MAUI MAGIC

All the way back in March, there were these amazing flight deals to Maui, $300 round trip. When I asked Brent if I could buy some tickets, he was surprisingly on board. So I went ahead and planned a trip much farther in advance than I usually do. So I didn't really think about our upcoming trip to Hawaii because it was so far away. Which meant that BAM, all of the sudden one day it was time to get on a plane to Maui!

We left on September 24th, and it was the first time Vivi took her own carry-on. She had her little panda suitcase and she was pretty into it. It was so adorable to watch her walk through the airport with a big giant grin on her face because she felt like a big girl. We had a short flight to Seattle and then our long flight to Maui. Both girls slept on the long flight which was good. After a long day of traveling we landed mid-afternoon in Maui and I basically could NOT believe we were actually there.

Getting our car took some time and we were getting pretty hungry so we stopped off at this Mexican restaurant on the water. The kids meals were $14! But we were there and we stayed. It was pretty good, but eating out on Maui is expensive and this place was no joke. We sat there and saw the sunset and then we went to Safeway to spend a fortune on food. I know food costs more in Hawaii, but it still always a surprise. It was now dark as we drove to our condo but we found it pretty easy since I know Kapalua like the back of my hand. Our rental guy met us there and showed us around and it was so nice. I almost started crying when I walked myself over to the pool. So many childhood memories at that pool!

Everyone was exhausted so we got ready for bed fast. It was only 8, but it felt like midnight to us. It wasn't until we were all in bed and I could hear Brent snoring in a murphy bed by the living room that I realized our entire condo didn't have any doors other than the doors for the bathrooms. So it was almost like one giant room. We got used to it pretty fast though and it worked out great. Plus I was going to bed in Maui....life was good.

The girls started to stir at 4:30, it was still dark. I wanted to sleep more, but was tricky with the no doors thing. So by 6:30 I was up and ready to start the day. Usually I am so lazy on a trip like this, but I just could not just sit around and be lazy while I was in MAUI. Plus Vivi had not stopped talking about the beach so we got it together and headed for an early morning at the beach. This was great because it was not as crowded, or as hot, and the light was beautiful. I again, had to keep pinching myself that I was back at this famous delightful beach. Turns out though, Vivi was scared of the ocean.

One thing that was nice throughout this whole trip is that we were able to still take it easy and make sure Vivi got a good nap every single day. Which meant that I got a nap each day as well. Wahoo! So We came back to our condo cleaned off all of the sand, rested, took a quick trip to the pool while it was super HOT. That early night we headed to Whaler's Village (another childhood favorite place) and had dinner at Leilani's. We finished our dinner with a traditional hula pie. It is basically just a pile of ice cream, but it is SO good. I still don't know how it is so good. Eating in Hawaii is basically the BEST.

We finished just in time to sit on the beach and watch one of the prettier sunsets of our week in Hawaii. It was hard to get a picture of it so I tried to take a picture with my mind.

Our next day (Wednesday), we spent the morning at the pool and we stayed for a long time because it was warm, but the sun was under a cloud so it felt great to be out there. We had fun with a pink tube that was left at our condo and we witnessed a modern day miracle. Brent got in the pool! I think it was mostly because Vivi asked him. But he did it. He didn't make it easy for me to document the occasion but I still got some pictures.

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After another delightful nap, we headed into Lahaina and had early dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was windy, but warm and the food was pretty tasty. We walked to the outlets and all got some new shoes and then we walked back and had our first real Hawaiian shave (not shaved) ice. It was insanely good. It tasted nothing like the stuff we eat here and the flavors tasted like the real fruit because they are made with the real fruit. It was a treat I intended on having many more times while we were on Maui.

It was now Thursday and our trip was starting to feel like it was going by too fast. We woke up to the sound of thunder and then to a rainbow and a rainy day. This breakfast place called The Gazebo was recommended to us, but the reviews talked about the long wait. There is a line even before the place opens, so I wasn't sure it would be worth it. When we woke up pretty early to a dark day I thought we might as well give it a go. We got there 20 mins before it opened and there was already a pretty long line. Thankfully, there was a little lava tide pool area for us girls to explore while Brent waited in line for us. We got some pretty pictures. When it was time for us to get a seat the heavens opened and it started RAINING! And there was some loud thunder as well. Our food was amazing. So good. Even my boring old toast was exceptional. I was hoping the rain would slow down, but it never did. So we just had to head back to our walk to the car in the pouring rain. It was pretty fun actually. It was warm and it was pouring. About half way to the car, I couldn't really see out of my glasses anymore. By the time we got to our car we were soaked 10 times over. I loved it. I wish I could have videoed the whole thing, but it would have ruined my phone for sure.

