Trey's Blog

Rob's Closing Thoughts

2008-03-22T22:36:00.001-07:00

We have an hour left until we board the plane and I wanted to write and say that I've had a great time in Hawaii. From getting a convertible Mustang to getting a pimp room at the hotel(who knew we'd just have to open the door and walk out to the sea?). And then there's Amy and her books... she prepared in advance for this trip like a mad dope fiend. It paid off! She was able to steer us successfully through 7 days on Maui with a day on Lana'i crammed in the middle. Barely any conversations needed about where to eat, she already knew the places that Nicole, Gianna, Rachel, or someone who writes for the "Unofficial Guide to Maui" said were the best places. No need to take a guess and try some place that might have been 2nd rate, not with Amy around. Thanks Amy, it's a good thing you are an event planner ;)

And then there's Trey, he won't understand for years just how lucky he is to have been in Hawaii for 7 days. His biggest concerns were eating at McDonald's and what we were going to have for breakfast the next morning. My favorite Trey moment was when we were standing in the lava tube at the black sand beach. I'm standing with him watching the waves pound on the rocks at the entrance to the tube. The sound is amazing. He's throwing rocks into the water, sometimes just past another kid who keeps walking in front of him. I stop him and say "listen to the sound the water makes when it comes in and then goes back out. You know what that sound is?" He stands for a second then replies, "Hey dad, what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?" All you can do is laugh, and then I try to tell him the sound is from tumbling rocks, but it was obvious his mind was elsewhere. I'm anxious to hear what he shares with everyone when he gets home because that's when we'll really know what he learned and was most excited about.

Best Amy moment : Seeing the hours of planning come to fruition when we made it to the little green treehouse we had both read about and heard about from several different places. And the best part was that it was just another point to why Amy planning out our things makes for the best experiences for all of us. From the hotel upgrade(because she asked) - to the great advice to drive up Haleakala the morning after we arrived - to Mama's Fish House in Paia after a long day on the road to Hana. She's a planner, and I'm not. It's a good compliment to my last minute procrastination style in most everything I do. Even knowing what things to see while on Lana'i and where to eat(Blue Ginger Cafe) while we were there! Just that you were able to find a 4wheel drive adventure that you knew I would enjoy and that you and Trey were willing to join in on! Thanks again for a great trip!

And finally, my favorite moment all to myself. I love to geocache, it's just fun because it gets me away from everyone else. The point is to become invisible so that others don't even notice what you are doing. This island(and Lana'i) had the most unbelievable caches that I've ever seen. It should have been obvious knowing that I was going to be in this environment, but seriously the views from the caches were the best on the islands. And there wasn't another person around - just me. (I didn't even miss WOW) :)

So, to all the friends and family that have been reading and following our trip. We are sad to see it end, but it is time to come back home. Trey and Amy - Mahalo for a really great trip!

Aloha, Rob

Lana'i Bay View

2008-03-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I showed a panoramic view of Sweetheart Rock and the bay. This is a movie shot of it so that you can see what it really looked like. Just one word...amazing. I think I heard Amy say that alot. Except she says, "A...mazing" with a great dramatic pause for effect.

Slain Queen Cave

2008-03-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

We came here so Rob could find a Geocache back in the darkness and really cold water. The nice part was the water was clear, but it was SO COLD! After this, we walked to the black sand beach. There was a cool lava tube that you could walk through like a cave and watch the surf pound the rocks. It was a cool sound too!

Saturday we will be packing up and heading back toward Dallas. We look forward to seeing ya'll soon!

Video of the surf on the road to Hana

2008-03-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

The Best Banana Bread on the Planet

2008-03-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

We were excited to find this little green treehouse on our drive from Kahului to Kanapaali Thursday afternoon. This treehouse is featured in magazines, travel books, and TV shows. They are all right when they say the Banana bread, toasted coconut, and dried mango are the best on the planet. The locals from this tiny village have all started selling things along the small road to capitalize on the publicity the treehouse has brought in.

SweetHeart Rock on Lana'i

2008-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

This was the first thing we went to see on Lana'i. The views were really amazing from here.

I made it myself

2008-03-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

Amy participated in a lei making session this afternoon. Here is the finished product. She did really well. Trey made shell bracelets while she was doing this. Afterward, Trey and I walked on the lava rocks and searched the tide pools for Hermit Crabs. We found alot and Trey even held one today. I'm uploading a bunch of pictures to www.flickr.com but don't know how to get you the link yet. it shows to be 20% uploaded right now. MrVardeman is the account name, so maybe that will help you search and find them? I'll have more info by the time all of you readers wake up in the morning. See you later, it's time to head to Fred's for $2 TACO Tuesday!!!

2008-03-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Trey and Dad coming back after catching some big waves.

2008-03-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't he the cutest sufer ever!!

2008-03-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the lessons

Surfing Lessons

2008-03-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

We just got back from surfing lessons for Rob and Trey. They had so much fun. It took a little bit of convincing and bribing to get Trey out in the water, but once he was out he got the hang of it. He got up 3 times and only fell off once. Rob fell everytime, but loved it. :) He may even go back in a couple of days. So to celebrate, Trey got McDonalds for lunch.

