Brooke @ the beach
Not only did we take a vacation from our everyday routine, but I also took a little vacation from WordPress!
We had a great time in Maui with the kids. The flight there was rough since they only napped an hour and we were forced to entertain them for the next 5 hours, but it was okay. Could have been worst. The only major crying fit was our fault. I was filling out the agricultural survey while Mike was tending to Aidan and Brooke rolled right off her seat on to the floor! Poor thing got a big bump on her head while Mommy & Daddy got horrified, judgy faces from the other passengers. LOL. That’s what we get for dropping the ball…or dropping the Brooke in this case.
First day – we ate at Zippy’s once we landed. It was delicious and sooooo bad for you. We then drove to Walmart to stock our condo with food. We planned on cooking as much as we can for three reasons: (1) Hawaiian food is expensive and usually not worth it (2) The kids like home cooking more (3) It’s just healthier for all of us. We got to our Kihei condo at Maui Kamaole, walked in, and Aidan was so impressed by the decor (pineapple chandeliers, birds of paradise pillows, etc) he said, “woooow”…and he did it every morning when he woke up. LOL. We got settled and I cooked up some spaghetti with mushroom & zucchini for the family. Around 7:45pm we went out to the beach to watch fireworks. Okay, so the original plan was to drive to Lahaina to watch fireworks but we heard from the locals that the 45 min drive would be longer with traffic from everybody going to watch fireworks. So we parked ourselves on Kamaole II thinking, “It’s over the ocean…we’ll see it.” Wrong. LOL. A big mountain covered it all up! Firework show over Maui….FAIL! We still had a good time just hanging out at night on the beach. Aidan and Brooke loved all the stars they can see and some of the locals burnt their own fireworks on the beach…so we piggybacked off that.
The family at baby beach in Lahaina
Day 2 – Jackie and Khoa woke up at 1:30AM to go do their bike ride down Haleakala. Mike and I woke up at 5am since it was 8am at home to cook breakfast. It was SO nice to just have a leisurely morning. We ate breakfast, cleaned up got dress and was on our way to Lahaina by 8am. We got there at 9am and it took some investigation to find “Baby Beach”. I totally recommend this beach for families with toddlers. The beach is so calm the kids can walk right in and out of the water by themselves. (Baby Beach is in the north part of Lahaina. Park on Kai Pali Street, just off of Front Street.) The kids LOVED the beach and this made the trip so worth it for us! We stayed about an hour and a half. We toured Lahaina, picked up lunch at Cool Cat Cafe (Best burger in Maui six years in a row), and hung out at the Banyan tree before heading back to Kihei. Once we got back, we hung out with Khoa & Jackie and drove to Wailea to visit the gorgeous golden sandy beaches. The wind made it difficult to enjoy but we had a good time burying Khoa and taking goofy photos at the beach.
Beautiful Hana with my Ohana
Day 3 – Road to Hana. We all woke up and hit the road early to Hana since we wanted to beat the other tourists. Mike and I are crazy to take the twins here. It was a super LONG drive. The multiple stops really helped us but we are not going to do it again. We left at 7am and returned to Zippy’s for dinner again at 6pm. That’s just too much for two 19-month olds! They were troopers though, we love them for that.
Aidan @ the Maui Ocean Center
Day 4 – Last day…how time flew! We took the kids to the beach in the morning and they played for a few hours and we came back for their first regular nap in Maui. They ended up napping for 3 hours! We had to wake them up to go to the Maui Ocean Center otherwise I think they would have kept going! LOL. The Maui Ocean Center pales compared to Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific in my opinion but it was the kids’ first time and so worth it. Aidan was so excited! “Fishie…fishie…exit!” (He loves exit signs). Brooke was a little more nervous about the darkness and the glowing tanks but slowly got comfortable enough to pose with sharks for Mommy! Afterwards it was dinner then off to the airport.
Mahalo, Maui for the great time! We will visit again!
Day 1: Was this a Bad Idea?
We got to San Diego airport early.
Kids only napped an hour.
Didn’t pack enough food.
Wow to condo.
No fireworks.
Day 2: Baby Beach in Lahaina
Day 3: Road to Hana
Day 4: Swim, long nap, aquarium