Thursday, December 22nd
In between packing I was able to sneak over to Liv's school to volunteer in her classroom for her Christmas party. The kids rotated from different stations (hot chocolate bar, making a graham cracker candy train, bingo, bell toss, and a Christmas bead craft) all while watching the polar express in their pajamas, and at the end they had a little gift exchange. Each child brought a gift for one kid in their class. I'm always amazed at how Mrs. Young manages to keep things functional and organized with a classroom full of so many kindergarteners. The kids seemed to have fun.
That evening we decided to stay up at the Hyatt by the airport because 1) our flight left at 6 am the next morning meaning we were waking up close to 4 am and 2) we had a free hyatt night we needed to use before the end of the year and 3) they would let us park are car there for free the 9 days we were gone. It was hard to get the kids to calm down they were so excited. Not sure how much sleep we got, but the alarm went off a least an hour or so later that it would have at home, and we didn't have to add an hour drive to the airport to add to our travel day.
Friday, December 23rd
We flew first to Los Angeles and then to Maui. It was such a long flight and felt exhausting trying to keep the kids entertained. Each one did take a nap at various times. And, they actually did really well. They all wanted to be by the window.
As soon as we landed in Maui, we went to get out rental car which took 2 hours (I guess everyone else was trying to pick up their car at the same time). Then, we hit Costco to get some food for our breakfasts and lunches while there. And honestly, we did a pretty good job eating it and hardly ended up buying any food the whole trip. As soon as we arrived at our condo, I opened the window and this is what I saw.
Then we all donned swim suits because the first item of business was to hit the pool (of course). We stayed at the Honua Kai resort in Kaanapali, and we couldn't have asked for a better place for our kids. The pools there were amazing. They had water slides and caves to swim in and a winding river-like pool with tunnels to swim under and cascading waterfalls and a little pool with pebbled sand at the bottom to mimic the ocean. Plus, there were hot pools spaced out everywhere throughout the place. We had a kitchen, washer and dryer (which we used almost daily), separate sleeping areas (Derek and I had a bedroom and the kids slept on a pull out couch and roll away bed in the living room--so much nicer than all in the same room and turning out the lights all together at 8pm every night. This allowed for Derek and I relax and read or watch tv in our room after we put them to bed.), and it came with beach towels and toys and boogie boards. After swimming, everyone showered and then went to bed pretty early after a long day of traveling.
Saturday, December 24th
The kids, still on Utah time, all woke up about 4 am again...ugh. (Technically Carter woke up a little constipated and in his bathroom efforts woke up the rest of us as well). We tried to keep them quiet as Derek and I took turns using the gym since we were up. I caught this rainbow on my walk back from the gym. I get why Hawaii is the Rainbow State. The kids loved how we saw rainbows multiple times every day.
We made the kids Spam and eggs for breakfast because we felt that fitting in Hawaii. Then, we packed a lunch and set out to hit a fruit stand on our way to the beach. We got a big variety of tropical fruit, but I have to say I was not the hugest fan of passion fruit or papaya that I was excited to try and our bananas never ripened! The pineapple and fresh coconut were good though and the kids loved the mangos too. While picking fruit, a police car drove by and the boys waved so the officer put on his siren for them. Then, he swung back around and I was sure our boys had done something bad, but he just came back to give them all a sticker policeman badge and let them sit inside his car.
After that we hit Launiupoko Beach Park which we had passed on our way into town and was near the fruit stand. It had a little salt water lagoon that the kids could play in wave free. It was ok, but kind of rocky, and I must admit that my opinion of the beach is tainted by the fact that I stepped on a sea urchin while there and had Derek digging huge sea urchin spikes out of my foot the rest of the evening. (Tip: soak in vinegar for 30 minutes it helps dissolve any residual sea urchiness). Then, we cleaned up at out condo and stopped by the house my Dad was staying at for a Christmas Eve turkey dinner. We let the kids swim in his pool while we helped him finish up dinner. Derek left to pick Ky up from the airport, then we went back to our condo to turn in early again after the 4 am wake up.
Sunday, December 25th
Christmas morning started with another early morning wake up (4:30 am). We all got ready for church in much different attire than our typical Christmas Sunday wear (sun dresses and short sleeves).
