Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Fuzzy Moments

Posted on August 28, 2009 | 11 Comments

IMG_0512Life is not always in focus, and neither is this photo. I’ve gotten pretty good at snapping pictures of my quick-moving son, but there are times when I just can’t capture every moment in its perfect state. Photography with kids is sometimes challenging. I’m usually clicking away on my camera and also talking, walking or barking directions at the same time. Even so, I often find little photographic nuggets of awesome, amongst the hundreds of photo discards.

This is the heart-shaped piece of coral my son found, and gifted to me, on Anini Beach in Kauai. I don’t like to take the flora and fauna from the beach, if I can help it. This time, I couldn’t help it. I really wanted to bring that special coral home with me, but we ended leaving it behind. At least, I have this fuzzy photo of my heart-shaped coral, to remind me of that glorious moment with my son, on a quiet beach in Kauai.

I’m participating in Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday, click on over there for other travel moments captured in photo.

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Posted in Family Travel, Hawaii, Live and Learn, The Mush Pot

Postcard From Maui

Posted on August 23, 2009 | 2 Comments

IMG_0224This isn’t a scratch and sniff photo, but I sure wish it was. Then I’d be able to transport you to the Alii Kula Lavender Farm with me, and you would breathe in the lavender breezes high up in the mountains of Maui. I can’t do that, so you’ll just have to use your powers of imagination. After visiting this place, I was ready to quit my job and become a lavender farmer. This place was just that beautiful.

Until my next postcard, aloha.

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Posted in Family Travel, Hawaii, The Mush Pot

Four Plane Rides Down

Posted on August 19, 2009 | 2 Comments

IMG_0030…just two more plane rides to go. Even our stuffed doggie has been enjoying his time in paradise-although, he spends most of his time in a backpack. Our current location is the island of Kaui, after spending six days showing my parents around Maui. I’m purposely trying to spend very little time online, and enjoy this trip “unwired”. But I promise I’m taking lots of notes, pictures and videos. I can’t promise that they’ll all turn into riveting stories, but I’ll pick the best moments to share with all of you. Until my next travel postcard….Aloha!

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Posted in Family Travel, The Mush Pot

My Kid’s Picks: The Best of San Diego Zoo

Posted on August 13, 2009 | 4 Comments

The San Diego Zoo is our favorite place to hang out with some wild things. We live 8 hours away from the zoo, but have still managed to visit it over five times since my son was born. He’s seven. Needless to say, he’s a bit of an expert on the matter.

So of course, I asked him to help me write this post by sharing a list of his favorite San Diego Zoo activities.

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1. Get some quiet time with the pandas. There are very few places you can see pandas in captivity, so it’s easy to see why this topped the list. The Panda Research Center is the quietest place in the zoo-making it one of my favorite exhibits. To help the pandas feel at ease in their bamboo-filled enclosures, a limited amount of people at a time are allowed to view them. The line may seem a bit long when you first see it, but it moves pretty quickly. Still, it’s always better to head over to this exhibit early or later in the day.

IMG_2902_12. Feel the primate connection with the gorillas. I secretly wanted to put these furry guys at the top of the list because they’re my absolute favorite part of this zoo. I could sit for hours watching the gorillas go on with their very busy, gorilla days. I’m a bit jealous of the security guard stationed at the exhibit, because he gets to hang out with these primates all day. You can get a close-up view of the gorillas through large viewing windows, and, luckily, they spend most of their time right in front. I won’t forget getting such a close-up view of the the baby gorillas when they were first born. They’re a bit bigger now, and love to play around in front of visitors.

3. Take a trip through time at Elephant Odyssey. The zoo’s newest addition helps kids learn about how the prehistoric animals of southern California share a connection with their present-day animal relatives at the zoo. My son checked out the replica of the La Brea tar pits and played around with the life-size sculptures of the mammoth elephants and Sabertooth tiger. The stars of the exhibit, the elephants, hang around in huge enclosures but are really easy to see. Have you ever seen a dung beetle roll around a ball of dung? Well, you will at this exhibit. I had to peel my son away from the little window, he was engrossed by the busy beetles. I was just grossed out.IMG_2935_1

4. Soar over the zoo with Skyfari. This is the sky tram that takes you from the Children’s Zoo to near Polar Bear Plunge, so take this up to give your throbbing feet a break. I was so happy to have a moment of rest, that I forgot about my fear of heights and of dangling in little boxes from wires in the sky.

