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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Finally, finally, pics from this summer’s Maui vacay

Day 1: Got up at the crack of dawn and rushed to the airport only to find our flight to Maui was suddenly delayed. I would have headed to the nearest airport restaurant and plopped down with a book and some food to wait it out. And that would have been a rookie mistake because our flight was delayed and delayed and then cancelled! Luckily TubaDad (AKA King of Business Travel) knows how these things generally play out and moved us to a new flight the second he heard about the delay. Whew, so we all made it to Maui on the scheduled day. My luggage wasn’t so lucky, so I had to make a quick stop off at Hilo Hattie’s to buy a hat and pair of flip flops. No biggie, nothing that an ice-cold lava flow couldn’t cure:
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Day 2: I think we were in the water every day. The ocean was right there and the hotel pools (we stayed in the Maui Marriott in Kaanapali) were awesome! Loved our room too, the 1-bedroom suite had 2 separate rooms and a door between, so we had a living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and two bathrooms. The girls’ CA cousins were also vacationing on the island, and the girls had a ball swimming with the boys: Maui_19-000001

Day 3: We adore downtown Lahaina (who doesn’t?), so we packed up the family and hit the town for a day of sightseeing, chowing at Bubba Gump’s (hard to beat that open-air dining right over the water and the cool kid’s meals), and playing in the ocean:Maui_20_jumble-000001

Day 4: The Marriott had a really great daily activity list and we took full advantage of it. Making crafts, letting the kids watch a movie in the movie theater while we sat in nearby lounge chairs with lava flows and books in hand (ahhhhh), feeding the koi, and other fun things:
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Day 5: We checked out the Maui Aquarium with the cousins – it was a neat place and everyone enjoyed it. And we went to a little free Hawaiian show and then discovered Japanese marble soda at dinner (wow, that stuff is cool):
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Day 6: The girls made shell necklaces in the kids’ center, and we got a GIANT inflatable turtle that the kids insisted on calling “Turtie” despite the fact that it sounded like they were talking about something unsavory floating in the water. We watched a movie under the stars – it’s hard to picture a more relaxing setting for a movie:
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Day 7: I got a beachside massage and the girls and cousins went on a submarine ride. (No boats for me because I get hellaciously seasick). And we took advantage of the hotel’s Keiki’s night out (they’ll watch the kids while the parents go out) and went out for fondue dinner with A & G. So fun!:
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Days 8 & 9: All too soon, the trip was coming to an end. We swam all day then enjoyed one last spectacular Hawaiian sunset, watched a Dive-In movie at the pool (well the girls watched, TubaDad and I lounged and read books), played a last game on the iPad, then called it a night and set the alarm. Morning found us kind of sadly on the way to the airport and then home to CA. The bottom pic is what the girls did the second the plane took off, by the way, they keeled over, totally pinning and trapping me:
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Wonderful, relaxing vacation. Hope to see you again soon Hawaii! Aloha and mahalo.

19 comments:

  1. Anonymous8/26/2012

    I forgot about this vacation. It looks like it was wonderful! How did you choose where to go and the hotel?

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    1. I forgot too, a blog commenter reminded me that I *still* hadn't put up pics. Oops! :-)

      As we always do on our trips, TubaDad racks up the air miles (for free plane tix) and I do a bunch of internet research and figure out where we're going and where to stay. I knew we wanted Maui, then I chose the Kaanapali strip because you can walk to anything, and I also liked the look of this hotel's pools and the room setup.

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  2. I love the way you put the photos together for this blog post...how fun!

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    1. Aw thanks Teri! I had so dang many pics (since I didn't put them up as the trip happened) that this was the only way I could think of to do it. Whew.

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  3. Just what a vacation should be - fun, relaxing and near the ocean :)

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  4. Seriously, you are killing me. We want to go back so bad. Maylin asks me several times a week when we are going back. Your pictures are beautiful.

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  5. Oh I'm so glad you posted these! I always love seeing your Hawaii pics! Being closer to the Caribbean, we always end up there, but I'd love to see Hawaii one of these days! What hotel has been your fav of all your Hawaii trips?!

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    1. Hm, our fave? So hard to pick. TubaDad says he likes the Ritz on Maui. And I don't know that I could pick just one. The Princeville on Kauai was pretty awesome (but that was pre-kids). I asked the girls if they liked the Grand Hyatt on Kauai or the Marriott on Maui better and they said "both." Oh wait, I do know one that I didn't like at all, and that was the Sheraton in Maui.

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  6. You can buy the Japanese marble soda locally at Ranch 99 or Lion's market if you want some more.

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  7. You can buy the Japanese marble soda locally at Ranch 99 or Lion's market if you want some more.

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  8. If you have World Market in CA, they also sell the Japanese soda. We save our bottles and then have occasional smashing parties to free the marbles (with protective gear of course).

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  9. So when are you guys going to try Aulani? We are heading on a cruise to Hawaii in October and plan on spending the Day there.

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    1. Lisa, we would LOVE to see Aulani. I think it's been booked solid any time we've poked around, but we are kind of last-minute travelers. If you go, please send a report back.

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    2. If you ever want me to check into it for you let me know. I am a Disney Travel Agent (Dream Job!). We are going in October. I will let you know how it is. I plan on taking a few hundred pictures (we will only be there one day!

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    3. Dang, that IS a dream job. How cool!!

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  10. Brenda8/27/2012

    yep - Sheraton Maui is really a relic from the past. I have no clue why they haven't updated it. The Maui Marriott on Kaanapali is my favorite of all the hotels on all the islands - including the ones you have stayed at on Kauii. I just like the location, the ability to walk to the strand to a million things, being right on the beach and being so close to Lahaina - my favorite Hawaiian city. Glad you had such a wonderful time.

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  11. Love,love,love the Marriott at Kaanapali! Perfect for families! Seeing your photos brought back awesome memories! Looks like you ALL had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Anonymous8/31/2012

    Great pics. Sounds amazing. It's always been my dream to go there. Hopefully someday! :)

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  13. Beautiful! Glad to hear you had such a wonderful family vacation!!

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