We thought long and hard about where to go on our family vacation. Hawaii wasn't even on our radar initially. First, because it's expensive. And second, because we always thought of it as a vacation that would be more enjoyable without kids. Sorry, kiddos, but mommy and daddy sometimes need some alone time. Then, we came across a Costco vacation package that fit everything we wanted. Maui. Fairly inexpensive. Direct flights. Family friendly hotel with a suite (so that we didn't have to book 2 rooms due to the size of our family). And kids activities included. Done!
Day 1: Sure, I wasn't thrilled about the 7-hour flight. The flights to Baltimore, Brussels, Baltimore, and Phoenix, were still too fresh in my mind. But we survived. Even after Alexis puked all over herself and me in the last 30 minutes. Like, we were literally descending when she puked. I've never seen Taylor and Kendall move so fast. They were on the other side of the aisle, with Billy, before I even realized what had just happened. She must have felt so much better once the puke was out, though, because she quickly started squealing in joy as she felt the turbulence of the descend. Meanwhile, the flight attendant and I were wiping off the seats as best as we could and spraying good-smelling stuff all over as to not make anyone else puke from the nasty smell. Although we couldn't get rid of it all the way, as I was wearing it. It's not like I could have just taken my pants off. My clothes were in the suitcase.
1 hour or so later, we made it to the hotel in our rental car. The Montage was beautiful. And the staff was amazing. They welcomed us with leis, showed us around, and took us to our suite. On a side note, you know you're a housewife when you get excited about the washer and dryer. And boy, did we use it during our stay. From sandy clothes, to muddy clothes, to wet clothes, I believe I did at least 6 loads of laundry. I didn't mind, though, because the alternative was to ruin clothes or bring them back in a super gross condition. Plus, it's bad luck to bring sand back from Hawaii (because they used to bury people on the beach and you're basically bringing back those dead people's decomposed bodies out of their land).
So that first day, we basically just unpacked, looked around the hotel, ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, and lounged in the pool, soaking it all in, because Maui is so magical.
Day 2: For ease, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. And we weren't disappointed. It was soooo good! We weren't sure how we'd be feeling on our first day in Maui, after that long first day, so we didn't have anything planned. That morning, we picked up our snorkeling gear and took off to the hotel beach. I loved that it was private, and therefore, not packed. We saw some fish, not a lot, and a million of those pokey-black balls. If it wasn't for the snorkeling gear, I never would have known they were there, hidden between the corals. I sure was glad we were all wearing water shoes! Alexis wasn't a huge fan of going in deep in the ocean. Nor was she a fan of her floaties. Or the waves. Or the sand. In fact, we had a snorkeling experience scheduled the following day in Molokini, a tiny island right off of Maui, well-known for the best snorkeling in Maui, and we cancelled it.
We then went back to the suite and ordered room service for lunch. A large plate of fruit was all we wanted. Fresh fruit from the island tastes so much better than imported to the main land.
We then drove 10 minutes to Nakalele Point, still in the Kapalua region, to see a blowhole. The concierge told us how to get there and was very specific about just how far we should go. He said that if we drove past the blowhole, we would get to a very narrow road that many people died on because if more than one car is on the road, it pushes the other car off the cliff. Or if someone drives too fast, because the road is so swirvy, they can easily slide off the road and fall off the cliff. That made me super nervous, so we made sure not to miss the exit to the blowhole. I was a little nervous about the hike down, too, with Alexis on my back, but it was actually no big deal. Then we started seeing all these warning signs about getting sucked into the blowhole. And as we kept hiking down, we saw more and more crosses with flowers around them, for the people who died getting sucked into the blowhole. And William wanted to get closer and closer with the kids... We ended up close enough to feel the water every time the blowhole shooted water out, but obviously not close enough to look down the hole and get sucked in. We were soaked! And Alexis kept sucking on her hand, and everyone else's to taste the salt. Haha. It was impressive. I was amazed at the natural beauty that was surrounding us. I could have spent a whole day there, just staring at the waves crashing against the rocks.
