Aloha from Hawaii

After much debate on where to go during out week of vacation with a 10 month old, we finally settled on Maui.  Slightly ironic since Mac's parents took him to Maui when he was an infant as well.  It was an amazing trip with lots of much needed family time!

Day 1: Easter Sunday we caught a direct flight from Portland to Maui.  Elliot did great on the airplane, waving at everyone and even eating a few snacks.  We landed in Maui about 10pm local time.  On the way to get the rental car Mac had an, oops, moment getting on the shuttle.  He forgot about Elli in the backpack and bonked her head getting into the rental shuttle L  Needless to say the overtired baby was not pleased.  Straight to bed for all!

We had the whole back of the plain to ourselves!  That doesn't happen often.

Day 2:  We woke up early (turns out Elliot was still on pacific time and woke us up at 4am!).  We were woken up to a very playful baby that despite all our attempts to put her back to sleep was more please with crawling over mom and dad in bed and screaming playfully at the top of her lungs.  This was the first we experienced Ellis WWF moves where she will climb up us, jump body slamming us, then try to gouge our eyes out.  Many mornings of this to come.  Finally, we packed up the car at the early time of 5:30, stopped at a Safeway for some food shopping and headed out on the road to Hana.  We stopped in the town of Paia for breakfast and Elliot had her first Hawaiian smoothy.  She loved it! Hana is a small town way out on the east side of Maui and the road traverses the edge of Haleakala, along the Pacific ocean.  The road was narrow, windy and often crossed single lane bridges.  Its not for the faint of heart or someone that gets car sick easy.  We took our times and stopped a lot.  We had a VERY sleepy baby which worked to our advantage.  We actually stopped less than we planned because Elli was sleeping so much we didn’t want to wake her.  Definitely a moment where we felt like VERY lucky parents.  It seemed as though there was an amazing tropical waterfall every few miles, interspersed with fruit / juice stands.  We hiked, drank smoothies, swam in a few waterfall pools, ate banana bread.  At the end of a long day, we pulled into our rental house in Hana.  It was amazing!  Is was a 1920s era cottage with an open feel, looking out onto the pacific ocean and shaded by coconut palms.  The owners had placed fresh fruit, from trees on the property, in the refrigerator and hawaiian music was playing.  Outstanding!  Dinner, early to bed for Elli and a few bears for her parents!

Sleepy baby!

Highlight of the trip!  This waterfall was up a private road and then trail 20 minutes.  We were the only ones there and enjoyed an hour or so of relaxation and swimming all to ourselves.  Unbeatable!

Day 3:  Again we were up early, thank you Elli.  After a relaxed breakfast, we took our first foray into Haleakala national park, on the Kipahulu entrance.  We hiked ~4 miles through a bamboo forest to, Wailea falls, a beautiful waterfall and then returned to the ocean side to visit the Pools of  ‘Ohe’o aka 7 sacred pools.  These were a series of waterfalls and waterfall pools that spilled into the pacific ocean.  A short hike brought us to an amazing swimming hole and Elliot loved it!  On the way back we stopped to give Elliot her first taste of coconut water.  The farm we stopped at grew, roasted and served their own coffee and opened a coconut for Elli.  She drank it through a reed straw and LOVED IT.  Turns out she loves drinking coconut water and watching her drink from a coconut almost the size of her own body was hilarious.   Returning back to Hana, it was so nice to be staying at the cottage in Hana so we were able to relax and take our time.  Back home for lunch and then the afternoon adventure was searching out another swimming hole on the edge of the ocean called Venus pools.  Unfortunately the pool was nearly empty due to lack of rain, so we had a beautiful dinner and a good night’s sleep. 

Getting ready for the day ahead.

Time to slow down and relax.

Advantage of Elli waking us up at 5 am...the beach all to ourselves.  Morning snack beach side during our run.

Yet another advantage of Elli waking us up at 5 am.  We were out and ready to go on our morning run through the cattle lands alone the ocean for sunrise.  Another highlight of the trip.

Baby tossing contest!

Off for a hike

Just hanging out, nothing to see here. 

Hanging out at the Cottage after our adventures.

