Celebrations

Since we were going to be traveling to a Family Reunion the next day, we celebrated Mike's birthday one day early with his favorite: a double cream lemon pie from Marie Callenders.

Happy Birthday Mike!

As a surprise, I had my sister, Angie, pick up a cake in Utah. We arrived to the Reunion just in time for dinner. Then my entire extended family was able to sing to Mike on his real birthday.

Aunt Julie really did a great job planning the Reunion. Lydia and Madison couldn't resist some of the Patriotic Garb that she had purchased for the celebrations.

One of the days we all went to a BBQ up Provo Canyon, at Nunn's Park.

Lydia loved hanging out with her cousins and some of her second cousins. Here she is being silly with Wesley and Sydney.

This group used the Croquet set to make what they called "a circus." As you can tell, they took the job very seriously.

Good-Bye Maui

The next morning we headed down the open air concourse to catch our airplane back home.

Aloha and Mahalo Maui. Thank you for all of the wonderful memories.

Last Night

Our last night we headed to Whaler's Village for one last Hula Show and to go through the shops.

They had dancers of all ages. Some as small as Lydia.

We got some Hula Pie from Lelani's and the Ice Cream Sandwich from Hula Grill "to go" and ate them while we enjoyed the show.

Nathan in his souvenir sweatshirt from Honolua Surf Company.

Kayla is enjoying our last sunset on the island.

Nathan, Ryan, Danny and Lydia

I love the silhouettes of the three youngest running in the surf.

This might be one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I love the color of the sand and the water, with the sunset glowing on Nathan's face. I also love that the Hawaiian Islands are on the shoulder of his sweatshirt.

Ahhh, paradise.

Beat the Heat

After the Swap Meet everyone was more than ready to jump in the water to cool off.

This is another picture from the lobby of the resort. I made all of the kids stop for a photo before they RAN up to the room for their swim suits. You can see some of the spoils from the swap meet. Lydia adored that fan.

One nice thing about the resort is that it is only steps away from the beach. We love taking air mattresses out there and just relaxing. The water is perfect.

Handsome boys.

And now back to the pool again. Here Lydia is taking a break in a lounge chair with Dad.

Loved this picture.

Sun bathing.

Danny

At the resort they have an awesome pirate themed kids pool. The kids loved the slide and climbing up and down the stairs of the ship to the steering wheel.

Usually there is water spraying all over the ship, but as it was getting late in the day, I guess it was turned off. A great opportunity for another group pic.

Swap Meet

We went into Kahului to the Swap Meet. Everyone was allotted about 5-7 dollars to spend. We had thought it was hot the day before in Lahaina. The Swap Meet was inland a bit and not as close to the ocean so it was very, very hot.

For this trip one of the main goals for all of the kids was to try real coconut milk from a real coconut. After asking about it all week the time had finally come.

Though the guy with the ice cold coconuts had already packed up, we settled on this little stand.

It was fun to walk around all of the shops sipping on a coconut.

What do you think Danny?

Everyone had a try. Delicious and refreshing at first, most all of the kids had decided that a real coconut was not their favorite drink. They all agreed that it could have maybe been better if it were ice cold. It is definitely an acquired taste.

Lahaina

We enjoyed spending a morning seeing some of the stuff in Lahaina.

Our first stop was Hilo Hatties, where the kids were thrilled that everyone receives a shell necklace when they walk in the door. We looked for souvenirs and Hawaiian treats, like dried coconut strips. One of my favorites. Lydia and Ryan asked Mike if he would take their picture by this statue. Turned out pretty cute.

We then walked along the boardwalk in Lahaina. We had lunch and walked on the beach. There is a wrecked ship in the distance you can see. They have never removed it.

It was really hot and muggy that afternoon. There didn't seem to be much of a breeze.

That didn't dampen Ryan's spirits. We all enjoyed looking over the railing at the rocks. There were crabs jumping all over them. I didn't really know crabs could jump. They can actually jump pretty far!

Lydia tried to beat the heat under the boardwalk.

Once we cleaned up our sandy feet we trekked further down the boardwalk to our ultimate destination...

Kung Fu Panda 2. It was a welcome and relaxing break from all of our adventures. And it was cool inside the theatre. After the movie we all had an ice cream treat across the street. I was quite partial to my creation: an ice cream sandwich made with macadamia nut ice cream, between two chocolate/coconut cookies. Only in Hawaii.

Mike and I got to sneak away again that night. Through our concierge we were again able to get hooked up with awesome tables, with perfect views, right as the sun was setting.

Road to Hana

We decided to take the crew on the Road to Hana. We did it the way this road is meant to be taken. Very slow (to avoid car sickness) and stopping often to enjoy mini hikes to fabulous waterfalls and natural swimming holes.

The first stop was this fruit stand where we bought the most amazing, juicy mangoes. We practically used an entire roll of paper towels to help us eat all of the dripping, juicy yumminess.

This is another place we stopped. There were tons of vines that the kids tried to swing on like Tarzan. We also took a little hike up into some really dense vegetation that reminded us of what trees in the Redwoods look like.

This beauty is one you can't see from the road, but after a short hike you get rewarded with the view.

This is what all of the crew in the back of the van did when we went over every single bridge. Cross fingers, and legs, hold breath and put your feet in the air. I can't remember if this was to done in order to keep all of your girlfriends/boyfriends or so the bridge wouldn't collapse? Either way they had a lot of fun with the superstition.

This is Ryan at another stop on the road. We hiked a short distance into a perfect little swimming hole with a water fall. Look at him in paradise.

Lydia was quite the trooper going over slippery rocks and boulders.

Nathan and Danny after their swim in the water.

The lush surroundings on the Road to Hana just take your breath away.

We stopped here for some of "Sandy's Banana Bread."

The kids were all being super silly and were tired of being in the car, so we knew we had almost exhausted what we could do for the day.

One of our last stops was here. There was a storm brewing and the wind was blowing really hard. The waves were crashing against these rocks and creating an enormous spray. It was cool to be there.

Nathan enjoying the spray of the ocean.

Wow, those waves were rough!!!

After the days hikes and sites we stopped at this fun cafe in Pa'ia, a quirky little town that is on the way back to the resort.

They sell curry and crepes...both savory and sweet. We shared a few savory and then all got our very own sweet crepe for dessert.

We all shared bites with each other: Sugar Cane with Lime Juice, Banana with Nutella, Honey with Almonds and Strawberries with Whipped Cream were some of the crepes that we all enjoyed.

We figured we made it about half way to Hana. We saw sooo much. Maybe next time we can make it all the way. But you know, that doesn't really matter. Because when it comes to the Road to Hana, it is not about the destination, but rather about the journey. What a great day.