("Etc" including taking a nap.) 

With this view, why not?

When they got back we all read and played games and ate dinner and watched "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (a family favorite, especially when there is pie and ice cream to go with it). 

Tuesday morning Mom did the same thing as the pervious morning and will most likely continue to do that for the majority of the mornings on this trip. 

It was raining so we all stayed in the condo and worked on school stuff. After lunch it looked like it was clearing up. By the time we got down to the beach it was cloudy again, but the kids didn't care, they played in the sand and water to their hearts' content while Mom and I watched and read comfortably in the cabana. 

The first of our friends arrived!! Mrs Karen and Dr Mike joined us in the water (remembering all our correct names on the spot, we sort of kind of couldn't remember their specific names although we remembered that he is a dentist and of course recognized their faces, etc) and were soon carried away to play games in the cabana by the littles. 

The brutal game of Go Fish. 

Wednesday morning we all walked over to a fabulous breakfast buffet next door (I should actually get pictures of how big it is sometime...but only if y'all want that, because it probably will only make you hungry...maybe I shouldn't after all...). We were in no hurry whatsoever and enjoyed the food and our favorite Hawaii drink, POG (Passion, Orange, Guava juice). 

For those of you who don't know, 

this is a plumeria flower and they smell amazing. 

Flowers in our hair...

When I say, "take a serious picture." 

Mia and Gabe really enjoyed the "colored cheerios" at breakfast.

Looking over the golf course, right down to the ocean. Ahhhhhhh. 

The view from the girls' bedroom. 

Mom and Mia went to the airport to pick up Dad, Chloe, and Christian. They had the same flight schedule as I did, just 5 days later (main reason being they had extra school and such to work on and Dad couldn't be gone for 4 weeks). They decided that they would not go to bed Tuesday night and so tried to sleep on the flight. Everything went very smoothly for them. 

I worked on school and Ava and Gabe played games. We washed all the sheets and remade beds and talked with some friends. 

Mom traded in her car and Dad rented a mini-van. They hit Costco and grabbed lunch and all made it back to the condo about 2:00 pm. We got the car unloaded in just one trip (with all of us helping) and put most everything away. Then headed for the beach as quick as we could. 

Everyone was glad to see the travelers. 

Sea Glass cards! 

Family walking down to the beach. (Minus me, because I was taking the picture, of course.) 

Dad and his little girl. 

A view of our beach. 

That building with the white-ish railing is the cabana. 

We enjoyed a couple of gorgeous hours at the beach. The sky was clear, the water like crystal, the waves calm, a slight ocean breeze... And us all together again in our happy place. 

Taking showers took a little while... The kids ate dinner on the porch in the pale light of dusk. Then we watched "Pirates of the Caribbean." Dad fell asleep though and went to bed and Mom opted to read since, if y'all recall, we just watched this like two months ago... Christian also fell asleep and I had to fight to stay awake. The intensity of the sun here truly wears us out! Well and not sleeping the night before your day of flying... 

That Moment When...

Your hair almost gets sucked into the back of a fan.

Mom calls out that somebody's earbuds went through the washing machine.

Your sister is rubbing sand on your face to get your makeup off.

You're not heavy enough to make the recliner recline.


The Herd: Quoted

"My wife is either going to have to like the beach, or learn to like the beach." -Gabe

"Behold, there is a little boat out there for you to go fishing." -Mia in a very small, high pitched voice while playing Go Fish. 

"This might take 5 hours." -Gabe on his turn of Go Fish.

"Why are these out? I never had dinner." -Mia sitting down to eat pie.

"Did Dad say he was in bed yet?" -Me

"I don't think so." -Mom

*Gets text*

"He is pulling out clothes to pack." -Me

“I’ve got a dentist to beat at poker.” -Mia

“It glew!” -Mia talking about her glow in the dark stickers. She meant it glowed. 

“You want a gun for your birthday, right?” -Christian

“No!” -Me

"Now close your eyes and dream about little girls who love you." -Mia to me. 

"All this hair is making me hot." -Me 

"I told you, you should put it in a bun like that guy over there!" -Mom joking about a guy we saw with his blonde hair in a bun. 

To Maui, Group 2

My travel day began at 2:30 am Friday. By 3:30 am I was packed and ready for Dad to take me to the airport. 

Bags packed for a month are heavy.

My "this is how pale I am before the beach" picture. 

Dad was able to take me into the airport and tell me good-bye right outside of security. The line was full of people who did not look awake or very excited to be up so early. There was no stopping my smiles though. 

Having my suitcase completely unpacked and searched in the security line made me a bit nervous, but whatever it was they thought they saw as a problem didn't turn up so nothing was taken away and I got to go through (after repacking my bag). 

I found my gate no problem and settled down to wait until my 6:05 am departure time. 

While I was waiting I wrote in my journal. A guy walked away from his group and came over pretty near to me. I heard him say "So beautiful, so beautiful" and then he walked away after a moment. I looked up then wondering who or what he was referring to, I was the only female in the area... Other than that, there was nothing that made me wish I wasn't alone! 

My first plane.

I had a seat by a window and the lady next to me was sweet. 

The runway. 

Leaving Dallas.

For most of the flight everything was dark so I tried to sleep didn't really work. Then I read a bit. 

Sunrise!

Mountains in California (I think). 

LA!

I had a terminal change in LA, but it wasn't too far of a walk and I found my gate pretty quickly. Walking with my heavy bags did wear me out some though. 

