Maui 2013

It has only been a week since we came home, but already it feels like forever ago.  I miss it!!

We loved the Kaanapali Alii so much last year, we decided to stay there again, and made the trip a bit longer.  We had an ocean view, and my favorite thing to do was sit on the lanai every morning with my cup of coffee and look out over the water.

This is the view from our lanai, with the sun setting.  Spectacular.

 The first couple of days we spent relaxing on the beach,.

 The kids all loved the big waves for boogie boarding.

 Christopher even did great!  He spent most of his time body surfacing, and despite the big waves, he really seemed to know how to dive under and pop right back up.

Vinny, as always, loves to dig in the sand.

One afternoon we drove to another part of the Island to a place called Twin Falls.

 It was a perfect hike for the kids- only about 1.5 miles round trip, through lush, green trails.

 The appropriately named twin falls.  In order to get behind them you had to wade through the water, which was a bit rocky at times.

 But very cool and worth the hike!

We tried a pineapple smoothie and some coconut candy after.

 We had a mellow 4th of July, and were joined in Maui by family--2 of Pete's sisters and their families.   It was fun barbecuing with all of them a couple of times.

The kids loved having cousins to hang with!

Pete and I enjoyed a lovely sunset cruise, without the kids.

 Tina and Greg were on the cruise with us--good times!!

That nights sunset was the most colorful and stunning by far!

Pete and Joey took a surfing lesson one day.

 First they practiced on dry land.

 Hang Ten boys!

 There were 2 other boys about Joey's age in class.  No sooner did everyone get out in the water, then their moms' started freaking out that the waves were too big and their precious angels were going to get hurt.  Really??  Had they not been looking at the ocean all day?  They signed up for a surf lesson in Hawaii, what were they expecting??  They promptly pulled their wimps, I mean kids, out of the water, leaving Joey with an instructor to himself.  Our gain--He did great!!

Pete didn't look too shabby either!

Joey enjoyed it so much, that he took another lesson the next day with Zach.

 Joey, totally tearing it up!

Zach did fantastic as well, and managed to get up almost every time he tried!  He did so well, that I was shocked when he said it was ok, but that he didn't want to do it again.  When I asked him why, he said he never really felt in control, and he didn't like how that felt.  Very insightful of him to recognize that, and also very in line with his personality!

While the boys were surfing, I took a paddle board lesson.  I really wanted to do it last year, but couldn't bring myself to do it!

 I was just going to rent a paddle board, but Pete said I needed to take a lesson.  Why I said??  You just stand up and paddle, right?  He said he was sure there was more to it than that.

Well guess what?  You do just get up and paddle.  Lol.  Yes, you do have to have a sense of balance and some upper body and core strength, but I think because of all the Crossfit I do, I found it easy.  And I loved it!  Of course what I also failed to appreciate was that it helps when the water is calm as glass, like it was when I took the lesson.  I rented a board on my own a few days later, on a day that happened to be super windy and choppy out in the water.  I still did pretty well, but I also got my ass pounded by several waves and lost my favorite running hat.  Waah!!

 We also did plenty of snorkeling--Pete and the boys snorkeled off the beach where we were staying.

 We took one day and drove over to another beach known for it's snorkeling, Slaughterhouse Beach (we think so anyway--the beach wasn't marked but it seemed right on the map).  It was a nice, quiet little alcove.  I even went out!  Lots of pretty fish, and we even saw sea turtles.

Zach exploring the beach.

Zach jumping off Black Rock

At the end of Kaanapali Beach, there is a spot called Black Rock that people cliff dive/jump off.  Pete did it with the 3 older boys.  Zach loved it and did it many times.  Poor Joey was terrified, and was more scared each time he did it (which was only a couple of times).  I think with Zach and even Vinny happily doing it, he felt he had no choice.  Poor guy!  Vinny did it a different day with only Pete, so I don't have pictures of him.  Pete said he didn't even hesitate, just jumped off!

Pete jumping

Pete estimates it is the equivalent of jumping off a 2 story building.  Wow!  I admit, I thought about doing it, but just didn't have a burning desire.  I was content to stand on the beach and take pictures.

Zach jumping

 Vinny really wanted to parasail.  While my husband is willing to jump off a cliff 2 stories up, he refuses to parasail.  The other boys weren't very interested either, so it was just Vinny and I.

What a blast!  We were up for 10 minutes.  It was so quiet and serene up there.  Of course we were treated to amazing views of the island.

We had the option of going out 800 feet or 1200 feet.  Of course Vinny wanted the 1200 feet (ever since his friend talked him into going on Great America's newest big roller coaster, Vinny is my little daredevil!)


What a wonderful family vacation! So many fun things to do, and so much time relaxing on the beach.  I read many books- City of Bones-the Mortal Instruments, Divergent, Insurgent, The Pact,  Battle Hymm of the Tiger Mother, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Yes, 6 books in 10 days!

Fabulous memories and lots of family time...

I have always loved those jumping family pictures-do you know how hard it is to time it right and get everyone jumping together??  I gave up!

We hope to be back next year!!