And I shall title this entry … MAUI WAS AWESOME! We played on the beach every day and had just enough activities planned. Both Zachary and Calie were smitten with Anderson, who is the most good-natured and outgoing little guy ever! Calie even blew him two kisses unprompted. Since so many people are asking to see pictures, and I promised my coworkers that I’d bring back photos … here they are, minus any formatting/proof-reading (I’ll have to deal with that later – I am jetlagged!)
The morning before our flight, we met up with Alex at Color Me Mine for storytime and pottery painting. Then it was off to the airport with our fingers crossed (it was our first time traveling with 2 kids!)
The flight went smoothly. We saw Natalie right away after we landed, and Jason already had the rental van. We drove to our condo (Ka’anapali Alii) and ordered the most expensive (and slowest) Round Table delivery ever … almost $80 for 2 pizzas, a salad, and a 2-liter of soda! And yet so worth it; we were starving since domestic economy class flights don’t provide meals anymore.
Day 1 was Costco, beach, and hang-out-at-the-condo day. In the morning, we made Costco trip #1 to buy bulk foods. We then took the kids out to the pool/beach. As expected, Zachary loved swimming.
Calie was not quite as pleased. She was also neutral, but curious about sand. While we were sitting on Ka’anapali beach, a rouge wave came up, drenching our towels and clothes, scaring the kids, and ruining my camera .. which led to Costco trip #2 … I had to buy a new camera. Thank goodness my compact flash was fine!
Day 2, James and Jason went to hike Haleakala, while Natalie and I stayed with the kids. We walked along the beach and around the Westin hotel grounds.
We strolled back, thinking it must be past lunch time and was shocked that it was only … 9:40am! We let the kids play for a bit and then headed out to Whaler’s Village. Anderson and Zachary both got new sunglasses, and Natalie bought a new outfit from White House|Black Market. I was tempted to buy some clothes too, but buying at my current size would be ‘giving up’ and I wasn’t ready to do that yet!
At night, we had a poolside barbecue. Our condo is really nice – very spacious and updated (Natalie and I joke that the appliances were better than the ones we had at home) …and they had big gas grills for guests to use, right by the pool, overlooking the ocean. Thank you Kathy for setting us up!
Day 3, we took the kids to the Maui Ocean Center. It was a nice aquarium with great reviews, but I have to admit it can’t compare to the Monterey or the Academy of Science aquariums. We went through the aquarium in less than 2 hours, then stopped by Aloha Mixed Plate in Lahaina for lunch.
I forgot to bring baby food so Calie got poi (thumbs down) and coconut (thumbs up), as well as bit of pork. In the late afternoon, Natalie and I headed to the Westin spa for much needed massages! Aaaah….
Day 4, I took Zachary on the Atlantis submarine ride. It went down 125 feet and we saw lots of fish – including 2 manta rays and a hidden white tipped reef shark.
In the evening, we headed out to experience the Old Lahaina Luau. Last time I went to Maui, they were sold out the entire week, but this time we were able to get pretty good seats. I loved the ahi poke (it’s one of my favorite dishes ever). Zachary mostly filled himself with poi bread smeared with guava butter, and Calie had a few bites of mahi mahi … and bunch of other foods I smashed up with a fork (it was getting dark, so I couldn’t be 100% sure what she was eating).
The show was quite good! It was my 3rd luau, so there wasn’t anything novel, but I always enjoy a live show – especially one with a sunset backdrop! I was expecting Calie to like it more (she usually bops to music), but she mostly looked mesmerized and tried to eat the flowers from her lei. She did clap with the rest of the audience though, so that was cute. We left with over exhausted kids and our table area completely trashed.
Day 5, per his request, James took Zachary on a … helicopter ride! I thought for sure Zachary was going to bail last minute, and we would be out almost $400. But he hopped on and lived to talk (and draw) about it. The only issue is that the vibration and white noise made him super sleepy – he started dozing off halfway through the 45 minute flight and was disoriented when they landed. I think it’s typical for kids his age to drift off, because one of the attendants asked,”So, did he stay awake?” Retrospectively, we probably could have waited a few years.
Day 6, Mid-morning, Natalie and I hit the Westin spa again. I had a pineapple body scrub with vichy, but the water wasn’t as hot as I liked, so they comp’d me a coconut body wrap. Yay – Three spa treatments in one week – I think that’s a record for me!
Afterwards, James took Zachary to the beach to build sand castles, while the rest of us walked around Old Lahaina and had lunch/appetizers at Cool Cats. I bought a shaved ice before heading back to the condo because that’s just what you do when you’re in Hawaii. Very refreshing, especially since I was sweaty from walking around with Calie in the Bjorn.
In the evening, Natalie and Jason had their date night while we watched Anderson (easy-peasy as he was sleeping!)
Day 7, we packed and flew home. No glitches. 
Zachary tells us he “wants to stay in Hawaii forever and ever and ever”. And he also wants to try surfing lessons and parasailing next time.
THANK YOU Natalie/Jason/Anderson for vacationing with us! We had a great time!
