Maui

Jay has been somewhat bitter and eager for a trip to Hawaii ever since his family went (twice!) while he was serving his mission in Germany from 2002 to 2004. I've been pretty fortunate to have gone multiple times in my life, but it had been six years since our last family visit and my parents were itching to make something happen. Dad generously offered up some frequent flyer miles and a place to stay if we came along with him and a few of my other family members. We booked the trip in the beginning of May and have been counting down the days since.

Our travels started off with a few delays and unexpected expenses... 

We were scheduled to fly from Las Vegas to San Francisco on Friday the 5th at 4:30pm. And then from San Francisco to Kahului at 6:15pm, which would get us into Maui at 8:46pm Hawaii time. Jay and I had all of Friday morning and some of the afternoon to pack and prepare for our long awaited Hawaii vacation. Things were going so smooth and I had great confidence that we would make it through our travels without much stress. Upon checking in at the Las Vegas airport we learned our first flight was delayed two hours, which would cause us to miss our flight from San Fran to Kahului. The last time we all flew together as a family was also with United Airlines, and it ended up being an absolute nightmare. (You can read about it here.) So as one could imagine, this rocky start to our journey brought back some unsettling feelings. The only option at this point was to head back home and try to catch another flight to San Francisco in the morning, or take our delayed flight to San Francisco that evening, stay overnight and catch a 7:00am flight to Kahului in the morning which would put us in Maui around 10:30am Hawaii time. We decided on the latter and though it was a frustrating setback, we tried to made the most of it.

Evelyn was just the cutest little traveler. She made everyone smile as she ran through the metal detector all by herself with the cheesiest grin on her face at TSA. Then she had a blast running through the airport for nearly two hours while we waited to board our flight. The short flight to San Francisco was smooth sailing and Evelyn was content the whole way. The only other small unfortunate incident we encountered was when Evelyn caught a cold after being outside of the San Francisco airport in the cold for 30 minutes waiting for a shuttle that would take us to our hotel. We took a chance on the CitiGarden hotel which ended being a much nicer hotel than expected, especially for only $100 a night. 

After getting settled in our room, Jay ordered Domino's and we enjoyed our delicious meal before heading straight to bed. After a somewhat long and tiring day I was hoping for a good night's rest before our long flight in the morning, however I made the mistake of drinking Barq's root beer with dinner. Barq's is my favorite root beer but I forgot that it contains caffeine... Jay and I were both wired all night and think we got a total of maybe three or four hours of sleep. 

CititGarden was only six minutes away from the airport which made things very convenient in the morning when catching our early flight. Luck was on our side as we arrived at our gate with ease and with just the right amount of time to spare, and then scored by getting an entire row to ourselves on the airplane. Evelyn was amazing on the four and half hour flight. She had a good hour and half nap and spent the rest of the time eating snacks, playing with toys, and watching her shows on the iPad.

It didn't really occur to me beforehand that headphones for Evelyn might be a good idea to have on the plane. With a four and half hour flight ahead of us, we didn't want to take any chances and splurged on these kid headphones for $27 in the airport. This picture alone made it worth the money.

At last we made it to Maui safe and sound on Saturday morning. After grabbing lunch and picking up some supplies at Walmart (including a pack n' play for Evelyn since the condo didn't provide cribs, contrary to what we had been told), we got settle in at the Paki Maui and pressed forward with our vacation.

My family has stayed at the Paki Maui during the last two Maui trips. This time around we contemplated staying somewhere new, but we've had such good experiences there and decided to stick with what we knew. Sharing a two bedroom condo with eight people was a little cramped at times but we spent the majority of our time down at the beach anyways. 

An ocean front condo with two balcony's and this view 24/7 is pretty hard to beat.

Even after plenty of trips to the beach in San Diego, for whatever reason Evelyn was initially so timid with the sand and the ocean in Hawaii. It didn't take long for her warm up though, and by the end of the trip she was fearless.

