Maui 2016.

I am back from my amazing vacation on the beautiful Hawai'ian island of Maui! Although I am so happy to be back, I am a little sad that it's over. I was so fun to have my family and friends with me...and I'm always a little sad when the time comes to say goodbye. I suck at goodbyes. That one quote by Winnie the Pooh always makes it so bittersweet. "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Well, I am so happy that I am a journal keeper and so I will write excerpts from my daily journal of the things that we did on Maui on a day-by-day timeline. I will try my best to limit the pictures...but oh my, I will try! :)

*Day 1: September 17*

I left my sister's house at 7:15am to head to airport and my sister and I decided to switch seats so that she could have some alone time to just relax since she had a very busy week. My sister and her family and I were heading to Maui from Oahu...everyone else was coming from the mainland. Our flight was a whooping 43 minutes and I sat with my brother-in-law and my DollGirl and KaiBoy.

I was pretty proud of myself for not packing along of things since I knew that I was basically going ot live in my swimwear and coverup and I just brought neutral colored casual/sun dresses.

My sister's family luggage was a bit more than mine! But that's okay because she likes to come WELL prepared! :)

For the majority of our week stay we stayed in the beautiful condos of 'Aina Nalu in Lahaina. It was directly across the street from the Seventh-day Adventist Church there, so that was a nice surprise! :)

"Wow! Talk about windy! I decided to wear a dress and it was super windy! The sucky part is that the wind was not even cold! It as super hot! So it's hot and super muggy" Since it's hurricane season it has been crazy weather...even here in Maui! The water is super brown and the waves are wow messy! But the place that we are staying at is so beautiful! I love this condo and that we are staying here! I wish so bad that I could have a place like this, even if it were just one room [the condo had two rooms]."

And yes, as soon as we settled we walked to this a yummy cafe called The Cool Cat and ate dinner and then yes, we decided to take a night swim in the salt water eternity pool to wait for the rest of our group to come. :)

*Day 2: September 18*

In the morning we ended up going to the continental breakfast where this lady also was telling us about different tours and activities that we could do on the island. She ended up having a raffle drawing for some awesome prizes. Since we had rented out two rooms, we were able to get to raffle tickets in the "bucket" and guess whose TWO raffle tickets won?! Yep! We did! So for one of the prizes we decided to get a a free pass to the Maui Ocean Center. After breakfast, we swam again in the pool, had lunch and the little kiddos took their nap and as soon as they woke up we all made our way to the Maui Ocean Center!

KaiBoy's fascination with the fish and the aquarium as a whole warmed my heart! He was so interested in everything I loved watching him as he took in all the beautiful life of the ocean! His reaction to everything was everything my inner child was feeling! :)

The beautiful hono was sooo amazing to see! I see sea turtles a lot when I am swimming in the ocean...and I am always blown away with how beautiful and graceful they are!

  "I really liked the aquarium and i think that I would go there again. I did read that itwas the in the top 25 best aquariums in the US. I am glad that I had the opportunity to go. I believe tomorrow we are going zip limming!! But today was awesome!"

*Day 3: September 19*

I shared rooms with DollGirl and I felt bad for leaving her before she woke up. That little girl is a hurricane sleeper! My goodness, but she also loves to cuddle when she sleeps...and I felt bad for leaving her. But we left the condos at 6:30 to head to the north shore to go ZIP LINING! I have always wanted to go zip lining and I was so happy that we had the chance to go!

   

 

Our guides said that we would reach 50 mph! It was AMAZING! :) I am so glad that I didn't have any fear of heights though because we did a lot of climb up tall trees, scary movable ladders and bridges! But I would SO do it again! I loved it and I had so much fun!

My sister and her brother-in-law ended up not going and so we met them at this really yummy restaurant called Da Kitchen and they had amazing food!

 

 

Check out all the different kind of "Loco Mocos" and since we all know that I love loco moco's I decided to try the Kanak Attack Combo Moco. I couldn't even finish 1/4 of it! It was so much! I ended up taking it home and was able to make 3 other meals of it! I shared it of course! But I think in the future, I will only like my regular loco moco! Too much food touching...:)

*Day 4: September 20*

Today we wanted to explore the beaches...so we drove around to a couple of beaches before we settled on one that didn't have [too much] brown water. 

