Maui Day 5

Day 5 - Road to Hana

Today was an awesome day! I had been dreading this day since we started planning the trip. This "road" is one of the most windy and narrow roads in history. No really. I am pretty sure there's some kind of study to prove this fact. And for those of you who know me, know that I get car sick. It all started in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania...

Anyway, this road may be windy and narrow, it is gorgeous! And there are hidden waterfalls along the way. Our guidebooks gave specific stops and mile markers to look for in order to pull over and hike back through the forest to find spectacular views and waterfall pools to swim in. I, however, did not swim. I'm a pansy. And it was COLD water. Thank you Kendell for pointing this out.

Maui Day 4

Sunday was a beautiful and relaxing day. Josh and Dad went and played golf at Ka'anapali North Golf Course. This is where they play the Seniors Skins tournament and multiple PGA tournaments.

While they played golf, Millie, Kendell, Chris, and I walked the beaches of Ka'anapali. The beaches were very clean and the water was spectacularly clear.

This evening? Date night. You'll never guess what we had. Yep. Sushi. My fav! We went to Sansei Sushi just north of Ka'anapali. We ate some awesome sushi and enjoyed a nice evening with each other!

Maui Day 3

Day three brought a whole new adventure for us. Again we got up early this morning to make the most of our time in Maui. We headed down to Kihei for a snorkel/rafting trip. Let me just say, I hate snorkeling. No really. It is an awful experience for me. I do not like floating helplessly in the ocean and I usually get seasick. However, Josh...LOVES snorkeling. So, I compromised and went along. So glad that we did!

Our tour was through Blue Water Rafting where we were on a rigid raft with about 15 people. It was crazy. Watch the video at the link if you have time... We were hitting waves with no hesitation. It was a complete adventure and I would recommend this to anyone coming to Maui (except if you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, have had or has back problems/surgery, or get easily motion sick).

This is our boat (well, actually one I sniped off of the internet). If you notice the two blue ropes on either side of the boat sides, that was ALL we had to hold on to to keep us in the boat. We sat on the edges and held on to those blue ropes while our boat jumped 15 foot waves! My hands hurt soooo badly! We did a lava tour (awesome!) and on the way saw a pod of spinner dolphins (really awesome!) and even some bottlenose dolphins (SUPER awesome!). Our guides, Brad and Kapeli even thought it was incredible to see both. This was also a snorkel trip so we snorkeled in four different locations. The first was not nearly as pretty as I had expected. The next two were on either side of Molokini Crater. It was beautiful with bright colored fish and gorgeous coral. On our way back to the boat dock, we stopped off at Turtle Town and swam with giant sea turtles! So neat! They are very curious and would come right up to where you were. No touching though, they are protected!

That night we were exhausted! We all got a little too much sun and our tushies were very sore! We had a low key night where we went to eat at a Mexican place called Tia Juana's and then headed over to Walgreens (yep, really) to get our underwater disposable cameras processed. We will have to keep our fingers crossed that my turtles and dolphins turned out as well as I am hoping!

Maui Day 1-2

After an interesting start to our day, we finally made it to Maui on Thursday afternoon. Hawaii is five hours earlier than Kansas, so when we landed at 3:15 pm, it felt more like 8:15 pm. We were definitely tired. We hurried over to get our car rentals so that we could head to our condo. With a few hurdles there, we were finally on the road to our condo. We are staying at Ka'anapali Royal Condominiums. It is beautiful! It overlooks the pool, the golf course, Whaler's Village and of course, the ocean!

We took advantage of the time change/jet lag situation and woke up early the next morning. Early like 2:00 am. In every guide book that we read, it says that you must go see the sunrise at Heleakala (an inactive volcano) but that if you were wanting to see it, you should go the day after you arrive so that you can use the time difference to your advantage. PS It was FREEZING! We sort of rushed out of the condo and we forgot the blankets that I had laid out to bring with us. Oh well...

This is a before shot, while we waiting for that slowwwwww sun to make its way over the crater.

Finally... it was beautiful. Cold and beautiful!
We took advantage of the beautiful backdrop for a family photo op!

Of course, we needed on of Josh and I. Please note that I am literally as close as possible to him because I was absolutely frozen!

We lucked out on the car rentals. Kendell and Chris really wanted a convertible and we really wanted a Jeep Wrangler. He we are on our way back down from Haleakala back to our condo for nap time. :)

That night was our first real night in Hawaii. After playing in the pool and relaxing that afternoon, we headed down to Lahaina to walk around and eat dinner. We had dinner at Mai Tai's on the beach so that we could watch the sunset. What a full day!?! It came full circle watching the sun rise and sun set!

Our first harvest!

Oh yeah! That all came from our little garden! It was awesome! We only picked about 1/3rd of what we had. We have rosemary, thyme, and cilantro too. Next year though, we will probably only do about half as many plants and try to put a few more veggies! Can't wait!

Weekend Warriors...

This past weekend, Josh and I packed up the truck with ladders, buckets, and paint brushes. We were off to paint my parent's house in Broken Arrow, OK. It was SO hot! Like, the most hot I have ever been. My amazing husband spent two days out in the heat and idealized the perfect son-in-law (at least for this particular weekend).


Before we started painting on Saturday morning, my folks had quite the surprise. Josh and I were up on ladders just getting started, and noticed my dad armpit deep and nearly his whole head in a hole out in the yard. He was not happy. I asked if he needed help, and he said to go inside and help my step-mom. H-O-L-Y C-R-A-P! The pipes under the sink had broken and there was water everywhere! It was about 1/2" deep by the time I got in there. We spent the first couple of hours of the day, wringing out towels and trying to troubleshoot where the leak was coming from. What a day!?!

Here is a before photo of Josh and I prior to entering the unbearable heat. (yeah, my ears are real... eat your heart out Dumbo!)

The after photo? Yeah, right... I value my marriage!

4th of July

As usual, our 4th of July was fabulous! I took a bunch of pictures the first day we got there and then my battery died. Duh. I always forget to charge it, right, Mom? Anyway, before it died I got this great shot of one of my three perfect little nephews with Josh. Ledger is so big now! He walks, laughs, and chatters away! His current favorite words (at least while we were there) are "Sassy", "Six", "Bella", and "Dadadadadadadadadada".


After the 4th of July, my cousin, Ethan, came to stay with us in Kansas City for a week. He needed a break from Salina and his mom needed a break from him. He's 14 and is 6'2" and 180 pounds. He's a beast. He was supposed to be helping Josh paint this week, however, the forcast has called for rain every single day this week. So here is the alternative:


Lazy bums. They have been slightly productive though. A few days ago they helped clear an area for my father in law to pour concrete. And tomorrow? They are pouring the concrete. Should be an adventure. One, I unfortunately am going to miss. Can't wait to hear the stories!