 Day 4:  All good things must come to an end.  We were very sad to leave our Hawaiian cottage in Hana.  It was so tranquil with ocean views, space for Elli to crawl around, bright and sunny.  If we could of we would have stayed all week! But alas, we must returned on the road to Hana.  We traveled back along the road, stopping to swim at a number of waterfalls.  Dinner was at Mama's fish house.  This is the best reviewed restaurant on Maui and WORTH IT.  We got a window seat to watch the sun go down and sipped cocktails and fed our baby delicious food.  Elliot was on her best behavior - she had calamari, seared tuna and steak, loving it all!  She was flirting with all the wait staff and all of the surrounding tables.  On our way out, a table a few spots away actually stopped to ask to meet Elliot because she was such an entertaining baby to watch.  They were very entertained by her eating from chop sticks.  Next up was a drive through central Maui until we got to our hotel at Ka'annapali beach.  This was a bit more of a traditional resort, but the condo was amazing and the setting unbeatable.

Blow hole at the black sand beach

Black sand beach.

3 bears waterfall.  A little treacherous to get there but well worth it.

When we got there we were all alone because there wasn't a trail off the road.  When other people saw us doing it they joined in :(

Enjoying the beach while waiting for our table at Mama's Fish house

Calamari!!!

Day 5: Once again Elli was up early, making it perfect for an early morning walk on the beach and a discovery that we accidentally lost a critical piece of the BOB stroller we rented in Hana.  This triggered a quick run into Lahina to buy this $2 part.   Mom and Dad took an afternoon surfing lesson and Elliot spent time with a babysitter (and made her first painting!!).  The surfing lesson was a blast!  The waves were HUGE…well at least for beginners (the instructors even said so).  Crystal was a natural and surfed several waves all the way into the beach.  Mac had a bit more trouble but was able to get up a few times.  We both got tossed around a bit in the surf and by the end were ready for drinks and a hamburger on the beach.  Then pool time with Elliot who loved swimming and really enjoyed watching the other kids and floating on her baby float.

Elli's first piece of artwork!

Day 6: POOL DAY!  After a morning run along the beach and breakfast, we headed out to the pool.  There were 4 pools, including one with a lazy river, one with a waterfall (!) and one with a waterslide.  We lounged in our chairs, red our books, took the baby swimming and applied a LOT of sunscreen.  It was relaxing and incredibly enjoyable.  Somehow we even timed it right that Elli napped in her stroller in the shade for a few hours while mom and dad read books!   Then Elli went to bed and mom and dad decided to do something touristy and went to the Old Lahina Luau.  A great show!  Included a roast pig, a variety of ocean fish and traditional Hula.  Drinks were included and delicious.  

Baby napping poolside!  Yes!

Lazy river time!

Lunch anyone?

Mom, you bought my shirt to small.  My belly is to big for it.  (to be fair, she is 10 months old and this is 12-18 mos shirt!)

Day 7: We decided to tough it out and get up early for a long and windy drive up to the summit of Haleakala.  We got there about 30 minutes prior to sunrise, early enough to appreciate the tremendous stars.   The sunrise was breathtaking!  All of Maui was undercast and we were several thousand feet above the clouds.  One of the best sunrises of our lives.  Elliot was a trooper and just cuddled the whole time.  We then took a hike through Haleakala crater.  It is no surprise why they practiced the moon landing there - desolate and beautiful at the same time.  We were able to see where Mac's parents' took him as a child and that cabin was REALLY out there into the wilderness.  Back to the hotel for dinner.  Unfortunately we discovered on the drive home that we mis-timed our flight to the big island the next morning and had to scramble to re-plan to trip.  It all got sorted out but gave us a scare, we thought we may have to spend another day in Maui, we were heart broken ;)

Dinner on the beach our last night watching the sunset.

Day 8: Early morning walk on the beach and then a somewhat frantic rush to the airport.  We took a small (8 seat) Cessna Caravan on a 45 minute fluid from Maui to the big island.  This was a low altitude flight over some beautiful areas and Elliot even slept!!  Caught our plane to Portland (barely) as the Kona airport apparently doesn't believe in overhead announcements.  Oh well - we got on board and after some seat rearranging were on our way home.  A great vacation!  No sunburns for anyone and a long of great memories.