We went to the Lahaina ward Christmas program. It was so lovely. The narration was wonderful and the choir sang beautifully and they also had a whole bunch of congregational hymns which the kids enjoyed participating in. The primary sang one number which I loved and then one cute little primary girl sang Silent Night in Hawaiian backed up by the choir singing it in English. I was so moved by it, and felt our Christmas Day in Hawaii couldn't have started out any more perfect. After that, we stopped by Dad's for breakfast and to open presents. The kids all wanted to walk down to the beach to just look at the ocean and promised not to get in since I didn't bring swim suits.
The kids were spoiled by Christmas gifts even though they weren't supposed to be because we had already been spoiled by the trip. Nonetheless, the kids were excited about everything. Each got a new Ipad mini which actually came in very handy during all the driving and flying we did the rest of the trip. All the kids also got little sunglasses to sport.
Then, our little family went on a Christmas Day Hike on the Ohai Trail.
The kids were so excited to use the brand new camelbacks they each got from Derek for Christmas. It was a beautiful and easy little loop right on the ocean, and the weather was lovely. Here's the kids enjoying a little snack that they carried themselves on the half way bench.
On the way back to our condo, we stopped at the Nakalele blowhole which the kids thought was kind of neat to watch spray up high in the air. Then, of course we went back to our condo to do some swimming. Our kids can't get enough. Then, it was back over to Dad's for a filet mignon Christmas dinner.
Monday, December 26th
The kids woke up at 5am. (Adjusting to the time change was brutal). That day Nay and Derek went golfing (which they said was awesome since the course was right on the shore with ocean views the whole time). Kylie, Benazir and I took the kids to Kaanapali beach. This beach was better and no sea urchin attacks, but still rocky. We attempted to boogie board with the kids, but didn't have much success. The kids built a sand castle and really wanted a moat but were sadly disappointed when every time they poured water into it the sand absorbed it all up. The boys kept gathering more and more water certain the next time they tried it would work.
Finally, I rectified the situation with a plastic bag lining.
I feel like Derek and I got spoiled with our Caribbean trip this year. None of these Hawaiian beaches could hold a candle to any of the beaches we visited in Barbados. After the beach day, it was showers again and off to the luau at the Grand Wailea. Somehow we managed to get all the siblings in this picture except Mitch in here. Dang it!
That was an incredible hotel. Wow. The luau was fantastic too. The food was good, and the kids all really enjoyed the hula dancing and fire dancing, and I was intrigued by this gymnast type gal who was wrapped in long ribbons and doing twirls and flips from a coconut tree. Talent! Now Liv wants a hula outfit and do do hula dancing all the time.
Tuesday, December 27th
This was my least favorite day by far (in fact I wish I would have spent it at the beach). We decided to drive to the top of Haleakala Crater. We stopped to do a hike in the Olinda Forest on the Waihou Springs Trail on the way. That was neat just because it was crazy to see big foresty trees and cooler weather on Maui. Plus it was a nice easy hike for our kids.
The crater took forever to get too and when we got there it was so cold and windy that we sort of quickly looked out over the crater and then jumped back in our car to drive back. I guess I just didn't feel it was worth the drive. But, there were some gorgeous views overlooking Maui on the drive home, and the kids got their National Parks Pass books stamped. Then, we picked up Aunt Kylie on our way home to join us at our condo pools. That night Ky and I had a sister night. We had dinner in Lahaina and walked the streets and checked out the shops. I bought "stupid stuff" for each of the kids (the boys 2 shark chompers and Liv a hula barbie doll--I liked that idea a whole lot more than her running around in coconut shells and a grass skirt).
Wednesday, December 28th
We had been driving past this restaurant called Slappy Cakes every day near our hotel. So, this morning we decided to try it out. They have griddles in the middle of every table and you basically choose between 4 pancake batters and a bunch of toppings and make your own pancakes right at the table. The kids loved this.
I wish we had one here. Then, I had arranged for Mitchell, Dad, Nathan, Benazir and my family to take a boat ride from Maalaea Harbor out to a snorkeling spot for a half day. It was really neat, and I didn't get sea sick (but I took 2 Meclizine prior to leaving so I think that really helped). The kids were all excited about their snorkel gear and wore it most of the boat ride to the snorkel spot.
