My Fabulous Fourtieth

O.M.G.

I really can’t put my birthday into words.

I was made to feel so loved and appreciated- that in itself is amazing.

I’ll start from the beginning...

A few weeks ago, Meg asked if Mandy and I would want to go to Ikea (kids free) on my birthday. Um... yes!! Then Mandy made us lunch reservations at Fogo de Chao (A Brazilian Steakhouse in King of Prussia). But, Meg called that morning to tell us that Bubba had a fever with vommitting. She cried, which made me cry. I was heartbroken- a pregnant mama with 3 kids at home, expecting a day out, only to have a sick kid. I felt terrible- I even bought her a candle while we were out to help “cheer her up.”

Mandy and I headed out anyway. We stopped at the KOP Mall to look at homecoming dresses for Jaylee, then headed to Fogo. YUM!!!  Mandy treated, as my gift. $40! But all you can eat yummy meat and fixings. We didn’t even need the huge salad bar- we were good with meat and mashed potatoes. I tried everything they brought, except for sausage. I even tried lamb- and abruptly gagged it up. So greasy and gamey! Yuck. Then, we strolled around Ikea for hours. I bought Rocky a cat house, but nothing for myself. I almost bought a couch- but Mandy talked me out of it.

It’s been many years since I tried on a homecoming dress!




We arrived home at 5:30, which is interesting because that is exactly what time I was supposed to arrive at my Hawaii-themed surprise party!!!!! Never once did I feel like Mandy was slowing me down or rushing me- weird! As we were driving home, I was telling her that I really need to figure out a way to get to Nick’s 40th birthday in Austin, TX.

When I went to pull in my driveway, I was very-

Confused.

I saw 2 cornhole games and was thinking something like- “huh, I wonder who’s playing cornhole” and then everyone ran out from the side yard and I just hit the brakes, literally. I stopped in the middle of the road and eventually parked the car in front of Melonni's driveway. Apparently, I only had one shoe on too!! I think I took off my left sneaker when we were driving because it felt too tight. I’m not sure if I only had one shoe on all night, or 2, or none. 

Then I saw Meg... and Bubba... smiling and waving!!!

I. Could. Not. Believe. That. He. Was. Not. Sick!!

She totally got me!

There were so many people there, I could not believe it! Nick flew in from Texas!!!!  My whole Liounis clan. Aunt Jeanne. Mommom Matheson. Aunt Donna. Lauren brought Stellan. Frank, Kari and Allison Zimmerman. KC and Christy Kramer. Debbie and Katrina Gerovasilis. The Ashcroft’s. Heather Long. Sandy Campbell. Alyssa and a friend. AJ and Jessica brought baby Derek. Any and Liv Weik. Steve and a Jennifer and their kids and neighbor’s kids. Uncle David and Telesa. Jaylee’s friend Tony.

I was SHOCKED.

Apparently, it was Jason’s idea. He gave Mandy and my Mom the money to plan it though. My kids have known for months!

There was catering (hot turkey sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches, hash brown casserole, green beans) fruits, veggies, cheese and meats, drinks, open bar, TWO cakes, chips, pretzels and more.

It was obviously a 40th birthday, not a 20th... no one took any pictures.   

After everyone ate (not me because I was too busy making my way around to everyone) Jason wanted to give me my gift. It was- weird. Everyone gathered around to watch. I felt uncomfortable. I had no idea what to expect...

But I certainly did not expect a

TRIP TO HAWAII!!

This blog site won’t let me upload videos anymore, or I definitely would- 

my expression was PURE SHOCK! 

Jason even made an itinerary!!!!

And... we were leaving the next day!!

They thought ahead and got me 3 bathing suits too. Meg got me a super cute island outfit to wear on the plane. Mom got me a cute nightie. I also got Eternity perfume- it was my favorite in college! I got some cute stuff: vintage 1978 T-shirt, trivia game, 2 pretty shirts, a mug, cd’s, home made cards from the kids and lots of cash/gift cards!  Selina had even taken me out a week prior, to get my nails looking good. When I was holding up the nightie, Jason was walking up to the screen door, from the porch. He had a big smile on his face, looking at me- and walked STRAIGHT through the screen door!!!!  Then it took 4-5 guys 20 minutes to fix it. Funny!

