We are home! What a wonderful time! I am a bit sleep deprived as I try to adjust to the time change, but my tan has not faded yet, so I can still look rested while yawning. 🙂
We flew into Honolulu this year to visit my aunt and uncle. They own a gorgeous condo in Ko’olinda. We spent four days with them. It is incredible how fast four days fly by! The beaches at Ko’olinda are (mostly) man made and are sandy, with no surf. It was a perfect environment to play with the boys. On the last night, we went to Roy’s restaurant and were not seated until 8:00pm. The boys were not adjusted to Hawaii time and were too tired to eat. I said they could rest behind my chair. Our server saw us and made a little bed for them. They crashed and we enjoyed a terrific, leisurely dinner with dessert!
While on Oahu, we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. The boys enjoyed ‘dole whip’, and although we did not try to navigate their maze, we did a fair job of navigating their huge store.
We went to a great Mexican restaurant for lunch. Everything was open air and a rooster kept walking in. We joked that he’d better be careful or he might become someone’s lunch!
After lunch, we headed to the ‘North Shore’ (where all the major surfing is) and the boys discovered Hawaiian shaved ice. Can I just say this?…. Blue hawaiian ice makes the most bizarre color of, well, how shall I put this…now, everythime I change ‘R’s diaper, he asks what color his poop is…
Here is a great family shot with my aunt and uncle.
The view from their lanai. I know, you can pity them…
Our time was up on Oahu, so we flew on to Maui and checked into our timeshare at the Westin Kaanapali Villas. It is humpback whale season and our room had a perfect view of the water. We were able to see whales daily. I was unable to get any good breeching shots, but here is a fin…
Every night at 5:30, the property has a ‘keiki’ (children) hula show. The boys loved to ‘hula’ on our deck along with them.
A view of the pool from our deck…
Although we had a ton of family time together, DH and I would take turns taking care of the boys so the other would have some ‘down time’. I took the boys on an “adventure” and did not tell them what we were doing. We went to the lobby where ‘Miss Ady’ did henna tattoos. The boys each got a ‘honu’ (turtle) on their hands. I got an anklet of plumerias.
Then, I took them to the game room. If you ever want to become your child’s hero, take them to the game room! I did not even have to put quarters in the games! They could have done this all day.
Some friends of ours stayed at their timeshare the same week we did. We exchanged babysitting so each couple got a ‘date night’. We also spent an afternoon at their property, Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club, because their pool has a pirate ship for the kids!
After a week, we moved to another property, Outrigger’s Napili Shores. We love going to this property as much as the Westin. They are very different from each other. The Westin is a big resort and has all the benefits of a big resort. Napili Shores is very low key and charming. There are only two floors and the condos are broken up into about 10 buildings that surround two pools, a grassy courtyard, and koi pond. This is where we spent the rest of our trip (12 days).
Did we homeschool? Well, about 4 days of the whole trip we did. Here is a picture of us learning about some of the local marine life.
We learned that hermit crabs take empty snail shells and make them their homes. When they grow out of one, they move into another. For extra protection, they will take sea anenomes and place them on their shells. They will also move the anenomes from one shell to another! We learned about camouflage and that there are two reasons to camouflage: 1) to hide from a predator, and 2) to lure prey and be the predator.
Napili Shores has a bunch of plumeria trees (my favorite) and a few resident geckos (love them!)
It wasn’t all perfect weather. We had a cold snap of high winds and rain. The fleece came in handy.
We drove upcountry. Here is a view from Kula looking over to Kahului. Upcountry Maui is one of my favorite places to be. It is mostly farmland and country roads.
The boys with their ‘telescopes’:
On a whim, we decided to drive up to the Haleakala crater. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! It was beautiful going up and we drove through a lavender farm and eucalyptus grove. Can you imagine the aromatherapy we received?! At the park, we saw a pheasant cross the road, but no ‘nenes’, Hawaii’s national goose and protected at the park.
We made it to the summit, but the crater was closed to due high winds. High winds? Yes. By the time we reached the summit, the winds were about 40mph and icy rain was pouring down. We were all in shorts and tanks or T-Shirts. We were going to just stay in the car and leave, but a sense of family adventure overcame our sense of self-preservation, and we decided to run the 200 yards to get to the door of the Visitor’s Center. The only thing I can relate it to is white water rafting. That is exactly how I felt. Because we were so high, (And, admittedly, out of shape), I was light headed when we made it to the door. Here is the fruit of our labor:
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Here is what we looked like when we made it back to the car. The boys were total troopers (we carried them).
Here is another rainbow shot while driving back down…
My BIL’s girlfriend, ‘S’, and her family live on Maui. She was so sweet to show us around South Maui, an area we had not spent any time on our previous visits. I am sad to say that I did not take any pictures of her or any of the places she took us to. I wasn’t thinking.
She took us to a fish market called Eskimo Candy. This place is delicious! We ordered lunch and ate it at Kamaole Beach 1. ‘R’ ran from a wave, lost his balance, and smacked a rock, causing a nice little gash on his chin.
She also took us to Surfing Goat Dairy. We went on a fantastic tour. We got to pet the goats and feed them. We also got to sample some of the cheeses and fell in love. It is my goal to try every cheese they make before I die…
We went to Big Beach in Makena and saw where my BIL lived for the first three months he lived on Maui, (literally, ON the beach, next to an old war pillbox bunker). This is one of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen. I am so glad we got to see it. (The beach next to it is a ‘no clothing’ beach. I have a friend who told me about the time she and her family discovered it while hiking over the rocks. She still giggles after telling the story years later.)
‘S’ works for the Fairmont Kea Lani. She took us on a tour of the grounds. This property is stunning. A true upscale jewel. While we were walking back to our cars, I realized that DH and the boys were not behind us. Looking back, I see DH talking to someone. So we go to join them and I am a bit stunned to realize that he is talking to Lincoln Brewster! DH is a huge fan of his and our family has been blessed by his music in so many ways. So, as he is talking to him, I am trying to make conversation with his wife and not sound stupid. They were very kind and gracious. It was pretty surreal.
We drove from the Kea Lani to La Perouse, an area that is all lava fields. As we drove through it, we felt like we were on the moon. The boys kept asking if we were on a volcano.
‘S’ made an amazing dinner for us that night, with Mahi Mahi from Eskimo Candy. It was the best fish I had while on the island. The way she prepared it was delectable. We had a terrific meeting with her, her mom and dad, brother and sister. Oh, I wish I took pictures!!
OK, back to Napili Shores…. This property is mostly owned by ‘snowbirds’, so we see many of the same people every year. Each year, we get to know someone a littler better and have really established a strong sense of ‘transient community’ with them. Here is one of our friends, Mary Cay. She and her husband visit every year from Minnesota. We had them to dinner on our last night, along with my other aunt and uncle, who stay at a different property within walking distance to ours.
Here are the boys with Miss Vicki. Please note the stuffed cheeks full of candy that Miss Vicki plies them with every time they see her.
Napili Bay…This is a view from “our” tidepools, looking at Napili Sunset, where my aunt and uncle stay.
Playing in the tidepools…
The day we had to leave, I really wanted to visit the town of Paia, my favorite town of all. On Mary Cay’s recommendation, we went to the Paia Fish Market and enjoyed a delicious lunch before heading for the airport.
Well, I think I pretty much covered it all. Oh yes, we did meet up with a real estate agent and have found a condo community, Villas at Kenolio, that we would like to buy into at some point. We are working hard at getting our finances in order to be able to buy something within the next few years.