Once in the water after a little coaching, Camden and Olivia really caught onto it and were quite the snorkelers.
Carter, who is a little more timid in the water, got cold quick and never really felt comfortable putting his face in to snorkel. But from the looks of the smile in this picture, it must not have been all bad.
I'll consider 2/3 a win! Liv snorkeled with Nay and Benz, and I took Camden with me. Poor Derek got left with Carter. Camden was hilarious to snorkel with. He would see a fish and then pull out of the water and pull out his mouth piece and scream, "Mom! Mom! I saw a Dori fish!!!" Then we'd get everything back in place and the next cool thing he saw, "Mom! Mom!..." When we saw a sea turtle, that was finally exciting enough to get him to keep his head in the water, but I could hear his excited squeals under water. Liv was honestly the last person of the entire boat of 100 people to get back to the boat. She loved snorkeling.
Snorkeling was so much fun, and I loved seeing my kids be able to do it all on their own and enjoys it. But, I have to say we saw maybe 2 turtles and a few varieties of fish. That dang Barbados trip ruined me. The snorkeling in that Caribbean was so so much better. Swarms of turtles and fish every color you could imagine plus sunken ships! This boat did have a fun slide that dropped you about 6 feet from the top of the water that all the kids enjoyed after snorkeling. Liv and Camden did it on repeat. Carter got up once to try then changed his mind, then got up again and decided he needed to go to the bathroom instead, then slid down to the very bottom where he halted himself and refused to jump off and Derek had to rescue him. Finally, when they announced they were closing the slide, he got up and slid off the slide into the water and was the very last person to slide before it was closed. After that they made us all a BBQ lunch on the boat and we sailed back to the harbor. We stopped by Aunt Kylie's condo on the way home to say goodbye, and then that night everyone was exhausted and went to bed pretty easily.
Thursday, December 29th
Finally on this day our kids decided to sleep past 5 in the morning and this was the morning that we had to get up early to start our Road to Hana trip. Dad navigated in Nathan's car and we followed behind them. We left about 6:30 am which was the ideal time because we didn't have hardly any traffic and seemed to be beat all the crowds at each stop. We stopped in Paia at a little coffee shop where they make box lunches first. Then, we started the drive on the winding round to Hana. Of course, Liv threw up because she insisted on having her eyes glued to her tablet instead of the road. Luckily, we had Chloe in the back seat with her, and I was able to throw a zip lock bag back to her just in the nick of time to catch it all without too much mess. And, I happened to have hand sanitizing wipes in my purse to wipe down the car seat just a little. The drive was gorgeous with waterfalls all over the place.
Every bridge is one way so you occasionally have to stop to let oncoming cars over first before crossing. We stopped at Waianapanapa State Park and crawled through the caves off the beach and admired the volcanic black sand.
Then, we did a short little hike along the coast. The contrast of the green plants against the black volcanic rock was amazing.
Then, we all ate our little box lunches and continued the drive to Hana. All along the way are little fruit stands where people pick the fruit from their yard and have little signs asking you to pay for it on your honor. We bought some little bananas for the kids that they thought were fun. The first stop at Hana, was the Hana general store which is over 100 years old. The only lunch meat they had was bologna so Dad bought bologna and American cheese for after the hike in Haleakala National Park. We hiked the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls which is 1.8 miles to the falls. We planned to only walk part of the way with the kids especially since it had been a long day and they had already done one hike, but they were doing so well that we went the whole way and there was minimal complaints. I was super impressed with all of them. The trail was super muddy which the kids actually loved (good thing I packed a whole extra outfit for each of them because they had mud up to their bums by the time we got back to the car). You hike up past a waterfall and then there is this cool banyan tree in the middle of the hike.
Then you go over a few bridges over a river and get to this incredible bamboo forrest. Honestly one of the coolest things I have ever hiked through.
Then, once you get out of the bamboo forrest it isn't far to Waimoku Falls. It was a narrow but super long waterfalls.
The kids enjoyed wading through the river to get closer to it.
