Category Archives: Addyson May

Maui Day 3~Haleakala National Park

On Saturday October 3rd, I watched the gradual start to the day enjoying my cup of coffee.

This was going to be a long day that got the best of some of us. Andrew was already down for the count sequestered in his room with a fever. The rest of us got into our two cars and started the trip to Haleakala National Park. This will be part 1 of our experiences this day.

“No place can prepare you for the experiences and feelings you will have on the summit of Haleakalā volcano. The landscape—deeply sculpted, richly colored, and forever changing—is unlike anywhere else on Earth.”

Stephen Tyng Mather

“He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done.”

If you’d like to read more about the legacy of Mather click here.

This trip was not for the faint of heart. Although it was only 53 miles from our resort with the hairpin turns going from an elevation of 500 to 10,023 it took close to two hours. The Pu’u’ula’ula summit was our destination. We were above the clouds at this height and above the path of several planes we saw, too. Our grands were traveling troopers! Some of our crew suffered severe altitude issues with their ears.

The Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory (HO) site is located near the summit of Haleakalā on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The site was formally designated for observatory use by an executive order of the Governor of Hawaiʻi in 1961, and has been managed and operated by the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) to support high-quality, high-impact research, education, and space surveillance since then. HO is not part of the Haleakalā National Park and is not open to the general public. (Top photo of the collage above)

You can learn more about this National Park here.

We were all excited that Laura captured a sighting of the NeNe Birds! Click on NeNe for more info.

This caution was heeded and it was hard to walk with confidence at this elevation. I was a wee bit light headed and not confident of my steps.

Thankfully the trip down the mountain elevations seemed quicker. We stopped at the lower park headquarters and visitor center and enjoyed some sandwiches we made for this trip. It was so good to get back on relatively straight roads for our next adventure. That will be another post.

Maui 2026~Part Two

 

Do you see the window washer?

Our son Dan did all the preliminary planning of the more involved events like snorkeling, zip-lining, pineapple farm, etc. so the drives would be coordinated instead of zig zagging all around the island. Thanks, Dan.

On Friday October 2nd he planned a relaxing free day with no special events.

We had pool time and beach time and lots of photo time. We ended the day with dinner at Duke’s Restaurant which was right on our resort property.

Greg and I were captured on the path as we walked to Duke’s for an afternoon refreshment.

Granny Great got hit by a wave! Walking to find some famous Hawaii Shaved Ice…

A Wheelchair was rented to save Granny Great from the extra long stretches of walking.

There be three gentle and goodlie things
To be here
 To be together
And to think well of one another
~
L.M. Montgomery (from Pat of Silver Bush)
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Thank you, to Lorrie (Fabric Paper Thread) for posting this quote I lifted for our time in Hawaii.
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I was reading an article from Paul Tripp Ministries while in Maui and the title of a new teaching series (Mercy Triumphs over Judgement) where he shared his favorite verse of 2026,
James 2:13:
“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
~
As I sat amongst the twelve of us in Maui with different quirks and different personalities I thought this was a perfect verse to dwell on and consider…
Our third day was a full travel to experiences day. Saturday will take a few posts to cover.

Maui 2026 Part One

Our travel journal begins early on Thursday October 1st as we picked up our Colville family for our ride together to the Spokane Airport at 6am. The ride to the airport is about 2 hours from our homes. Our son dropped us off at the Alaska terminal with all our luggage that he tetrised into the back of our vehicle masterfully. I should have taken a photo!

We established our base camp and waited for the first leg of our flight to Maui which included a change of airplanes in Seattle.

Our kids from the Seattle side of the state were on a flight from Seattle earlier than our flight would be.

They arrived at our resort before us and paved the way for our easy entry.

We had the last two rows on the short ride from Spokane to Seattle. The flight attendants gave us some good laughs before we took off.

Mount Rainier was visible on our flight into Seattle.

The Puget Sound on our descent. We had enough time at Seatac airport for a quick bite before we boarded our next flight that would be approximately five and a half hours to Maui.

All aboard and ready to go on our final leg to Maui.

We saw a lot of the Pacific ocean before we finally saw land!

What a welcomed sight!

I took this photo above from the airport in Maui. Our Seattle crew of four secured two vehicles for our time in Maui. Our vehicle was waiting for us in the parking lot just across from our terminal exit. Another tetris job by our son and we had luggage for 8 and seating for 8 all set and ready for our hour+ trip to our resort.

Our daughter and daughter-in-law met us as we drove up to the resort with our room codes and to show us the lay of the land. Our first glimpse of our view from the condo was jaw dropping. The twelve of us enjoyed two condos side by side for the duration of our stay.

After we settled into our rooms, a walk down to the beach was on the agenda.

Looking back at our lodgings, Honua Kai Resort and Spa.

Looking north.

Looking South…

 

One of our side by side decks with some of our crew.

Our Seattle crew of four had already made the trip to Costco to stock up on water, snacks, breakfast and lunch items for the week. Our dinners would be eaten out at restaurants or the nearby food truck court.

