A Tale of Two Dresses

Hello Friends!  Let me start by saying that my last post was written in a hurry, and it may have sounded like Don and I spent our ENTIRE vacation lounging by the pool, and were then TOO EXHAUSTED to go on any excursions or even eat dinner!  Just to clarify...We did spend a lot of time by the pool, but we also toodled around the island quite a bit!  And, because of the 5 hour time difference, we would be up at 4 AM most days!  So, there was one busy day when we just ordered room service for dinner because we couldn't go on any further!!  Ha!  I just had to let y'all know that we are not TOTAL slackers!!  We squeezed every once of fun we could into our vacay...

So, back to the issue at hand, A Tale of Two Dresses...

I typically do not buy Sydney many clothes.  Maybe I'm weird, but I just feel like certain areas are not "my turf" as a stepmother.  It is kind of like if your Mother-in-Law kept bringing bags of clothes to your house for your kids.  If you like her taste, you are thrilled.  If you do not like her taste, you would really rather she didn't.  So, I pick up things a few times a year for Christmas, birthdays, and special occasions.  So far, I think Syd has liked most of my selections.  Shew!  Talk about pressure!  Recently though, I was faced with a challenge.  Don offered to buy a dress for Syd to wear in a local talent show that she was participating in.  That means I got to pick it out!!  Now, a normal person would have driven to the mall, gone inside and bought the cutest dress in her size.  Then they would have gone home and moved on to another issue.  But, I am an obsessive, over-achieving, people pleaser.  So I took Sydney on a scouting trip to the mall, spent a week perusing the Internet, and then thought of different "looks" to go with possible song choices.  Then I spent an entire day shopping and ended up with two dresses. 

In my fantasy world, Syd would have sung a Disney song like "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"  or a classic like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and she would have worn a big, pouffy, princess dress with a little sparkle on it.  But, she sang "Blessed Assurance"  which is a lovely song- just not very princessy.  So, with that in mind I set out to find a perfect dress for the Talent Show and Easter Sunday.  More bang for the buck.  Here is what I came home with...

It is darling, no?  Pink seersucker with a bubble skirt!  A big sash!  LOVE IT!  And it is the kind of dress that she will love to see in pictures when she is grown up.  A sweet, innocent spring dress!  Excuse the pollen covered porch!  I need to hose it down!  OK, so after I picked this dress out, I felt a little guilty.  It is a darling dress, but, I knew Syd wasn't going to flip out over it.  She has a little more spunk than this dress. And, I have to say when you are on stage you need some sparkles.  So, dress number two...

Much better for performing!  Right?  I laid both choices on her bed and when she came home from school she ran back and immediately told me that she liked the PURPLE ONE!!  I knew it!  So, we decided that she could keep both dresses, and that the pink dress could be a good summer church dress. I love the purple dress too, but it is not easy to find cute dresses for 9 year olds- everything is either too grown up, or too casual, or too pageanty! 

She looked adorable, and she sang so well!  And, what a wonderful song choice for the beginning of the Easter Season!  "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine!  Oh what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of Salvation, Purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, Washed in His Blood!"  Happy Easter!! 

MAUI Wowee!

Well, I decided to spare the blog readers of  a million pictures of me and Don in front of the tropical sunset. This post is just going to be the basics about what we did and what we ate and what we would recommend to our friends. 

1. Our Hotel- Hyatt Regency.  Loved it, but it is a BIG resort.  Fabulous gardens with pink flamingos, penguins, parrots, and swans.  Fabulous art, views, concierge was great.  The location seemed to be perfect.  We could walk along the ocean front path that goes in front of all of the big resorts in that area.  The shopping, dining and water sports area was a short stroll away.  The restaurants and bar offer as much ambiance as I had dreamed of, and they have servers who take orders at the pool.  The food by the pool was spectacular!  I was impressed.  The downsides are few, but if I had to say a few...Very crowded pool, hard to find a chair by the pool (but we always got one), not a ton of umbrellas around pool, not exactly a "nap by the pool" atmosphere.  I had a hard time reading my book and napping because it was so lively.  But, I did have friends with me each day, so maybe I wasn't in the mode to nap.  The hotel served Pepsi products- bummer for a Diet Coke addict.  And finally, there are definite Asian themes in the decor of the hotel, and in keeping with that, the beds are extremely low.  They are almost like cots on the floor- no box springs, just mattresses on these cool Asian bed frames.  It was very comfortable, but we both found ourselves commenting on these "damn low beds"!  We had drinks at the Swan Court restaurant in the hotel.  It is touted as the most romantic location in Maui.  There is a lagoon like area with swans swimming around and the ocean beyond that.  It was romantic, but I liked the outdoor bar better.  And a few people ate there and said it was disappointing.  We never ate at the sushi restaurant in the hotel- Japengo, but the views alone would have made it enjoyable for me!!  I realized that I am at least 50% in for the atmosphere.  I mean, it is the tropics, let's have some palm trees and sunsets!!  One last note on the hotel, we had a partial view of the ocean, and it was fine.  We spent very little time in our room, and unless you are springing for the Presidential suite, I'd save that money to spend on something else!

