Travel – Page 19 – Karla's Cottage

Why we love the Topeka Zoo

By Karla Nathan / August 1, 2014

We have such a good time when we go to the zoo in Topeka. For one thing, it is small, and easy to get around in. It used to be kind of sad and run down, but improvements have been made over the years and every time we go, it gets better and better.

Everything is clean. Everyone is friendly.

There is a 106 year old carousel in the park next to the zoo, and I've never seen it busy. Most times when we go, there are very few people there. This time, we were the only ones visiting this gorgeous, old ride, for about an hour or so. The cost is only $1.25, or 15 ride tickets for $15 (includes the train too).

It's so cheap, and there were no lines, so we rode over and over and over. Well, at least they did, I get a bit dizzy just watching it go around. If I'd joined in for multiple rides, I'd probably still be spinning around in my head today.

The attendants are always friendly to kids and since there was no one else there, the young man at the controls let the girls play on the horses, giant chickens, zebras, etc. trying each one out before choosing the perfect steed for the ride.

The adjacent park has rose gardens, a big community pool, a new play ground, trails, and a very, very old play ground made up of giant cement animals to climb on. When my kids were little, there were tunnels, but those have since been covered up. I'm glad the goofy animals are still there to play on.

And play in.

Once you get inside the zoo (only $15 for three of us for the day) it's an easy walk through it. With some interactive sites along the way, like this African bush camp. We usually can play jungle explorer there for an hour or so.

This zoo has had a checkered past, losing accreditation a couple of times. But major changes have been implemented and it is a sweet, little place to visit now and seems to be very well run and kept up beautifully. It is a quick get away for us, only 20 minutes from my house to the gate.

And how often can you find a place where you can hitch a ride on the king of beasts?

My grand fairies love having lions to climb on.

And a "cweepy" (according to Dewdrop) cave where you can visit the cats up close and personal.

Bigger zoos of course, have bigger attractions, but I don't think any of them can beat Topeka for price, accessibility, and pure charm.

Interested in the journal swap? Info here.

Free Fun in Kansas City for kids

Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 26, 2014

We went to Crown Center recently, and while you can spend a lot there, you can also have a completely free, yet still jam packed day.

There are a lot of activities there for kids, like the aquarium, which was a bit pricey, $37 for two of us. It wasn't big, but you could easily spend a couple of hours there if you wanted to. It is aimed at kids and there are plenty of things to climb on and in.

Plus how often are you encouraged to pet a star fish?

My tip is to take your time, it is small, so don't rush it, by following the crowd that is working its way through from one display to the next. Stick around and enjoy the displays, because there aren't that many of them.

But our favorite part of Crown Center is the interactive play area that changes themes a few times a year. When we went earlier, it was a tribute to Oz. I've not been very often, this is only our third visit. The first was years ago when the play area was set up as a fairy tale land.

This time, it was all about recycling, reusing, and saving the planet. Complete with bicycles to pedal and power a light post, a pretend farmer's market to encourage eating local foods, a little play house where you learn to pack a lunch in reusable containers, and a life size doll that you could try clothes on and sort to see what needed to be donated to a thrift store when they didn't fit.

Then, you could play dress up yourself in the thrift store, or sit and read the books that had been donated.

There was an energy efficient car you could pretend to fill with gas and check the tire pressure, and a laboratory to learn about water resources.

Sugarwings lives in a world of make believe, so when she saw all of these props, she was in heaven. We could have spent days there. Or at least she could've…. My limit was about a half hour. But we stretched it to about an hour and a half, because she was thrilled with every aspect of the place. And it was NOT at all crowded. When we visited the Dorothy exhibit, that was packed. A more popular theme, I guess. Plus we went on a Saturday.

Fridays at Crown Center this summer are also featuring a free concert and outdoor movie. We didn't stay for that, but did have a snack in the Crayola Cafe and shopped in the Crayola store, where we could do some free art projects.

There is also a free craft area called Kaleidoscope that we have never made it to. Next time, we will plan extra time for that. Hallmark supplies the materials and crafts, and from what I saw the other kids carrying around, they were high quality, good projects.

Interested in the journal swap? Info here.

