New Year's Day (and the days in between now & my last post)

Happy New Year!!!

I can't think of a better place to start the year off. It's been kind of grey and cloudy and windy over the last couple of days, but today was gorgeous and sunny once again. Yay!! We didn't really do much last night. The boys went off with their friends, and John and I cuddled and watched some TV, then went out onto the grass at midnight to watch the fireworks and that was about it. Every year people gather on the beach at and near the Grand Wailea to watch the fireworks. The Grand Wailea sends barge out into the ocean and then they do a big fireworks show from it. It's really cool, if you like fireworks. I didn't get any pictures because our view wasn't that great, and I didn't think the photos would turn out.

Here are some pictures of the last couple grey and rainy days though:

So I have been doing some thinking about that first post I wrote about the condo. I think I was a little hard on it. I do standby that the ad was deceiving, but we have been really quite happy here. It's relatively new, it's well decorated, the furniture is nice, all the appliances work really well. The selection of dishes and pots and pans, is pretty good. And it is really nice being in Wailea. Also now that we are acclimated, we don't even really need the air-conditioning, the breeze and the ceiling fans make it very comfortable. So I apologize for my snobby rant, and tell you that if you ever come to stay at Wailea, Maui, the Palms at Wailea is a fabulous place. I would consider however, getting a unit not on the ground level (the patio's offer better views) and maybe an inside unit closer to the pool.

The one thing I do miss is being on oceanfront property. Every year we have come to Maui, we have stayed oceanfront in Kihei. We splurged on the oceanfront but stayed in Kihei because it is generally cheaper than Wailea. So that usually means an older condo which is not nearly as nice as ones in Wailea. I really didn't think I would miss the being near the ocean, as I am not really one who likes to go in the water. But I do. I miss falling asleep to the sound of the waves, the smell of the salty air when you first get up in the morning, and watching the sunset cast beautiful pinks and purples over the waves. I also miss walking in the soft Maui sand, and letting the waves lick my ankles.

I have shied away from telling you this, but my feet have not touched ocean, or sand for that matter, once on this trip. The boys have gone down to the beach a couple of times, but John and I have mostly made our home on our lanai facing the grass and palm trees. I have been close to the ocean, and looked our over it, but I haven't touched it. I know that if we were right on the ocean I would have walked along tons of times, but instead I have walked around on grass and pavement. And I only have 3 more days!! I better get down there (to the beach that is!)

Nothing too exciting has been happening over the past couple days. More vegging and more golfing. 

John and the boys went golfing on the 30th at the Wailea Gold course, and when I went to pick them up, I noticed that the water in the fountain was pink. I'm not totally sure why, but I think it might have had something to do with the wedding going on. I thought it looked really cool, so I took a picture....

Yesterday morning we went to Longhi's for brunch. Something a little different. The boys ordered cinnamon rolls as starters, check them out:

I know, who orders appetizers at brunch?!?! Here are a couple more pictures at Longhi's:

I love this picture of Matt. Nick just refuses to have his picture taken without making some sort of face.

The breakfast food was really good. I think we still prefer Stella Blues though.

After breakfast, Matt went down to Big Beach with his buddy Nick. Jack and Nick just sort of hung around playing football and going to the pool. And John and I sat on the lanai with our laptop and Nick's laptop and got down to some heavy duty planning for our Great Britain trip in April. It was actually quite productive. I am starting to get pretty pumped about it. 

John, Matt and Jack went golfing again today at the Wailea Blue course, and Jack got his first birdie ever!! Yay Jack!! I think he was pretty proud of himself, but he was playing it cool. The day was absolutely beautiful right up until I went to pick them up at the golf course and it started raining.

Nick went surfing with his friend Connor, and he didn't come home for dinner, so it was just the four of us. We headed over to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I'm not a huge steak person, so I wasn't really excited, but Matt, Jack and John love steak so it was all about them! 

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was soooo good. They started us out with the most delicious freshly baked bread with this light and fluffy whipped butter. It was kind of expensive and we were really hungry so we decided to forgo the appetizers and head straight for the entrees. The entrees are all served a la carte, and the sides are huge, so we ordered shoestring fries and onion rings for the table to share, John and Matt ordered steak and lobster, Jack had steak and shrimp and I had the crab cakes. It was all so delicious. We were all stuffed, and wishing we could eat more. 

It was pretty pricey (about $300 including tip for the 4 of us) but totally worth it. Probably the best dinner we have ever had in Maui, although Longhi's gets a close second.

Now we are home and I am blogging and we are watching Napoleon Dynamite on TV. Hope you had as good of a New Year's Day as we did!!