I think the party was over around 11. I say “think” because it was all such a blur! It was fun watching the slideshow Jason put together of my 40 years. I didn’t sleep much because of excitement and my “to-do” list running through my mind.  The had cancelled my PT appointments and the field trip that I was supposed to chaperone. My mom was taking over the house so I felt like I had to organize/make things easier for her. Saturday morning I woke early to pack, got to (finally)  watch Jackson’s soccer game, had a Dr appointment for Ativan for the 13 hour flights and then headed out!

My kids only cried, or said “Not fair!” When they found out that we were going to see Hrandma and Grandpa. That, in itself, gives me hope that we’re doing this parenting thing right. 

We bumped into Nick while going through security!

 We arrived in Seattle 8:30pm their time. Brian picked us up and we surprised Jason’s parents. We stopped by to say “hi” to James and Amy on the way. Becca and Maria were there but they were in on it. Funny, because it never occurred to Jason to see his parents during our 14 hour layover, so luckily they were all available to see us. He’s got such a great relationship with his parents.

And then... we were off, again.

Breakfast at a Seahawk restaraunt.

And ater a 6 hour flight...

PARADISE.

The airport was set up as indoor/outdoor!




Chickens... everywhere!


We picked up our convertible mustang!

And we were off!

Our resort was centrally located, only 7 minutes from the airport. It was a beautiful condo. We had views of the mts and if you peaked around the corner from the balcony, you could see the ocean. #A405 at Waipouli Beach Resort. We dropped off our bags, checked out the beach (too rocky to swim at) *pic below* grabbed a McDonald’s Coke and then headed out for a sightseeing drive north. The “highway” was closed 2 miles before “The End of the Road” due to all of the rain they’ve received lately. We stopped along the way and saw our first, and last, rainbow. We ended in a cute beach town, Hanalei. We got a Hawaiian dinner at Kalypso’s. It was weird... 5:30pm there and the Steelers were playing in the Sunday Night game. PA is 6 hours ahead of HI. We then walked to the Hanalei Bay and pier. Sadly, we saw the flooding damage along the bay. Three homes were completely uninhabitable. 

At 8:15pm we were back at our place and a little hungry so we ate at Oasis on the Beach and then stargazed from our beach. Oasis was beautiful. It’s the fancy restaurant at our resort and is, literally, on the beach! 

Our views!!

The boys sent along some decor for our room...

(Our resort is in the background. We were checking out the crabs on the rocks)

One of the lookouts that we stopped at.






Our rainbow!




Hanalei Bay

Monday we woke before the sun was up, at 4:00! 

It could’ve been the time changes, but I think it was my excitement- my giddy, child-like excitement. 

We headed to the resort beach and watched the sun rise. Jason tried to swim, but it was too rocky. We walked the beach and found 3 bright blue alien-looking things. Luckily we didn’t touch them because when I googled it- Portuguese Man Of War! Yikes.  We took a long, hot bath and shaved my legs. I got a call from Jennibelle’s school nurse because she has a rash on her face, again. I also received a text from Jaylee that her surgical wound was now infected. Oh boy!  We even shopped, grabbing Jason sunglasses and a Hawaiian pareu (silky sarong) for me. After brunch at Tree’s Restaraunt, we got Jason’s bookbag packed and headed out for a real life adventure. We headed to “The Secret Beach”.  When we pulled off the road, it was SO MUDDY. The locals told us that it was a 1/2 mile hike straight down. People were turning around. I tried to talk Jason out of it and I am so glad that he didn’t listen to me- I mean, encouraged me to to try it. I was wearing my new sarong and was trying to not let it get muddy/ruined. 1/2 way down the treacherous, crazy, muddy, along a cliff trail, I finally fell onto my butt. From then on, I just sat and scooted down- and it was so much easier- and safer!!  We were barefoot from the beginning. I kept telling Jason to leave my shoes and I’d grab them on the way up, but he’s weirdly determined about things like that. So, even though he- and his 30lb bag- fell multiple times, I still have my shoes!  I have no pics of the hike down because it was THAT dangerous.

But, when we arrived- 

It literally was 

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH!!

On the 1 mile stretch of beach, we saw approximately 30 people over the 7 hours we were there. No children.  I just stood there, when we came out of the jungle trail- imagine a scene in a movie. It was practically untouched. I think that I just stood there,  I couldn’t believe I was experiencing it. Then, I headed into the first lagoon to cool off, wash the mud off of my entire body and scrub the mud out of my sarong. Hawaii mud is different than PA mud- it easily washes out with water. 

Secret Beach...

