Maui 2014 - Big Waves at Big Beach

I stopped off at the ABC store this morning to pick up some things for work. You can't go to Maui and not come back with a macadamia themed treat. After that we headed south to Ahihi bay. It's right beside a relatively recent lava field so there is very little vegetation but the snorkeling is great. We went there last year and it's where we got Callie to try snorkeling for the first time. The fish were there again this year and I got to see a parrot fish however the tide was in and the waves were big.

We only managed to do what we did last year. Hold on to her while she held her breath and checked out the fish. She still enjoyed it and saw a few schools of fish as well as a humu humu nuku nuku apu a'a fish.

On the way back we decided it was a good opportunity to stop at Big Beach since we weren't sure we would be back in this direction. It turned out to be an excellent idea.

Big beach is aptly named for the size of the beach but also for the size of the waves. Certainly not north shore big but for a sandy beach on this side of the island they are huge. They break right at the shoreline and Carter had an amazing time. He would let them break just in front of him and they fall down as the water rushed back into the sea. You had to keep an eye on him but he was pretty good about not going out too far.

A good thing too since the waves were big enough to knock all of us over at one point. The only bad thing about the day was that I think it will take us a few weeks to get the sand out of him.

Kerry, Carter, Kennedy, Brenda and Callie all went for shaved ice in the afternoon and we finished off the evening with a pineapple, chicken caesar salad and the Tigger movie.

Maui 2014 - Sunrise to Sunset

We got up very early so that we could see a sunrise and a volcano. Unfortunately we didn't see either. We were up at 5:30a and out the door so that we could get to the top of Haleakala, the highest point on Maui. With sunrise at 6:30a I wasn't really expecting to make it in time but I figured even if we were part way up the mountain we'd still get a good view. The weather however was not cooperating. It was raining quite heavily and the road up is very curvy so by 6:30a we were only part way up and no where near high enough to be above the clouds.

Even when we made it to the top the clouds were high enough that the sun was not going to peak through. The one good thing was that everyone who had made it up in time was on their way down by the time we got there. This meant we got to check out the park ranger hut on our own and the kids were able to become honorary park rangers. I'd also thought we'd be able to see the crater at the top, but it was completely fogged in. So in the end it was about 5 hours round trip to see fog. Not quite what we intended.

So far Kerry had been having pretty poor luck on outings. We went to Turtle Town and saw no turtles, we went to a volcano and didn't see a volcano so when she decided to go whale watching with the Duke's expectations were very low. It took a bit of time but by the time the trip was over she managed to see several whales. They didn't breach very often however one of them put on an excellent tale slapping display. We finished off the day with another trip to the pool, chicken for dinner and drinks with the Dukes. The sunset more than made up for missing the sunrise.

Maui 2014 - A Trip to the Ocean Center

We woke up to rain today, though Maui rain isn't like your typical rain. If you wore a bathing suit it's warm enough that you could still go to the beach. We had intended to go to the Maui Ocean Center so we figured a rainy day would be a good time to go. Unfortunately the center is a group of buildings and you have go outside between exhibits. It wasn't too bad though it did get a bit irritating getting wet every 15 minutes. I recommend that if you want to go, that you do it on a nice day.

The center itself was quite nice. Lot's of local fish. I imagine all they had to do to stock it was head out to the local reef with some nets. Some of the exhibits were outside including the tide pools. They weren't quite as exciting for Callie, I think because they just had larger creatures like starfish and sea slugs. She prefers some of the smaller creatures, especially the ones where you can touch them and they retreat back into themselves. It's much more fun trying to find them all and get them all hidden at the same time.

Kerry was our guide for the day. At one point I couldn't figure out why she knew so much about the exhibits. I had forgotten that she was carrying the speaking tour machine and was just repeating what she was hearing. Our favorite part was the shark feeding. A diver gets right into the tank and has a microphone so you can hear him as he feeds the manta rays. They look somewhat scary but are quite gentle as they eat right out his hand.

After the ocean center we came back to the condo and went on separate lizard hunts. The boys found 26 and the girls found 32. (I didn't know it was a contest otherwise we would have kept looking.) We ordered pizza for dinner and while we were waiting for it Carter and I went to play catch on the grass. Apparently we were irritating a grumpy lady who was mumbling something about ball playing being against the rules. (I checked and couldn't find that rule.) We have found that the 'owners' aren't too excited about kids wandering around but considering it's the renters that spend most of the time in most of the units each year you'd think they'd figure out we're helping pay for things around here. We finished off the evening watching Mulan on Netflix.

