Welcome to the Hybertson Family vacation in Maui! Eric and I wrote in a journal that I'll include clips from in this blog.
Travel Day:
We had great little travelers. The long trip that I was most worried about was the easiest on the way there and on the way home. They SLEPT or watched TV pretty much the whole time! We had about a 16 hour door to door trip. The girls really did roll with the punches. We had missed our layover flight due to late arrival of our first flight, we had to wait a little longer at each airport, but the girls enjoyed the running around time. They entertained the other travelers as well with their cuteness, chasing each other and giggling.
We ended up getting to our hotel and to bed around 12:00 am (4:00 am Colorado time) They didn't have a crib set up for us as I had requested to Dayla slept in a big girl bed. She did great. And so ends the travel day.
Day 1, Settling in and Exploring:
The next morning Eric woke up with the girls at 4:30 am. He made little turtle rub crafts with the girls and they hung them up on the Microwave for me to see when I woke up at 6:30 am. (yes, he let me sleep in) We went shopping and got settled in. The whole day seemed to go by really slow, which was a good thing, because we woke up so early. We visited the beach the our hotel room overlooked. Belle and Dayla were apprehensive about the ocean water, but had a lot of fun with the sand. Belle ended up feeling more safe with just putting her feet in the water. Dayla was still a bit tired so didn't try it this first day. After the naps we ended up going to a nice fish restaurant that overlooked the ocean sunset. The food was really good as well. I had a cedar wood grilled Ono with mango and pineapple salsa on a bed of spinach salad with lemon vinaigrette and Eric had a Ono and Tiger fish combo grilled on top of a shrimp risotto with some grilled Hawaiian veggies. Yum! The girls had some ice cream after we watched the sunset at the ice cream shop next to the restaurant. Belle and Dayla found a stage in the middle of the shops that they did some singing and dancing. (side note: after we got back Belle told me this was her favorite thing.) http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AtlyM3Jb5apyIbBKzmzroA?feat=directlink
We went to bed early because of the time change and our fun and fulfilling day.
Day 2, The Baby Beach:
We woke up late at 5:30 am the next day. We did a little exercising and exploring in the morning around the hotel. We found a place on the map called "Baby Beach" which we wanted to check out. The beach was really great, the waves broke before the beach due to a coral reef about 200 feet out in the ocean and so the beach area was really great for the girls to wade and explore the ocean without feeling like they are going to get swept away. Dayla ended up feeling comfy in the water this time as well as Belle. What a great place for the kiddos. The day was clear and we ended up getting a great view of both Lanai and Molakai. Eric thought he could see the big island and Kahoolawe as well, but not sure. We had lunch and naps and games back at the hotel. After naps we went down to the pool because Belle really wanted to go back after we dipped in for a few minutes the day before. It was a bit chilly and windy so we didn't stay long. We ended up having a really yummy dinner at the hotel restaurant and watched the sunset from there. We had some yummy stuffed swordfish and Belle and Dayla had mac and cheese. We all shared a coconut ice cream Sunday. Because the girls were so good they requested to watch a movie, so Eric and I overlooked the ocean while the watched Tinkerbelle. We crashed early again today, it was a long fun-filled, sun-filled day.
Day 3, The Lu'au:
Saturday! We got up at 6:30 this morning! Woo Hoo! As our usual morning we ate some local fruit and decided to go explore the "woods" at our hotel. We visited the beach a little too. We spend a lot of the day relaxing at the pool and saving our energy for the "Drums of the Pacific" Lu'au. We napped and got ready for the Lu'au and noticed that it looked like rain! Oh no!! It ended up being a great thing though. It did sprinkle every once in a while but for the most part it was cool and overcast, perfect for being outside. The girls loved the food and entertainment. The drinks were weak, but the food was great. We watched the dancers and Belle and Dayla had the greatest time dancing in the ally next to our table. They were entertaining me as much as the show. They asked if anyone was interested in learning the hula on stage. Belle wanted to but wimped out at the moment of going up on stage. Since Dayla has been a little clingy all week so far, I took her with me and we hulaed while I held her. Not quite authentic. Belle was really sad that we went up after all so I asked the MC if I could bring her on stage and show her the drums. That seemed to satisfy her enough. The girls were exhausted when we got back. Another great day!!!
Day 4, Mothers Day:
Belle woke up Eric at 6:30. They snuck out of the room to let Mommy sleep in and made a cute turtle inspired mothers day card. Dayla was still sleeping face down on the floor. We went to the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel to see if we could get into the fashion show and Mothers day brunch. We didn't a reservation until 12:30 and we were 2 hours from that. So we went to the bar area to watch the fashion show and have some popcorn, rainbow icy and morning eye openers. We found that the models were from the Lu'au that we saw the night before. We went to olde town Lahaina to find a nice place to eat and then do some shopping. We ate at Kimo's fish grill and ate at the patio overlooking the ocean. The girls had a great time looking at Crabs on the rocks next to the railing while Eric and I enjoyed sashimi and some coconut crusted yellow fin tuna. YUMMY! We had some yummy Mai Tai's too. We did some shopping and sight seeing which tired out the girls a lot. I took a little nap while the girls napped. Eric was a good boy and called my Mom and his Mom to wish them a happy Mothers day. I requested that we get some pizza in and let the girls watch a movie while we watch the sunset from our Lanai and play Caracasone. We finally stayed up past ten. It was a wonderful mothers day and I'm not sure how this one can be topped!!