Once we got back to the car, we all feasted on bologna and after all that hiking through deep mud, bologna never tasted so good. Not sure I could stomach it any other way. Then, we continued the drive around the island home. At some points the road was only one lane. You don't see many roads in America that are single lane. Most at least go both ways.
It was an awesome awesome drive with an awesome awesome hike and just an amazing day. I loved it.
Friday, December 30th
Friday morning we took the kids to the Maui aquarium which was pretty cool.
I was intrigued by this unicorn fish. Is has these little blades on it's tail than can really do some damage.
They gave all the kids this little passports and they had to look for stones with ancient Hawaiian carving on them and them rub a black crayon over them to capture the carving on their passports. If they got all 9 of them, they got a free surprise from the gift shop. They all couldn't wait to redeem their prize after finding all the stones, but were a little disappointed to find that it was only a stick on tattoo of their favorite image. But, they loved searching for all the stones. They had this photo op that fit our family perfectly.
Then, we had a few minutes to kill so we hit up Ululani's shaved ice which is supposedly the best on the island. They have a bunch of tropical flavors made with real tropical fruit juice. It was really good. I got POG flavor (passion fruit, orange, and guava) and loved it. They had these neat shaved ice tables outside the booth with holes in them to place your shaved ice cups in.
Then, we dropped Derek off to golf all by his lonesome, and I took the kids back to our condo to swim. It was a cloudy and slightly drizzly day, so I guess there weren't many people on the course. Derek said the golf was awesome. It was up against the foothills, but you could still see the ocean. Then, the kids and I drove through traffic to get Derek and then drove through it again on the way back. We stopped at Dad's place for a BBQ/ribs dinner. I gathered all the kids to play duck duck goose, red light/green light, and red rover on the grass with the sound of ocean waves crashing nearby while we waited for dinner to cook.
Saturday, December 31st
This was go home day. We had really wanted to go to Baby Beach on the north shore that we heard was fantastic for kids, but the weather was against us. It was kind of cold and rainy all day and supposedly more so up on the north shore. So, when the sun broke through we let the kids swim at our condo. Then, we went into Lahaina and had lunch at Aloha Mixed Plate which was right on the ocean and outside. Such a neat location and great plate lunch.
Then, we walked past the shops in town, stopped for ice cream/shaved ice, and let the kids eat them under the big famous banyan tree.
They had a little art festival going where local artists were displaying their stuff under the tree and a musician was playing and had a tip jar that the kids were excited to throw money into. We let them check out the old canons in front of the old courthouse and we checked out the old jail downstairs that now poses as an art gallery.
Then, we walked back to our car along the ocean. The boys were intrigued by the crabs crawling on all the rocks below.
Then, it was back to the condo to let the kids swim one last time. Derek and I went back to our room to do laundry and pack and we put a movie on for the kids in our bed and miraculously they all fell asleep for 2 1/2 hours!
Which was really good because our flight didn't leave until 11:50 pm and was sure they were all going to be a mess at the airport. They snoozed again on the way to the airport and then woke up and quite pleasantly walked and carried their backpacks all through the airport. We got to see Dad and Mitch and say goodbye. Uncle Nathan and Benazir were on our flight so that was fun. The kids were fantastic.
They played around on tablets and the little TVs in the seatbacks that were loaded with free games and tv shows and movies for a little bit and then all slept the whole flight. On our flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake they bumped us up to first class as a courtesy for probably buying so many flights to Hawaii. That was an interesting experience. The seats are definitely more comfortable and they pump you full of drinks starting the minute you sit down. They even serve them in glass cups instead of plastic and have a basket full of 10 different types of snacks for you to choose as many as you like from. Getting back to cold Utah has been rough. All of us have been freezing all the time. And, of course our car being parked outside in 20 degree weather with inches of snow on top of it was not happy when we got to it. It would not start, but luckily the hotel staff was so good to jump the battery for us and it seems to be fine now that it is happily parked in the garage. (But that was the last thing we wanted to deal with after the red eye flight.)
So overall, just a fantastic and memorable trip. So lovely to get out of the cold. It has been snowing non-stop since we've been home!
The kids already miss being around all the family.
They start back to school tomorrow. Not sure I'm quite ready to get back to life, but nevertheless, back to the grind it is.
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