2.  Places we ate-  Farm Bureau had meals for us on three nights, so we didn't have a lot of time to try the local cuisine.  But, two out of three of our choices will be with me forever!!  The least favorite- Sansei sushi.  Great reviews and food, but no view.  We tried some adventurous things, and I thought the food was GREAT.  I just want a view.
-Everyone wonders if Mama's Fish House is worth it.  And I can wholeheartedly say YES!  It was one of my favorite experiences on Maui.  The drive there was fun- sugar cane fields, cute villages, surfers etc...And Mama's was FAB!  The food was excellent.  This is their famous dessert The Black Pearl!

It was great!  But the atmosphere was what I loved.  The most picturesque beach front location with open air seating and Hawaiian decor.  The service is excellent, and it is just hard to believe that there is really a place that beautiful in the world!!  But, beware, it is very expensive.  Too expensive to even justify, but I considered it  like admission to the most beautiful spot in Hawaii!  You gotta go!!  Critics say it is too touristy, but I am sensitive to that, and I didn't think so. 

-OK, I know you want to know where this is!  Merriman's!  AHHHHH, Merriman's!  This was our favorite!!  Arrive before sunset and enjoy wine from the wine bar while watching the sunset!  This place is at Kapalua where there is some famous PGA Golf Tournament, and I wouldn't have been shocked if Tiger Woods had walked in- it is the kind of place where you EXPECT to see famous people!! The food was incredible.  We dined on the lanai, and it was just Magical!!  Expensive, too, but not quite as bad as Mama's!

This is the front of the restaurant!  Nice!!  Also, loved the Hula Grill. It was just down from our hotel.  Great food and views- less expensive, more casual...
The rest of our meals were either Farm Bureau events or room service- we did that once when we were too tired to go out!
3.Activities-  We didn't do many!  Some people had stuff planned all day, every day, but we did a lot of poolside relaxing!  But we did go Whale Watching!!

I even bought the hat to prove I did it!  I got a little woosy and decided that it wasn't very fun for me, but everyone else seemed to enjoy!  Don LOVED it!! 
We did see some whales- incredible!!  Other things people in our group did...
-zip lining- if you are the kind of person who likes that kind of thing then you will love it.  Some people went because they felt like they should, and they didn't enjoy it.
- the road to Hana.  We were on the fence on this.  It is a guidebook must see, but it takes a whole day to do it right.  And most people in our group seemed to think that they were disappointed that they had spent a whole day in the car.  It is a treacherous drive with lots of twists and turns. 
-Surf lessons, the girls who did this loved it, but they are very sporty.
- GOLF- everyone liked the golf and the views.  One of our friends played several courses, and his favorite was Kapalua.  Who knows if I spelled that right! 

OK, so I might add more later, but I have to go take Sydney to her Talent Show Rehearsal!!  Aloha!

Aloha!

Aloha!  We are jet lagged and delirious from sleep deprivation, but I had to post a few pics from our trip to Hawaii! I am sure that I will have to do another post as I go through the 560 jillion shots from our vacation!
As I write this post, at 12:45 AM, I am waiting for Don to return from a late night ballgame in Memphis.  Paxton's game started at 9:45 tonight!  So, we hope Don will arrive safely home by 1:30 in the morning!!  He is a devoted father and fan! 

There is a five hour time difference between Arkansas and Hawaii.  And honestly, I never really adjusted.  The reentry wouldn't have been so hard except that we were up for 24 hours straight on our trip home!  If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, I suggest giving yourself a few days to recover when you get home!  And, I would consider staying a night or two in San Francisco or LA to break up the trip.  For us, the second leg of the journey was really tough- we were on a full flight, and there never seemed to be enough air conditioning or leg room!  I did manage to get us Exit Row seats on the way home, which made a HUGE difference!! 

Here is a pic of Don at he Luau!  We arrived at bedtime on our first day, spent the second day by the pool, and went to the Welcome Luau on our second night!  It set the tone for fun and was a beautiful ocean front setting!  The palm trees were uplit with bright colored lights and the flowers were incredible!

These little cuties were there to greet us at the party!

And the entertainment was a very fun Hula and Fire Eater routine!  There was also Hawain music! 

This is blurry, but I loved the palms lit in different colors!!  It is a BEAUTIFUL place!  And we had the best time!  I will be back with more as soon as I can sort through the camera!  Don just walked in- Home at 1:15! He is operating on fumes!!  Aloha!!