Little Luxuries

This week, we have been relatively busy. On Monday our friends moved into their condo that they rented here in Kihei and Neil's parents arrived. We've celebrated by having veritable parties at our place and theirs - either impromptu lunches or planned dinners. We did have a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner of rum, grilled steak and pumpkin pie.

Throughout the week we enjoyed the small luxuries of adult time. Our friends attempted to get Neil to overcome his pseudo-claustrophobia and try snorkelling. Any time we've been here, we haven't really tried it, inadvertent swimming with honu (sea turtles) and fish is as close as we've gotten. We just weren't all that interested in what was underneath. But Neil tried it, and loved it, he couldn't stop talking about it, got on the internet later to research what he saw. But a day later, when the boys had their free morning out (sans kids), and they went again - Neil's idiosyncrasy returned and he swam while our friend snorkelled. Hey, he doesn't have anything else that is weird, so I'm pretty happy to accept a snorkelling-aversion. Wednesday morning was the girls' turn to have some time alone and we hit my yoga class with breakfast after and met up with the rest of the family for a swim at their pool.

On Saturday, Neil's parents generously offered to look after all four kids and us adults took off for a day of exploring. We were actually a little torn on what part of the island to check out on our free day. Surf forecast for the north shore was '15 plus, plus'. Which means that the wave faces are expected to be at least 15 feet, but they don't really know. We were intrigued to check out Jaws - massive waves that hit Maui's north shore. Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nS_aR8XX_U&feature=related. But you never know what will be happening, so after a brief Starbucks visit we headed up to West Maui to check out some sights we've never seen. We've spent a lot of time on the north shore, so we took our chances at missing Jaws this time. Our first stop was the Dragon's Teeth, an odd lava formation at the end of a point near Kapalua. A quick lunch at the Honolua General Store and we were on our way to check out the surfers at Honolua Bay and carry on to the Nakalele Blowhole. The blowhole was awesome - a 40 inch hole with a massive cavern underneath where waves crash in. When they do, water and spray pump from 3 to 60 feet high. When we were there, the highest was about 40 feet - and the ground shakes beneath your feet. Way cool. As we headed home, we called ahead to say when we'd arrive and were told to stay away, and have more fun - so..... we hit a bar! Ate nachos and drank cheap happy hour drinks. Came home to happy kids and happy but tired grandparents and we thank them still for the luxury of a day away with good friends, cool sights and no talk of children.

And now we come to the end of this week. Our friends leave tomorrow and we will miss them terribly - we've gotten used to having them around! But as Taylor put it tonight at dinner - "It's okay, we have lots more people coming to visit us!" Which is true - we just got word this week from another friend that they're coming in February.

So let me wrap up by remembering that our family of four was our only company for the past 2 months - and for the past week we were surrounded by 6 additional people that we know well, love and like to be with. And it is indeed a luxury to have family and friends who fit into all three of the above categories.