homemade barbacoa tacos. In Austin, Peter and I fell in love with this taco place called Torchy's. They had the most amazing barbacoa tacos EVER. There are ZERO restaurants that serve barbacoa on Maui so I got some beef cheek and made my own. They came out AMAZING.
Cruz on the Makawao playground
Cruz's sweet face when he sneaks into my bed at night
Kai Boy hand art
I took the three on a hot dog picnic the other night. Just them and me. It was so fun!
Kai Boy on the Makawao Slide
Ry gives daddy a kiss
Open House night at Makawao El. Kai was very proud of his sister.
Her note was at her desk waiting for us
Ry's self portrait
Playground play
Images that I took appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle! Isn't that awesome?
sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank God I'm breathing
then I pray
don't take me soon
cause I am here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my life I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
there'll be no more wars
and our children will play
I pretty much had an entire birthday WEEK! It was so awesome!
On Monday Peter and I went to Mama's Fish House. A client gave me a gift certificate (talk about perfect timing!) and he had a day off and our dear friends Noah and Irene volunteered to watch the kids.
All dressed up!
See my PONO sticker?
Blowing out my birthday candle (fake eyelashes haha)
Dinner was incredible and it was so nice to go with Peter. We hadn't been there together in YEARS.
Tuesday was my actual birthday - 32!! - and I had a wedding to photograph that day on the West Side. We decided to take the kids out to Bubba Gumps in Lahaina after I was done with the wedding. They had so much fun. And to top it all off, it turned out that Pat's (Peter's brother) best friend is the manager and he came over and took care of the entire bill! How cool is that?!?!?!
Tuesday night Nico called me and asked if he could watch the kids for me so that we could go out. WHA? THREE DAYS IN A ROW? Shoots! So he came over on Wednesday and watched the kids while Peter and I went and saw Bourne Legacy at the theaters (Movie theater? What's that???). Super entertaining.
When Peter asked me a few weeks ago what I really wanted for my birthday, I told him that I wanted to go Parasail with Monkey. She had been asking about it and I've never done it. So we made reservations for Saturday morning. The owner was awesome and gave me 50% off "since I drove all the way from Makawao". Ry and I headed out on the zodiac to the UFO boat and she was really afraid. All week she was telling me how brave she was going to be. And then we're on the boat and she very nearly freaked out.
She's already a little nervous here..
Deep Maui blue water!
We're totally lubed up with sunscreen!
But she put on her brave face and she did it with me! I couldn't bring my camera, but I did pay the extra $35 for their video which I should have in a few days. I'll be sure to post it. Meanwhile, here's the beginning of our journey (you might need to click the email link if you're getting this in your email to see the video).
I had this impression that parasailing was going to be like a roller coaster ride, but it was far from it. The takeoff was pretty exciting, and then once we were to our altitude (1200 feet!) it was like we were in an entirely different world! It was so quiet and peaceful and we just floated along. Ry said she loved it and that we were like birds. The island was so gorgeous. The Maui blue water was AMAZING. And at the end the boat captain dunked us in the water then pulled us back up to land on the boat. We were soaking wet and laughing. It was AWESOME.
It's been a while since I posted and it's because life has been hectic and crazy. Work has taken up a huge amount of time, and I am thankful and sad for it all at once. Thankful to be busy, to be making money to support my family in this very expensive place, thankful to see my name in publications I never thought I ever would, thankful to have a husband who helps with chores. And yet it's a little sad too because I am going through what every working mom goes through - intense mommy guilt.
I feel sad that I sit them in front of the tv so I can finish editing just a few more photos or answer a few more emails. It makes it harder that a huge chunk of my work is done at home, where they have to watch me and fight to get my attention. I haven't written about it because it's so deep and upsets me on so many levels, but I just have to get it out there. I feel guilty for not doing as many projects with them as I should and want to do. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that my life requires. I have to learn to let certain things go (the dishes, certainly!).
My workload is winding down a little bit and I'm excited to do some projects with the kids and nervous about the money stopping for bit. If only things could be steady instead of hectic and then slow then hectic again. A little bit of "regular" would be ok for a little bit (you hear that God?).
We took the kids to Napili Park yesterday and had a picnic then ran around the play structure with them. We even had some races. It was a blast.
Today before Peter went to work we had a little Upcountry day. Puerto Rican food from the food truck, a trip to the strawberry farm, and to Nui farms to get our veggies. And now I sit with hours of editing in front of me with the kids plopped in front of the tv. guilt, guilt, guilt.
When we were in Texas I missed the smell of the burning sugar cane.
Front yard sprinkler play
Thought this was kinda cool - Ry's profile with sunlight.
Quick trip to the strawberry farm - see the baby horse and mommy horse in the background?
Apparently Ry and Kai didn't think the giant sunflower was as cool as I thought it was...
You know those days when life hands you lemons? You know the saying... make some lemonade. Today I was like, "EFF the f*cking lemonade". It was one of those days for sure.
Kai was a butt from the moment he woke up. His gymnastics teacher had to pull me aside after class to tell me what a butt he was being.
Whinyness and crying continued throughout the afternoon. Cruz decided to draw with red crayon all down the hallway wall just as our landlady was coming over for lunch. I was mortified and considered falling to my knees in the hallway and just crying my eyes out (the day was already rough).
I had a mid-afternoon photo shoot and drove out to Kapalua with two screaming boys all the way (Ryenne was an angel). I got to my photo shoot to discover there was gum in my hair (what the????)
On the way back to Makawao as I was contemplating what a shitty day it had been, I thought for an instant how it could be over. Anytime. The crying, the whining, the snuggling, the kisses. ANY TIME. At that very moment or in 80 years. You just don't know. And I thought that I could go home to my pile of laundry, sink full of dishes, gazillion photos to edit. And you know what? I pulled the car right over. Gave myself over to the ocean. Breathed the air, freshened my soul.