Travel woes and something very scary

Dew Drop, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 29, 2014

Dewdrop rode home from Roots and Bliss with us since her Daddy's car was full to the brim with supplies he'd hauled down for the event.

After only a few minutes on the winding, hilly roads, she let us know that her tummy wasn't happy and she wanted out of the car. Silly me, I gave her the ipad to take her mind off of her problems.

Now, I've gotten carsick enough in the past to know that reading doesn't exactly help the feeling, so giving her the ipad to look at probably wasn't very smart.

Soon, she starting spewing out buckets and buckets of breakfast. We pulled over pretty fast. And luckily, had a car loaded with camping supplies, towels, wash wipes, clean clothes, etc. I was glad to have trash bags too. And paper towels to save the ipad.

All of her toys were, um, saturated…. And she wanted something to snuggle. My mom used to make wash cloth dolls for me when I was sick, I wish I could ask her how she did that. I twisted up a paper towel into a baby in a blanky for Dewdrop, but it just wasn't as cute as what my mom used to make.

Still, it gave her something to snuggle and she was happy to hold it.

This curvy road wasn't the best luck for us. As scary as that spewing baby was, this is worse. On the way to the camp, we had a frightening experience, I was glad we didn't have a baby in the car with us then! As we were heading south, a young woman jumped out into the road, waving her arms and crying hysterically.

We pulled over, to see if she needed help, and she screamed that her boyfriend was trying to kill her. She wanted in the car, but I was leery. I've seen the ravages of meth on a person's body before and she had the tell tale signs of that addiction, but still I wasn't sure. We looked around, didn't see another soul, so dialed 911 and told her to wait by the car.

After we had the police on the line, we got out to see if she was okay. My husband wanted to let her in the car, but I've seen enough horror movies to know that if you are in the middle of nowhere and a stranger wants in your car, you probably shouldn't let them in. And wasn't this the part of the country that Winter's Bone was set in? Or maybe, Cabin in the Woods?

Well, I wasn't heartless, just careful. With the police on the way, we gave her water, food, and listened to her story while we waited by the car for the cavalry to come.

Apparently, her boyfriend was a fugitve from the law, and had kidnapped her and kept her captive in the woods for days, beating her with a baseball bat, threatening to kill her. Then, he drove off with her, they ran out of gas, and she escaped. It was hard to understand much of the story, she was crying so hard, and so frightened. She seemed battered, but didn't look like she had any broken bones. We asked if we should call 911 again and ask for an ambulance, but she said no.

While we waited, and waited for the police to come (we were in the middle of no where!) I gave her motherly advice about guys who are trouble,respecting herself and not letting him back in her life, and handed her some cash. I'm sure she appreciated the cash, I don't know about the advice.

And then she pointed out the boyfriend's car up the hill. As he walked toward it with a gas can!!

That was when we dialed 911 again, and made sure help was coming. They had us ask her if the guy had a gun, she said no, only the bat and a big flashlight he had hit her with. We decided we should drive away with her if he acted like he was coming towards us, but everything happened so fast, we didn't have a chance. After filling up his tank, he zoomed right at us, and luckily, kept on going, probably knowing the police were on the way.

Soon after, they arrived. The officer was very familiar with the loser who beat her, and said they had been hunting for him. I felt bad about not getting the license plate number, but it wasn't needed, they knew the car. I didn't find out if there had been a missing person report on this girl, or how long she had been kept in the woods, she said a few days. I still think she was probably involved with meth, it would have taken more than a few days to look as ragged and bone thin as she was.

What would you have done? My husband said that if I hadn't been there, he would have put her in the car and taken her away to call for help. I just didn't feel safe letting her in. Although, if the boyfriend had a gun, we would have been easy pickings when he showed up, and maybe we'd have been smart to drive away with her instead of waiting there for the police. She kept begging to leave, because she thought he was coming to kill her. And I guess he could have killed us too.

Roots and Bliss

Dew Drop, dogs, fairies, family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 27, 2014

For the solstice, we drove to the Ozarks to go to the Roots and Bliss festival hosted at a campground on the river.

I'm not much of a camper, or a festival goer. But I knew that my littles would be there, and that their dad was a major contributor to the event, he'd been working on the venue for the whole previous year.

