We left for Maui bright and early on Wednesday, February 29th. This is the first long trip we've done with the kids since they've been over 2, which meant that they got their own seat on the plane. It was a long flight and full day of travel, but they did great.
Scott and I were pretty exhausted by the time we got to our condo, but the kids couldn't wait to go swimming in the pool. I'm pretty sure we were in our condo for less than 10 seconds before the kids had their swimsuits on and were ready to go. We definitely wouldn't describe this trip as relaxing, but it was a lot of fun :)
We stayed in the town of Lahaina, just one block from downtown and the waterfront. Lahaina is considered the 'Old Town' of Maui and is super cute with little shops and restaurants all along the waterfront.
We walked to dinner after swimming and cleaning up:
Shaylie drew her first rainbow while waiting for our dinner:
Our little hawaiian princess:
On Thursday, March 1st, I woke up early and went for a nice run. I absolutely love to go running when on vacation, not only because of the beautiful weather, but it's also a great way to explore the area!
I was a bit surprised to find this cemetery right on the beach!
I ended up mostly running all around Lahaina and then headed toward Kanapaali, where this park is located (it's about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile long between Lahaina and Kanapaali):
At the end of my run, I met up with Scott and the kids at the Lahaina harbor, which is right near this amazing banyan tree:
We invited Grandma Jan to come on our trip and we were so excited when she didn't hesitate to come along with us! We picked her up from the airport on Thursday afternoon and then headed straight to Wailea for a gorgeous day on the beach!
Shaylie was a little nervous of the waves and wasn't too interested in getting in the ocean. She loved playing in the sand, though!
Tycen never sat still so I wasn't able to get a close up picture of him. He kept wanting to go in the ocean and as soon as we'd get into the water, he'd ask to come back out; then as soon as his feet hit the sand, he'd ask to go back in again :)
Tyce in the water with daddy (and Grandma Jan with the white hat :)
In the water with mommy:
Gorgeous Wailea Beach:
Tyce and Shay loved playing on these outriggers:
We saw several lizards in Maui:
We walked to dinner in Lahaina again on Thursday evening:
On Friday, March 2nd, we went whale watching in the morning. Peak whale season in Hawaii is mid-February, so we were able to see a LOT of whales while we were in Maui! :)
Shaylie took a little snooze on the boat, the hot sun zapped her energy:
Three humpback whales swam right underneath our boat, it was pretty amazing...they are HUGE! The whales often travel in 3's with mom, baby and a male that is trying to mate with the female (which won't happen until at least after a year after giving birth). Often times, there may be more than one male following mom and baby, which is of added benefit as they act as extra protectors for the baby whale. Mom and baby whales are never more than a fin's length apart from each other for the first year of the baby's life.
Tyce and Shay were worn out after being on a boat in the sun for a few hours and took a much needed nap when we got back to our condo in the afternoon.
Swimming in our pool:
On Friday evening, we headed to Kanapaali to watch the sunset and have dinner. We parked at a cute shopping center, Whaler's Village, and walked to The Sheraton Hotel, which is at the end of Kanapaali beach. We got to see a hula dancer performance and a ceremony that included a young man lighting several tiki torches around the cliffs before diving off the black rocks.
Shaylie fell asleep on the short car ride:
We ate dinner at a really nice restaurant called Leilani's, which was probably my favorite meal in Maui. We ate on a balcony over looking the ocean. I absolutely LOVE seafood and had a hard time limiting my fish/seafood intake because of my pregnancy. This was one of the few nights that I got to enjoy fresh fish...mMMmm!
