Fantasy Tennis Camp in Wailea, Maui

Ed and I welcomed the trip to Maui after a stressful move and knowing the boys were in safe hands. We had 2.5 days of free time, one and a half on the front end and one on the back end, to enjoy the sights of Maui before and after the tennis camp. We arrived mid-day and starving, so grabbed shrimp at a trailer (wait, are we back in Austin?) overlooking the ocean (oh yeah, definitely not). Then it was off to the hotel, which was drop dead gorgeous -- thank you Didit! -- And yes, they do give you lays when you arrive : ) That night, we had reservations at a traditional luau which had a pig that had baked all day in an underground oven as well as a buffet and entertainment.

 

hotel: The Grand Wailea

 

Luau

dinner!

With the time change catching up to us, we were in bed by 9:00 and up by 3:30 to catch the sunrise at the top of Haleakala -- a 2 hour drive and at 10,000 ft elevation. We had known about how cold it would be prior and it had certainly felt strange packing a winter coat to go to Hawaii, but we needed it! I was even wishing I had brought gloves! I have to admit, the sunrise was breathtaking -- a blanket of clouds covering the Pacific and colors changing by the minute. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel for a nap before exploring the grounds and then going to the cocktail reception for the camp. There, we met all the pros: Michael Chang, Taylor Dent, Tracy Austin, Edgar Gaffenig, Jamea Jackson and Tom Gullikson. Everyone was very down to earth and enthusiastic. As the week progressed, Ed got to know them a lot better and even got to play rounds with them. Ask him about his winner on Michael Chang : )

There it is!

Welcome Reception for Wailea Tennis Camp

For the next few days, I snorkled with turtles (1 beach away from last week's fatal shark attack, as it turned out, yikes!), went shopping, took walks, did yoga on the beach, read by the pool, took a tennis clinic and just relaxed. Ed would come back from his camp sore but glowing from the high of playing with the pros and learning new tips. They had the campers divided by level and despite having the same rating, Ed moved up twice because of his performance. The experience taught him that we have a good tennis center here in Austin and a lot of the pros even knew of our head pro here.

In the evenings, Ed and I had nice dinners, (one night with the pros), watched the sunset (and rise from our balcony in the mornings since we were getting up so early!), and took a scenic 3.5 mile bike ride to Maui's "Most Beautiful" Makena Beach (and peeked at the next door nudey beach : )

Ed playing with Michael Chang and Tom Gullikson

Jamea Jackson & Ed during a clinic

watching the pro exhibition: Taylor Dent & Tracy Austin vs. Michael Chang & Jamea Jackson

Taylor's 140 mph serve

At the Awards Luncheon

with Taylor Dent

with Michael Chang

with Tracy Austin

sunrise view from our balcony

Makena Beach

view of Makena Beach from the cliff

hidden nudey beach on the other side of the cliff : )

bike ride

sunset at the hotel

On our last free day, we checked out the artsy town of Pa'ia before having a waterfront dinner at Mama's Fish House, an island favorite. Then it was a red eye back to reality but we were ready to see the kids. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this trip possible -- we had a wonderful time and Ed especially had a really great experience. He has already seen a difference in his game in the matches he's played since!

Pa'ia

We're in! (huge sigh...)

We've been getting settled in the house among all the chaos. As it turned out, we ended up being in the new house for 5 days before our first guests arrived: Lola and Mama Tisset stayed with us for 2 weeks and were a big help watching the kids while Ed and I escaped on our previously planned vacation to Maui for 6 days for his 40th bday. The boys had fun with Lola and Mama Tisset, even though they got sick and even Lola was under the weather. They didn't even seem that excited when Ed and I finally returned! A few days later, Bobby and Siiri joined us for Thanksgiving. We even had our first fire in the oven : ) Too bad the marshmellows were sacrificed, but the sweet potatoes survived unscathed.

 

No those aren't pjs, they are Hawaiian shirts & shorts from our trip : )

We were able to do some fun things with Lola, Bobby and Tisset before they left town, like shopping, going out to eat and they went out two stepping. Lola even got a pair of cowboy boots!

Since they've left, I've been busy unpacking all our things we haven't seen in 2 years. It's been kinda fun rediscovering our belongings and seeing old photos. The boys have adjusted great, sleeping through the night right off the bat and we just feel so thankful to be in our new home. The landscaping has begun on the backyard and should be done next week.

So bear with me as I catch up on the blog and get settled in...

Bye Bye Baby Dean

My little man turned 3 yesterday, officially propelling him beyond the baby stages. Unfortunately, he was feeling under the weather on his big day, with a runny nose, deep cough and overall low energy levels. He even took a nap which is a rarity! We didn't have much planned as we'll celebrate in a few weeks when family is in town for Thanksgiving. He did open a few gifts though (thanks to all the  grandparents!) and we took him out to dinner. Of all the places we could go, Chipotle was the birthday boy's request so that's what we did. Then it was home for a vanilla bday cake dessert. Big brother Morgan was happy to partake, even advising me on how to cut the cake so that pieces would be equal : ) Here's us singing Happy Birthday. Morgan then wolfed his down while Dean ended up only eating the M&Ms and icing. Oh well. Happy 3rd Birthday Dean!

Touch A Truck

Last weekend was Touch-A-Truck, which was basically a parking lot of all different types of vehicles like garbage trucks, limousines, school buses, etc that kids could climb on, honk the horn and see up close. We went last year and were there hours with the boys, they had been so into it. This year, Morgan was interested, but Dean just had his hands over his ears from all the honking and wanted to be held the whole time. We got there towards the end and met up with our friends Mark, Maria and their 3 boys. It was good the see them and honestly I was impressed that they came with 2 month old twins! At least Dean ventured on the tractor pulled barrel train so he got some fun out of it.

Mark and Beck