32 hours door to door

We got up early on our last day and took advantage of one last dip in the pool. Checked out by 10am and hit the road... took in the aquarium and saw all sorts of sharks, stingrays, jelly fish, sea turtles, sea horses and much more. Then we set off towards Mackao (previous blog entry) and then drove to Hookipa beach. This is where a lot of surfers and windsurfers dare to ride the waves. Dinner was at Rubi's Diner and the kiddos thought it was hysterical... everyone singing for the birthdays (in doo-wop style). Almost sent one to A & R... they would have been mortified.

We were on the plane by 11pm and arrived in Phoenix, AZ by 7:30am. The girls slept most of the way (I kept awake trying to keep M from clocking the older gentleman in the opposite aisle with her feet). We had a bumpy ride to Boston and a one hour holding pattern but made it back to the east coast -- no problem. The girls were AWESOME! We were home by 8:30pm, baths then bed by 9:30pm. Boy were we tired. We all got up the next day a little later than usual, but all went to work, school and daycare. Sure glad the week is done. It was a fantastic trip with some great friends and I'm sure we'll never forget any of it.

Aloha and mahalo.

New Discovery

A happened upon one directory book I picked up and he read that Uncle Ora's Marine Batallion was stationed on Maui. On the last day we went to the town of Mackao and explored what was once the camp for the 4th Marine Batallion. It now has a lovely playground and ballfield on it. A was caught up in the history of this moment and he'd love to share his findings with all the family.

Resort Time

We spent the last day at the resort soaking in the warm weather and the girls played at the Pirate Pool (equipped with its own Pirate ship and all!). The flowers and trees and their colors were amazing. The state flower is the Hibiscus and the flowers were HUGE! I also fell in love with the Plumeria and even brought home a sanctioned root... hopefully it will grow. Our fellow teammates were a perfect family to travel with... easy going, funny and they loved the Lava Flows too! What a great experience for everyone.

Volcanos and more!

We had two great outings around the island. We did take a ride on a glass bottom boat and cruised the reefs looking for fish and other creatures. Up top we saw lots of sea turtles. The kids LOVED it.

Later in the week we went to Haleakala - House of the Sun. It was a 10,023 foot climb to the top, via car. There were a lot of switchbacks so it was lucky that A was driving. M took a dramamine and K jabbered the entire time. The volcano's last eruption was in 1790. Our guide book says that it is the world's largest dormant volcano (but is considered to be "active, but not currently erupting.") Good thing the girls didn't know that.

(the picture of the green lush mountains are the West Maui Mountains - a range that we had to pass several times to get to and from the other side othe mountain). A mentioned that they filmed the movie, "Jurassic Park" and the tv show "Lost" here. I can see why.

ps. Beary had to come and see the sights with Miss K.

Get a little Hula in your life!

Don't get Cheeky with us! No this doesn't seem as painful as it looks... The girls had a good time learning how to Hula from one of the staff members. They were pretty good! Couldn't get A to try it... he went out snorkeling off the beach (picture above). Both M and I tried it too. It was so much fun seeing M gliding around the surface pointing to each new fish. At times she swam so fast I could hardly keep up with her. It is amazing (and you always hear this or see it on Nature) to see all the different colored and shaped fish there are in the ocean. Their state fish is called the, "Humahumanukanuka apu 'a" which is a song in High School Musical 2. At one point when A and I were snorkeling we found ourselves in a school of Unicorn fish (big protruding noses, above photo from the aquarium). There must have been at least 100 of them. We also saw a seat turtle and a mini moray eel. The surf is very strong along the beach and we did get K in for a dip (but she had on two life jackets). Maybe next time!

Relaxing & Exploring

Try it... you may like it!

That seemed to be the theme! Our mornings seemed to be spent by the pool... glorious 85 degree weather with trade winds on our backs. The R Team all tried SNUBA-ing in the pool. M and Dad and Mom loved it and K tried really hard. And the afternoon/evening was spent going to the closest town, Lahaina. And almost everyday there was a rainbow -- if not a double rainbow. Glorious! Our host/neighbor, S, found a great place to eat that was cheap and was of Hawaiian flavor. Poi, coconut fried shrimp, spinach like leaves wrapped around pork, Lava Flows and Sassy Wahines were consumed. A great ending to the day. More later...

Aloha!

Resort day

We spent the first day just exploring the resort and relaxing. There were two pools and one with a HUGE twisting slide. A hot tub, if you got cold. The bar was handy and we took advantage of that -- new drink "Lava Flow" very yummy. A and R followed the Patriots game and were astonished by all the Charger's fans. The girls were so excited about the HUGE Koi fish pond. We explored another resort close by and the Whaler's Village (a shopping plaza). The whales were spouting off in the distance and it was a glorious evening capped with steak tips grilled to perfection by A. The girls ate mac and cheese. Go figure.