I didn't mind having a rainy day. But the lightning definitely made me not want to venture outside. It finally calmed down in the evening and we took a little adventure to Dragon's teeth. Which is at Kapalua. All these years, and I've never known it was there. It was way cool, but it was slippery and muddy and we did get rained on a bit. It was an adventure and thankfully Vivi only fell the one time. ;) It was cool though because we had the place to ourselves.

I told everyone with great authority that there would not be a pretty sunset that night and I was wrong. The kids had ravioli for dinner and then we headed into Lahiana for more shave ice and I tried some Korean BBQ from a place next door complete with rice and traditional macaroni salad. It is safe to say that it was a life altering experience.

On Friday it was time to go to the beach again, and we went to DT Fleming Beach. It has much bigger waves and is really sandy on the way in. Stella and I had a blast, until she got knocked over pretty bad by a wave while she was sitting on the pink floaty. Vivi wanted nothing to do with the water, but we still tried to get her to have fun.

Dinner that night was at Mixed Plate. It was seriously one of the prettiest restaurants I have ever been to. It was simple and open and by the water and I loved it. The food was just okay though. Our desserts were awesome though so I'd go back.

Saturday our time was running out and we still had so much food in our condo. So I seriously considered skipping out on going to Slappy Cakes (apparently Brent found the name of this establishment unspeakable). Slappy Cakes was on my list from day one, so we went. And I am so glad we did. You make your own pancakes, which sounds like kind of silly. But it was totally fun. And the kids (Stella especially) loved it.

Our adventure that night was to find and visit the Nakalele Blowhole. I wasn't really in the mood to go honestly, but it was my favorite thing we did the whole trip. I would visit again in a heartbeat. I was worried that we had left too late and it was going to be too dark, but we made it just in time. Even after having a minor detour by stopping too soon and going on a mini hike that did not take you to the blowhole. It was this really powerful and fun feat of nature to see. Stella and I ventured a bit closer to it and it would just make the ground rumble and it was awesome. After hiking back up to our car it was basically dark and as I was slowly driving home on the windy roads suddenly I saw an owl sitting on the road. Our car startled him and it took off before Stella could see him. Apparently, seeing an owl is on her bucket list and she was pretty sad to have missed it. She then announced that seeing a shooting star was on her bucket list and unfortunately the next night I saw one...she was very distraught. I hope one day she can see both a shooting star and an owl...perhaps at the same time?

Sunday was sadly our last day. So we knew we had to make it to Kapalua Bay one more time. We got there later than last time and we stayed a long time. The big reason being....get ready for it...Vivi decided she liked the ocean. "I love the giant bath!" She announced. I don't know what caused the change of heart, but we headed out together and she loved it and she didn't want to leave. I talked Stella into floating on the tube and sticking her head down with her googles so that she could see some fish. She both liked and hated that whole ordeal. Every time she saw some fish she would be both excited and freaked out in equal measure. The girls also dug a sand house with two chairs for both of them. I just kept sitting down and feeling like I needed to pinch myself because I was there looking at the most lovely place filled with so many memories. It still looks the same after all of these years...well the beach does anyway. Honestly, I didn't want to leave because I have no idea when or if I will ever be back.

Our last evening was spent in Lahaina we had yet to make it to the Banyan tree. I made sure to reenact the same picture I took with Stella when she was 2. Since we had yet to try the icecream at Banyan treats we ended up doing two treats that night, because I was NOT leaving Maui without one last shave ice. The icecream was adorable as they put a little smile in it, but it was just ok and I wish we had skipped it. We walked along the street checking out the sunset walking towards the outlets because I wanted to shop just a bit more. We then made it back to the magical area where right next to the amazing shave ice was my delicious fantasy filled Korean BBQ with island mac and rice. Oh man, show me where I can find that stuff in Utah and I am there! Our shave ice was great and it was a great place to spend our last night.

Our flight for the last day did not leave until 9, and thankfully out condo renters gave us two extra hours so we could take one last trip to the pool. We just soaked in as much Kapalua as we could.

We came back and got all packed up and headed to Iao State Park. We had made a few visits there when I was a kid before late flights home. But I remembered it being much bigger. We pretty much went up some stairs and there it was and that was it. It was pretty hot and I managed to get some mosquito bites. But it was still a pretty good way to spend some time. We drove to Walmart for gifts for Brent's work and then we went to a random pizza place for dinner.

We arrived pretty early at the airport but it worked out fine. We had some issues with the plane so we sat in Maui for an extra hour, but thankfully we didn't have to get off of the plane and we were able to head home for our red eye flight.

It was such a magical week, full of relaxing, great food, and adventures. Being back in Kapalua was seriously a dream come true. I really hope that it doesn't take another ten years for me to make it back. I'm so glad we could go as a family.