2 years of wedded Chris!!!!!!

We went to the beach for a picnic dinner at sunset. Just down the road from our house. As you can see, it was a little bright out at this point.

The Beast was sporting a new Aloha shirt, thought he looked pretty handsome!

Cruisin for a bruisin, he loves to wrestle.

What a handsome little nugget!

Oh, this was a winner. I made some pesto and we had a grilled chicken with pesto and goat cheese pizza. Delish and pretty!

Us driving home happy and sunburned!

This is me making Chris pose for yet another picture. Those trees behind him were really beautiful though and needed to be documented.

Most public places are open air and so they don't have 4 walls. The weather is usually 85 and sunny, they don't like to deviate from that.

One of Chris's many looks

This is in the hotel lobby

Wailea, Maui

So Chris surprised me with a trip down to Wailea and we stayed a night at the Wailea Marriott. It was fantastic. They upgraded us to their best suite right on the ocean. We had 3 lanai's, 2 bathrooms, 2 TV's!!! I put the robe on and we were officially on vacation. (I made Chris wear his too) They had just finished their infinity pool which was fantastic only to be made better with a pina colada in hand.

We're off to the Wailea Marriott tomorrow night. This is a picture of their infinity pool that I can't wait to get into. We'll be sure to get some good pics and post them after the stay!

Well, we didn't get a hurricane but we did get this. Chris took the screen out of one of our bedroom windows and snapped it. The best rainbow we've ever seen. It started as a "Ball of Color" as Chris put it and turned into this beauty. 

Here's a video of Chris and I zipping. He was pulling ahead in the race. 

Lookin good in our harnesses and helmets. 

 This is the view of the suspension bridge that Kapalua built over the valley. It looked a little like the Golden Gate Bridge from where we were. 

This is us on the suspension bridge, it wobbled quite a bit more than I comfortable with but it gives you a great view of the bamboo forest down below. 

This is the last zip line we did, nicknamed "The Screamer".  We went about 40mph on the way down and you're about 250 feet above the valley. 

Us riding down the mountain. 

This is the 6-wheel drive truck that brought us down from the mountain and the zip lines. Pretty cool, Chris wants one. 

The Pup

DSCN2573
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

DSCN2615
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

Tropics

DSCN2614
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

These are some of the flowers they sell. The colors are just amazing.

Swap Meet

DSCN2612
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

Every Saturday morning Maui has a swap meet with local artisans and vendors. We've been going a lot lately, the tomatoes this guy sells there are the best we've ever had. We've been buying a lot of plants too, really cheap and really nice. Something we pass up everytime is the sushi just baking out in the sun. We've seen people buying it though.

Bananas! Bananas!

DSCN2611
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

When we first moved to Maui, Chris planted some baby banana trees and we didn't know if anything would happen with them. But he watered them relentlessly in hopes of them fruiting someday. They were about 1 foot tall and they eventually grew to about 20 feet tall. We just chopped down this bunch of bananas the other day and they're ripening under our stairs. They're apple bananas which are the BEST and slightly tart. Really delicious. This bunch weighs about 35 lbs.

DSCN2004

DSCN2004
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

I think we were delirious at this point, too many turns on the road made us punch drunk. Or I'm really funny.

DSCN2015 Climbing

DSCN2015 Climbing
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

Yep, he's scaling the bamboo.

DSCN2020 Treetops

DSCN2020 Treetops
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

The bamboo is long and thin and then it has this pom pom of green at the top, really pretty.

DSCN2018

DSCN2018
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

We hiked into the bamboo forest and it was pretty magical. The wind clinks and clanks the bamboo together and it was so nice and cool in there.

DSCN2021

DSCN2021
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

This was at the end of our Road to Hana trip. We hiked The Pipiwai Trail, above Seven Sacred Pools. You walk through an amazing bamboo forest and Guava trees (I stubbed my toe looking up for them and it was worth it). The path ends at Waimoku Falls, a 400 foot waterfall. There's a pool underneath that you can swim in but they warn against because boulders fall from the top without warning. Chris swam, I didn't. We did have a nice picnic though of beer and sausage.

DSCN2505

DSCN2505
Originally uploaded by samlittlebell

This was an irrigation ditch built over a 100 years ago to bring fresh water from the Waihe'e River to the cane fields. The water was really cold and just pouring out of it. Of course Chris wanted to shimmy our way through the tunnel to the end, I of course did not.

Aloha

Well, we've been in/on Maui for just over a year and half and I thought we should start sharing some of our experiences and photos of our time here. We'd love to have each and every one of you come and out and stay with us but until then hopefully this will keep you updated and envious enough to get your butts out here already.

We just moved into a new place a month ago and it was long over due. We no longer sleep in our kitchen or plan our outfits while in the shower. We live in what is called an "Ohana", which means family or a place that your in-laws can stay or live. We're slightly behind the main house and up on stilts so we've got some great views. Our deck off the front looks out at the ocean and Lanai'i which is the island about 10 miles away.

Chris has been riding like a mad man and may have even started a group ride, we'll see how dedicated the guys are. Over dinner last night he tole me about the ride, "One guy asked if they could all jump in the ocean half way to cool off." Chris responded with, "Oh, you'll jump in the ocean.....an ocean of pain". Hard to say how he took that. We'll see. He's also become quite the swimmer. He's now the "Head Coach" of the Marriott's Life Saving Swim Team. He's also the lone member.

My gardening has taken a backseat during the move. We've lost ground but I think I'll just focus on potted plants out on the deck. Chris and I have been taking Franklin, our old landlord's wiener dog, to the beach which he loves. He just doesn't love the water. We've been trying to get him more comfortable with it while horrifying him and other beach goers while they witness the torture.

I'm starting a new job in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doing concierge work at the Westin Villas which means busier and great perks for the island. Yeah!

Maui is supposed to be snake free but this is technically a snake, it's just one of the smallest in the world. It looks like a little black worm but if you look closely you can see a little mouth. We think he was playing dead because he was perfect. Smart little guy. We found him on our Swinging Bridges hike we did a couple weeks ago.