Hawaii 2012 Part One

Last year I saw some super cheap tickets to Hawaii, but refrained from buying them in order to be more fiscally responsible. At first, I patted myself on the back, but I have regretted not purchasing them ever since, and vowed that the next time airfare dropped, we were going! In late January, prices finally went down again, so I bought tickets for the four of us to go to Maui and Kauai. Corey and I would have loved a little vacation on our own, but figuring out childcare was too tricky. Maybe next time!

The kids did amazingly well on the 10+ hours of flying we did to get to and from Maui.

 Thanks to Angry Birds and Mickey Mouse!

 Zoey's first experience with beach sand--she loved it!!

 Zach was obsessed with throwing sandy mud everywhere that first day.

 Don't let my whiteness blind you!

 The kids woke up at 2:40 the first morning we were there. We had gone to bed at 7:30 the night before (12:30am for us), so I suggested we drive up the Haleakala volcano to watch the sunrise. I am totally not a puker--it's only happened about 3-4 times in the past 5 years--but this drive, along with the road to Hana, is one of my pyloric triggers!! I need to remember this fact. The sunrise was lovely, but looked about the same as last time we saw it! Luckily, my stomach cooperated, but it was not a pleasant drive!

 It's hard to believe we went from 70+ to 37 degrees in two hours. 10,000 feet up will do that!

 Breathtaking!

 Look at that handsome guy! 

 We took our first small hike as a family to a rocky lookout point.

 Zach was usually good to hike awhile, then rode on his dad's shoulders for the way back. He serenaded us with "Bob the Builder" and "Elmo's World" a good portion of the trip. :)

 It kind of looks like a nuclear explosion or the Second Coming rather than a sunrise here, but kind of a cool sunbeam effect.

I carried Zoey in our Ergo carrier through all our hiking (we did quite a bit) and my back felt great. These things are worth their weight in gold. It is the best baby purchase I have made, by far.

 We stayed in a one bedroom condo less than a mile from Natalie in Kihei. It was nice, but the acoustics were terrible. Every time one person woke up, we were all up. Getting enough sleep was the biggest challenge of this trip for us. The kids were up at 6-6:30 am regardless of when then went down. I wasn't going to miss out on fun by being a Nap Nazi, though.

 Look at that hottie! Abs of steel! Natalie and Ryan are the best hosts and tour guides anyone could ask for. They always make our stay phenomenal, and are so generous and giving with offering their home, car, food, etc. They give visitors the true Hawaiian Ohana (family) experience.

 Corey playing with Zoey and Bono in the sand.

 She loved the sand. Bono took his shoe off and Zoey took a big, yummy lick of sand off the bottom of it, delighted as could be!

 I adore the drive around the secluded north part of the island. This is a quaint little village we passed through. 

The Nakalele Blowhole is one of the sights on this drive. There is about a 15 minute, moderate hike through some dirt and rocks to get there.

It sprays over 100 feet at times, as the ocean crashes and sends water spewing through an opening in the rocks. People have gotten too close and been sucked back down to their death. We enjoyed it from afar.:) 

 I don't know why this picture turned out this way, but Zach looks so beautiful here.

 I forgot the Ergo on this short hike. Not a good idea.

 Cool. Don't know how this happened either.

 There are a couple of paths to the Blowhole. I thought we were on the right one on the way back, but...suddenly it dropped off into trees.We were carrying both kids, had no food or water, were wearing flip flops, and I don't think either of us had a phone either. Not smart. It took 45 minutes to get back to the car from the detour we took. Luckily, we made it back safely, but wasted all our daylight on the mishap and drove the rest of the scenic route in darkness. Lots of life parallels can be drawn from this experience--being prepared, staying on the straight and narrow path, being a guide to your children, etc. We are glad it went okay.

 Sign stating "Park and walk at your own risk."

These are just the first few days of our trip, so there are lots more photos to come...