Maui 2014 - Fighting Iguanas

It was a long day yesterday so today was quite uneventful. Everyone slept in till about 6:30a and we didn't go down to the beach until around 9:00a. I managed to avoid getting sunburned the day before, unlike the rest of the family, and wanted to get out so I went down to the beach in front of our condo to go snorkeling. The snorkeling between Kamole II and Kamole III beaches is surprisingly good. It's got the same type of coral as the rest of Maui with lot's of fish and long chains of reef. If you're in Kihei and want to go for a quick swim I highly recommend it.

We spent much of the day at the condo and the kids went down to the pool in the afternoon. Just before dinner Callie, Carter and I went gecko hunting. We went to a different area of the grounds this time and found a lot more than geckos. There were all sorts of tiny iguanas. The look like geckos except they're not as flat and the males have a crazy throat thing going on. We even got to watch two of them fighting. Or mating. Not quite sure. Either way they pretty much ignored us and let us get very close.

It was a steak night for dinner. That's three of our four steaks taken care of. For me it feels more likely six meals since we never seem to finish them for dinner and I eat it for breakfast the next day. One more night and I think I'm done with steak for a while.

Maui 2014 - Surfs Up

We woke at our normal pre-sunrise time and after everyone was back from their morning walk on the beach we drove to see Sean and Kennedy take a surfing lesson. This was Sean's 2nd lesson since he and Kerry did it last year. I took pictures the previous time but with just the normal lens on my camera I couldn't zoom in very far. This time I had a zoom lens which made for much better resolution.

Sean was as good as he was last year, getting up after just a few tries. His wipe outs weren't nearly as exciting as Kerry's were since he always seemed to fall off backwards. Kennedy was a natural. On one of her first tries she rode the wave in farther than any of the adults. We were worried it would take her the whole lesson just to get back out to catch the next wave but with the shallow water she was able to walk most of the way.

I stayed for a few sets and then walked back to the condo to meet Kerry and the kids. We were heading down to the local beach with the same family we met up with yesterday. Carter had indicated that he "didn't want to play with that guy" referring to Jackson, one of the twin 5 year old's. I figured they needed something to bond over so I started building a volcano in the sand. Just close enough that the bigger waves would fill the trench around it. Before long, both families of kids were working to make the trench big enough so that it was ready for the next big wave.

We also spent some time building Carter's hot tub. he wanted to dig until we could find the lava. Not quite that deep but we did find the ocean. It was very windy and we'd been out in the sun for a while so we went back to the condo for lunch by the pool. We finished off a great visit with another trip for shaved ice. By this time of course, Carter and Jackson were inseparable. I guess in the end he didn't mind playing with "that guy".

Kerry had to go to back to the Hula Grill in the afternoon to pick up her credit card since she'd left it there the day before and didn't realize until she went grocery shopping. It's not a quick trip so she was gone a couple of hours. Just before she got back, the Dukes showed up for dinner and we finished the day watching Grey's anatomy. A busy but fun day.

Maui 2014 - A Trip to Baby Beach

I woke up in Carter's bed this morning. He's been in the habit of climbing into bed with us around 2:00a but last night he got in around 10:00p before I'd even gone to bed so it was easier for me to just sleep in his bed. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as comfy as the big bed.
Both kids went to the beach this morning and were lucky enough to see a giant sea turtle. It was out in open water and I think there was a hedge in the way of Carter's view but he was still excited he got to see a turtle's head.

Today's beach trip was to Baby beach. Carter's favorite. It's a great beach for him because the waves break far from shore and it's very calm right by the beach. When we arrived we happened to find a colleague of Kerry who also just became a vice principle. We had planned to meet them but Kerry wasn't receiving any of the texts she was sending so it was pure luck that we ended up at the same beach at the same time. They have kids similar age to Callie and Carter so Callie played with the girl her age. Carter played with Kennedy a bit but he wasn't quite ready for a new friend.

After the beach we packed up and went to the Hula Grill. Sean and Brenda both love the place and go every time they come to Maui. The ambiance is great with the tables in the sand and live music so we enjoy it too. I ordered a nice girly drink called a Blue Hawaiian and took a good ribbing for it from Sean. The event went great until the kids food showed up and there was an incident over a folded chicken finger. Long story short we may not be welcome back.

Carter and I went down to the beach in front of the restaurant after we were done eating for a walk where he played his favorite game of running away from waves. We then headed back to the condo for a well needed nap for everyone while Kerry went shopping at Foodland to pick up some groceries. We kept dinner simple after the big meal at the Hula Grill and everyone got to bed early after a long day.

Maui 2014 - Turtle Town

Kerry and Callie got up early again and went down to the beach for sunrise. Carter and I were a bit slower to get up and I could tell Carter was unhappy that he didn't get to go. We'll have to make sure to wake him up from now on.

