Day 8 - Saturday

We decided to hit Big Beach again this morning. It was Jillian's first time at the beach! She loved it!! The kids enjoyed splashing with her in a bucket of water. And Jack finally ventured out in the waves with the guys! Yeah Jack! Jillian did too! And loved it! Trisha was holding her breath most of the time, but Jillian would just splash, kick and giggle!

Ben, Chuck and David went out snorkeling and ended up swimming with the dolphins! They have awesome stories. There were 8 adults and 2 baby dolphins.

David made us an awesome flank steak dinner, and we watched the sunset from the lanai.

Day 7 - Friday

We spent the morning at Big Beach in Makena - my favorite beach. It's big, quiet, great waves, and lots of soft sand. Ryan and I walked the beach when we got there. He just loves to run in the sand. He could care less about anything else. He will not go near the water, and screams if you even attempt to put him in. He'd much rather be at the pool...much to my dismay! Aleta came along with us so we enjoyed swimming in the waves, and were almost eaten by a sea turtle. Okay, not really but it swam right by us and scared us to death!

We spent a couple great hours there, then headed to the airport to pick up Ben, Trisha and Jillian! Grandma Sue stayed with Ryan, so we were free!! It was nice not to have to drag him along with us.

Jillian is such a little sweetie. She didn't sleep much on the plane so Ben and Trisha were a little stressed. She likes to lay down when she sleeps, which is hard to do on the plane. She was all smiles, though, when we picked her up.

We spent the afternoon by the pool. The kids just love to be in the 75 degree pool!

Day 6 - Thursday

We are half-way through our stay in Maui already. I hate how fast the times goes by.

Today we went on a whale watching adventure with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Aleta, a gal that works for Chuck and Jenny in Alaska, has been wintering in Maui this year. She works at the Pacific Whale Foundation, so hooked us up on an adventure this morning. She even got to come along to enjoy it with us!

Ryan did okay for the first hour, but lost it the second. He was "all done" with the boat. Unfortunately, there are no options when you are out to sea! He ended up doing okay, but really not a great outing for a 2 year old. You live, you learn.

We did get to see a baby humpback whale breach really close to the boat. It was awesome! We saw tons of other whales, and did enjoy being out on the water....despite the fact that we ended up chasing Ryan half the time!

All the fresh air must have worn him out, because he napped for over 3 hours today!

While David and Ryan napped, I visited an old neighbor of mine. Mary is still living in the same building I lived in when I lived here 8 years ago (hard to believe it's been that long). She was my angel when I moved here, and we had a great time catching up!

We spent the late afternoon at the beach and took in the most spectacular sunset yet! It was a beautiful evening. We even got to see a couple get engaged on the beach!!

Day 5 - Wednesday

It's sad to think we have only a week left in Paradise. The time flies by so quickly when we're here. I never get used to that.

David and I walked the beach this morning, and enjoyed our couple time. Ryan stayed with Grandma Sue and Aunt Jenny. He is always very concerned where Jack and Luke are, so enjoyed playing with them.

After our walk, we all headed for the beach. Luke decided he wasn't going to the beach, so stayed in with Grandpa Ken and Chuck. I don't know if any of them left the condo all day. It was a windy day today, and everyone seemed rather tired.

We just took it easy most of the day, and I think we all fit in a nap! Ahhh...vacation!!

We watched the sunset from the condo, and enjoyed a delicious dinner thanks to David.

Grandma Sue wasn't feeling the greatest, so we're hoping she'll be up for our Whale Watching adventure tomorrow morning.

Day 4 - Tuesday

Monday afternoon, after nap, we played in the pool. We all had the best time. It's a wonderful pool area with a great pool for the kids. Ryan had so much fun, but apparently swallowed too much chlorine water. He was throwing up by bedtime. It gave us terrible flashbacks to last year's trip. He was up until 2:30am throwing up. He would cry for more water, then throw it up 10 minutes later. If we refused the water he would cry and cry and cry. It was so sad.

We laid low most of the day. We went to the beach for a little while, but Ryan just snuggled up while we were there. It was cooler and cloudy, and just nice to be out in the fresh air. Once the clouds burned off and it started to warm up, we left. Ryan was dehydrated enough. He took a great nap when we got back, and was much perkier when he woke up.

We all met at Fred's Mexican Cafe for Taco Tuesday. We had the most incredible $2.95 tacos we'd ever had! We plan to go back next Tuesday!!

We watched the sunset at the beach and called it a day. There was a gal at the beach with a parrot. Ryan did not like it at all!!

We were so thankful Ryan was back to his silly self by the end of the day.

Day 3 - Kamaole I Beach Park

So now I'm up to date and will try to post our adventures daily.

We awoke to the birds chirping this morning. It is such a wonderful sound!

We joined everyone for breakfast, and then headed to the beach. We were all so excited to get our feet in the sand! Ryan didn't know what to think at first, but was soon running around like a crazy man. He would run and flop in the sand, and soon was a sand monster! I'm sure we will be finding sand for days after we return to Seattle!

Ryan ran down the beach without looking back. I tried to see how far he would go, but decided I better get him before he got too far down the beach. He just ran and ran without looking back, but as soon as I took off into the water without him he screamed. I just don't get it!! 2 hours of sun was enough for us today. We were all tired and hungry so headed up for lunch and nap.

David just headed out to snorkel with Chuck. They are checking out the hot spots for the rest of us!!

Day 2 - Trip to Maui

Our flight left Seattle at 8:25am. It was a long 5 hours, 48 minutes but all the kids did good. Ryan got the worst grade, as usual, but he really didn't do that bad. I always wish he would sleep more. He napped less than an hour the entire trip. Jack and I swapped seats for awhile so he and Ryan could watch a video together. We were all happy to land in Maui on time. We headed to Costco, then made the 20 minute trip to Kihei. The scenery never gets old, neither do the 80 degree temperatures I might add!

By the time we landed at our condos, we were all tired, hungry and crabby. We joined everyone for an early dinner, watched Ryan turn into a crazed lunatic, and forfeited the sunset to get him to bed. He slept great, which was awesome. He usually doesn't sleep well when he's overtired, so we were thankful sleep came easy last night!