Paradise

2 September 2018

We all woke up incredibly early, given the lateness of last night. Cornelia slept until 06:30, and Ian & I had woken half an hour before that, although poor old Ian had been coughing and blowing his nose all night. Bugsy called out for me, and Ian went to get her and she came into our bed for a cuddle. I thought she would fall back to sleep, but at 07:00, she said she wanted to get up and get her day started!

That was all the incentive we needed to get going. I walked down to a grocery store about half a mile away, and returned with cereal, juice, bread, butter and milk. And some nail varnish remover for my horribly chipped nails! It was lovely walking along the road next to the beach, watching the paddle-boarders, runners, and families already playing in the water. It was very hot and humid and is a very different heat to Vegas!

Luckily, Cornelia was after toast for breakfast and had three slices! She gobbled it all down and kept asking “Is it time to go to the beach now?!”

Eventually, of course, it was. It took only a few minutes to walk from our condo out of the complex, across the road and down onto the beautiful sandy beach. Ours is just a small area of sand and it was already quite busy, but we plonked ourselves down with our mats, towels and borrowed body-board and sand toys.

I took her straight into the ocean with the body-board, and she loved it! She was so confident, despite not wearing her goggles (I’m trying to get her to keep her goggles for the pool and her eyes for the sea!), and was surfing in on her tummy immediately. Even a couple of epic wipeouts didn’t trouble her! The water is deliciously warm and we really are in paradise! Well, almost…

Ian has been a right old grumpy git today, probably due to not feeling great and not sleeping well. Eventually, I told him to bugger off and to go and be miserable at the condo, where he could lie down and have some “him” time, without spoiling our fun. Off he went, and Bugsy and I resumed our playtime, digging holes, burying spades, throwing toys at targets and jumping over waves.

She must’ve suddenly become hungry as she then turned a bit whiney and wanted to go back to the condo and go to the pool instead. I had no objection to this and we packed up and set off for home. Just as we reached the grassy area before the road, Cornelia spotted Daddy and called out for him. We all walked back to the apartment together – he had been resting there and have come to find us again.

When we arrived back. Ian was still being grumpy and was not nice company. My nursing patience had run out and, having rinsed Bugsy and myself off in the shower, I said I was going to go to the supermarket by myself, so I didn’t have to manage the shopping and two children.

I walked down the road to the bus stop, which arrived just moments after me. Handing over my $2, I settled down and enjoyed the ride to Safeway. I do love a good supermarket, and this was no different! I wandered around filling up my trolley until I realised that I would not be able to carry it all home on the bus… with the unhelpful help of Doug, an Englishman who had lived in Maui for the last twenty years. Unfortunately, despite his good intentions and me trying to tell him that I needed the frozen stuff in my chilly bag, I had to repack all of my shopping outside, saving two large paper bags! At least the ice cream wouldn’t melt on the way home!

I called an Uber and had a lovely chatty lady from Thailand, who had been an Uber driver for just seven weeks and was loving it. She helped me to the apartment with my bags, and just as I was ferrying it through the door, one of the handles broke. 🙄 Thankfully, it just held the croissants and pains au chocolat.

While I had been gone, Ian had made an effort to put his nice hat back on, and he and Cornelia had “feasted” on bread, butter, cheese and bananas. They were very happy to see the pastries and scoffed one each, after which Cornelia managed two yoghurts and Ian some scrumptious juicy fresh fruit. The pineapple, in particular, is amazing!

Once we’d snacked our way through lunch (albeit rather late in the day), we headed off to the pool for an hour. Ian went in with Bugsy and they had fun while I lay in the shade. I’d already had two showers and was hoping to avoid a third!!

At about 17:15, I called time, and we all traipsed back to the condo again. Cornelia and Ian relaxed watching Spongebob Squarepants (which Ian, weirdly, really enjoys!!!) as I made a chicken salad for us, and chicken, potatoes and broccoli for Bugsy. We really need some fresh fruit and vegetables this week!

Bless her, Bugsy was so knackered, she wanted to sit on my lap and eat, and although she didn’t quite finish her plate, she made a sterling effort, before begging to go to bed! Ian even had to brush her teeth in bed, and she fell asleep while I was cuddling her. 😍

I am hopeful that she won’t wake too early tomorrow, as I’m planning on an early run before she is up. But her early-to-bed tonight meant that Lizzie and I could have a good old catch up via WhatsApp video. It was funny her drinking coffee while I was drinking wine and eating a Magnum! ☕️🍷

With two loads of laundry done, two trips to the shops, two swims and two showers, we are also ready for an early night! Hopefully Ian will have a better night’s sleep…!