It was really quite nice to see him in action, and to see the respect and caring that he was shown by the attendees.

I didn't attend any of the workshops, but I liked listening.

And of course, playing with the grand fairies.

And splashing around down in the river.

My only regret is that we didn't bring dogs with us. We might have been the only people there without a pup. Well, not quite, but there were lots of furry friends around.

Funny, many of the dogs had at least one blue eye.

In the last few years, I've started a habit of making fairies on beaches I visit. At this beach, there wasn't much in the way of shells, so I didn't think about it, til I saw that mossy green, heart shaped rock and knew it had to be a bodice for a fairy dress.

Then, saw a skirt shaped rock to match. The head was easy too, then I was stumped with no rock wings or appendages. (oh, maybe "stumped" was a rude way to put it)

So, I cheated, and tucked the beach stones into my pocket for later. When I got back up to the camp, I poked around and found some sticks, and dead leaves that worked out pretty good and I was able to finish my little sprite.

The weekend was visually quite lovely, pretty lights, a winding, candlelit pathway, happy faces every where. Yep, we were very proud of our boy for his part in it all.

There was yoga, from the talented Miss Tree, who has travelled the world to become a master class teacher, and who thought up and started the whole Roots and Bliss idea. I'm glad they were blessed with beautiful weather and a good crowd after all the hard work that they put into the planning.

Sugarwings' mom was a fire dancer, and I was so mesmerized, I didn't even think of taking a photo. But here is the fam before the show started…

Did I mention that we were proud of our boy? And I'm a bit proud of myself for going. I had no intention of doing it. This sort of thing isn't my typical weekend, but sometimes you do need to get out of your regular routine and try something different, don't you?

I prefer books and TV or movies to live music, and get plenty of out door life in my own yard and have never felt the need to camp. So, the weekend was going to be a stretch for me.

At the last minute, I offered to join my husband (he wouldn't have missed it for anything, he'd been out of town and hadn't seen the girls all week. That man would have driven anywhere to see his grand daughters after a week without them). So I gathered my courage and decided I'd sleep in a tent in the wilderness.

Luckily, we got there and found a very nice, air conditioned, cabin to rent for the night and I didn't even have to unroll a sleeping bag.

But I would have done it! I was willing to give it a try.

And trying something different is kind of nice. Especially, when you are surrounded by such nice people.

ps- I'm having a Summer Clearance sale in the Boutique. I've neglected that poor little shoppette too long, I need to clean up, clear out, and refresh it all. You are welcome to soak up some summertime savings and help me get a fresh start, by using this link and getting 50% off everything in the store:

http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Summersale

(You must use that address to get the special price. Going to the regular address does NOT take you to the 50% discount)

And please know, I will refund excess postage after boxingup your purchase and weighing it.

More Disneyland

Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 20, 2014

When you are at Disney on your birthday, you get enough wishes for a happy day to last a lifetime! I don't think I've ever been told, Happy Birthday, that many times.

Even the numerous Facebook well wishes aren't any comparison to the ones from the park employees.

We had my birthday lunch with Ariel.

And Cinderella, among other royalty.

The food at Ariel's Grotto was spectacular, and they were very helpful in fixing Sugarwings a gluten/dairy free meal. There was no problem at all throughout the park, especially since she is only sensitive, not allergic. We can go gluten/dairy careful, not avoid it completely. We made sure she had solid, healthy meals, then let her have treats and dessert that are usually not allowed.

Heck, it was vacation!!

My husband doesn't care much for Disney, but he does enjoy watching his girl smile and then drown him with hugs. So he is happy to go. Especially since I don't mind him leaving for a few hours to get a break, Sugarwings and I were fine on our own for a bit.

And he made it back in plenty of time to meet us for the parade. In off season, the parade is smaller, but I swear, the crowd to watch it is NOT. We planned ahead, and found a spot on a bench for me, and my husband sat in the stroller with Sugarwings on his lap. (I am not allowed to post that photo)

Maybe we should have planned a little further ahead to actually get a whole bench… But at least we were down front and could see the whole show.

I think that if we go back, I'd plan a picnic dinner, get a to-go meal, find a bench and take our time waiting for the parade to begin.