Day 5, Farmer's Market and the Barefoot beach bar:
We are started to acclimate to the time change now. The girls got up at 7 this morning. We ate fresh Papaya on the Lanai, the girls loved it! Eric found a map that showed the farmers market within walking distance of the hotel. He thought there was a beach next to the market too. So we decided to walk over and get some fresh fruit and check out a new beach. Before we left, I decided to check with the front desk to see the availability for the wrap around deck ocean front room. Eric and I couldn't hear the ocean waves from our room and talked about possibly moving for the view and noise. We ended up booking a suite for the last 4 nights!
We walked to the market and purchased some fresh pineapple, apple-banana's, veggies and guacamole. We headed over to the beach and found a playground that Dayla was really excited about. She pointed and said "Slide, slide, slide." She then just made Eric push her on the swings the entire time at the park. I think she thinks a slide is a swing. Cutie! Belle was anxious to get some beach time so she and I headed over to the water first. We found little wading pools that are made by rocks and reef's The pools had little fish that Belle liked chasing. We also found some bigger fish at the more "beach"y side of the beach and some crab and sea urchins. They had fun splashing and getting sandy, but alas, they were ready for lunch and naps. We headed back to the hotel and got some ice cream at the ABC store. The girls were excited about mine and Eric's a bit more then their rainbow scooby-doo push ups. What!?!
We decided to make some lunch and eat it by the pool. Eric made burritos and the girls ate them up! The pool was a blast. The girls found some little girls who were around their age and they played for a few hours. We stayed a little late at the pool. So when we got back to the hotel room, the girls were exhausted.
After they woke up, we decided to go to watch the sunset at a restaurant that we were told about by some fellow visitors who had a little 3 year old too. They said, bring your sand toys and the kids will be entertained for hours. Was that the truth. We had a fresh local fruit appetizer, some great dinner, the girls had good food and when they were done they got down from the table and played in the sand. We were at a barefoot beach restaurant with live music and fruity drinks. Can't beat that.
Day 6, The Big Move:
Today, the girls woke up early again at 5:30 am. We sent them back to bed and spent most of the morning making breakfast, doing laundry and packing for the big move to our fabulous corner suite on the ocean front. While waiting for the room to be ready for us Tammi and Belle took a hula dancing lesson while Dayla and Eric watched. Dayla was pretty upset and clingy so they left to look at flowers and water for a bit while Belle and Tammi finished the class. Belle did well but peetered out near the end. We moved into our room and were happy with EVERYTHING!! Especially the view and the wrap around lanai. We can see the islands, Lanai and Moloka from coast to coast from our room now! Woooo Whoooo! Eric called it decadent. After early naps we went to find the best beach in the united states. We found it!! It was nice, not sure of the BEST though. Eric and the girls built a little pool out of the sand and we took in the bits of sun when it came out, it was a little over cast. We made a fish dinner that night and enjoyed our new lanai for the rest of the night. I saw a big spash a little ways out into the ocean that caught my eye. I kept looking at the spot and saw it again with more clarity. It was a whale!! Can you believe it?!?! We had a great night for the rest of the night playing games on the lanai while the girls slumbered in thier new room.
Day 7, The Glass Bottom Boat:
This morning Belle woke Daddy up around 6:15 am. "Dayla had a poopie diaper" repeated around 20 times in a whisper. Eric slept in for a bit and looked at the ocean while I cleaned up and gave him a little relaxing morning. We were preparing for our day in Lahania. We found a great spot for parking that took us close to the boat dock for the glass bottom boat. We looked around for some trinket shopping and found some snacks and drinks. We then settled into the historical Banyon Tree park that we were told by a local was the 3rd largest tree in the world. We got our boarding passes and had a few more minutes to window shop. We ended up coming back to the boat being the last to board. The seating area was below deck and we got a great view in the back with plenty of room to roam around to each side. The Reefdancer had 2 scuba divers who looked for cool things to show us. They found a few octopus, some starfish and aneneme. The tour itself was fun and the kiddos thought it was really neat to see the silver fish that were swimming along with us. We found a place that I had a coupon for while looking for a good burger place to eat. We stopped there for lunch and talked with some scrapbooking enthusiasts next to us. It was a fun but hot way to end our trip to Lahania. We headed back home for nap time. We spent the rest of the day planning our day to Hana the next day, playing games, and watching the hula dancers at the pool deck right below us. Belle dropped her puppy, but we went to get him and got some fruit punch at the party down stairs. We decided to go hot tubbing that night and brought Belle and Dayla down in thier little bath robes, which were a big hit with everybody.
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