Driving back to the hotel, we saw this little forest and decided to take a short hike. The kids climbed the trees and crossed the streams until it started raining and we decided to head back to the hotel. I was glad the rain hadn't come 30 minutes earlier when we were still hiking near the blowhole. It was a overall pretty chill day, filled with some really cool memories.
Day 3: Since we cancelled our snorkeling experience, we didn't have any plans until the evening. We decided to go check out the Banyan Tree, in Lahaina. It was so cool and unique. It was one tree, with branches super long, spreading out, and making their own roots into the ground. Essentially, it looked like many trees, all connected by the branches.
We then went on a submarine. It wasn't the one we originally wanted to go on, but that one, Alexis couldn't go on, because of an age restriction, so we went on this Dancing Reef submarine instead. Honestly, it was pretty lame. We didn't see much. I did see a turtle, but it was a good 10 feet away, and we passed very quickly. The cool part, I guess, was that they had divers jump into the water to grab things and show them to the passengers. The crappy thing was that the stuff they showed was meh, like those pokey-black balls that we can see everywhere.
We did some shopping, and by some, I mean a lot, in Lahaina. We found some cute matching clothes for the Luau that night. The Luau was at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Kapalua, not too far from our hotel. The dancers were super amazing and very talented. I enjoyed the fact that they included various styles of dancing from different cultures of the islands. Alexis got super into the dancing and even started dancing on the table. I kept trying to take her down so that she wouldn't obstruct the view for other people, but she fought back. For the most part, I was able to keep her down during the dancing and let her on for the talking. But eventually, a super sweet lady came over and asked me to keep her off the table. I think her words were, "Your little girl is very cute, but could you keep her off the table? Me and my friends can't see." She was super nice about it, but because I don't deal with confrontation well, I got teary-eyed. Silly, I know. I can't help myself. Anyway, I did my best to keep Alexis off the table, but she wasn't happy about it and threw a fit. So... I got up with Alexis and left, all the way to the back. Fortunately, it was nearly the end of the show. As people were leaving, a nice young lady came over to me and said, "Forget that mean old lady! I thought your little girl was adorable." Thank goodness for nice people. It made me want to be nicer. Not that I'm mean or anything. I just don't usually express my thoughts. Like, if I see someone wearing a cute dress, I'll think to myself, "That's a cute dress!" but rarely do I ever compliment the person wearing the dress. I think that if I did, though, I could really make someone's day. I should try to do that.
Anyway, during the dinner, we were able to slip away to the beach and get some really nice family pictures during the sunset. Those ones are definitely keepers!
Day 4: We went to the Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu. There were essentially two things we wanted to do that Alexis couldn't: going down the zip line and surfing. We decided (ok, I decided) that I would do the zip line, and William would surf. I was happy with that compromise; William, not so much, especially after the surfing session, but that's for Day 7. So while the kids and I went down all 4 lines, William hung out with Alexis and fed the ducks and turtles. Alexis was super excited about the ducks, until they started chasing her for food. That was a little bit too much. After that, she decided she liked the turtles better. Anyway, the kids and I had a blast on the zip lines. They were exhilarating, exciting, and fun! We got some good videos with the GoPro.
We also got to see banana trees, coconut trees, and we learned that pineapples don't grow on trees! Nope, they grow on the ground. There are trees with pineapple-looking things on them, but they're not pineapples. In fact, they're not even food.
