A glance at our Hawaii Vacation

Hawaii was bliss!
If I wasn't so close to my family I told Dave we would sell everything and move there.
But for now (and forever) it will just be our vacation love.

We arrived in Hawaii on June 2nd.  My parents and niece met us there as we invited them to go with us.  We rented a condo in Makena which is a super nice part of Maui.  We love it there.  As a child my parents took us there several times so I was so excited to take my children there.  They loved it.  DAVE loved it.  As our Maui vacation was a graduation present from me to Dave when he finished his business degree I was so happy that Dave fell in love with this place.
It was great to have my parents there as they helped us out when Dave and I wanted to take a walk on the beach without the littles or go swimming in the ocean by ourselves.  It was great!
Not to mention my parents are super easy to get a long with and they know Maui so well.  It kinda felt like having our own tour guide because they are so well traveled when it comes to Maui.

So once we got in Hawaii, we waited about 45 minutes for my parents and niece to arrive. We all got lei'd at the airport (wowza...ha ha) and picked up our rental van, (we rocked the mini-van) and headed to Makena Surf.  The most awesome condo's in all of Maui.

Once we checked in and got settled we decided to take the girls down to the beach to see the ocean.  Now the girls weren't in their swimsuits but we let them get wet anyway.  They loved it.  I felt super bad for making them leave because they were having such an awesome time.
But we were all starving.
So we headed into a nearby town to eat.
There was a classic car show near the place we ate and Dave was in heaven.  I didn't have my camera with me so well...he didn't get any pictures other then with his phone.  But it was bliss for him.

After that we went to the store and bought food for breakfasts some lunches and a few dinners.

We rented a condo so we could be lazy and not have to leave if we didn't want to.  It was perfect.  Although nobody wants to cook on vacation it was wonderful to have home cooked meals, and lets face it, it's so much cheaper.

The next day was my birthday! YES!  I woke up to floods of texts from friends wishing me a happy day.  And my good friend Nat had let me know that she would be having her baby on my birthday.  I am so honored.

We decided to attend church at the local ward.  It was so wonderful.  I can't even express how my testimony of the Gospel was deepened by the members there.
(I'll have to blog that story another time)

After church we went home and got changed and went to upcountry Maui for a little Mexican food and some site seeing.  Beautiful!

The next day we were just lazy.  We hung out at the beach (right at the condo) all morning.  We later got ready and headed into Lahinia because I had booked us to attend the Luau there that evening.  We ate lunch at Bubba Gumps that day and then the Luau that night.
The food was amazing.

The next few days we spent lounging around at the beach and being beach bums.
And we were in heaven.

One day we decided to go to Hana.  IF you've heard of "the road to Hana" you've heard it's scary.  Well it wasn't too bad as they have made improvements to the road and expanded it as much as they could.  But I'm not going to lie there were moments that I peed my pants (okay maybe not but pretty close)  There's over 500 turns and 200 bridges in this 50 miles.  It took us about 3 hours to make it to Hana, and another 45 minutes to make it to the Seven Sacred Pools.  Then we decided to go the rest of the way around the island.  Most people don't go this way as it's not recommended because the roads aren't up kept very well and well it's actually kinda scary.  But it would have taken us a lot longer to go back the way we came...so we were up for the challenge.  I would always say to my mom who drove to "Honk" as she was going around the corner.  And one corner I said "You better honk mom, this is a scary one" so humoring me she did. IT SAVED US. Seriously on the other side was a car, and had we not honked we would have hit it.  So grateful.

The ride to Hana is amazing and beautiful.  It reminds me of what the Garden of Eden must have been like.  If Dave and I ever go back to Maui ourselves I would love to go do some hiking there. (and I'm not a nature person).

The rest of our trip was spent on the beach and like I've said...just being lazy.

It's always good to come home from vacation, but let's face it...I can't wait to go back....and well my skin is looking a little pale again.  I must remedy this.

SO enjoy the photos..which really is just a glimpse at our trip.

Before Church

Momma, Daddy and my niece Ashley (she just graduated from High School)

The stunning pathway to our condo

Wildlife in Upcountry Maui

Up Country Maui View

Luau

{Sigh} take me back please!

The best smelling flower in the world

He is so handsome!

My amazing parents

What I looked at every night.  View from our condo

I would wake up before the sun came up to bask in the Maui Morning

See the little boat out there.  LOVE

A little hike at the Seven Sacred Pools

The Seven Sacred Pools

My Beautiful Littles

A creeper! HA HA HA

Eucalyptus Tree HOW COOL!