Whale Facts

Talking to my mom this morning, she asked how big the whales are.  This picture might give some perspective.  The males are 50-60 feet long and weigh about a ton a foot.

The whales migrate to the islands to give birth to their babies (calves) and stay in the area for up to 4 months, giving the babies a chance to get some size before they migrate to Alaska.  Here is a mom and baby.  If you look close, the spray is coming from the babies blow hole.

There isn't really any food for the whales in this area so the adults are basically fasting the whole time they are in the islands.  They don't eat until they get further north.  The babies however, nurse up to 100 gallons of milk a day from their moms.  The milk is the consistency of cottage cheese or thick yogurt.

They have never recorded or seen a live birth of a humpback whale in the ocean, which seems unbelievable.  They think that the moms calve on the east side of the island but they are not sure.  You can tell approximately how old the baby is by how frequently is comes up for air.

Me and Courtney on the coveted fron seat of Captain Steve's boat.  We stand in line an hour to get this seat.  The guy in the tan hat right behind us was making snide comments and tried to jump our place in line.  He didn't know he was dealing with 2 experienced whale chicks.  One more comment and we would have thrown him overboard. Bonehead....

Of course each day ends with an incredible sunset.  You will see people lined up everywhere, just taking it all in, both tourists and locals.  It is magical and a great time to reflect on all the gifts of the day and to give thanks for being in such a beautiful place.

Maui Teaser

I know I should have been posting the whole time I was in Maui, but my priorities were straight,
-get up
-decide whether to put on shorts or a swimsuit
-which beach or which method of being in or on the water
-what to eat
-ice cream or shaved ice or Jamba Juice
-where to watch the sunset

I have a ton of pictures so I will split them up into several different posts over the next few days.  Let me just say, I had the best time with Courtney and we had some great conversations and a ton of fun.  It was a super fun trip from start to finish.  I feel very fortunate to have been able to go and spend 2 full weeks.

First day there, note that the only color on my body was a fake tan.  I met up with some friends for the first trip out with Captain Steve looking for whales.

My Sweet Sister...

My sister knows my heart probably better than I do.  She sent this special gift to me, and I just want her to know how much it means, and how much I love her for always taking care of me.  Karen, you are the best and I love you so much!  Thanks for immortilizing a very special time in my life.

This is the throw she had made with special pictures, what a super cool idea and a much loved treasure!



I Love Lucy

And Hoss and Tessie and Dira and Sadie too... but today was about getting some pictures of the Lucy Goose in the snow.  She's growing really fast and doing pretty good at things like going potty outside and sleeping in a kennel.  She slept all last night alone and unless I was just too tired to hear her, I don't think she cried at all.  It was heaven for me since I actually got about 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Now if I could just find a cure for Bruce's snoring issues....

Lucy

Hoss and Lucy, she loves him but she's also a little scared of him.  They like to play but Hoss gets a little rough so I have to referee sometimes

Awwww....

Warming up.  She's right at 30 lbs now and 13 weeks old.  She loves to play fetch and chase Hannah around.  It's all fun and games until Hannah has had enough....

The last ones to go

As of today, Groundhogs Day, all of our puppies have found great new homes.  Our Little Brownie girl is with a new family in Centennial, CO and they said I can come visit any time I am out there flying.  They had lost their German Shepherd a while back and were ready to add a new family member, Sheree, the wife just cried when she met our little girl.

Brownie girl, I just love the ears!

Kirk, Sheree and the Brownie Girl

I should probably devote a whole post to this but just wanted to share some thoughts about the Law of Attraction.  With each of our puppies I have concentrated on and prayed for good familes for them to go too.  Yesterday when it was just our Green Bean girl left and no prospects, I was convincing myself that I would be just fine to keep her.  Last night though I was meditating and really thinking about attracting a great family to connect with her and take her home.  This morning before 7:00 am I had a call from a couple who live in Saratoga, WY.  They had been down to New Mexico and were on their way home and saw the ad for our puppies in the paper.  They had already applied to and been accepted by the Denver German Shepherd Rescue to get a dog, but something pulled them to us.  As miracle stories go, they came out this morning and when I opened my front door and they saw Green Bean, the tears welled up in their eyes and I knew we had our last match.

Miss Green Bean

Dave, Kim and Green Bean

Such a bitter sweet day to have them all gone, but so very gratefule for good loving homes for them to go to.