We then drove to Ho'okipa Beach Park, otherwise known as Turtle Beach, in Pa'ia. All of a sudden, I hear William exclaim, "Oh my gosh, those turtles are huge!" All I could see were big rocks. And I was pretty sure they were rocks, not turtles. William pointed at them, saying, "You don't see those huge turtles???" It took me a while, but then I saw them. It's not that I'm blind, but it was where I was looking. I saw the rock wall, separating the people from the turtles, and didn't look past it. Once I looked over the wall, though, I saw 12-15 ginormous turtles. They were just lounging. Once in a while, a turtle would move, ever-so-slowly. The waves at that beach were mean, though. Logan is the only one who ventured out into the ocean the whole time. Fortunately, he was always with William or me, because at one point, the waves took him and William to a point where they were getting further and further away from the beach and couldn't swim back. Thankfully, a man grabbed William by the hand and pulled him back, with Logan holding on to William. He said it was super scary. Kendall and I went out for a little while, too, but I was very cautious and made sure my feet were planted on the sand the whole time.
I wanted to be dressed nicely for Mama's Fishhouse, because it is the #1 restaurant in Maui, but we were right next to it, and it didn't make sense to drive back to the hotel (30 minutes away) to get changed. So, I went with short shorts and a tank top. Whoops. It was a really nice restaurant! The fish they serve is always caught that day, so it's super fresh. And they always make sure to give credit to the person who caught the fish on your plate. It's pretty cool. The restaurant has its own private beach, which was fun to hang out on after we were done eating and while we were waiting for Logan to poop everything he ate. The sunset was nice, too, although the clouds kind of covered it for most of it. All in all, I'm glad we ate at Mama's Fishhouse, even if it cost us a butt-load of money. Once in a lifetime, right?
Day 5: Today was amazing! I've never been parasailing, and neither have the kids, so for our first time to be in Maui was the coolest thing, ever. Unfortunately, Alexis couldn't go on the boat, even though she obviously wouldn't be up in the sky, parasailing. So I went up with Kendall first. Even though we were 1200 ft up in the air, it didn't actually feel like we were that high. The island looked amazing from up there. I expected the experience to be thrilling and exhilarating, but it was just peaceful and relaxing. There was not a sound, except for the waves crashing. I could've stayed up there forever. When we got back to the beach, I told William to ask the people on the boat to take a video of them taking off and landing, with his phone. I wish I would have brought my phone on the boat and done that, but I hadn't thought of it. So he got some nice videos or him and the boys going up into the sky. And while up there, he took lots of videos with the GoPro as well. So, I don't have actual pictures of them parasailing. Only videos. Anyway, it was a super fun and unique experience. I loved it.
After that, we ate lunch at LeiLani's. Alexis slept the whole time. We wanted to eat there because 1) it has an amazing reputation, and 2) it's called LeiLani's, like my sister-in-law. It did not disappoint. It was soooo good!
We then decided to do the coastal trail around the hotel. At the end of it, we saw some people jumping off the cliff and thought it looked fun, so we did it, too. The kids had no fear! They took a whole 10 seconds to gather their courage, then jumped over and over and over again. At first, I waited at the bottom for them, to help them back to the edge. But after a few jumps, they were pros and handled it all on their own. I don't know if I should feel proud or scared...
Day 6: We originally planned this trip, The Road to Hana, with a tour bus. It is an absolute must-do in Maui. But for $100 more per person (not counting Alexis), the concierge booked the trip privately. So that morning, at 6:45 AM, a guy named Cole picked us up from the hotel in his minivan. It was the best way to do this, for sure. Cole talked the whole time, and I wasn't even tired of listening to him, because he filled my brain with super informational fact about the culture, history, and life of the Hawaiians here on the island. It was super interesting and fascinating at the same time. Because we were staying on the west side of the island, it took us nearly 2-1/2 hours to go east. Remember, we had to drive south first, because the north side is so dangerous.
Our first stop was to use the bathroom, because there are no bathroom breaks on The Road of Hana. We also got some ginger drinks to help with the nausea from the swirvy road and altitude. Our second stop was for banana bread, I think. It was some sort of bread that I couldn't even try because I was so nauseous, even with the ginger drink. Taylor wasn't feeling too hot, either, but when the bread was ready, he suddenly felt better.
