Maui Wowie

I spent last weekend lounging childless on the shores of Maui. I attribute my ability to have done this to an awesome husband who, with little-to-no persuasion graciously stayed behind to watch Harper, as well as a very well-connected Lindsay who has a friend with a condo in Kihei, Maui which we were able to use for free.

Although I had prior aspirations of waking early to get some sightseeing in, and staying up late to party hard (Mormon style, of course. Shirley Temples and PG-13 rated movies), we spent most of the weekend tanning our buns on the beach and watching trashy reality shows. And boy was it awesome.

We rented a great little Ford Focus. These are the faces of girls with newfound freedom, filled with endless possibility. Aaaah...


This is how we spent a lot of our time. You may think this was a waste of a perfectly good island vacation opportunity, but keep in mind that we take our babies to the beach every single day. A little Bravo, TLC and Style R & R is exactly what we needed...

We ate delicious Thai food uninterrupted by crying babies knocking over glasses of ice water. As luck would have it, though, we were seated (in a very uncrowded restaurant, mind you) next to a family with a baby and a small child. I think seeing the little ones made us miss our own little ones. But not too much...

Then we stopped by a frozen yogurt place to indulge in pumpkin pie fro yo topped with graham crackers and whipped cream. Yes, the girls went wild indeed...

We spent the second day casually crashing a ritzy Mariott resort, trying to act natural as we snatched the neatly rolled green-and-white striped towels from the hotel's lawn chairs and claimed them for our own.


The facade was short lived. After an hour of basking sand-free, hotel security asked to see our elitist "guests only" bracelets. Needless to say we were cast to the sands like the pilgrims we are.

The last day was rainy and cool, so we packed our stuff and headed to the mall with hours (and I mean hours) to kill before our thirty minute flight back home. Oh, but don't you worry. We found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves, much to the chagrin of many-a-salespeople.




It was a much-needed respite. When I got home, I was half hoping that Rivers would grovel at my feet telling me what a hard job I had in being Harper's primary caretaker. Instead I was told tales of how much fun his weekend was. And I guess this is a good thing.

First is the Worst, Second is the Best, Third is My Rivs so You Betta Recognize.

As Rivers and I sat in the church pews today, I slowly rested my head on his knee and shut my eyes. "I'm tired", I sighed as a pang of guilt simultaneously crept over me. If you're thinking that my feelings of guilt derived from my overtly irreverent display of disinterest at a church service, you would be wrong. The truth is, I was sitting on my lazy butt getting a massage from my husband who happened to have just run a 13 Mile mountain race as I complained of being fatigued. And no, Rivs didn't just run the race. Rivs never just runs, in case you didn't know. Nope, my omni-awesome husband ran off into the sunny peaks of Hawaii's Kualoa mountain range for and hour and twenty minutes to compete in the Xterra Trail Running World Championships. And he came third. That's right, my husband is the third fastest man in the world. Now, some may contest the validity of this claim seeing as no Kenyan, Ethiopian, or non-Western runners competed, by I stand by my man. He was just a couple of minutes behind the reigning champion who happens to be so fast that Montrail modeled a shoe after him. So, that's definitely saying something.

Congratulations Rivers, on being the Third Fastest Human on the planet. Now give me a massage. I'm tired.

Nanny Sue

Having my mum come to visit is always a real treat. It's as thought she's the perfect roommate; she cleans up after herself (and me), she always takes the trash out, she cooks delicious meals and she is really good at entertaining herself. Just give my mum a sidewalk and a sleeping baby in a stroller and she can go off exploring for hours, giving me time to work on my thesis (or catch the finale of America's Next Top Model, which is equally important.)

Harper absolutely adores her. In fact, she's starting to walk to my mum for comfort instead of me (oh yeah, Harper's walking). A few months ago this may have worried me, but I know that once "Nanny" leaves, Harper will love me again. For now, it's so nice to watch her cling to her hot babe Grandma as they gallavant around Hawaii together, eating Frozen Yogurt, harvesting sea barnacles and other fun activites.

Having my mum here also makes me realize how much of a kid I still am. I love that she makes me lunch while being sure that all the food groups are on the plate. I love how she bugs me to go to the dentist. I love how she gives me disaproving looks when I finish my 3rd can of Diet Coke for the day. I love that she's making breakfast before I wake up, just like in High School. And most of all, I love how she kisses my cheek before going to bed.

Yup, I'm gonna miss that ol' Brit when she leaves on Tuesday. Kinda wish she could stay forever.