To our left was a lot of volcanic black rock, lots of lagoons filled with tropical fish, and a  lot of volcanic rock cliffs that had waves crashing into them.  We headed that way first.  We stopped at a little cove and tried a Hawaiian premixed drink in a bottle (Jason brought it along). Yummy! We then spent hours exploring the rocks/lagoons/ocean life. The more comfortable we became the “worse” our decisions got. At one point Jason was up on a rock cliff where waves were hitting hard. After I spilled a few tears, he backed away. Only for me to later find him on a cliff ledge heading around the cliff to explore the other side. *I'm not sure if anyone can follow what I’m saying, but trust me, it had me very nervous. The pic below does not do the height of the ledge any justice. 

In the lagoons, we swam with fish (even a few Dori fishes) sea cucumbers, crabs and even two sea urchins (which lowered my invincible, high-on-life attitude).

When our feet were sufficiently beaten up on the lava rocks, we strolled to the opposite end of the beach. 1/2 way down we stopped for a little nap, in the sun. A nice thing about Hawaii beaches is that there is always palm trees, so shade for Jason!  We then headed to the very end of the beach, the cliffs of the lighthouse. We passed a cool waterfall right on the beach and a rope swing. We found out that there very end of the beach was a nude beach (not technically, because that’s illegal). Neither of us had been to one. It was not as awkward as I’d think.  Then we payed around in the shade for a while until sunset. We never once actually swam in the ocean at that beach. Pacific waves are stronger than Atlantic Ocean waves. 

And then... the trek back UP the cliff... in the dark... with bloody feet... already exhausted from the day. 

I say this respectfully- Jason scared the *!#*!! Out of me on our climb up. He had hives covering the soles of his feet so they were much more sensitive. His bag was still 25/30 lbs because we brought stuff to sleep on the beach if we wanted. There’s no trash cans or good there, so you must bring and take everything. We had to crawl on our knees, grabbing near by plants to pull ourselves up (don’t tell my shoulder surgeon). He had to stop every few minutes because he was panting hard. I have never been scared for his life- I thought for sure he’d have a heart attack- right there in the middle of the jungle.   Me, on the other hand- I was very proud of myself. I knew what had to be done, and did it. I never worried about bugs or animals in the jungle. At one point something was crawling down my finger- gecko? Big spider? Fast big? Not sure. I just flung it and kept ahead. We made it- he even carried my shoes up again b/c they didn’t fit in our bags. See pic below of him covered in sweat when we sat in our car. 

Right behind me is where we came out of the jungle. 




 
















Somewhere in THERE was our path up. 




We were way too dirty for a restaurant so Burger King it was- yay- gag. We were EXHAUSTED. Jason’s meal was $14!!!!  Everything is expensive on the Island. Also, everything is closed by 8pm on the Island- Kuaui is not the island for late-night partiers.

Tuesday I woke to a call from Jackson’s school nurse! I’m not even kidding you. He had a fever, flank pain and painful urination.  So I had to track down Nan  down to go get him. Then I was on the phone with his pediatrician office trying to figure out what to do. His pee dipped positive at home, for my Mom, but apparently my strips were old and needed replaced (Thank God)- in the office his pee was WNL. They started him on antibiotics until his culture came back negative. I was STRESSED. Imagine how my Mom felt, being that she already had both girls at the Dr’s office that morning and Jimmy had run a fever and slept all day Sunday. After I spoke with Dr Hipple, while standing on our little porch, I calmed down and got back into Hawaii-mode.

We spent some time walking around the resort, since we hadn’t yet. It’s so pretty!! 






Then we found a beach close by to swim at. It’s weird in Kuaui- you see ocean everywhere you go, but you barely see people IN the ocean.  I wish we had taken boogie boards. The waves were... weird (?).  We couldn’t figure out how judge them and ride them in. So we moved over into a cove where we were able to float on our backs, up and over the waves. 




Early in the afternoon, we got ready for our LUAU!!!!!

It was a 40 minute drive south, where we hadn’t yet ventured. I think driving around may have been my favorite part of the week. Everything is so beautiful! We’d drop the top of the Mustang and listen to some reggae. The grounds that they Luau were

on were absolutely beautiful. As we walked up, a guy was playing the drums- gave me chills. We posed for pictures but we found a better photo spot behind the building. They gave me a fresh lei and Jason a shell necklace. I’m always early to things, so we got to walk around and explore. And drink the free Mai Tais and Blue Hawaiians.  It was hot that night! 90’ and we were told that 92 was their record high! This was the only time that we had an issue with mosquitos. It was at an old sugar cane business man’s plantation. 

https://www.luaukalamaku.com

There was a pre-existing crack in another bench- I swear!!!