2008-03-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Having a blast in the ocean!

2008-03-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

Dinner Sunday night with a great view and whale watching.

2008-03-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Trey and Rob posing by our ride.

Relaxing Day...

2008-03-17T22:43:00.001-07:00

We've had a nice and relaxing day today since we were out the whole day yesterday. Rob and Trey were at the beach for most of the morning and had so much fun. We went to Kehei for lunch and Rob ended up signing him and Trey up for surfing lessons in the morning. Rob is really excited, but Trey wrote us a note in the car on the way back that said "I do not want to go srfng" Hopefully he's a little more excited about it in the morning. We went to the beach again when we got back. While we were at dinner (before the food even got there) Trey fell asleep...we had to wake him up to leave. He was so tired from all the swimming. Here are some more pics from yesterday and today. We should have some good pictures tomorrow from the surfing lessons!

2008-03-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Amazing!

2008-03-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sunrise at Haleakala. It was SO cold and windy! But totally worth it!

2008-03-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

Our first Maui sunset.

2008-03-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Trey having some fun at dinner.

2008-03-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

The view from our room.

2008-03-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Trey and Mom on the plane from Dallas. Trey had to make a crazy face!

2008-03-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

Trey was sleepy while waiting for our bags at LAX.

Maui

2008-03-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

We left Dallas last night and headed to LA. We stayed the night there and left this morning for Maui. We arrived here about 12:30 pm local time. We are so excited to be here! Our room at the Wailea Marriott is amazing and has an awesome ocean view. We only have to walk a few feet out our back door and we are at the ocean. Right now a Luau is going on right outside of our back door. We are getting ready for bed because we have an early morning tomorrow. Trey woke up this morning about 6:00 am singing. I'm scared about what time he will wake up this morning. :) Enjoy the pics!

Vacation Time!!

2008-03-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been since our last vacation in July that I have posted. And I didn't even finish that one. :)
The Vardeman Family is leaving for Maui on Friday evening and hopefully we can get some updates on here during our trip.

Disney Day 5 & 6

2007-07-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we slept in really late and then drove out to Cocoa Beach. Trey had an amazing time, he didn't want to leave the beach.

Today we had breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. It was quite an experience. Trey refused to eat until he had seen every character. After that we went to Epcot and stayed there for the rest of the day. Trey had to ride the Nemo ride again! We explored all of the different Nations of Epcot. At each stop Trey got to decorate a mask and add on different items from each Nation. He really enjoyed that! Right now Rob and Trey are having a sword fight. We'll see who wins...

2007-07-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today Trey went on a treasure hunt at the Magic Kingdom! Peter Pan had stolen Captain Hook's hook and Trey had to help get it back. If not, Captain Hook was going to turn all of the rides in the Magic Kingdom into Pirate rides. Which Trey wouldn't have been really sad about. He helped figure out all of the clues and ended up playing games with Peter Pan and Wendy Darling and finding Hook's hook! We also went over to MGM Studios and got some pictures with some of Trey's favorite characters. Tomorrow we're taking a day off from Disney to explore the beach! Yay!

2007-07-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

We started our day bright and early so that we could get to the Animal Kingdom before it opened. We got to see the opening intro from Mickey, Minnie and Pluto then we were off so that mom could ride Everest. Then we went to DinoLand and rode several rides there. After that we saw the new Nemo Musical that was amazing! We explored a few more things before it was time to use our fastpass for the Kali River Rapids. Dad decided he would keep the backpack safe, so mom and Trey went to ride. As soon as we got up in the line, it started raining. We thought we were going to get soaked on the ride, but not that much! We were drenched before we even got wet from the ride. As soon as we got off a major storm blew threw and we had to run for cover from all of the lightening. After that, we needed to go back to the hotel and change clothes. We still had lots of fun!!

Disney Day 2

2007-07-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day at the Magic Kingdom today! We rode Trey's favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear. He was very excited about that! We also saw Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Trey has been repeating jokes from there all day long. We watched the parade, rode Pirates of the Carribean and got to see Captain Hook, Smee and Jack Sparrow. Trey was in Pirate Heavan! It started raining on us right after Rob and Trey got back from Tom Sawyer Island so we called it a day. Enjoy the pics! You can also go to http://www.disneyphotopass.com/ and enter the email address avardeman@womenoffaith.com and password: robamytrey to see our official Disney pictures. They will update daily.

Disney Day 1

2007-07-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

We left early this morning and tried to go straight to the Magic Kingdom when we arrived. Unfortunately the park was "full to capacity" (as we were told multiple times) and we ended up at Epcot. They had a fantastic fire work show for the 4th of July. Here are some fun pics of Trey. Enjoy!

Treyman!

2007-07-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is a blog about our Treyman! He loves all things Disney and Pirates! We are going on vacation in a couple of days and will post our activities at the end of each day. Enjoy!