Thanks to a co-worker of Dave's, we were offered 3 nights in a condo on Maui. With free flights and a free place to stay... not to mention not having set foot in Hawaii in nearly 11 months... we couldn't pass up going. Also, we just celebrated our 8th anniversary. Luckily, we also talked my sister Marcie into coming with us so we could spend more time catching up with her.
Marcie came to our house the night before our flight and we loved showing her around a bit. We were worried about the 8 hour flight, but had slowly been getting out kids to bed later and later. We were very prepared with lots of food and toys and activities.
We got on the plane with no problems and all got seats together! The 2 girls took naps and Hallie slept nearly 4 hours!! Mariah was very antsy to move, so she walked the aisles... a lot. We watched 3 movies. It was long and boring and I was ready to be done. I had to hold Mariah to land and she started screaming, which eventually lead to her throwing up on herself and me. It was an excruciatingly long taxi ride sitting in vomit. Finally, I was able to get to the tiny airplane bathroom and change clothes. The flight attendants were so empathetic and helpful. We got all changed and were trying to get all of us off the plane, when Hallie threw up in the aisle!! Luckily, it didn't get on anyone, but STILL! We finally made it to baggage and got our minivan. We stopped at Costco for dinner and some food for the week. We made the trek to our hotel just to have Hallie throw up again in the car. Luckily, we were at the hotel. Unluckily, our car smelled the rest of the trip.
We all crashed for the night, only to be up at 4:30 Hawaii time. I went to the store to get medicine (I was sick by this time) and a few things for the trip. We didn't have a great plan for our trip (since standby is so uncertain and we didn't know if Marcie would be with us.) We did some sight seeing of the 'dragon teeth' and then headed to Ka'apalua bay for some snorkeling and water fun. Mariah just loves the sand and beach. The other kids were happy there too. I felt awful, but you might as well be sick on a beach, right?
After naps at the condo (and a soak in the hot tub) we did some more sight seeing up the west coast of the island. It was amazing and beautiful. The blowhole and Olivine pools did not disappoint (although whiney kids did put a damper on it).
We crashed again and I was just praying I would feel better the next day. When we all woke up by 5 am, we decided to jump in the car and head up to Halea'kala crater. We were sad we didn't get there in time for a sunrise, but the sunrise we did see was beautiful too. The van we got had a DVD player and the drive was exactly the length of a kids flick! Perfect! The crater was quite the drive and we were all worried about getting sick, but finally we ascended 12,000 feet and were at the 'top of the world'. It was FREEZING cold! and windy, but we were able to see the Big island and a beautiful sun. The views were spectacular.
We timed it just right so EVERYONE (except the driver) fell asleep on the drive back home. It was perfect to arrive and head right to another beach (Napili beach). Thanks for taking one for the team, Honey! This one had a wicked crash and we all got taken out by it, we moved down the beach and it was so calm and easy coming in. We snorkeled and saw another turtle. On Marcie's first experience snorkeling, I gave her a snorkel that didn't work, so she kept breathing in water! I felt so bad, but she gave it another go and it was perfect.
We hot tubbed and cleaned up and spent the evening in Lahaina. We ate at Cheeseburgers in Paradise and witnessed another spectacular sunset on the beach. Marcie and I shopped around a bit. We watched a movie at our condo before bed.
On our last day we were conflicted about what to do. The kids were tired and the weather wasn't great. Marcie and I went on a walk on the beach and had a great time talking about boys and dating and such. She is such a fantastic and fun girl. She will get someone very special.
Back at the condo we checked out and headed back to the beach we liked, as we drove up the coast the clouds got thicker and thicker. We had completely unpacked and headed down to the beach before deciding to try driving back down the coast to another beach. It was the right choice! Ka'anapali beach was sunny and perfect (and we discovered that what we thought was Ka'anapali beach this whole time was NOT... We have been staying at a beach just north of Ka'anapali). Hallie was done for the day. She just laid curled up in a towel most of the time, but the rest of us soaked in the sun, sand and water. Even Mariah branched out to playing in the waves. We saw more turtles snorkeling... SO close to us. We could've touched it (but didn't of course!). I was so proud of Jackson snorkeling. He is brave and excited to see the fish. I loved going out with him.
We packed up and tried to clean off in our condo's hot tub/ bathroom area. We weren't very clean, but we were happy to have a sunny beach day. We grabbed a snow cone on our way into town to see the I'ao needle. This is the part I'm mad about. We had plenty of time to catch the earlier flight, but didn't check to see that our flight had been cancelled!! The needle was pretty with some breathtaking sights. We got some dinner and headed to the airport when all of our plans fell apart with our flight being cancelled. I was so stressed, but luckily there were several flights with enough seats on them to get us home... we just had to sit in the airport for 4 hours AND have a layover. honestly, I was just happy we got off the island that night! The kids slept the whole flight (as did the adults). the layover was quick and mostly painless. We were home by 1 pm in time for an afternoon church. It could've been better, but it could've been worse too. The flight was much quicker for Marcie getting home, so we were happy it all worked out. It is stressful to have others flying on buddy passes. Another beautiful Hawaii trip for the books.