Our third stop was at a waterfall. There are many along the way, but this was one of the first ones, and according to Cole, one of the best ones without a crazy hike. Cole wanted to see what we could handle with 4 kids. We handled it like champs and even jumped into the water (or walked very slowly - it was super cold). Once we had warmed up, we swam up to the waterfall and went behind it, which was really cool. Cole said he'd done this trip many times (it's his job), and surprisingly, not very many people actually swim up to the waterfall, or even get into the water. They see the waterfall, take a few pictures, and get back in the car. One thing we had to understand was that there are many stops on The Road of Hana, and some people really want to see it all, so they rush through the whole thing in order to see it all before nightfall. But a waterfall is a waterfall, and we didn't need to see 10 of them. Not with kids. Had we done this trip as a couple, we could have handled more stops, but not with 4 kids in tow. So, we swam around a bit, admired the natural beauty surrounding us, and got back in the car. But not without stopping to look at the many cats at that stop. There were at least 10 cats, and Alexis was loosing her mind over seeing that many cats. One thing I should mention is that there was a cat at the hotel. She noticed it on day 1, and every day since. She got so excited every time she saw it, and started calling it Maui. It made sense because cats meow (meow-ee=Maui). We decided then and there that if we ever owned a cat (we never will), we'd call it Maui. It was at that stop, too, that a local little girl approached us and offered a few cups of jell-O. It was the sweetest thing, ever. My heart melted into one giant puddle, right then and there. Cole said he had never seen anything like that, ever. Locals usually keep to themselves. In fact, they get kind of annoyed with tourists crowding the road driving 20 miles below the speed limit just to admire the views. Anyway, it was a moment to remember, even if it only lasted 10 seconds. I wish I would have given her something in return... but I was so caught off-guard by her gesture that it didn't even cross my mind until that night when I was laying in bed and remembering that sweet 2-3 year-old girl.
Out next stop was for lunch. Yes, The Road of Hana is a very long road! At that point, we were basically at the half-point mark. So we had two options: turn around and hit up more cool spots, or keep driving north, on a longer, more dangerous, and not as exciting road. We decided to turn around and make 2 more stops. But first, we stayed close and stopped at a fruit shop. We tried some Jack fruit, which Logan swears is his new favorite fruit of all time. We also drank from a fresh coconut. It wasn't super tasty, but we tried it.
The first stop after that was at The Black Sand Beach. Really, it should be called The Black Rocks Beach. Most of it is made of rocks anyway. It's not until you reach the water that the sand appears. William nearly died from pain walking on the rocks (that's what he said). It was really cool, though. There was also a cave there, which the kids loved going into. The cave went straight to the ocean, meaning that during high tide, you better not be in there because it fills up. We spent a decent amount of time at that beach, walking really slowly as to not injure our feet on the rocks, but also enjoying the black sand between our toes once we reached the water. Alexis got hit by a super big wave at one point, and it caught her by surprise, but she recovered quickly. She's such a brave little baby. Seriously, she's like the perfect child.
Our last stop was at a bamboo forest. It was a quick and easy hike, but also breathtaking. We could have seen another waterfall, or stopped at a beautiful ocean view from a high cliff, but the bamboo forests are just so cool. The green was so... green! And the bamboo trees were so awesome! I was happy that all of our stops were so different. We really did get to see a variety of unique things.
On the drive back, we stopped by Leoda's, which is well-known for its pies. We picked up some food as well, but the pies were to die for! William liked the banana pie the most. I liked the chocolate one. But they were all good. We also had the coconut pie and the lemon pie. The only one we didn't try was the apple pie. Yes, we went a little crazy with the pies, but when in Maui...
It was a really long day, for all of us. It's no surprise that Cole calls it The Road to Divorce. The road can really test a family's bond. Thankfully, ours is the strongest!!!
