Maui 2014

Oh, Maui.  I miss you already.

Wes and I usually go to Hawaii alone, but with Janie still being so little we decided to take the boys this year.  It was a great opportunity to have some fun with them without a baby around and made it much easier on my parents to just have one kiddo to take care of.

We had a great week relaxing, swimming, water-sliding, boogie-boarding, Ululani Shaved-Ice Eating, snorkeling, hot-tubbing, driving in our Jeep, eating, drinks by the pool, digging in the sand, jumping through the waves, enjoying miraculous views, hiking & enjoying the company of family and friends.

One of the best parts of our trip was that Aunt Sam was there for part of it!  She had already planned a trip with her friend Trina so she stayed an extra 4 days to spend time with us in Maui.  Sam & I have fond memories of trips to Hawaii growing up so it was fun to be there again!  We had lots of beach time, pool time & food time with Aunt Sam.  And she introduced us to the BEST.SHAVED.ICE.EVER at Ululani’s.  Wes and I were invited to a dinner with Wes boss/friend & two board members and their wives.  It ended up being a night where Sam was there so she took the boys while we went to a nice dinner.

We drove to the other side of the island with Aunt Sam to go to Lahaina.  She had already been shopping there so she basically just told me what I needed to get!  It was perfect.

I also turned 33 in Maui.  Doesn’t get much better than a Maui birthday.  My request was a little rubber rafting trip on the ocean to start our day.  Birthday luck was with us – we had the entire boat to ourselves with Captain Joe!  He started our journey up the island coast looking at really neat lava rock formations.  I always love being out on the ocean.  The waves were pretty big {up to 6 feet} so we had a pretty good ride.  I sat on the edge and held on to a rope!

Captain Joe took us to a cove where, if you’re lucky, you can see dolphins.  Birthday luck struck again.  There were lots of dolphins and they even put on a little show for us!

We got to jump in the ocean and snorkel a few times. The boys weren’t too sure about this part.  They jumped in and tried it but didn’t love having fish so close to them and they never quite mastered the mask.  But they had fun swimming around or watching.  The second snorkeling stop had the prettiest water.  It was this bright cobalt blue – I’d never seen anything like it!

I loved, loved, loved our boat trip!

The boys had such a blast at the hotel.  The Fairmont Kai Lani is a beautiful hotel with a great pool right on the beach.  Once the boys got a feel for where everything was they kind of just went where they wanted to go, made new friends at the pool, etc.  I’m always amazed at the fact that the beach never gets old.

When we first got married, Wes did not appreciate lounging poolside.  He definitely appreciates it now!  At least for an hour or two with a drink in hand.  One of my favorite things about this hotel is that they come around with cold eucalyptus or lemon towels to cool you off, cold pineapple slices, etc.  It’s the ultimate service!

We adopted the Johnson family tradition of these absolutely delicious macadamia nut cinnamon rolls after church.

One day we did walk along the coastline to one of my favorite hotel pools of all time – The Grand Wailea.  We ate lunch there.  Our server thought we said chocolate banana shakes instead of coconut banana shakes.  He let us keep the chocolate ones and they were delicious!  He started a new Hawaii favorite for me.  The boys and I snuck on the little water slides {they are strict with their wristbands} and then we walked back to the Fairmont.  This is our view as we walked.

Near the end I was feeling the urge for an adventure.  That’s one thing that’s a little more challenging when you bring kids – most activities don’t allow 4 year olds.  But I dragged Wes to the car and we drove to the other side of the island to Paia . . . and then to mile marker 2 on the Road to Hana where we stopped at the Twin Falls hike & did a little exploring.  The bamboo forest was really neat and Nate absolutely loved hiking down to the streams and waterfalls.  Near the end he stepped down and his leg basically sank in mud and he lost his shoe!  Luckily he dug it out.

Poor Ryan was so tired from playing so hard. Wes took the boys up to the room a couple of times to take a little rest but Ryan really was a trooper.  For a kid who never falls asleep, we had record occasions of random sleeping going on.

We had a fabulous vacation – can’t wait until 2015.  On our way out of town, we stopped by Ululani’s in Kihei for one final shaved ice. 

We took the red-eye home so we could have an extra day in Maui.  I ended up being the exhausted one.  The boys slept but not me!  This trip is made possible from Wes’ great company.  He has pretty great bosses that take a few of us to Maui and it’s such a nice perk.