Thursday was done and we were all looking forward to a relaxing Friday with nothing on the agenda.

Mahalo for stopping by today. More adventures coming tomorrow.

Happy Columbus Day here in the U.S.A. and a very Happy Thanksgiving Day to our friends in Canada! 

Sunday at the Feis

Auntie Lolo captured some great stills…

 

This dance competition was a ‘shuffle’ where the dancers are grouped with dancers from other schools of dance that they’ve never danced with before. Addy’s group earned a third place for their performance together.

This was the final dance of day.

What a enjoyable Feis. It was great toe be together to cheer for our Addy!

Uncle and Auntie flew in on Saturday morning and flew back home Sunday afternoon.

Some of us gathered for lunch at an Irish Pub just down the street from the convention center before we dropped Josh and Laura off at the airport. It was a appropriate finale to our Irish Dance Weekend!

I had just enough time to recuperate from our busy dancing weekend and now I’m on a plane today to Southern California for a Bridal Shower! It will be another weekend where I’m absent in bloggy world. September has been and will end as the busiest month in a long time for me. I’m leaving the PNW in the Summer and returning on the first day of Fall!

Saturday at the Feis

First there were some soft shoe reels and jigs.

A quick shoe change and it was time for the hard shoe dances.

Here are Addy’s people who came out to watch this time around.

The first day of Feis At the Falls was in the books for our crew. Sunday would be another morning filled with dancing.

We all drove to a great Mexican spot, Birriería El Sazón Spokane on Sprague in Spokane Valley for our lunch. Addy was the most famished of all of us after all her nonstop dancing and shoe changes! We highly recommend this spot but beware…the portions are huge!

Back at the hotel there was an afternoon of swimming before the crew landed in our room for Charcuterie that Dan and Jamie hauled to Spokane in their trusty cooler. It was quite a spread that we all enjoyed including home made pickles, sourdough and summer sausage!

The orange watermelon from a friend’s farm was so delicious!

We had a nice large corner room in the hotel so it was comfortable to gather and enjoy each others company before we called it a night. An early night since our little dancer would be on stage bright and early on Sunday.

Since our hotel room only had 3 chairs available both Josh and Dan rolled the office chairs from their rooms to our room for our gathering. Josh and Laura were 9 floors up from us and Dan and Jamie were 5 floors up from us so they made quite a sight rolling their chairs and the cooler down the elevators and down the hall to our room!

The littles decided they would ride on their way back to their rooms.

Uncle is always ready to accommodate these two.

 

A Dancing Hodgepodge

Our granddaughter dancing through this past weekend at the annual Feis (Irish Dance Festival) in Spokane, Washington.

Another September Hodgepodge is here today thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. How do you define beauty? 

My mind went to 1 Peter 3:3-4: Do not let your adorning be external–the braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear–but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)
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We experienced parts of some trips by train in Scotland and England. York to Edinburgh in 2004 with our daughter and then Edinburgh to London on the same trip. With Josh and Laura we rode the train from Manchester airport to York and back to Manchester airport from York. On another trip we rode the train from Stirling to Edinburgh. In the Spring of this year Greg and I traveled by train from Cambridge to Ely and back to Cambridge again. All these journeys were good and seamless except for our Manchester to York trip in 2023 when the train suspended it’s journey midway to York and we had to scramble off the train to another platform to get on a different train to York. We made it but it was harrowing.
~

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells…choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.
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I’m going to say in a nutshell since September has afforded a series of short life events that are very different from each other and that I have a short span of time to enjoy. Each nutshell is unique and short and over in 3 days or less.
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4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs…your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? 
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I’m torn between tacos and eggs benedict! Lunch or dinner favorite, tacos! Breakfast out favorite, eggs benedict!~

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. 

~Some birthdays are more of a big deal than others for the adults in the family. All birthdays are acknowledged in some way. Sometimes big and sometimes small but a touch of love goes out on the special day. Our ‘Grands’ birthdays are always a big deal. Landmark birthdays like turning 16, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 have been a bigger deal than others. From here on out making it to another birthday for Greg and Me is a big deal.~

A flashback to my 60th birthday that was very special with a great variety of celebrations. The one above is with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook (some of the gals). Some of the girls who live in British Columbia, Canada drove down to Chuckanut drive in Washington State with their husbands for a dinner in honor of my 60th birthday.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This past weekend we enjoyed watching our granddaughter as she competed with hundreds of Irish dance pupils in Spokane at the annual Feis (festival). I’ll have two full posts coming soon about our time. I’m adding a couple Gifs showing a little of the action. Our granddaughter exudes joy when she dances. I’m unable to post a full video.

 

Spokane

We just returned home from 3 days in Spokane. It is Sunday evening and I have little energy and less creativity to compose a post for Monday. I’ll leave you with this fountain on Spokane Falls Blvd. We walked by this fountain on our way to the restaurant where we enjoyed a meal Friday evening. Our Saturday and Sunday were all about the Annual Deirdre Abeid Memorial Feis hosted by Haran School of Irish Dance. Our granddaughter is part of the Haran School of Irish Dance.