It was actually a really nice beach and we were able to swim out and it had a fast drop, so we had to make sure the kids stayed away from the ocean's edge. I know that my DollGirl and KaiBoy are water babies and they will just run in before you can even blink and eye! But DollGirl was able to go out and snorkel with us for the first time! And I loved the fact that she loved it! It was a super beautiful day!

"I sure do love to snorkel! If you swam out past the dead coral closer to shore, there were amazingly, bright coral and just so many fish to see! After I snorkeled for a few hours, I decided to just go out and float. The water was cold when you first got in and then it warmed up fairly quick. I think I could take a nap out on the waves! I swear if I were a mermaid, i would have my best frieds be a shark and manta ray and a whale...and they would stand [swim]  guard and I would just got to a warm spot in the ocean where no one could find me and take a nap floating, or even just cloud watch or stargaze! That would be so awesome!"

*Day 5: September 21*

Today was another super early day where I had to leave my DollGirl before she woke up. We had to be at the boat harbor by 5:30 so that we can head out to the island crater of Molokini by 5:45am! Super early, but I also was super excited! We were suppose to go snorkeling for an hour at Molokini and then an hour at Turtle Town...but unfortunately the ocean was really restless and the waves were showing and it was not the smoothest out there...and so we weren't able to snorkel at Turtle Town...we stayed two hours at Molokini.

I am thinking my lucky stars that I do not  get motion sickness because the ride out there to the island was and extremely bumpy and the opposite of smooth!

This was the boat that we took out to the island crater and I had to admit that it was a scary boat, but I had faith in the driver! But it felt like it was going to tip over!

My poor brother-in-law took two Dramamine pills for his motion sickness and he still wasn't feeling well!

But I had to admit that the sunrise was pretty spectacular over the water! I hope that I never have to live far away from the ocean!

After about an hour we finally get to the island crate. As you can kind of see, the water is already really choppy and messy!

And at first a lot of people took a chance and went out. I loved it! I absolutely love being out in the water! The choppiness of the water didn't phase me at all and I was swimming all over the place. I was with my BroIL for a the fist 30 minutes before he couldn't take it any longer and had to go back on the boat where I joined him for about 5 minutes to make sure that he was going to be okay. Then I went back out in the water. For awhile the underwater life was view-able and there were so many fish that would swim all around you and I saw a lot of eels and just a lot of gorgeous fish and coral! Then it was harder to see so far down and so my friend and I were just playing around in the water and just just swimming with the fish that were swimming around us. My friend and I were the last ones to leave the water and when we got back on the boat, I realized that most everyone was feeling motion sick! I really did feel bad for everyone...but I have to admit that the guides should have brought us in a long time ago since the water was really bad. I'm not the strongest swimmer and I have 100% respect for the ocean, but I did not feel like I was in any danger at all...but when I looked back out over the water, I was surprised with how bad the waves where!

But the water was an amazing color of blue and I think that it would be amazing to a mermaid to be able to live out on the water!

*Day 6: September 22*

"Today was a lazy sort of day. We had Breakfast at this really yummy place on the pier called Koa's. The view was amazing and I have to say that I am going to miss eating at Ocean front dining areas!

After that some of us went to the Lavender Farms and I have to say that this was one of my favorite things that we did while on Maui! I think that it was because we could still smell the ocean air and I was surrounded by a lot of beautiful flowers!

And the view...oh wow! The view was just so amazing...I was telling my BroIL that it was times like this were I didn't even know if I wanted to take pictures of the view since pictures don't do it justice! You would have to go there in person to see how amazing the beautiful, breath-taking view. It was amazing.