There are plenty of to-go restaurants that are good, but we sure liked our sit down meals. We ended up doing two character dinners, by accident. We'd planned to meet the royalty at Ariel's Grotto, and paid for it in advance along with our room, and shuttle transport.

(by the way, that is so much better than renting a car, since we only go from the airport to the park and don't leave, $90 for all of us, round trip, cheaper than a car too. Plus it was adorable to hear every little girl on the bus start singing along to Frozen as we watched the movie on monitors.)

We had so much fun, mingling with the princesses, that I forgot about our meal vouchers. Untill a couple hours later when it struck me, with a sick feeling that I'd paid cash for a meal that had already been paid for and thought I was out about a hundred bucks!

A very sick feeling. Visting Walt is expensive enough without paying for the same thing twice.

Which is why it is great to have a cell phone. I called customer service to get their advice and was set up with reservations at Goofy's Kitchen that night where I could use the vouchers. Even though they were for lunch price at the mermaid restaurant, for about $30 each, and Goofy's Kitchen's dinner was $47 each. We were able to use them and not pay a difference.

The phone call itself wasn't as carefree as the results. My battery was running low, and I was trying to hurry, but the park was so loud, the operator couldn't hear me. Sugarwings took advantage of me being on the phone and distracted and climbed a light pole. Really high.

Park employees told her all day that the rule was: One Foot on the Ground at ALL Times. But that is not an easy rule to follow.

And my poor husband had to sit through another endless parade of characters interrupting his meal! Sugarwings and I loved it. He just wanted to eat without a giant headed creature bothering him.

Not everyone is born to love Disneyland. But he tolerates it okay for us.

He's a keeper.

Okay, I promise, this is the last vacation post.

It was a great trip, I just wish our whole family could've came. Sugarwings spent a great deal of time picking out gifts to take home and talking about the people who couldn't join us.

She's a keeper too.

Avoiding stress at Disneyland and keeping it fun

Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / May 18, 2014

Traveling to Disney with Sugarwings was a trip into the world of her imagination.
She is a kid who prefers pretending to playing with toys, and there was a lot of props for her to back up her stories at Disneyland.

Walking through the gardens from the Disney Hotel to the secret entrance to California Adventure, our kiddo had so much fun becoming Cinderella, that I didn't think we were going to make it to the park that day. We could have saved a lot of money by just playing in the gazebo all day. She loved running from it and losing a shoe along the way.

And before that, I didn't think we'd ever get out of the hotel room, because she had an apple for breakfast and every bite put her to sleep.

Once we got in the park, our first stop was stroller rental. Yes, the fairy child is 7, not a baby, but it was more for containment than because she was too little too walk. It made the trip much easier to have her riding instead of running. And she loved the "chariot". (the cotton candy is our traditional splurge at the end of the trip, her treat for staying in the stroller most of the time)

Every once in a while, she'd spy something that caused her to leap from her ride to get a closer look. It was the little details around the park that caught her eye. Like this statue.

First, the dancing royalty needed cooling off with her fan.

Then, she needed to act out the dance, with her own prince.

Ending with True Love's Kiss.

I'm afraid this encounter with Olaf was as close as she got to seeing anyone from Frozen. The line to see the two princesses was

FIVE HOURS LONG.

Seriously????

Who waits in those lines? We made a deal not to get in any line that was more than 40 minutes and she was happy with that. Not that we rode many rides that way, even in off season. But we have fun looking around, watching shows and being silly. And the older, less popular rides are pretty durn cool too.

Tarzan's tree house had interactive things to do, so we climbed it twice.

And the shows at the Royal Theater were so cute, we watched them 4 times. Sugarwings sat in front by the stage and at each performance, made a new friend. When I went to check on her, and asked what they were talking about, she said, "Princesses" in a way that implied I was deranged for even wondering what they might be talking about besides that.

Side note: The Royal Theater has a park employee at the entrance, no one goes in or out during the show. It's a small room, and you can see your kids down in front just fine. When the ushers asked all of us to slide down and make room on the benches, the lady next to us got volatile, flames shot from her eyes, smoke from her ears. She refused to move, said that she had to keep "eyes on her kids" the entire show. Well, it wasn't the sentiment so much as the way she said it. She yelled and stated that she is happy to "be a B" if it means keeping her kids safe.

