Wowie, Maui

Ollie and Grandma Sally checking out the waves.

For our big vacay this year, we headed to Maui with my mom, Grandma Sally.  We stayed in Kaanapali, which is a more touristy beach area.  It was a nice area, but we didn't spend a ton of time hanging out there, opting instead, to explore the island as much as you (sanely) can with two little ones.  Beach vacations are perfect for kids, who love ingesting sand, but exhausting for the parents who have to maintain the regimen of sunscreen and keep the children from drowning.  As we chased Henry up and down the beach, we day-dreamed of the day that we will be able to lounge on the beach while our kids play in the water.   

Milepost 14 Beach - Aptly named for its location right off the road at milepost 14, it was one of our favorite beaches: tree-lined; tame waves; soft, dark sand; and a favorite with the locals.  It was also an awesome snorkeling spot, with lots and lots of reefs.  Upon leaving we noticed the "Beware, Shark Sightings Here" sign.  Oops.

Sand Monster.

Sand monsters, times 2.

Floating, in the apparently shark infested waters.

Making a b-line for the water, this kid has no fear.

Lahaina - The town of Lahaina was just down the road from our hotel.  We spent an afternoon exploring the historic town, which was chalk full of little artsy shops and restaurants.  The kids weren't into the whole shop perusing thing, they did enjoy the delicious gelato we had there.  We also checked out the old town square, where there is a massive banyan tree that takes up the entire block.   

Ollie checking out the banyan tree.

 

Pooltime - We spent pretty much every afternoon (post-nap) at our hotel pool.  Ollie, who has been somewhat reluctant to go all out when water is involved, really took to swimming, to which I credit his recent swim lessons.  He was swimming all over the place with the aid of his water wings.  He also loved the water-slide at our pool, which he braved all by himself and then went down about a million more times during the week.  He also learned how to go underwater and hold his breath.  Henry on the other hand, has absolutely no fear of water.  It was a bit alarming to chase him around as he just walk (and ran) to the edge of the pool without even a trace of apprehension.  

 

Henry is obsessed with straws.

The infamous water-slide.

 

Iao Valley State Park - We made a little excursion to Iao Valley State Park to check out the 1200 foot tall Iao Needle.  There was a short, Ollie friendly, hike up the view point of the Needle.  Ollie loved the little hike and the Needle was pretty cool.  The valley where the needle was located was beautiful and definitely worth the drive up the mountainside.

Me and the little fellas.

Family shot - chaos, as usual.

Ollie's ninja moves.

The Iao Needle

Northwest Coast - On the way home from the Iao Needle, we took the long route home, driving the crazy mountain road along the Northwest tip of the Island.  The road was CRAZY, tons of switchbacks, with blind corners, and tons of single lane portions.  Did I mention the exposed cliffs?  Yeah, I was white knuckling it a bit.  It was beautiful though.  We stopped along the way to see a large blow-hole and to check out D.T. Flemming Beach, where we did a little body surfing.

The beautiful Northwest coastline.

Henry collecting rocks at the blow-hole stop.

Maui Aquarium - We took an afternoon off from the sun and sand to check out the Maui Aquarium.  It was on the smallish side, but didn't disappoint with the exhibits, including a huge shark and ray tank with a tunnel you could walk through where the sharks and rays would swim all around you.  Henry loved seeing all the fish and started saying "fish" non-stop.  The boys also liked checking out the touch tank and watching the sea turtles.  

 

Kama‘oli‘i Beach - My mom went diving two days and on one of the days we visited Kama‘oli‘i Beach, which was just down the road from the drive drop-off.  We set up our towels in this awesome little cove that was nice and protected.  It was the family hot spot.  Ollie had a great time floating in the "big waves" and Henry kept us busy scaling the rocks and running headfirst into the waves.  

After a hot day on the beach, we had to snag a Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

Haleakala National Park -  We made the drive up to the 10,000 foot Haleakala Crater to check out the inactive volcano.  The skies were clear as we drove up and the clouds started to creep up around the mountain once we were up top.  The mountain is often shrouded in clouds, so we were lucky to have clear skies on the way up to check out all the scenery.  It was amazing to check out the crater, which looks like what I would imagine the surface of the moon would be like. 

The silver sword - an amazing plant that doesn't grow any where else on earth.

Kapalua Beach - Just north of our hotel, was Kapalua Beach, which claims to be the most beautiful beach on Maui, and beautiful it was.  I think it was one of our favorite beaches.  Kapalua Beach is protected by a large reef, which boasts some pretty amazing snorkeling.  We got to see all kinds of fish and even an eel.  Ollie even saw a few fish, floating on the floaty bed and using a mask.

It was a really fun, although exhausting, trip.  We managed to sneak in a date night, avoid any major sunburns and without drowning our kids, so all in all, it was a success.

The flight home - the END.