After getting some really, really not cheap food, I found a spot to sit where I thought I'd be able to charge my phone. The station was broken, however, a nice gentleman offered to let me use his portable super battery phone charger thingy. I texted family and ate and read and then boarded my second plane about two hours later. 

This time I had a full three seats to myself. Across from me was a family of three with a baby, so I offered for them to overflow onto my row if they needed to.

Leaving LA.

I'm pretty sure those white splashes are from a pod of dolphins. 

The flight really went well and did not seem like 5 hours at all. I got to see "Inside Out" and it was pretty good. To pass the rest of the time I did some Bible study, slept, and read. 

Maui!!

Maui is largely covered by sugarcane fields. 

The landing was a bit bumpy and our touch down involved some bouncing on the runway *grimaces*, but other than that it was smooth! 

The Maui airport is so pretty and is open for the most part so as soon as I got into it I could breathe in the warm, salty air tinted with the smell of flowers. 

There's my ride!

Mom and the littles picked me up and we went straight over to Costco for the big haul. That Costco is the busiest, most stressful one we have ever been to. I could tell the kids had missed me, they were practically hanging off of me the entire time we were shopping. 

When all the food from our overflowing cart was loaded into the car we went to Jamba Juice for me and Ava and Burger King for Gabe and Mia. Then we took the only highway to get to where we are staying, Maui Eldorado. 

The drive is breathtaking and the ocean is right there!

On the other side are the mountains.

I landed in Maui just before noon (Maui time) and we got to the condo about 4:00 pm I think. It didn't take me long to unpack and settle in. Then I went to one of the three pools around the complex to cool off real quick. The one I visited has whale mosaics in the tile on the bottom and has always been referred to as "the whale pool" by us children. I don't know how to go swimming by myself... 

When I returned not long after I left I showered and then felt greatly refreshed, only very tired. 

We ate dinner in the room and the kids watched part of a movie. 

By 8:00 pm we were all in bed. 

Flying alone really was no problem for me. I have been flying ever since I was a baby, pretty much every year and am very comfortable with the whole process. Really the weird part wasn't not having Mom or Dad with me, but rather not having younger siblings to watch out for. I missed that more than having an adult with me!

Saturday morning we woke up about 6:30 am. I slept hard. We all got ready and went to go have breakfast at one of our favorite places, Aloha Mixed Plate. We love it 1) because the food is yummy, 2) because it is not expensive, 3) because the water is literally right there, and 4) because it's all picnic tables in the shade. 

Mom treated me to an iced salted caramel mocha.

It lasted me all the way back to the room, getting ready for the beach, 

the walk down, and sitting on the beach. 

Mermaid Ava. 

Muscle Man Gabe.

Sandy kiddos.

Sand baby.

We alternated between playing in the water and doing pushups for three rounds, then ran in and out with the waves to get our workout in! 

Because we are so close to the equator the sun is much more intense here so we did not stay down at the beach for a super long time. We came back to the condo and showered, then ate lunch, and had rest time. Mom went to get a manicure and pedicure. 

About 4:00 pm we went into Lahaina to walk around and get dinner at Cool Cat Cafe.

Mia and Gabe both purchased shark teeth.

They came with a guarantee. 

This is a cartoon we saw.

Everyone had burgers for dinner (except for Mia, who got a hotdog). Then there were root beer floats for dessert. 

Ava thought she got to have all of them.

Ava

Gabe

She makes up her own.

Back at the room we got ready for bed. The kids watched the rest of their movie, and Mom and I read. 

That day was also Chloe's 17th birthday. Now we are both 17! But only for 3 weeks. They went to church, then celebrated with everyone at Rosa's, and then went to a 10:00 pm showing of "War Room" which was "amazing!" 

Sunday morning we rose at 6:30 again and got ready to go to church. 

I can see the water from our porch. 

The church service is held at 8:00 am in Whaler's Village at an open-air restaurant right by the beach. (Whaler's Village is within easy walking distance from our room and is like a big, open-air mall.) 

Mom treated me to an "Island Vintage Late." 

I can see that from my seat in church.

Mom met an older lady at the nail salon on Saturday and invited her to join us at the church service. She came! Afterwards she was showing me pictures of her grandson who is my age and is "really a great guy." 

We got back to the room and prepared to go to the beach. It was pretty cloudy today and more rough, though the kids still had no problem swimming all they wanted. Even when it rained they were not bothered. 

  

About 2:00 pm we came back to the room to shower and watch movies. One is going now and the other will be for after dinner. 

That Moment When...

The front desk calls your room to let you know your car has been running for 4 and 1/2 hours. 

The Herd: Quoted 

"Goodnight, see you soon." -Dad a few hours before we had to get up to leave for the airport. 

"Do you have a ponytail holder or something?" -Dad laughing at me getting my hair stuck in my backpack.

"Gabe, go put some different clothes on. You have worn the same thing for 3 days." -Mom

"Have you seen the lizard skeleton?" -Ava

"No, and I think I'm good!" -Me

"Be thinking about what you want for breakfast." -Mom

"I'm thinking something that involves bacon." -Mia 

"Mom, do you like bacon?" -Gabe

"Yes." -Mom

"I know Dad doesn't, he disgustifies it." -Gabe

*Lydia tells Mom her Starbucks order*

"And I want hot chocolate" -Mia calls out even though she was not offered a drink.

"We didn't have quiet time!" -Mia

"We did, you fell asleep." -Mom

"Oh yeah..." -Mia

"I'm so glad I got that 1/2 inch of hair cut off, it'll make caring for it at the beach so much easier!" -Me