The boys waiting not so patiently at the airport... They found out their buddy Boris was on their flight and couldn't wait to get on board to see him! He sat with us for a lot of the trip, but I didn't get pics. When he spilled an entire soda on Reid's carry on it sorta killed the mood for me a little.
Dreaming of tropical days ahead...
Got to the hotel and had a few snacks in the sweltering heat.
And headed up to find our room! All the rooms were suites with living areas and a bedroom with a shared bath.
The boys slept on a pull out couch in this room.
While we luxuriated in our room.
Shared bath. Not too shabby!
Of course, the boy's favorite thing about hotels is the pool and when they found out that this one had a slide, it was all they wanted to do. Reid has just recently gotten over his fear of slides. But the first time he went down this one:
He made it known that those "scared of the slide" days are OVER!!
It was a great slide and a beautiful pool!
But no beach-side resort is complete without a beach, right?!
We made it!
Day 2:
Did a little more exploring around the hotel on the second day on the way to breakfast. Such a beautiful resort and a beautiful spread!
After breakfast, a few moments of pretend play with buddy Boris. "Do you have a reservation?"
Then off to get our shave ice fix! Went back to Olowalu general store where the boys had their first shave ice a few years ago and Brandon and I discovered the joys of li hing mui powder.
Hey! Waitaminnit! Where's our powder?!
Thaaaat's better.
Reid's first bite of Manapua.
Hmmmm...
I think that's pretty good!
Poor Daddy barely got any!
Back in the room. Because one enormous dose of food coloring is not enough for one day.
We got these beautiful welcome "baskets" last year and I didn't get any pictures. I fought the boys off long enough to get a couple this year!
You can see one little stinker is already sneaking...
At dinner that night we went to a place we had frequented on our last visit for breakfast. Their dinner left something to be desired, not that anybody noticed...
He actually, literally, slept like this through dinner. Poor kid!
This little guy stayed awake thought dinner somehow but you can bet it wasn't hard to put him to sleep!
Day 3:
Our second morning dawned bright and beautiful as usual.
Started the day off with a beautiful brunch provided by Brandon's company.
Spent a little time at the beach where Cade learned how fantastic he is at body boarding and Reid had a nice kayak out with Daddy. They saw turtles!
We had lunch with our friends the Lantingas and then went to the aquarium.
I wanted to take the boys last time we were on Maui, but I think this was a good age for them to go.
This was such a beautiful tank. These are upside down jelly fish!
This octopus put on a little show for us, too. So neat!
Shark!!
Baby turtles are awesome. The end.
Brandon's company sponsored a movie night for the kids again, so Brandon and I spent the evening having a nice dinner at Ko, one of the fancy restaurants on the resort.
That night it was Reid's turn to pass out before dinner.
Cade was a golden ninja. Golden ninjas don't fall asleep before pizza.
Day 4:
The boys so enjoyed the submarine ride last year we had to do it again. I'm so glad we did! It was a much more interesting ride.
We stopped by a gift shop and the boys each got a shark toy. They were good companions while we waited for the boat to take us to the sub.
A quick family portrait and we were off!
This is Roxie. She was the tug that served as the marker for the boat and the sub. She was aptly named. I was very, very, very, very glad to be on a different boat.
On our way down...
Once you get far enough down, the water filters out all the other colors and all is left is blue.
And sharks! Eek! =)
We spent the day in town and wound up back at the hotel for the fancy company dinner. It was on a nearby golf course. There were so many beautiful things to see!
This was a very good magician, who transfixed the kids and totally perplexed Reid!
A Chinese dragon danced to the beat of some talented drummers.
Fanciful stilt-walkers lead us to our meal.
I loved how all the tables looked in the dark!
Day 5:
We had another lovely day at the beach. Brandon and I got a babysitter for the night and found a nice Hawi'ian style place for him to eat and had a nice walk on the beach.
Day 6:
We used our sixth day for our long adventure day. There is a goat farm I wanted to go to last time so we made sure to visit. We decided to go ahead and visit the crater of the volcano that formed Maui while we were at it.
These are some of the kids. Such little naughty things!
This one thought he'd like to sample my purse!
After a quick tour, we sampled some of the delicious goat cheese and chocolates.
Speaking of naughty things demanding samples...
It was like being on Mars.
It was a gorgeous day on the top of the mountain and while we were there, the clouds rolled in around the base. We drove though a band of clouds on the way down and in the mist I saw my first Nene in the wild! I was so excited!
Our feet were so dirty after all that walking!
Our eldest let us know in no uncertain terms that he was starving to death so we made our way to the nearest convenience store. We found a quiet and beautiful beach to have dinner.
The boys played in the tide pools until sunset. It was so special!
***
As we were leaving the beach, the boys had the following conversation:
As we were leaving the beach, the boys had the following conversation:
Cade: It's like Mom told me: Some man's trash is another guy's treasure.
Reid: Cade, that's not true.
***
Day 7:
Nearing the end of our visit, I thought I might as well let the boys in on a few of the perks of our vacation that I'd been holding out on.
The candy room. You heard me.
And the game room.
A little more beach time, and a little more pool and we had a delicious dinner with our special friends the Lantingas.
I think we lost two out of four of the monkeys before dinner was over...
Day 8:
We spent our last full day gorging on candy, relaxing in the game room, and playing at the beach. They got to see their buddy Boris again, too!
The boys started digging a hole and a big castle sort of grew around it with a mote and everything!
A few other kids people joined in and look!
In the end, there was a loooot of sand to wash out of their suits!
***
I was trying to get some laundry done on the last day so I could pack up clean stuff and this little interaction took place:
Cade and I return from picking up laundry. Reid is upset because he chose not to go and has missed the opportunity. Cade says, "Reid, if you went you'd have to carry some back. Listen to yourself! You're crying over laundry! Do you wan to be a Mom?!"
***
Reid was personally offended that we had to leave. He was angry with me and God and Hawai'i in general that he had to go back home. Fortunately, Cade was glad to be getting back home to his soft bed and fluffy kitty or we'd probably all still be there!
Boris joined us for a last hurrah.
We had a wonderful time! Reid talks about our next trip every day! Hopefully he won't be so angry about leaving next time!
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