We were asked to videotape and record a surprise proposal!!  She said yes! The camera he gave me wouldn’t take a pic for some reason so he was trying to help me but was nervous so he couldn’t figure it out either. The area we were in was dark, so I’m not sure how much of the video even showed up. When I realized what was going on, I tried to turn on my phone flashlight to give them light, and then frantically tried to snap shots on my phone. This was the best I got...


And then the show began- so cool!

I’ve actually ordered a How To Hula DVD because I was so inspired. 






Wednesday is when I realized that me trip was 1/2 over and got a little sad. But, this was our day to go zip lining!!!  The reservations said “8 miles of zip lining!”

Yay! I’m so scared! I’m so excited! I’m going to chicken out! I can do this!

My head was all over the place, but mostly, just excited. 

We started the morning early again. We hit the hot tub and pool at 8am. 

This was my favorite tree!  It was small at the base and then got huge- I’m not sure how the little trunk supported that much weight. I snapped the photo going 50 mph down the highway- which is actually s 2 lane back country road, with an occasional passing lane.




I took an Ativan beforehand (I’m terrified of heights) but I don’t think that I needed it. I stepped right off of the first ramp with pure excitement. 

We zipped for a total of (maybe) 1.5 miles between 8 different zips. The last 4 were certainly longer than the first 4. I’m not sure how they can claim “8 miles of zip lining”. But, it was great!

I spent the $40 to rent a GoPro, which turned out pretty cool. We were only allowed to zip in a seated position, because of the way our security belts were. 

Then we grabbed lunch at my new favorite restaurant- Tortilla Republic. Their chicken quesadilla put El Serrano’s to shame! 


Since we didn’t have enough adventure that day, we hiked 1/2 mile into the jungle to find a waterfall. And proceeded to jump into it!!!  I’m not surprised that Jason jumped in- but I am very surprised that I did it. 15’ jump! I didn’t want to miss ANY opportunities on this vacation. We couldn’t find the entrance, since most things on the island are not advertised. A local boy helped us find our way in, showed us where it was safe to jump into and then helped me swim down the river to exit since I couldn’t climb straight up, with my healing shoulder. Then he began witnessing to us and said that he wanted to become a missionary. His name was Ola... I think Jaylee should marry him! I couldn’t find him on Facebook:( But I did find someone who knows him so, hopefully I’ll be able to make contact.












We then headed back to the pool for a few drinks while we listened to a ukelele player from the restaurant. We had a few drinks to get us ready for dancing. At 8:30 we went back to Tree’s for the only DJ on the island this week!!!  We were literally the only ones dancing- it was so much fun!!!  We walked the 0.6 miles home around 11, I think. 

For some unknown reason, I woke at 6am on Thursday and immediately wondered where my phone was. I have no idea why. I couldn’t find it in my clothes, or around the condo. Eventually I traced it and saw that it was dropped along our walk 0.5 miles away. Ugh. So Jason and I headed out and very luckily found it. If it had been later, someone surely would have walked by and seen it. Though they probably would have returned it- everyone one that we met was unbelievably nice. We grabbed our car and McDonald’s pancakes. We sat in the beach, trying to eat and wake up. The tide was out so you could really see how rocky our resort beach was. It was cool to walk out there. 

We napped a little bit and then headed south again to the touristy Popoi Beach. When we got there, we tried to eat lunch with amazing views...


The beach was beautiful, and more crowded, but not actually crowded. There was a lifeguard, showers and bathrooms. The beach was in 2 sections. On the left was snorkeling in a not-wild surf, but on the right were 20 foot waves that slammed right into the beach. I didn’t join Jason out there right away because it looked scary. Then he talked me into it. I had to sprint out in between waves. I couldn’t touch the ground, the water was maybe 10 feet deep. Going up and over the huge 20 foot waves was so.much.fun! We stayed on each side appx 30 mins. I didn’t see too many fish:( I saw one 18” long. I think it’s called a parrotfish, but I can’t find on google exactly what I saw:(




We then headed to Shipwreck Beach. I am curious why it’s called that. Some brave (or crazy) people would jump off the cliff (in the background) into the ocean. Jason has planned on it, until we arrived and saw the waves crashing into the cliff. Scary. 

 






On our way to Turtle Cove we passed the weirdest plants on the road-

Huge asparagus?  