Day 7: Remember when I said William wasn't thrilled about having to surf with the kids so that I could zip line with them? Well, he was actually pretty exciting about surfing on Ka'anapali Beach until he was in the water, surfing. It was AFTER the fact that he started pouting about the compromise. Haha. He wasn't really pouting, but surfing turned out to be a lot harder than he thought. 70% paddling, 20% waiting, and 10% up on the board, riding the waves. Too bad you can't put videos in a book because the videos of William wiping out were hilarious! He didn't get up a single time! Kendall, on the other hand, was born a surf girl. She was a natural and showed those waves who's the boss. She got up and rode that wave all the way to the beach on her first try. My jaw dropped into the sand seeing it. First try! All the kids got up on their board at some point. I was super proud of them all for not giving up, even though it was exhausting. They did awesome.
When we got back to the hotel, William was done! He went to sleep and I took the kids to the swimming pool. I'm glad William and John designed an amazing pool back at home, because I really did feel like our pool was more fun, even though this one was really cool.
That evening, we went back to Whaler's Village for some shopping and Ka'anapali Beach for dinner. We were able to catch the hula dancers for about 3 minutes before they were done for the night. We also scored some cool shirts to bring back as souvenirs.
Day 8: Last day. Sniff, sniff. Jet-skiing totally made up for the fact that I went zip lining and William didn't. Or it should, at least. Alexis and I sat on the beach for over 2 hours, waiting for them to be done. Eventually, Alexis fell asleep on me, and I was ready to bet that they'd be back within 5 minutes, because that's usually what happens when a baby falls asleep. Luckily, she got a good 30-45 minutes of sleep. You may wonder why Logan isn't on that first picture... he was pouting, as you can see on the 3rd picture. Why? Because Kendall was picked to go first. Did Taylor pout about being last? Nope. But Logan did about being second. That is all...
I don't have many pictures of that day, but we basically went back to the hotel, did one last load of laundry, packed our suitcases, and drove to Pa'ia to shop because our flight wouldn't leave until that evening, but we had to be checked out of our hotel or else we'd have to pay for another night.
We ate savory crepes at a restaurant the concierge recommended, or maybe it was Cole, I can't remember. Then we had the best snowcone I ever had in my life (secret ingredient=condensed milk). Alexis kept trying to feed Taylor ice and saying, "Eat it!" in her super bossy voice. It was hilarious! And then we shopped and stopped at nearly every store on that road.
The flight was overnight and I don't think I slept much, if at all. The next day was the longest of my life, especially because there was so much to put away and the kids were all wide awake. Meanwhile, William slept most of the day.
Maui will forever be unforgettable. I loved that we went as a family. The whole experience was fun and the hotel even had activities for the kids to do. Like every time we did something from their checklist, the kids got a pin. They all looked forward to trying new things and getting a pin. Some things, we weren't able to do, like whale watching (it wasn't the season), fishing (not a priority), and making a lei (we ran out of time), but the concierge gave the kids assignments to replace the activities so that they could still get the pins. Like they had to find out the weight of the largest whale, learn how to say the name of a certain fish (humuhumunukunukuapuaa), and research what flowers are typically used to make leis. And with that, the kids were able to check everything off of the checklist and earn the merit badge, too.
We created lifelong memories that I will cherish forever. I am so thankful for William's job that allowed us to make this trip as a family. We made many sacrifices during our 12 year marriage, but this is why we did it: so that one day we could visit the world. We wanted to give the children experiences that most kids will never have. The world is such a beautiful place. It is amazing to me that God created such beauty. Being in Maui, I am reminded of how little we need to live. Many of the locals in Maui live off the radar. They grow their own food and built their own home (or live in a tent for some). They basically live off of what the land has to offer, and it's enough. What a beautiful, simple life, they have. No wonder they chose to live that life. It's beautiful to me.
(And FYI, it took me nearly a week to write this.)
Maui no ka oi (Maui is the best!)
