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!

Too early!

Yesterday one of my sisters' said that she was craving s'mores, so we all decided to go over to her house to make s'mores. My brother ended up marinating some meat and we had a on-the-spur bbq gathering. Which I am not complaining about! I love my family so much and I was happy to spend my day off with my family. I told them all about Kaua'i (since I am STILL on a high about how amazing that day trip was!) and I was able to give my little DollGirl the shell that I bought for her!

I can't believe how big girl she looks with her new haircut! I miss her long hair, but she wanted to donate her hair to "those people who can't grow their own." (Those were her words when she told me why she cut her hair). But she loved the shell that I got her. I told her it was her mermaid phone, because if she puts the shell to her ear, she can hear the waves calling her home if she was a mermaid. She said that she heard the waves...I guess she is like me, mermaids at heart. :)

And yes, we were able to make our s'mores! It was so funny though because since we didn't have a fire pit, we just toasted our marshmallows over the BBQ! But I'm kind of excited because my family (both of whom have their houses' now! I can't wait until I live in a house!), both of them want to make a fire pit in their backyard! S'mores here we come!

It was a lot harder to cook it over the grill coals because it was warm enough, but there was no fire...and the marshmallows would slower melt off the stick...so you had to make sure you had your graham cracker and chocolate right there with you! But it was so yummy and just as I remembered it! I can't even remember the last time I had made s'mores...and I LOVE s'mores! We just don't have fireplaces here in Hawai'i, that's why! :)

Anyways, that was yesterday. Today, I had to make a decison EARLY this morning...and I just couldn't. It was just way too early! You see, yesterday when I left my sister's house, she gave me a cinnamon swirly wheat bread...which I will never complain about! BUT my OTHER sister gave me a loaf of pumpkin bread...and we all know how much I love pumpkin anything!! So this morning, I had to make the extremely hard (first world problem!!) decision, which bread should I toast and eat for breakfast. It was so early, but I decided to....

...eat BOTH! :) Both nicely toasted, slathered in butter. And yes, it was super yummy and put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. I love my sisters. And I love how they spoil me. :) I think, maybe, tomorrow I might make the same choice. :)

Around lunch time I got the email notice that one of my postcards made it to it's destination in France and so  I was eager to come home to receive another address to send another postcard to. Little did I know that I also had a postcard waiting for me when I got home! But not only that! I also received my Pipsticks's subscription! It was definitely a good day mail-wise! :)

I was thinking that this envelope felt a lot thicker than the last one that I got and then I remembered that this was a "super mega pack" since this is the 2nd birthday of  Pipsticks! How cool! :) But I'll do a review of the "unboxing" (can you call it an "unboxing" if it's not a box?!?) in a separate post.

This fun postcard is from Irina from Russia. It took 49 long days to get to me, but I am so glad that it made it to me! :) The postcard is of a fairy tale hero named Emelya. It also shows some "traditional Russian dishes, such as cakes, pancakes, Baranki, suskki and cereal in the pot." I will look up this fairy tale at a later date. It would be fun to know about Emelya. :) I also really love the stamps! So colorful and beautiful! :)

This postcard will be on it's way to the mainland tomorrow to a young lady named Lucy. New Jersey to be exact. All the postcards she wants were postcards "of anywhere you have been, whether it is somewhere colse to where you live, or somewhere ou have traveled to." So I decided to send her a postcard of the beautiful sunrise of Lanikai, since I have definitely been there a few times for the sun rise...and I even told her that. :) She also asked to recommend a book, so I recommended my favorite series of The Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder. She also said, "If you would like, I would love it if you tell me about where you are sriting from. DO you write your postcards at your kitchen table, in a cafe, at your local library? What is the weather like? What is the view from your window? Are there buildings, or trees, or other houses?" So I took the time to answer all her questions. I like it when people give you specifics about what they want you write about. It makes it a lot easier. :) I hope she enjoys the postcard! :)

#kauaigirls2016.

Kaua'i. Enough said. Kaua'i.

No seriously though. Kaua'i is beautiful and I had an absolutely amazing time there. I am already looking forward to going back and just staying there for a few WEEKS! I don't know if I could live there, but to visit...now that place is paradise.

I love O'ahu, and I can see this place as "home" for now...but Kaua'i, although is still "Hawai'i" is so different than O'ahu. I heard that all the islands are different from each other, O'ahu being the most industrialized island of all the island. And I would have to say that I agree. Kaua'i seemed so untouched and so different from my beloved O'ahu.

I was there only for the day with three of my very good girl friends and the whole day was a day of relaxation, story talking, and lots of laughter, and lots of memory making. We saw a lot of beaches, all different from each other, and we saw a lot of beautiful sites. I was able to take a few pictures with my phone camera...but my other friend took her "complicated" camera and was able to take some really nice shots. I plan to go to all the islands. Multiple times. And just explore and have a lot of adventures.