Here is my lil KaiBoy just running on the open fields and it warmed my heart seeing him so happy. :)

*Day 7: September 23*

Today we went beach hopping again and we were even able to see some penguins! :)

It was a very bittersweet day because we knew that it was our last day all together since everyone but my sister and her family and I were still going to stay one more day. So today we just enjoyed each other's company and tried not to be sad. It's always sad knowing that in less than 24 hours we were going to have to say goodbye. Goodbye's suck. :(

*Day 7: September 24*

By 9:00am more than half our group had left for the airport. It was really sad watching DollGirl and KaiBoy say and hug everyone bye. DollGirl especially was sad and her Grandma. (My sister's mother-in-law) It was fun and full of memory making and I am going to miss them. Before lunch time my sister's family and I had already checked out of our rooms and were making our way to Kehei to our condos that we rented there. While we were there we found a playground for DollGril and KaiBoy to play at while we killed some time before check-in.

It was hot, but my niece and nephew really liked it. :) And it got them in a better mood after saying goodbye to family and friends. It's always so hard being away from friends and family...but the good thing is that Hawai'i is our home also and we also made family and friends here too. :)

I just had to add that this is one of the best climbing trees! :)

*Day 8: September 25*

We woke up early and at at this real nice cafe down the road for breakfast before my BroIL had to go and do some work. I took my DollGirl too the pool and we stayed there for no less than 2 1/2 hours! It was a lot of fun and swimming can always help with any kind of sadness. When we got back to the condo, we ate a fast lunch and both her and I laid down for a nap. My sister was able to organize and pack everything. Then as soon as my BroIL was finished with his work...we went to the car rental area to drop off the SUV we were renting and jumped on a plane and now I am home writing this. :)

One things I did not add everyday because I knew that it would be a lot of repeating myself but I was in the water everyday. I swam in the saltwater pool everyday and we went to the beach nearly everyday. It was amazing. And I loved it. :)

I came home to find several of my monthly subscription boxes had come as well as several postcards. I will be posting subscription unboxings and postcard reveals through out this week only because right now, I just want to jump in the shower and then go to sleep. Time to hustle for that money again so that I can go on more adventures!

On their way out!

Out-going postcards:

This beautiful card of Waikiki will be sent to Patrik in Czech Republic. He didn't really specify any postcards that he wanted to have, and also he just wanted us to write anything that we wanted to write, so I just wrote out a quote for him. I hope he likes the postcard1

This postcard of one of my favorite beaches here on Oahu will be on it's way to Malta to an 8 year old little girl named Freya. She mentioned that she loved to swim on the shores of her "island in the Mediterraneans" and pretend that she is a mermaid, so I decided to send her a picture of one the beautiful beaches here on "my" island and one of my favorite mermaid quotes!:)

Exploring North Shore.

I have to say that I am a bit disappointed, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason...and I have to keep telling myself that since we have to cancel our trip to Kaua'i today.

Last night my friend called me while she was at paddling practice and told me that her paddling coach was telling her that Hawaiian Airlines were waiving the rescheduling fee for flights to Kaua'i, Maui, and Big Island because of Storm Darby...and the uncertainty of the flights going from and to there. I was really sad because I would have gone anyways, but there are a few of us that were going that had kids and they were going to be left with babysitters while we were gone on Kaua'i for the day...but then there could be a chance that we were going to get stuck in the island and not able to come back and so they didn't want to take that chance. So we had to reschedule our trip to September.

To say that I am disappointed is a big understatement, but then like I said, I believe that everything happens for a reason and there is a reason this happened. So instead of staying home and pouting about the cancelled trip, I asked my friend if she wanted to take an impromptu trip to North Shore to do whatever we wanted to, storm or not. And she agreed and it was a LOT of fun. :) We stopped where ever we wanted to on the way to and from North Shore and we had a lot of girl talk moments with lots of stops to beautiful, gorgeous places. I am still in awe that I live on this beautiful island...and it's coming up to 6 years that I've lived here...and wow, really?! :) Time sure does fly when you are enjoying life. :)

I did try to take pictures, but I also know that I've failed in capturing all the beauty that I took in. The first place that we went was...Starbucks. :) We needed our coffee fix...and yes, I am still trying to stay away from coffee on a daily basis...and it is still very hard...Since I know that I can easily get addicted to the caffeine in coffee, I try to stay away from it. But I hadn't had any in about a week and so I think that I'm good...