Soon I’ll share what we experienced on Friday in Spokane and then I’ll share about our family time at the Feis on Saturday and Sunday.

We had a nice hotel room with some sunset views that we enjoyed.

I have not been visiting blogs since we left on Friday. I hope to catch up soon.

Have a great new week.

 

Back to School Hodgepodge

From years ago, our sons heading off to the first day of school in Ventura, California and several years later our daughter waiting for the school bus on the first day of school in Bothell, Washington.

Hello to September and another Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. What’s something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to doing? 

With fires and smoke filled skies we never got around to our short summer road trips.

2. Were you the student who sat in the front row or hid in the back of the class? If you could go back and take one high school class again just for fun, which would it be? 

When seats weren’t assigned, I’d tend to sit closer to the front than the back. We don’t sit in back at church, either.

If I was going to choose a class to go back to, I would choose English, especially literature.

3. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher (this can be applied to anyone who teaches, not just classroom teachers)? 
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Listening to and knowing those whom you are teaching would be good.
I get weary of teachers who talk too much or ramble on.
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The teachers that I remember fondly are those who treated me as if they liked me, understood me, and were kind. Teachers I remember fondly are my 1st and 2nd grade teacher, my 6th grade teacher who was my first male teacher, a high school English teacher, and my social studies teachers in high school. I had 3 older siblings ahead of me who were good students (my sister Vera was Valedictorian and a math whizz). I got tired of hearing, “you aren’t like your sisters”.
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4.  September 2nd is National Grits Day. Have you ever eaten grits? Are you a fan? If so how do you like yours? Would people describe you as ‘having grit’? 
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Growing up in Southern California and now living in the Northwest, Grits are not a common thing. I might have tried grits when we were in the Carolina’s but I don’t remember. I can’t say that I’m a fan.
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Yes, I think some would agree that I have grit.
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5. What’s something you’re never too old or too young to enjoy? 
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The Zoo! 🙂
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If you are a Born Again follower of Jesus gathering on Sunday to worship Jesus is something you are never to young or old to enjoy!
~
6. Insert your own random thought here. 
These two started 2nd and 4th grade last week. Each year they answer the question, What do you want to be when you grow up? At the beginning of this Homeschool year Addy wants to be a Daycare provider and JJ wants to be a Hunter.

Northeast Washington Fair Parade

This is Main Street Colville and in just a few minutes the street will be lined with people for the Northeast Washington Fair Parade. This year it will be different as it will start with a somber walk and ride in honor of a fallen Police officer from the city of Colville.

First the color guard and then the rider less horse and many many first responder vehicles from Colville, the county, State patrol, Border Patrol and surrounding cities to honor Officer Aaron Davis who leaves behind a wife and 5 children. Officer Davis died in a motorcycle v. deer tragic accident on one of our local roads.

After the somber start the parade continued with many of the usual suspects and always lots of candy being thrown out to the kids along the parade path.

Colville High School Crimson Hawks

One last shot of the Grands on our way to our cars when the parade was over.

I don’t want to leave without saying hello to September. I’m so happy to be in the ‘ber’ months!

Northeast Washington Fair 2026

We don’t have to travel far to get to the Northeast Washington Fair because it is in our city of Colville. It’s about 5miles from our home. We decided to attend on Friday morning even though the smoke was thick.

Our first stop was at the Children’s Craft entries since our granddaughter had entered a watercolor painting of a bee. Seems odd to have her entry in the craft section instead of paintings but that is where we found it.

We love it, Addy! Katie says you really did well on the feet.

Our next stop was a barn at the other end of the fair where they have a variety of adult entries including quilts and we were on the lookout for our Grands’ Great Granny’s quilts.

As soon as we stepped into the barn one of her quilts caught our eyes. Granny and Granny Great love purple!

Her postage stamp quilt is amazing and we can see why she got a stack of awards!

Linda entered her mom’s quilts without her mom knowing. (Linda is our Grands’ Granny)

 

This is the second of three entries made on Granny Great’s behalf, Purple Mountains Majesty.

Here’s Granny Great with her third quilt entry.

I took a couple photos of other quilts we enjoyed, too.

This was a clever Washington state quilt featuring several of our eastern counties with cities.

This entry tugged at the heart as it is a photograph that this young person took of her grandparents home in 2020 for a school project and it was a casualty of the Modrite Fire on July 30, 2026. If you look at the upper right photo that is what the home looks like now.

We saw lots of cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, bunnies, ducks, horses and dogs, too.

We stopped at the Colville National Forest booth and had a nice conversation with the conservationist.

Our fair is not a huge fair and it is easy to navigate. We think it’s great. On one of the days that the fair is in town they also have a rodeo that is well attended.

Tomorrow I’ll share some photos from the Fair Parade down Main Street Colville.