We left early this morning. I got up at 2:45am to leave the house at 3:15am to meet up with everyone at 3:30am and to be at the airport at 4am to make our flight at 5am just so that we can see the sunrise on Kaua'i at 6:22am. And after complications with our car rentals (for future reference, I don't think that I will ever rent a car from Advantage, super poor customer service and an infestation of baby cockroaches in the car. But I didn't let that ruin my wonderful time there!), we were able to go to the Lydgate Beach Park only about 9 minutes away from the airport.

 

"Friend" with the "complicated camera getting an amazing sunrise shot!

 There were so many drift wood at this beach! Beautiful, beautiful driftwood, that I have to admit that I took 3 pieces home. :) I don't get much driftwood at the beach that Iive by...or any of the beaches that I live nearby! So I was pretty excited to see all the driftwood!

 

 

My friends and I were pretty tempted to stay here for a LONG time, it was so peaceful and although the storm (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that despite TWO hurricane warnings, we decided to go anyways...oh we are that daring! :)) was churning up the water and make a lot of huge waves, it was so relaxing just to watch the waves and just be near the ocean. I think it was the storm that brought all the driftwood up because I heard that normally there wouldn't be this much driftwood. But even the driftwood was beautiful. And yes, the sunrise was breathtaking.

After tearing ourselves away from this beautiful beach, we decided to find somewhere to eat. That was one thing I loved about this trip. I did write up a list of places that we could visit...but mainly it was, drive down the one road that Kaua'i has, and stop where ever we wanted to. :) But we were starving by this time and so we went to the first place that I listed. And that would be The Beach Hut just a few minutes away.

 Super nice people and yummy local food. I think that the best thing about this day trip was the company. There was never a dull moment. :)

 

And who can say no to the view! I had the Portuguese Sweet Bread french toast...and it was yummy! And I had to have my lemonade! :)

We saw many things, went to plenty beaches, and even stopped at Ross to buy some sunglasses! :) I am not going to write in any particular order, there was way too much to say! But Kaua'i. I can't wait to go back. :)

One the the many waterfalls that we saw! It was so mesmerizing! You can see the amazing power of this waterfall! I have to admit that looking at this waterfall brought be back when I was younger and I use to go to Yosemite and go place on the rocks of the waterfall there.

Here is my crazy friend! All through this trip she kept getting in crazy, and sometimes DANGEROUS positions to get really good shots!

This was surrounding the waterfall. It was SO green and it was so tranquil! The birds in flight and just the peaceful feeling of the place...this was another place that I felt like I could have stayed forever!

White we were driving we all agreed that we needed a coffee stop and so we decided to look on yelp for a place to stop for coffee and I am so glad that we found this place!  If ever you go to Kaua'i, you should stop here! The service was so amazing, and the ambience of the places was so welcoming and homey! They were playing Christian music and the workers were singing along to the music and it just made you want to sing along as well!

This is the Kilauea Lighthouse. Another beautiful place! I love the contrast that the storm clouds brought to the blue, blue water!

We had to randomly stop here to take pictures of the Lo'i. Our friend that wasn't able to come with us really loves Lo'i's and so we stopped to take a picture of this one for her. I couldn't really get a good shot with my phone cam, but I'm sure that my other friend got a good one. :)

The chicken here were really tame and just came up to you...and so we sprinkle some bread that we had in the car for them to eat.

The wet and dry caves were so amazing to experience! I have to admit that I was weary to go inside...I'm not the biggest far of the dark, but it wasn't too dark and it didn't go too far deep, so that was cool. But one of my friends took a picture and another tourist exclaimed how awesome the flash bounced off the spider webs from the ceiling...and that's when I knew that I had to get out...the whole top of the cave was filled with HUGE, HUGE, HUGE spider webs with HUGE, HUGE, HUGE spiders. That I could not do...but it was pretty cool inside...and the acoustics was amazing!

The place outside the caves was just as beautiful! It really does look so untouched and so pure! It was so breathtaking!

This was the beach that was on the other side of the caves. The waves were really huge, but there were a lot of cat eye and puka shells here...and so we stayed here for awhile to pick some shells.

I love the islands! There is always a beach nearby, no matter where you are! So in this picture you can see were the caves are, and just across the street is the beach!

This is another random beach that we stopped by. High, high waves...but they were super messy. There were a few paddleboarders who were braving the crazy, messy waves though. So we stayed for a while and watched them.

A dream come true! I am a mermaid! :) I bought my DollGirl a shell here...so that she can always have the ocean with her. :)

The last beach that we stopped at before heading back to airport. We stayed for awhile just watching the waves crashing on the shore.

I am home now...and I am tired! I feel like I can sleep all day! But I wanted to write this post before I forgot everything, although I highly doubt that that would happen! Today was an amazing day...and I am looking forward to the next time that we will go there...but the next island that I'll be going to is Maui in a few weeks! But Kaua'i. It was everything that I had hoped it would be and more. Until next time, Kaua'i...aloha!

Now I am going to knock out!