ALOHA!

A couple of weeks ago we had a chance to take Jackson and Emma to Maui for six fun filled days! It was so fun to have some time to spend with just the big kids. Here is a rundown of what we did.

This is such a cute picture of Jackson and Emma before take off out of Salt Lake. They have been on an airplane several times but I think this will be the first flight they will really remember. It was pretty smooth sailing over the ocean, and other than sore buns there were no other major catastrophies. We arrived around eight on Saturday night, checked into our hotel, and since it was nearly two in the morning at home we crashed for the night. The next day was Mother's Day and Sunday so we went to Church in the morning and then spent the afternoon driving and exploring. We went to the blow hole, which was not blowing much because of the tide and then we went to a place our neighbors recommended called the Olovine Pools which really if you haven't been there is a fun place to go. There are several tide pools and two that are deep enough to swim in. The cool think is that the only thing separating the pools from the open ocean are the lava rocks. So you can be swimming in the tide pools and the spray from the ocean will come over the rocks. It was really beautiful and a fun experiences. The hike down is a little steep but we were glad we did it!

Later that night we went to dinner at the Barefoot Beach there on Kaanapali. The food was pretty average but the view was fabulous of the sunset and the music was pretty good too.
Emma was so cute in her Hawaiian attire. Everyday she would get a fresh lei and put every flower she could find in her hair.

This is a picture of the sunset that night, our camera didn't even come close to doing it justice.

The next day we spent the morning at the pool and then the afternoon in Lahaina. We went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for Lunch, which is one of my favorite places to eat in Lahaina and then we shopped around.

Jackson was grouch at lunch, not sure why but I had to take a picture of it because I thought it was a pretty rare thing to find a grouch in Maui.
After lunch we checked out the big banyan tree in the square. The kids climbed around a bit before we continued with our shopping.


On Tuesday we drove the Hana Highway. Some people think the Hana Highway is a nightmare but personally I love it. It is some of the most beautiful scenery I have every seen in my life with lots of fun stops. This is the first stop on the highway...Twin Falls. On the way there we passed the pineapple fields and the kids were amazed to see that pineapples grow in the ground and not on trees. On our hike up to the Twin Falls Emma saw this plant and said that was the biggest pineapple she had ever seen, so of course we had to take a picture.


Me and Jackson at the Twin Falls.

Just some beautiful scenery.


Our last stop was the Black Sand Beach in Hana. It is a beach with black sand and blue water and really, really pretty. The surf here was also pretty great for body surfing and the kids had an absolute blast







At the same spot there was also a short little hike that led to some lava caves, it was a gorgeous walk and then at the end there were caves that you could swim in, the water was freezing and it was dark and a little freaky to swim through the stalagmites but pretty dang cool to do. The kids got a little freaked out and Shawn was too much of a wimp to get in the cold water but I enjoyed it.



These are just some pictures at our hotel. We stayed at the Westin on Kaanapali Beach. It was pretty nice and the lobby and pools were really great.






I took this picture of the kids early one morning, they were so exhausted they dropped about 9:30 p.m. every night and slept later than Shawn and me.



The last day our plane didn't leave until 9:00 p.m. so we fit in as many things as possible. We were snorkeling by 8am, swimming at the pool by 10am, checked out of our hotel at noon and then we headed to the Maui Ocean Center which is a really great aquarium in Kahalui. We saw lots of sea life and a ton of SHARKS which made it super interesting and fun. After the aquarium we drove out to the lava fields in Wailea and to Big Beach which we wished we would have spent an entire day at. It was hard to pull away as the sun was starting to set but we did it and headed to the most inefficient airport in the world to go home.







Aloha Maui! We hope to see you again real soon!