day 1: we scored a row of three and a seat for the boy on our flight which was huge. the flight was fine - he did really good for the first 4 hours...but that final hour was a killer. even though the flight occurred right through his nap time, he refused to nap. oh except for the last 15 minutes he decided to crash out hard! the travel carseat that we borrowed was also a score - we were able to get him off the plane, to our rental car and off to costco all while sleeping in the seat/stroll.
picked up the goods at costco/kmart before heading to our hotel. i had found a sweet deal on a 1 bedroom villa at the marriott in ka'anapali beach - $1000 for 8 days/7 nights! dropped off our goods and headed straight out for a dip in the pool. ah....vacation! picked up dinner at the restaurant downstairs and managed to stay up until close to 9ish (HI is 3 hours behind PDX) and hoped that k's lack of napping will mean he'll adjust to the time difference.
day 2: early wake up call from the boy at 4:45am...there was no getting him back down, so k and i took a walk along the beach and around the grounds of the marriott. sure hoping that this isn't his normal wakeup time the rest of the trip! more pool time, ended up back at costco for 3 more pineapples...realized one definitely would not do - oh and picked up 5 more papayas at a roadside stand. more pool time - checked out the water slide. k enjoyed the little baby slide, although after 1 trip down on his own, he decided that he much preferred going down on mama's lap! walked to the end of the beachwalk out front of our hotel which is about 1.5 miles and found some hammocks to hang in for a bit!
day 3: ah...the boy slept until 7ish, then we were up and out to the
baby beach in lahaina. scored a great parking spot, so just a short walk to the beach. k wasn't super sure about the sand - really didn't love walking on it or it getting on him at all! had fun in the water and finally decided it would be okay to sit down and play in the sand. met a couple of little girls who k enjoyed playing with in the water and the sand. k fell asleep in the car after a great morning of beach time, so we took a drive farther north and checked out more beautiful beaches. found a great place for lunch -
honolua general store. took it to go and found a nice place to park and eat our lunch with a view of the ocean.
happy hour of coconut shrimp for all, maui brewing company gold for aa, and virgin guava lava for k and me.
day 4: hurricane felicia is being hyped, although fortunately it's been downgraded to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression...hoping it doesn't bring too much rain. we took a morning walk and yes, the rain came although with that came a highlight for the boy - puddle stomping! back to the room and it looks like the sun is coming out. decided to make today a pool day, since no one really knew what would happen with felicia and they are closing down most of the beaches at 2pm. the day turned out great and we got a ton of pool time and a great nap (4+ hours) for the boy. so far, felicia is turning into a non-event. they say the eye of the storm should be hitting our area at 4pm, but all we got was a bit of a drizzle.
chatted up a mother of 3 at the pool and she told me that they no longer consider these trips vacations - they call them quality family time. i have to agree somewhat, as we've realized that nearly everything on our vacation revolves around k's schedule and what would be best for him. not complaining at all - but the vacations where aa and i would lounge around at the pool or on the beach, plowing through books and magazines, without a care in the world just aren't our reality anymore - at least not on this trip. i didn't even bring a single magazine or book! good thing, too...cause it would have been a waste of space.
day 5: today is the day they are saying felicia will hit the island. we decided to hit up the aquarium to avoid the 12 inches of rain they had predicted - oh and the 12 inches turned into 2 inches! as we walk into the aquarium, it seems like it's mostly outdoors! we find the indoor section of the aquarium and checked it out. highlight was the huge shark/fish tank/tunnel and when we walked out it had indeed rained while we were there, so mission accomplished.
lunch at
aloha mixed plate - more coconut shrimp, shoyu chicken and rice and thai style chow mein. yum. pool time in the afternoon, followed by dinner in our room and a movie for aa and me. (
gran torino - i give it a c+/b-).
day 6: good night of sleep again, now starting to get worried about how we'll get the boy to re-adjust back to our time! decide it's time to check out another beach so we head north for the morning to discover
kapalua beach. great parking spot again and a nice shady spot at the end of the beach. our end of the beach is not too crowded, but the other end closest to the parking lot is packed! aa and i took turns snorkeling and while the other played on the beach with k. dug a big hole and all in all had a great morning. back to the condo for a good nap and then off to check out lahaina town and banyan tree park. found a great parking spot right on front street by banyan tree park. took some photos and then ventured down to check out the shops and find a place to eat - our first and only night eating out for dinner. it's no longer easy to eat out, especially dinner as he's the most restless in the evening, anymore! shops weren't that impressive - fun to check out the hurley store as they have a lot of things that we never get at the bes, other than that just a lot of junk! decided to eat at
kimo's, where we get a free hula pie with our dinner because of the marriott discount card. we were seated right on the water and although we had to take a few walks with the boy to keep him entertained, the dinner was deemed a success. oh and the hula pie was huge and delish. (hula pie = mac nut ice cream, oreo cookie crust, hot fudge, whipped cream and more mac nuts on top!) night swim before bed for a & k. a perfect day!
day 7: enjoyed our usual wake up time of 7ish. took a bit of time to get out of the villa today, but after getting everyone properly lathered in sunscreen and beach attire we hit the road for
black rock beach just down the road from us. it was a little crowded, but found a shady spot to lay out our things. aa went out for a snorkel while k and i hung out in the water and sand. the morning was a success - 2 honu (turtle) sightings by aa and 1 by me. aa took the plunge off of black rock.
a good lunch out at the fish market - fish tacos, fish sandwich and grilled cheese, then back to the room for a nap. aa and i traded off pool time while the boy napped. more pool time after a good nap and bbq'ed hamburgers with grilled pineapple for dessert. yum. our last night on the island. :(
day 8: had to be out of our room at 11 and flight didn't leave until 3pm. got in one last swim in the morning, but spent much of our last few hours here packing up our crap - realized that although we (I) really tried to pack light...still brought WAY too much! flight went great - k got his own seat again, didn't sleep a wink...but was really good the whole flight (we did pull out the magic bullet of a little einsteins dvd on the laptop that bought us about 45 minutes of silence and sitting still!). feel very lucky to be able to take this time as a family...at times it felt like a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it and will certainly be hard for all of us to get back to reality. thank goodness for the weekend we have to recover before heading back to work.