First of all, her kids were safe. Second, all she had to say, was something polite, like "can I please remain in this seat so I can watch my kids?" The Disney employees didn't deserve her anger and pride in 'being a B". What was the chip on her shoulder about? I think that so many people go to the parks thinking that they have to squeeze in so much, be here, there, everywhere, that they forget to slow down and enjoy it. If you try to do it all, and fight the crowds, you will burn out. She was already stressed beyond her limits and it wasn't even noon yet.

In my mind, the trick to getting your money's worth from Disney, is just to slow down. Chose a couple things that matter to you, then just explore and take your time.

We also made use of the play ground in Toontown. Free time to frolic was important for us.

And finding lines to wait in, like the one for the show at BugsLife, where you could mill about, not zig zag back and forth in roped lines was good too.

At California Adventure, there is a room with giant screens that plays movie clips. It's nice on hot days because of the air conditioning and the comfy sofas. There is plenty of space to twirl and stretch too. The only downfall was that they repeated the life and love cycle montage from UP that breaks my heart every time I see it, and I got teary eyed over and over.

The room is an excellent break for a child who becomes overwhelmed with the park. The activities in that building are pretty low key, with no lines. but every bit as fun. I also recommend Tom Sawyer Island as a break from the hectic-ness of the park. It has green spaces and caves, plus a play ground and fort.

The hardest part for us, was simply getting back and forth to the park itself. I really really really love that you can walk from the hotels to the parks, unlike Disneyworld where it's a major undertaking to get back to your room.

But, we had to make our way through Downtown Disney, and that is nothing but one temptation after another. Between the Legos, fountains, live music, shops, it tries to trap you at every step!

I discovered that making it a game to get from one end to the other worked to keep her going. There were no strollers, so we had to keep her focused all the way through this wonderland. They play music from various Disney shows, and when the Beauty and the Beast theme began, I had an idea.

We decided to dance walk the route and pretend we were in a movie. We lip synced and danced the whole length (well except the Legos, who can resist those?) of the shopping district. We ran, twirled, jumped up on benches, leaped into the air, and made it all the way to the park with very little stopping.

After arriving, panting and tired, at the park, we found out that you can take a monorail and avoid the Downtown Disney trap! But when we went to take it home that night, it was broken down.

My brave, strong, husband, who was very ready to get back to the hotel for a glass of wine and to put his feet up, hefted our girl up on his shoulders and did his own version of the dance walk all the way back. Until they reached the bandstand. And had to stop for a grandfather/granddaughter dance.

Those are the moments we will treasure much more than any of the rides.

Kansas vs Maui

drawing, paintings, photography, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / February 3, 2014

Happy February! Man, what a cooooooold, brrrr-ey winter. I was so lucky to get away to Hawaii and escape the worst of it, but I still feel like I've been a human popsicle most of the season. Some of it is because of the propane shortage, the price of heating our house more than doubled, and I've been keeping careful track of thermostat settings.

Geez, I thought Hawaii was expensive. At least a vacation is a memorable, relaxing, and worthwhile way to spend too much money.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love a cozy, warm house and know it's important. But I'd sure rather pay half as much to do it.

Normally, we prepay for our gas for the entire year way back in August, to get a set price. If I'd had the foresight to do that last summer, we wouldn't be paying double now. But I'd still be cutting back and turning down the thermostat, since there is a shortage. It's scary to think of running out! Our firewood supply is low too.

Maybe we should turn the heat to a minimum, pack up and fly back to paradise, spend the money there instead of on propane!

I wish.

For now, I'll enjoy my album from Maui. I printed the finger painting water color sketches I'd done on my iPad, and used those in the book along with a few mementos and some pictures.

The ap doesn't allow a lot of detail, so printing them, and adding hand drawn elements and words with ink really gave them the punch they needed.

Here is one directly from the ap. I don't think it needs any further detail, Dorothy Rosebud's furry mess of a hairdo is bad enough without more clarification. But the shaggy layer is helping her keep warm, so it will have to stay til either spring comes or the price of propane comes down!