We took some time to make sandwiches and pack a picnic lunch as our plan was to hit Turtle Town and Big Beach. Last time we went to Turtle Town we ended up at a more secluded part but this time we knew to go a bit further to get to the main snorkeling area.

We were a bit late arriving but we managed to grab the last parking spot. The area was much busier than I was expecting with SCUBA lessons and two boats of snorkelers parked just off the coast. Kerry and I both got to go snorkeling but it was very windy and the water was quite cloudy. Coupled with the SCUBA people running you over with their jet packs it wasn't exactly on my top 10 for snorkeling spots. The spot we went to last year nearby was much better but considering I stepped on a sea urchin and almost drown, I wasn't going to try it this year with even bigger waves.

We had considered going to Big Beach but that beach is wavy on a calm day so we figured we'd save that for another day and headed back to the condo. I had a quick nap and as I was waking up I figured out a way to fix the WIFI. (See! Napping is a good thing.)

We met up with the Dukes for happy hour at Moose McGilly Cuddy's. A great bar with $3.00 drinks from 4:00p to 6:00p. I don't think they put a lot of alchohol in them but they're still tasty. We stopped by their place for a quick drink before heading to the grill to cook dinner while the kids took a dip in the pool. Another great day.

Maui 2014 - Zacky

Despite the long day yesterday, Kerry and the kids still managed to get up before sunrise. (I on the other hand had been up until 11:30 to finish off some work and was dead to the world.) Kerry likes to walk the beach in the morning and with the kids already up everyone went down. Callie was thrilled to find Zacky, a bichon that was on the beach every morning last year. He was there again this year and was a good substitution for Wilson who's still back home. I'm not sure I would want to take a bichon on the sandy beach every day.

After their morning walk, everyone headed back down to the beach outside our hotel. It was incredibly windy so we figured it was best to stay close to home. No sense driving too far only to come back early. The wind made for some great waves for the kids. The only problem was that it was so churned up that sand was getting in their bathing suits. I think it took three or four showers to get everything clean. The adults toughed it out on the beach spending much of the time chasing after toys and chairs as they tried to blow down the beach.

Once we got clean we went down the street for shaved ice. Our condo is much closer this time so it is only a couple minutes walk. Shaved ice is effectively a snow cone with coloured and flavoured syrup on it. I had root bear and vanilla while both Callie and Kennedy had something with a green tinge. This was very fitting since it was St.Patrick's day.

The last time we came to Maui we tried every evening to catch a Maui sunset. Most of the resorts in Maui are located on the western side of the island meaning you get to watch the sun set over the ocean. As it gets closer and closer to the horizon it looks bigger and bigger and easier to look at directly. I think I took about 100 pictures since I didn't know which ones were going to turn out and I didn't know if we'd get to see another one. It's a good thing I have a digital camera.

The kids spent the time attempting hand stands in the sand. Carter got a few good ones in but the master was definitely Kennedy with her gymnastics background.

After sunset we went back to the Dukes to BBQ dinner. Tonight was a chicken night for us. We bought chicken breast from Costco and even though we're here for 10 days I have a feeling I'm going to be sick of chicken by the time we leave.

Maui 2014 - Getting There

Our day started early. Very early. Kerry was up by 2:45a and the rest of us weren't far behind. We had to be out the door by 3:30a as we wanted to get to Seattle in time for our 8:45a flight. Traffic was of course very light but with torrential rain most of the way it was anything but easy driving. We made it with plenty of time for the first leg of our trip to Honolulu. It was my first trip to Oahu tough since it was only a 2 hr layover, I can't really say I've truly been there. The last leg of our trip was a mere 25 minutes. As I told the kids, "First we go up, then we go down."

The car rental had much more drama involved than you would expect. Kerry did a great job finding the cheapest company, but of course with that comes the concern that you've selected a company with less than acceptable business practices. It hasn't been too bad so far. The car is older and a bit dinged up but it will get us from point A to point B. (I made sure to take lot's of 'before' pictures just in case they try to hit us up for repairs.) The Dukes weren't quite so lucky, as they appear to have ended up with a car without air conditioning.

Our condo on the other hand has been exactly what we expected. It's very spacious and the kids had great fun searching the closets for goodies left behind by previous renters. Our only complaints so far is that the wireless doesn't appear to be working and our unit is at the very back of the complex. Good views but a bit of a trek to get to the beach.
Once we were settled in and had finished unpacking our groceries from Costco and Foodland, the kids went down to the pool. Steak for dinner and drinks in the evening with the Dukes finished off our first day.