We've had two wrestling meets so far.  The first meet John and I were on pins and needles.  It's hard watching your boy wrestle.  I mean he's out there pitting his strength against someone else.  That someone else is well hurting my kid so that he can pin him.  It's hard.  The first meet there wasn't anyone for him to wrestle.  He weighed in at 67 pounds.  The next lightest kid at the meet was a kid on his team who was 88 pounds.  Job is a lightweight.  So he couldn't wrestle for team points.  He could only wrestle exhibition style with our permission and the other kid's permission and his coach's permission.  When you are wrestling someone 20 to 30 % more than your body weight it's a big deal.  We of course immediately gave permission for Job to wrestler.  His first time wrestling, the boy pretty much just laid down on him and he couldn't move.  A quick flip and he was pinned.  The second meet went better.  His first opponent had been wrestling for 3 years and was skin and muscle.  However Job held his own.  He is good at doing this superman move, at least that's what I call it.   He lifts his head up while on his stomach and stretches his arms and legs out.  The boy couldn't roll him over.  In fact it took him until the last 10 seconds of the match to pin him.  Then his last opponent he was quickly mowed over.  Isaac said that he was in bed less than 2 minutes before he was asleep that night.  He is learning so much.

We headed off to the south side again to try another beach.  Our MO was to wake up early, between 5:30 and 6:00 have breakfast while getting ready and talk about the day then drive over to Starbucks and get a Venti Carmel Macchiatto to share.  Once all that was done, we were off on our adventure.  Maluaka Beach was our destination for the morning.  I think this was my favorite because it had restrooms, a shower, a grassy area, and there was a place to rent gear.  It was run by the hotel but anyone could rent stuff.  We ended up renting a paddle board and trying it out.  It wasn't that hard however I did get knocked off when I was waving at John to come out and a wave hit it.  It would take a much longer time for me to learn how to surf the waves with it than to just paddle around the water.  While I was out there, a turtle popped it's head out of the water and then swam a circle around me as I was trying to get pointed in it's direction.  It then dove and I could never catch up to it.  It was so close, I could have reached out to touch it.  The turtles are amazing, so graceful in the water.  I guess that they are a favorite meal for sharks and I couldn't imagine how they could ever defend themselves against a shark or even swim fast enough to get away.  We stayed here for quite a while and snorkeled.  It was just amazing and fun and relaxing.  We left to have lunch in Kihei at a little fifties theme diner with real milk shakes that were so good.  We spent a little time at the hotel pool and then off to the northwest coast of the island.  With our trusty Maui Revealed book we read about the sites along this highway.  There was a blowhole that we stopped to see however it wasn't doing much at the time. Then there were Olivine pools that you could swim in but it wasn't very inviting so we just hiked down there and back.  We continued on until the road became a windy one lane road along the cliff.  At that point it was time to turn around. I think we were impressed with the variety of ecosystems on this tiny island.  The North East side of the island I would consider tropical jungle, the south east side was dry and had catcus.  The North west side reminded me of the Oregon coast, it was rocky and rugged with lots of cliffs.  Each was so beautiful in its own way.  The only part that we didn't get to see was the central part of the island.  Maybe some day, who knows. There is a huge world out there waiting for us to explore.

Last week the boys had to make up school for the day off they had in December due to snow.  The following Monday was another potential make up day for weather but they took it off for President's day.  This week Monday and Tuesday are snow days.  Here in the Pacific Northwest they just don't have the equipment for snow removal nor do they have the experience of driving in the snow.  Another thing here is the freezing rain that makes everything super slick because of the black ice.  Schools close and the town shuts down.  I love that about here.  At first it drove me crazy but now with the business of life, I love the coziness and spontaneity it brings.  Sunday we hunkered down at home.  Lona was at a friend's house and we chatted back and forth via text or facetime. John tried to pick up our boat that was supposed to be moved from one storage area to another and then took over an hour to pick up Lona from her friend's house but otherwise he played on the xBox with Isaac.  I love the bonding time that they have together.  At Isaac's age, I really feel that he needs to do activities with us that he's interested in.  Job had a friend over and I didn't really see them.  They were outside and busy. I was busy, busy playing that is. The hot cocoa bar went outside for any kid who needed to warm up and I made a sign to go with it.  I had a fridge full of food and so I made peanut butter cookies, finished my chocolate mint macarons, made homemade pizza dough, started the dough for homemade artisan bread, biscuits for breakfast and scrambled eggs, mini apple pies, and started the hamburger browning in the crockpot.  Then in the afternoon, I shoveled the walks for four different houses and took the dog over to the church while Job and Lona (who came home) built snow tunnels over there.  The dog accompanied us and made snow dog angels.  That night we used the pizza dough to make our own pizzas.  The kids loved it and asked when they could do it again.  Monday the soreness of shoveling came to haunt me and I have realized that I don't use those muscles often enough.  There is always something to keep me humble.  However I did get to try homemade marshmallows, baked up the bread from the dough I made the day before, and homemade chicken noodle soup.  The fridge is now stocked and I don't have to make anything until maybe Friday when we are bored of eating the same thing. I have come to realize that I love taking photos of food.  I love the baking and then trying to style it.  I love using the light coming in from my one kitchen window.  I love the dark moody photos that I get.  My stuff isn't perfect like professional stylists but to me they evoke a homey cozy feel.  I'm on the look out for small pieces of granite and floor board for backdrops.  I'm looking for small bowls, saucers, and cups along with vintage tea towels.  I'm having fun.  So when I baked for two days, it was for play and not for any other reason.  It was so that I could take photos.

Our Day 3 was a beach day, mostly.  We went to Poolenalena Park.  When we arrived there was a gal setting up a wedding.  We might be in some photos, sorry.  We were trying not to be but we were snorkeling.  Sorry.  We were out there snorkeling and had peaked our head up above water to chat.  When I looked down there was this sea turtle swimming right under my feet.  I screamed out to John and we followed the turtle quite a ways.  It would swim close to me as I was next to it and I was constantly trying to stay next to it but not touch it.  Then I backed off and it turned it's head and looked right at me.  It was amazing.  Unfortunately we were not adept at using our camera yet and so had no photos of that.  It was still absolutely amazing.  Talk about a highlight of my trip.  We stayed there a good portion of the day relaxing in the sun, and swimming.  Jim and Dawn told us that they bring a soft sided cooler to the beach so I had packed one from home and we filled that each day with pop, snacks and beer.  I enjoyed it so much.  In the afternoon we decided to jump into our rig (because it was that big) and see what was at the end of the road.  Lava, lot and lot of lava at the end of the road.  You could see where the lava came from and how it flowed toward the ocean.  It was incredible.  Job wanted to know if we saw real lava, we did but not molten lava - wrong island.  The variety of plant life from one side of the island to other was amazing.  The day before it was lush and jungle the north east side.  This day was dry and had cactus and palm trees.  We weren't that far away.  That night we had reservations for a magic show at Warren and Anabelles.  Unfortunately Warren wasn't there and there were two magicians (comedians) who were standing in for him.  I had heard wonderful things about the place.  We arrived around 7:30 and were ushered into a room where we had to show our IDs.  Then shown into a closet with about 4 other couples.  We had to find the secret door to be shown into the parlor.  Once in the parlor we ordered our drinks and had our appetizers brought to us while Anabelle the ghost played the piano.  After enjoyed our food and drinks we were then ushered into the room where we watched the magic show.  I have to say that it was wonderful.  If we ever go back, then I would love to go here again.  It was pricey but worth it.