5. Bug out at the Children’s Zoo. There are many reasons to visit the Children’s Zoo, but my son spends most of his time in the insect building. There are over a dozen displays of insects-lots of cockroaches but no dung beetles.

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Posted in Family Travel, SoCal

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Napali Coast, Here We Come

Posted on August 10, 2009 | 6 Comments

hp_scanDS_9891951102I’m so close to my dream this week, that I can almost feel that red dirt between my toes. In just a few days, we’re headed for a two-week vacation to Hawaii. I know…I’m one lucky girl.

We’re spending the first week in Maui and the second week in Kauai, a.k.a. in our household as the “sacred place”. I have nothing but love for Kauai. This is an old, faded picture of me hiking along the Napali Coast on the Kalalau Trail. I was much thinner, in better shape, but missing my seven-year old sidekick, whom I’m always writing about.

Because I had the luxury of hiking that trail without a kid, I did some things I would never consider doing today. On that particular hike, my sister and I headed out onto the trail right around high noon, with only one bottle of water, no snacks, no first-aid kit, and no hats. Who knows if I even bothered to put on some sunscreen or mosquito repellent. We were young, dumb, and apparently carrying very light backpacks.

We hiked for an hour to the first beach along the trail and planned to hike another 40 minutes upriver from the beach, to some waterfalls. We only made it as far as the beach. By the time we got there, we had run out of water, we were hungry and the midday heat was exhausting us. So we cooled off in the ocean a bit (we had remembered to wear our swimsuits) and hiked back. On the way back we got so thirsty, that we filled our bottles with water from the streams running down the mountain-not the smartest thing to do. This was in the days before Survivor, but we would’ve been the perfect candidates for the show. Luckily, we made it back alright and in time for a very late lunch. Bubba Burgers helped take the edge off after our harrowing wilderness experience.

Despite our lack of hiking-preparedness, we enjoyed our rambles along the Kalalau Trail. It is the most beautiful hike I’ve ever done, so you can imagine how excited I am to take my son there. Here’s the problem: all the guidebooks say that it’s not a safe trail to take young children on. The recommendation is that only children over the age of eight attempt the hike, because of spots where the trail narrows to just under two feet across. So I don’t envision we’ll get very far on the trail this time.

But I won’t be scared away altogether. I’m actually planning and making preparations this time. It comes with the mami-territory. I will make sure we get on the trail early in the morning, take plenty of water and snacks, and slather on the sunscreen and mosquito repellent. I don’t care if we only get to hike the first quarter mile and we’re back in fifteen minutes. At least I’ll see some of the beautiful scenery and get to share it with my very cute, seven-year old sidekick. Aaannnddd…..we can celebrate at Bubba Burgers when we’re all done.

UPDATE: FOR MY TRIP REPORT AND TIPS ON HIKING NAPALI COAST, READ HERE.

I’m linking up to Mother of all Trips’ Mondays are for Dreaming posts. Go check out all those other dreamers.

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Posted in Family Travel, Hawaii, Live and Learn

Tagged , ,

Hello There

Posted on August 7, 2009 | 7 Comments

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Just stopping by to say hi. I’ve been neglecting my blogging and Photo Friday duties lately. Why? Summer is here and I’m wringing every last bit of fun out of it. This is a photo from a trip we took at the beginning of summer. It’s Sunset State Beach near Santa Cruz, California. I love this beach because it’s a long stretch of quiet bliss.

I’ve got a few weeks of vacation left. That’s just enough time to make sure I get just a bit more sand in my beach bag.

I’m linking up to Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday. Go there to check out all the other bloggers and their photos. They know a thing or two about finding fun.

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Posted in Family Travel, NorCal