Turtle cove was also full of little lizards. We had to enter a private apartment parking lot to get there. REBELS!

I was so excited when I spotted one!!!  They are huge. They would quickly come up for a quick breath and then disappear again. We saw 10-12 different turtles in the little cove.

We ate at Tortilla Republic again and returned home to nap and pack. Here is the sunset from our place that night.


Friday.

Our last day.

I was NOT ready to go home, not at all. I spent Thursday evening deciding what we should do Friday. I was stressing, organizing in a Jenn fashion. I had read about the Nepali Coast- grant it, I had done no organizing until now, Jason had taken care of it all. I needed to see the Nepali Coast, from a boat. The morning trips left too early and stopped to snorkel along the way, which would have been really cool but I couldn’t book any because the places had already closed. So, we (I, Jadon reluctantly agreed) decided to book a sunset dinner cruise. I found one with a personal chef serving filet mignon and seafood- but there was only one seat available. I did consider it, for a hot second, lol. We booked with Blue Dolphin and had a check in time of 2pm.

We woke super early (again) and headed south, one final time. We stopped at Wailua Falls which is huge. Unfortunately you just observe it from above. It would have been super cool to kayak up to it. We met a local man selling items made from palm leaves. Jason bought me a beautiful basket with s flower on it- and a chicken- for only $10. He was so so so kind and really liked to talk to people 




Our road trip continued to Waimea Canyon- the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. There were so many spots to stop along the way. At each stop, we thought the views couldn’t get better, but they did, as we went higher. In the end, we drove up 3,500 feet. At most places you could still see the ocean down below. 

One of the coolest spots was an area full of red dirt with a waterfall. Another favorite was where Jason built a rock tower- of course his had to be the best. His bottom rock was 50lbs which he hoisted up on top of a huge boulder protruding out. 



















 

After we descended we had s few hours to kill. We tried to fill our car with gas but could not figure out how to open the gas tank- seriously!  I finally looked it up on YouTube!!!!! Our car had been through so much this week!  We headed to a close beach called Sea Glass Beach. It was in the one industrial area of Kuaui. There used to be a recycling plant there, but workers were lazy and pitched the bottles into the ocean. Apparently, there used to be much more sea glass. It was another beach that you drive right up to. I don’t know why, but I do love sea glass. I brought home a few pieces. 

Then we grabbed lunch and checked out a tattoo shop. I wanted a little palm tree but their minimum was $100. So, we hit one last beach where I could snorkel. To be honest, I was growing tired of Hawaiian food and  Jason was done with swimming - he didn’t want to be covered in sand for our 13 hour flight home. I didn’t want to miss any experiences, so there I went. Floating away for a half hour. 

There were Mormon missionaries at the beach, but, apparently, they’re never allowed to go in the water. What a shame!  There were 2 LDS churches on the island. As well as Buddhist temples and other Christian churches. No wonder everyone was so nice. 

And then... cruise time!!!!

I was so super excited. It never even occurred to me that Jason gets motion sickness sometimes. That made me feel really bad, whoops. Our captain/crew were fantastic. Funny, interesting, knowledgeable and helpful. Jason never got too sick, and we were out for 4 hours. A couple ladies were terribly sick. 

The captain drove us into one cave, but we could only peek the front of the boat in. A waterfall was hitting the front of the boat, but I didn’t want to be too cold for the rest of the night. 

There were 48 guests on board and we met a couple from Reading. Her Dad used to run Jason’s work! (20 some years ago.)

We got great views of the beaches we were at that day. Then went past Barking Dog Army Missile Camp.

And then we went around a corner and there it was!!!!!

Dinner was just like the luau, but not good. Which really stinks. But I still had a great time! We even got to see a few dolphins! 

This is my favorite photo of the boat trip...


 

 When we docked, we quickly headed off to the airport. I got to stare at the millions of stars on the way. I made sure to pack my lei for Jackson- he had begged me to bring a real one home. I was actually ready then, to come home. We flew overnight to Seattle where I got to see my beauty again! It was a quick 1 hour layover. 

Back in PA we were tired and sad. But after Charlie’s burgers, our spirits lifted a tiny bit. 




We got home around 6 or 7. We gave the kids their stickers, jackson his lei, and my parents their calendar and chocolate macadamia candy. It was a little bit of a bummer to have freedom one day, and 4 kids and a home 17 hours later. All 4 kids were alive and the house was still standing. My Mom done good.