Flowers of Hawaii

 A trip to the tropics wouldn't be complete without pictures of the incredibly beautiful flowers!

Some are familiar,

except that we try our hardest to grow them inside,

and here they are everywhere!

 Hibiscus of every colour...

 and every shade.

 Entire hedges of gardenias with their beautiful scent.

  And then there are those flowers that you don't recognize...

  I marveled at these red flowers every time we walked by them.

 Then there were these pink ones...

 and others that didn't even look like flowers!

 This one is called, 'Pink Quill', 

easy to see why,

but where do those delicate purple flowers come from?

I wonder if this one is also called some sort of quill?

 These didn't even look real,

and then there was the verbena which was found everywhere!

Kapalua Bay

One of my favourite memories of our last time in Maui

was snorkeling Kapalua Bay

with my mother and my sister. 

We literally spent hours in the water,

marveling at the beauty all around us.

So I was so excited when our first excursion was back to Kapalua Bay

every bit as beautiful as I had remembered it!

But by far the best part about it?

Being able to share it with the next generation!

Now it was time for me to be the Grandma,

snorkeling with her family.

It didn't take Aidan long to figure it out...

and of course I couldn't let him go off on his own!

So in I went,

and we were off,

exploring together and being amazed with the colours and shapes of the fish.

Three generations snorkeling together,

does it get any better than that?

I certainly don't think so...

and it was just the beginning!

Maui Memories

If wishing would make it so, 

I would be sitting in a lawn chair looking out at this right now!

 Or maybe beside Dave at this table,

drinking our morning coffee.

 This is where we spent a week of Spring Break this year...

 ...enjoying these beautiful grounds

 and the lovely pool,

  with our Abby kids.

 Planned for over a year already,

we had no idea it would serve as our 'Retirement Trip'.

 Jaxon was my pool buddy...

...always ready for his 'Mimi' to jump in with him.

And to be honest,

I was thrilled having swimming partners that were always ready to join me!

 You could walk for miles and miles along the beach...

 all the way to Ka'anapali Beach

 and beyond.

 Absolutely irresistable!

 Perfect for jumping, swimming and a variety of other things that we enjoyed...

 all wrapped up in our Maui Memories for now.

But oh the memories,

memories to last for a lifetime.

Twenty-three years earlier we also made Maui Memories,

when my parents took my sister and I with our families there for Spring Break.

And now we were back,

with our son and his family,

making a whole new set of memories.

Wishing I was there tonight!

The Beauty is in the Details

Too often in our everyday lives we suffer from 'hurry sickness'.

We hurry through life 

rushing from one thing to the next on our 'To Do' list

and we miss the beauty all around us.

For example,

did you know that American Goldfinches aren't yellow in the winter?

In fact they are grey,

and now that spring is just around the corner 

their feathers are coming in yellow,

first just isolated dots of colour

but now more and more yellow is coming in.

 Now that Dave is retired, 

he has pulled out his camera again

and begun to catch the beauty 

that is in the details all around us.

 After a walk around the pond last week,

he came home with some of these shots

that just had to be shared...

 and were just a reminder to me 

of how amazing nature truly is.

 Just look at this!

 You may just see a female mallard duck here,

but look at the details in her feathers...

 and this green-winged teal is magnificent...

but nothing compares to the wood ducks!

The sun shining off this male mallard just lights him up.

 There are many different species of diving ducks on the pond,

 but these male mergansers really stand out.

If you are feeling overwhelmed,

rushing and hurrying all day long

every single day,

stop today....

...take a deep breath

and look around you...

There is beauty in the details

and it's all around you!