Hawaiin decadence

drawing, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 25, 2014

Everything is pretty in Kaanapuli Beach. The builders have done a good job of complimenting the natural beauty of their surroundings.

Our balcony over looked this koi pond, and between the waterfalls and the sound of the ocean, I slept with a smile on my face all week.

Well, it felt like it to me, but in reality, I probably slept like I always do, with my mouth wide open and drooling while snoors boomed out of me. My poor husband had to sleep with ear plugs and missed the sounds of the ocean.

This is a closeup of the side walk at Mama's Fish House.

I wish I'd taken more photos there, but I was just too overwhelmed. It was our first stop after the airport and I was doing a Dorothy, leaving gray, dull, boring, COLD Kansas and stepping into a world of technicolor explosions of tropical scents, sounds of the waves, and bright flowers. I was googly eyed and gawking at everything, just like Dorothy when she stepped into Oz.

Our flight was much better than hers, though. We came in on a nice, big, new jet, with a tv at every seat, and unlimited movies. Lots of leg room, comfy seats, and pretty good food too. Much better than a spinning house and squashed witch.

(And much better than our flight home on an old, crowded plane with no tvs to enchant me. It's bad enough to have to leave paradise, seems like United could provide a better way to get home, I felt doubly bad about leaving when I stepped into our transportation)

While Mama's Fish House was some of the best food I have ever had in my life, and such a perfect welcome to Maui, this little roadside stand that we visited later in the week was a stand out too.

We sat in folding chairs, shared $5 worth of tacos, and talked with a local guy who had a fat little chihuahua with him. Very entertaining and interesting.

I was pretty happy with walks on the beach, crafty things to do, Kona coffee on the balcony, and sunsets to watch. The whale watching trips and decadent dining were luxury bonuses that were so nice, they kind of threw me and my midwestern miserliness careful ways for a loop. Oh, but I revelled in them and over looked that little voice that spoke up when I saw price tags.

I hear that we missed the worst cold snap in decades while we were away. Staying warm while pipes froze at home was worth any cost.

And getting away from the gray bleary skies and icy sidewalks in January recharged my soul and will help me get through the rest of the season of gloom here in Kansas. I'm not much of a winter person, and a getaway was just what I needed to deal with some awful family issues that greeted us on our return.

We had some amazing meals while we were there, the restaurant we went to on Terry's birthday, served all fresh veggies raised on its own organic farm, and fish from the nearby shore. (What a place to have a birthday, huh?)

While dining, we watched the performers warming up for the luau next door.

Here is a birthday card I made for her on my finger painting ap.

We did some hiking too, not as much this time as I had thought we might, but enough to see some lovely sites.

Lovely, indeed.

I sure miss it!

A coral fairywool fairies hula girls

fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 23, 2014

While we were in Maui, we stayed at the Whaler on Kaanapuli Beach. From the canopied chairs by the pool, you can watch the ocean. And play Words with Friends.

My husband and I are now hooked on that game, I don't know why it took us so long to try it. We both like Scrabble, crossword puzzles, and iPads. Now, we have about 6 games going at once, so there is no wait while the other person plays. If there is any lag, we just start another game, so there are always words waiting to be made.

The pool was also a good place to do watercolor finger painting on my iPad.

I did a sketch for each day while there. One thing I didn't like about the ap was that I couldn't get good detail, or write very well. This was the first and last one I tried to put words on, I decided it would be easier to print them and add writing. I'll be able to doctor this one up with inks and markers and fix the writing on it later when I make my journal.

Besides the finger painting, I brought some other things to work on too. I want to come up with nice little fairy dolls made of wool roving for one of my Birdsong classes. Here are a few that I worked on with what I happened to have with me, but while I like quite a bit about them, there are a few things that I don't care for. I'm a fan of "low color" but I need some tones more springtime-ish for these sprites.

I need to figure out the faces too. I'm considering just seed bead eyes and blushed cheeks. But it is also possible to do a printed paper face glued on.

Terry came to hang out with me while the guys played golf and we experimented with the dolls, to see how easy they are to show someone how to make. (those are my dried out leis hanging from the light fixture, when I turned on the lamp, they perfumed the air)

Terry and I decided we needed to make Hawaiian girls, not just fairies. One has embroidered eyes, the other is still blank faced. The sarongs are made from a silk skirt I had with me. It had a bad spot on it, so I thought it would be better to cut up for supplies than to wear.