Vacationing in Hawaii was a different experience with a toddler in tow. I didn't feel I had quite the same amount of freedom as previous trips. With all the extra helping hands of my family members I still managed to spend a fair amount of time in the ocean and laying out in the sun. Plus Evelyn enjoyed bonding with her papa, grammy, aunt, and uncles. Each of us spent so much of our downtime in the condo reading books to her (the favorite- "Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker"). Despite a three hour time difference, Evelyn jumped right into Hawaii time and was a dream of a sleeper the whole trip. She sprouted two new teeth, added "peee" (please) to her vocabulary, got a few freckles, and developed a serious addiction to Otter Pops thanks to grammy. Also, I'm not sure why I bothered packing clothes for that girl. Without air conditioning in the condo it was hot and humid, so she was basically down to a swimsuit or just a diaper the entire visit. Overall Evelyn's first visit to Hawaii was a success and she was just an absolute delight to have around.

Hitting it off with Uncle Matt. This was the first time the two of them had met, and the first time I'd seen Matt in three and a half years.

Slappy Cakes. Made pancakes right at our table with a built-in griddle. A very tasty and fun experience.

Nakalele Blowhole

Honolua Bay

On Monday (the second day of our trip) even after reapplying suncreen, the sun burned Jay to a crisp. And then on Tuesday Jay and I caught Evelyn's cold. I wasn't feeling great but still wanted to get out and enjoy the beach. Jay's cold was a little more severe and left him bedridden while we went to Big Beach on Wednesday.

Big Beach, Waliea-Makena 

The only thing this Hawaii trip was really missing was big waves. Typically we come in the off-season which seems to be a better time for the waves. We had to drive an hour to get to Big Beach but it was well worth it to see some good shore break.

Ka'anapali Shores

Black Rock Beach, Ka'anapli Shores

Maui is full of wonderful beaches, but we always come back Black Rock. It's been a favorite beach since our first visit to Maui. The snorkeling is amazing, and with a steep drop into the ocean it's not long before you're in deep ocean water, which is equally eerie as it is beautiful and SO fun. The trouble with coming to this beach is the very limited parking. Usually Jay and my mom or dad would drop the rest of us along with our beach gear off at the curb, then they would hunt for parking spots. Finding shade is another difficult task at this beach. Mom and dad splurged one day by renting a cabana. And on the other days we either borrowed someone else's cabana once they finished or lucked out and got a spot under a tree. 

Vacationing along with my family was one of our smartest moves. Besides thoroughly enjoying their company, Jay and I took advantage of their babysitting services while snorkeling and playing in the water together, and even got to sneak away to Star Noodle (delicious!) for dinner on our last night in Maui. This trip was a memorable one and we're so grateful to mom and dad for providing us with this opportunity. Jay and I have set a goal to come back to Hawaii or some other tropical destination in a few years just the two of us.

16 weeks on August 8th. It may have had something to do with all the good eating (specifically a hefty helping of kalua pork tacos), but I'd say baby made a pretty good appearance this week.

Hana Highway

Made a few random stops along Hana Highway to kill time on Sunday the 14th before our red eye flight home.

Twin Falls

Huelo Lookout

Iao Valley State Park

Evelyn was yet again a champ of a traveler and slept during both flights home. Holding a sleeping toddler made it hard for me to get any sleep, not that it's ever easy or comfortable to sleep on an airplane. Eventually I handed her over to Jay and got some rest but not much. Red eye flights just really are the worst. Once we got home and picked up Kella, we all took a nap. Evelyn slept for two hours in her crib, then once I brought her into bed with me she fell back asleep and slept three more hours. Apparently Hawaii wiped her out! 

I miss the tropical sun, the ocean, and the carefree Hawaiian lifestyle of not having to worry about makeup or fixing my hair, or even really getting dressed. But there's no place like home- especially an air conditioned home. Until next time, Hawaii!