Then we were on our way to North Shore. As we were driving, I saw a sign that said "Ho'omalunia Botanical Gardens" and so (since my friend was driving) she did a quick turn around and we made our way to the gardens. I love gardens. Yep, botanical gardens are high on my list of places I like to visit. :) But oh wow...this places amazing!!! Gorgeous views and since the storm was coming it was shrouded in mist and fog and it made the views look spectacular!

I was way too busy enjoying the views then taking pictures of it...but look at our beautiful Ko'olau Mountains! Like I mentioned earlier, pictures do not do justice to the amazing, awe-inspiriting places of this beautiful place that I call home. Look how green it is! So gorgeous! There is a camp ground on at this place...and I think that it would be fun to go camping here...at least l we don't have to worry about bears and raccoons! :)

When I had told my landlady that we were going to go driving around the island towards North Shore, she told me about her favorite place here on the island and so we decided to go visit it. Laie Point...or "Puka Rock" as the locals call it. There wasn't a lot of parking, but then right when we got there it started to rain, and so a lot of people left so we had perfect parking. :) And I am glad that we came here because it is a beautiful place. It was super windy, and rainy, but it was so worth it...and I can see myself coming back to this place. Although, I'm not a big fan of a lot of people...and I can see a lot of tourist like coming here...and its a beautiful place and it's so photogenic!

I swear that I could have stayed here for hours just watching the waves rolling in the water, however as I was getting out of my car (we took my car) I guess there was something sharp on the door handle and I cut myself and even though I had a napkin to "soak" up the blood, it was a lot deeper than I thought and the blood was saturating the napkin. No, I didn't take a picture of it! :) But we left after about a decent amount of time here at Puka Rock and went to the gas station to get some bandaids. ($2.09 for 2 bandaids....wow!)

My friend had always wanted to go to Waimea Beach and so since it was just a hop, skip, and a hop away from Puka Rock we decided to stop by there, and since it was raining still, the parking lot, which is usually always filled up, and a few empty stalls that we were able to grab.

I love this beach. I wish that it was closer to where I live, but it's fun to come out here for the day...during times like this the water is soooo calm, that it's hard to believe that this is one of the places that surfers come world wide to surf when the surf is high! But look how calm it is! The water wasn't bad either...it was a lot warmer in the water then it was out!

Another place that we stopped at was at Sharks Cove. I had not yet come here...but I know a lot of people like to come here to go snorkeling...and I can see why. It's super rocky here though and shallow...I like snorkeling where it' a bit more deeper...but it still is a beautiful place!

I am spoiled with all the clear waters that we have here! Whenever I go back home to California, I am reminded how dark and cold the water can be. I would come back here to Sharks Cove...but I don't think I can be here all day...but it would be a nice stop. 

We spend the majority of our time walking around Halaiwa, a place that reminds me of St. Helena, Ca...except island style. :) We then stopped by a truck stop to get some Thai Food...I love Thai Food! So ono! :) Another place that we stopped at was the Laie Hawai'i Temple. I didn't take any pictures of the place, but it was a beautiful temple and the people there were super nice and soooo calm like! But my friend and I stayed here sitting on a bench right next to a fountain and we both agreed that it was a very peaceful place and we didn't even realize how much time passed because it was sooooo chill and relaxed here!

We then made our way towards town to our favorite boba tea place called Taste Tea to get our island favorite drinks. :)

And ended our day with a bowl of yummy Ramen from Goma Tei. It was my first time there, by my friend loved it there and so she wanted to take me there. And I have to agree with her...I liked it there. :) After we stopped at a favorite trinket store, Red Pinapple, we headed home and called it a day.

Although the day didn't go as planned, I'm glad that I didn't stay home and do nothing. I'm glad that I have a friend that I was able to spontaneously call to brave Storm Darby with me to explore this beautiful island that I live on. 

But I sure can't wait until I get to go to Kauai'i! At least I have something to look forward to now! :)