Aloha, Maui!

You know your vacation was wonderful, when you find yourself five days after returning home with your suitcase still needing to be unpacked. I feel that unpacking is the official end of a vacation...and I just don't want this one to end.

It didn't start off with glory, however. After boarding the plane in Seattle, we were held on the runway for 45 minutes due to bad weather. So I can honestly say that before the wheels even left the ground I had baby food spilled on me, Finn spit up on me (and himself), and we had to change a poopy diaper on our laps....still not even in the air for our nearly 7 hours of flying. Sweet. Oh, and then 30 minutes later, after the beverage cart came by, Finn grabbed Clay's cranberry juice off his tray and quickly dumped it down the front of my white shirt and into my lap, ice and all. Yes!! It was going to be a great day.

Really, though, it all turned out fine. We still had the usual tasks of parenthood. Kids needed naps and early bedtimes, meals, hourly sunscreen application, and diapers changed (nothin' like changing diapers in the sand...so fun). But in between all the regular stuff, we managed to relax a little.

Here is Koen playing on the grass outside of our condo.

He quickly started calling it our 'club house'.

Neither of us knew where he picked that up.

Kama'ole II Beach. Our first sunset on the beach. A regular crowd gathered at this beach every evening to watch the sunset and catch a glimpse of the 'green flash'. We tried to see it one night, but couldn't?

Kaumahina State Wayside Park. This is as far as we made it along the road to Hana. The boys were getting tired, we were all hungry and experiencing a bit of motion sickness, quite honestly. So we stopped for a picnic. Unfortunately, we picked the table with the most flies. As soon as one landed on Koen's sandwich, he tossed it on the ground and started screaming at the top of his lungs (our son doesn't like flies). Nearly everyone in the area stopped what they were doing and looked in our direction. Seriously, by the way he was carrying on, you would've thought he was severely injured or something. So we finished our lunch in the car...with the window rolled up so the flies couldn't get in. :(

Beautiful lookout point. I actually saw my first humpback whale,

rolling and playing, at the point right behind Clay's head.

The park was overrun by cats and roosters for some reason. There had to have been at least 20 of each coming down from the forest to greet the tourists. Koen really wanted to get closer to the roosters for some reason. So Clay obliged.

Haipua'ena Falls. We made a quick pit-stop to see a waterfall before the boys fell asleep on the way back. This one was fairly close to the road so we could easily walk in. If only the water flow was heavier.

Maui Whale Days Festival. We lucked out with our timing. The annual Whale Days Festival and parade was going on the weekend we were there. Koen and I walked down to see the parade on Saturday morning. We sat on the curb of a somewhat isolated stretch of the road. This worked in Koen's favor because each passing float was full of kids eager to throw candy to the crowds. And by the time they reached me and Koen, their hands were full and ready to launch...and that they did. Koen made off with about two pounds of candy.

We had lunch at the festival, watched some of the skateboard competition at the skate park, and Koen got to jump in a bouncy house for ten minutes. He loved that part the most! Finn spent most of the time in the stroller with a blanket shading his ghostly white skin, but he didn't seem to mind too much.

Koen rather enjoyed having his breakfast out on the lanai of our condo. It's hard to see in this photo, but the view of the ocean was quite nice from our 3rd floor unit. At any given time of day, we could look out at the water and see the whales swimming, blowing and breaching. It was simply breathtaking.

Po'olenalena (Puako) Beach. Finn had his very first dip in the ocean with his dad. Despite his nervous face, his giggles and squeals told us that he was enjoying himself.

Koen was initially quite fearful of the wind, water, sand...bugs.....everything! In fact, we starting to wonder if we'd ever get him to actually build a sand castle with us. He and Clay had only been talking about it and anticipating it for weeks!

But finally, his fears subsided and he had a blast. He even started asking us to take him into the ocean for swims. We never thought he'd want to do that! He chased the water up and down the beach with each incoming wave, discovering the rocks and pieces of coral swirling around under the water.

I made sure we visited beaches that, not only had gentle waves, but also boasted excellent snorkeling so that I could sneak away from time to time. And I have to admit, I tried not to get my hopes too high that I would see much, for I was slightly wary of going out too far without a snorkel buddy.

But by choosing the right beaches, I found awesome reefs right near the shore. I even got to swim with a green sea turtle (yay!) which made my whole week. And the coolest thing of all, while under the water, I could hear the chorus of hundreds of whales, simultaneously singing their beautiful songs. I could've listened all day if it weren't for the threat of a severely sunburned back (Clay probably wouldn't have been amused by my extended absence either).

Maluaka (Makena) Beach. On our last full day, we discovered this beach a little further south. This is where I saw the turtle in the famed Turtle Town snorkeling spot. Clay and Koen constructed some serious drip castles, and Finn took incredible interest in his brother's hat. It was a joy to watch our little boys starting to play together as brothers do. I'm excited for the day when they can run and jump in the waves together.

Finally, on our way to the airport, Clay and I made one last road trip while the kids slept in the back. We drove out to Lahaina, stopping at the McGreggor Point lookout. It was probably the closest we'd been to the whales all week. They were breaching all over the place. Simply spectacular. Unfortunately, the few whale shots we got do not do the experience justice. You'll just have to take my word for it...or visit yourself! I can't say enough about the humpback whales. I'm a huge fan now that I've seen them in their environment.

Save the Whales!

Mahalo, Maui! How sweet you are. Now if we could just figure out how to win the lottery so that we can visit every year!