Won't it make beautiful silk ribbons when I slice it up?

I think the tiny doll will go into my travel journal. Both girls are holding heart shaped coral fragments that I found on the beach.

It's surprising just how many hearts there are waiting to be picked up on the beach. Some I left behind with this little shell and coral fairy in the sand. Doesn't her broken coral dress look like polka dots and ruffles? I saw that laying on the beach and just knew it had to be a fairy gown.

So, as I strolled along the shore, I kept my eyes peeled for shapes to finish her. I didn't expect to find so many hearts while on my Dr. Frankenstein quest.

What luck! There must be something about the way coral snaps off and gets buffed by the ocean that creates so many hearts. Or I was just there at a particuarly loving time.

I hope that someone walked by my fairy when I left her and had their day brightened.

Truly though, days don't need to be brightened on Maui. The island has a good handle on keeping everyone peaceful and happy.

It's hard to think about your problems in a place like this.

Maui Whale, Rainbow, Dolphin, and Cloud Watching

drawing, family, paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2014

Yes, my eyes are closed, but I still love this photo of us. It was such a special evening. I swear, Hawaii is special, no matter what, but wow. This sail boating dinner cruise was perfection.

My husband's sis, Terry, treated us to a trip on the Allii Nui

I expected a nice evening, but wasn't prepared for the total luxury and deliciousness of the boat. Great food, beautiful and spacious surroundings, whales leaping up a few feet from the boat to surprise us while we ate, frosty foo foo drinks, and of course, the best company. Terry, Dale and Rich are a fine set of companions.

We took another whale watching trip earlier in the week, and saw quite a few blows, fins, waves, and splashes.

But my very favorite part were the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. They have pink tummies, and leap into the air while doing pirouettes. We were followed by a few of them on our way back from spying on whales. Then, on my last day at the beach, a huge flock (school, pod, bunch?) of the pink bellied cuties, swam along the shore to tell me goodbye, while showing off their jumping skills and twirls.

Both of our trips out to whale peek, were on smaller trips, with few passengers. This boat was only half full, so was the sunset cruise on the catamaran.

Seriously, though, even if we hadn't seen any whales, the scenery is so lush, it's worth the trip out on the water.

Heck, you don't have to take a boat to be surrounded by beauty. This is the land of never ending rainbows.

Here is the view off our balcony one morning. It was a partial rainbow and a gold glow across the mountains. The rainbow seemed to be so colorful that it just couldn't contain itself and had to escape from the confines of its arc.

This is looking the other way from the balcony.

Every day, I did a sketch with my Ipad ap, Hello Watercolor. I was definitely hooked on that plaything. It's such a quick and easy, no muss way to paint. My plan is to print all the images, embellish them and make a travel journal with them.

It was a lucky choice to take two iPads with me. The one I got for Christmas, that was new, fast, and held a good charge, but didn't support the watercolor ap, and the older one with the painting toy on it. My husband left his iPad in the seat pocket of the airplane, and he was able to read books and play Words with Friends on my extra one during the trip.

He also lost his prescription sunglasses in the ocean. Seems like Hawaii is expensive enough without these additional costs. And today we realized that we are missing his brand new workout pants too. Unless they are lurking in one of the suitcases that were put away, they sure aren't in the piles of laundry I finished up after getting home.

My guess is that they are hanging on the back of the bathroom door of the hotel. Oh well, at least they didn't cost as much as sunglasses.

And he is such a hunk, I couldn't be mad at him.

By the way, Lenscrafters shops seem to be anywhere you happen to be when glasses get lost, and they can replace them in an hour. Unless your prescription is more than a year old. Like his was, even though it was only by a few days…. But there are doctors there too. Still a quick fix, just another-gulp- $100 to shell out.

I'd hate for him to have missed any of the beauty around us. I'm glad we were able to replace the glasses.

I'll have more pics from the trip coming up. For now, I'd better start tackling all of those holiday decorations that are still dangling forlornly in my studio. They are ready to go back to their box till next year, they are looking a bit tired.