Maui 2018

ALOHA!!  It's pretty crazy to think that it had be almost 10 years since the last time I had been to Hawaii.  I grew up going every summer with my parents as a kid.  I'm pretty sure my first time was when I was 3 or 4 years old.  For some reason I have always had an excuse that I didn't want to go with my kids when they were young.  I didn't want to spend 2/3 hours each day in the hotel while they napped or I was too nervous to fly with them for that long at the young of an age.  See what I mean, excuses.  Plus I have developed a small fear of flying over the ocean....I know, super weird.  I'm pretty sure had we gone a couple years earlier all would of been totally smooth and a ton of fun, but I definitely feel like the kids were at the perfect ages for their first trip to the islands.  

We decided on Maui for our destination and it definitely didn't disappoint. At the hotel we had a ground floor suite which was perfect for us all.  We could walk right out onto our patio, jump into the pool and the kids could run all over the grass area in front of the hotel.  The hammocks were a huge hit.  I think it may have been the first time they had really ever been in one.  

  Everyday we would rent a couple chairs with an umbrella and spend the whole day on the beach.  The water temp and waves couldn't of been more perfect.  We would all spend hours floating in the waves.

This was also the first time the kids tried out snorkeling.  There was a small reef right in front of our hotel that we were able to enjoy.  They got to see some cool fish, sadly no turtles, but definitely sea life they had never seen before.  They were a bit conscious and wouldn't want to go out too far and when the wind kicked up the last couple days and the waves got bigger they didn't want to snorkel at all.  Still proud of them for trying it though.  

Wouldn't be a Hawaii trip without shaved ice.  It was usually their mid day snack.  Madden was so protective of his shave ice.   He refused to let Jake or I carry it when we walked on the hot sand that he ended up burning his feet, luckily the massive shaved ice in front of him helped him recover.

Always in the water.

I love this picture because she was all smiles after she got taken out by a big wave.  

Hanging out in the grotto at the pool.  We were both shocked that the kids didn't want to spend more time at the pool.  It had slides, basketball hoop, and waterfalls, but they preferred to be at the beach.  We did try to make it over to the pool once a day for a quick slide ride.

Dinner at the famous Duke's restaurant.

Delicious gelato.

Jake and the kids did one night of night swimming.  The tide was really high and they body surfed until bed time.

To make the kids first trip to Maui even more special was getting to spend a couple days on the island with Grandpa and Grandma.  They would come up to our hotel and spend the day with us by the beach and do dinner.

Can't go to Hawaii without having a drink with an umbrella in it.

Mai Tai's for all.

Best dessert we had on the whole trip.  Brownie ice cream sandwich...YUMMY!!

Skylar wanted to try out my vacation shades/she was making fun of me.

The tooth fairy even had to make a trip to Maui for Madden as he lost his second top, front tooth.

Nothing says Hawaii like a Luau.  We had a lovely dinner and were totally entertain.  The fire dance was the hit of the night for us all.  I was really proud of Madden for eating the pig they "cooked" in the ground.  He said it was so delicious.  Skylar had the chicken nuggets and bread.  

Jake and Skylar had a "bake-off," and had to make cakes to be judged by Madden.

Grandpa buried Madden and Jake.

Skylar was the fish of the trip.  She was in the water more than any of us, spending several hours each day in the ocean.  We are also proud of her for finally driving under waves.  She was always to scared to do it in our ocean at home but she conquered her fear for sure.

All Madden was talked about on the trip was how he wanted to get a tattoo.  So on the last night we let them get henna tattoos.  I was very thankful Madden pick the werewolf on the arm, instead of the scorpion on the chest which was his first choice.

We had a lovely last dinner with a beautiful ocean view.  We walked back along the beach, watched the sunset and soaked in as much of Maui before the day ended.  We did this trip like we do most of our vacation just spending a lot of family time on the beautiful beach, since that is where we are most happy. 

Video highlights of our trip.