Our house is 2-story, 3-bed, 3-bath on a half-acre lot in upcountry Maui. The deck provides sweeping ocean views from the north shore of Maui across to the south side. The main living space is upstairs, with the master bedroom (queen bed) and full bath, child's room with bunkbeds, full bath, and main living area with kitchen, dining room, living room, extra seating areas, and children's play area. The main area (kitchen/DR/LR/playroom) is all open, with large windows opening to the view.Two sliding glass doors open onto the upstairs deck which has a gas grill, outdoor seating, and a hammock.

Downstairs is the third bedroom, which we use for an office, a full bath (shower, not tub), and a playroom/bedroom at the bottom of the stairs with a twin bed and a twin trundle. While this sleeping area is quiet and private, there is not a door--the stairs form a right angle at a landing and then enter directly into the downstairs area. There is also a lower deck, large garage (2 cars plus storage, laundry, and play area).

For outdoor fun we have a basketball hoop and soccer goal, kids' bikes, balls and scooters, beach and snorkeling gear. We have a vegetable garden, tropical flowers, avocado tree (fruit season is late spring-early summer), and 2 tiny apple trees. From our windows you can enjoy the neighbors' beautiful landscaping which includes birds-of-paradise and protea flowers.

Our house has high-speed wireless internet (which is great for streaming Netflix) but we do not have a TV. We have a ton of board games, many books for adults and children, and toys for children. Instead of a stereo system we have large and small indoor/outdoor speakers for ipad/iphone/ipod and a portable CD player.

Our home is at about 3000 feet so we do not have air conditioning. Even in the summer, a light sweater can be welcome in the mornings and evenings. We have a wood burning stove but have not used it during the summer months.

We live in the upcountry area of Maui in a small town called Kula. We are a rural community with many farms. Kula does not have a "town center" but we have a general store, post office, Grandma's Coffee House, an Italian Bistro, a French bakery, a hardware store, and gas stations. If you look at mapquest, we are a 4 minute walk from Morihara Store, 4581 Lower Kula Road, Kula, HI 96790. Morihara is our general store with a selection of foods, beverages and household items. Kula Bistro (Italian) is across the street from Morihara store.

Our house isabout 1/3 of the way up Haleakala Crater, right at the border of upper Kula and lower Kula. From our house you can see all the islands in Maui County: Kaho'olawe, Lana'i, and Moloka'i. You can also see Molokini Crater, a famous snorkeling and diving spot.

We live in a cul-de-sac at the top of a hill and we have wonderful neighbors. In addition to our wonderful neighbors, my husband's family lives a half mile down the road from us. We are about 25 minutes from the nearest beach (Baldwin Beach on the north shore), 35-40 minutes from the Kihei beaches, and 45-50 minutes from Wailea (resort area). The other main resort areas (the West Side: Lahaina and Ka'anapali) are anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half away.

Attractions in upcountry Maui include Haleakala Crater, with hiking, camping and bird watching (the Crater is the home of the endangered Nene Goose and several other endangered native Hawaiian birds), Ulupalakua Ranch and Tedeschi Vineyards, a bird sanctuary, Makawao Town, Pukalani public pool (no entrance fee), walking on Thompson Road, and several parks.

For groceries, there is an amazing farmer's market on Saturday mornings about 8 minutes from our house. They open at 7am and the fresh fish and eggs are often all sold by 8:30am. There is a wide variety of locally grown fruits and vegetables (mostly organic); entertainment; Maui coffee; and fresh cooked Thai, Indian, and bakery foods.

For other groceries and household items, Pukalani has a Foodland, Makawao has a local grocery with deli items and a wide selection of other foods, and Kahului has a Safeway, Whole Foods, Costco, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Macy's, etc.

We have to work around Hawaii school schedules.

We have just started thinking about summer 2013 and are open to suggestions.

We are especially interested in inter-island exchanges within Hawaii on the Hawaii public school holidays.

We are a family of four. Our daughters are ages 5 and 9 1/2. Parents Mark and Karen work from home. Mark telecommutes to his software development company based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Karen is a lawyer/writer/consultant who can work from anywhere with a phone and internet connection. Mark grew up on Maui and we love the small-town, laid-back, outdoors lifestyle of Maui. We enjoy traveling and experiencing fun adventures as a family.

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