Maui, HI

We're back from Maui and had a great vacation!  There were a few rough patches, but that's to be expected when traveling with a four year old :)  She was actually very good on the trip and by the end wanted to move to Hawaii!  The highlight was definitely swimming in the ocean.  Since the waves are higher in the winter months, we had to limit swimming to only one beach nicknamed Baby Beach.  This trip was pretty mellow - Callie was too young to do a lot of the more adventurous activities, so we planned it to be pretty relaxing.

We were originally going to take my mom on the trip with us, but she decided she didn't want to leave so soon after Libby's baby was born, so Molly scored a free trip :)  I think she enjoyed the relaxing break from school.  She gave us all haircuts while we were there and grilled us a delicious Spam & pineapple dinner one night - real authentic Hawaii :)  She also took Callie on a date one evening so Caleb and I could go on one!

The flights both there and back went extremely smooth.  On the way there Gallie colored and played with a little Disney princess play set I got just for the trip - best $10 I've ever spent!  One person beside us even commented on how long she played with it!  On the way back she played with it some more and we watched a movie.  Kind of off topic, but we rented Enchanted at the condo and she LOVED it!  She sang the songs the entire week and her new favorite princess is Giselle - haha.

Note to self:  don't spend $10 on a lei at the airport when you can get them everywhere else for $1.99.  She looks cute nonetheless.

Viewpoint from our trek to the crater of Haleakala.  It was actually kind of chilly towards the top.  It took about two hours to drive to the top.

Shopping and lunch in Paia - favorite town in Maui.

Looking into the crater.

Our most extraneous hike of the week :)

Beach right outside our condo (which you can see in the background).  It was a really nice beach but not calm enough for Gallie to swim in.  We were on the bottom floor, which was great because we basically walked out the door and were on the beach.  We went out every morning right when we woke up and took long walks in the water.  The sand was perfect - we didn't bring buckets or anything, but we make a bunch of sea animals decorated with shells, dug giant holes with our hands, and make "roads" from the water to hand built sand castles.  We also found quite a bit of sea glass washing up - I LOVE beach combing and am especially fond of sea glass.

So hip.

The Maui Ocean Center was ok, but not worth the price to get in.  Gallie had a good time, but got a little bored towards the end.

Doesn't she look cute in her baby bikini?

Beached whale (inside joke).

Pedicures on the beach.

The two whitest girls on the island - even Callie was more tan!

Apple bananas - Gallie's new favorite fruit.  We also enjoyed fresh pineapple, guava, papaya, coconut (yum!), and strawberries.

We had to drag her out of the water :)

We're glad to be home, but definitely miss the 85 degree weather everyday!  We lucked out and had all sunny days - perfect.

Other highlights of the trip:  Caleb - locally brewed beer (had about 100 different kinds!), ocean swimming, drive to the crater, Paia; Lacey - beach combing, FRUIT!, ocean & pool swimming, SUN!, Paia, bbq ribs at the pineapple plantation; Callie - SWIMMING!, apple bananas, shopping (that girl loves to shop!  She had $26 of her own money and came home with a bunch of stuff and $2... not bad!), the cat that we saw in front of the grocery store (haha - she actually said that was her absolute favorite thing about the trip!), eating donuts for breakfast (kids are so easy to please :)).

Aloha Hawaii!