My parents had been planning this trip to Hawaii for years.
And by years I mean pretty much as soon as we got home from the last one!
They decided to go in August and we were thrilled to come and join them.
(Well mostly thrilled I was pretty anxious about the 11 hour travel with a 16 month old)
We were also joined by my sister, my brother and sister-in-law, and our wonderful friends from Spain.
The week before we were supposed to leave two hurricanes were predicted to hit Hawaii. (Last time a hurricane hit Hawaii was 20 years ago... just our luck right?)
One on Thursday before we arrived and one on Sunday just after we arrived.
So my anxiety level was through the roof!
The first hurricane didn't cause any problems on Maui so we decided to continue with the trip as planned and thankfully the second hurricane headed north of Hawaii and we didn't even get any rain!
Saturday = Weary Travelers
We flew from Milwaukee to Minneapolis where we met my parents and sister.
It was a short flight and Jake did great just playing on our laps.
From Minneapolis to LA my parents wanted to take Jake for most of the flight.
Joke was on them when Jake had a huge blow out ruining his clothes, Jenna's pillow, and my dad's shirt.
I won Mom of the Year Award when I realized I forgot to pack an extra set of clothes in the diaper bag.
So Jake finished the flight in his sleep sack and in LA we bought him and my dad some sweet LA shirts!
In LA we met up with our friends from Spain and then we all flew to Maui together.
(Well minus my brother and his wife, Dani who met us in Maui a couple hours later)
By this flight Jake was exhausted!
My parents wanted to take him but they couldn't get him to fall asleep.
So halfway through the flight I traded places with my mom who got upgraded to flight class (thanks to my dad's platinum status) to try and get Jake to sleep.
Okay can I just say how awesome first class is?
You have so much room!
My mom was lucky enough to even have an extra seat next to her so I had more space than I knew what to do with.
I was able to sing Jake to sleep and he slept until those annoying announcements about beginning the descent, what the weather will be like, etc.
He woke up screaming and would only calm down if I sang to him so I sang for the rest of the flight.
He was such a trooper and did way better than I thought he would do!
We arrived in Maui at 8:30pm local time, picked up the rental car, and drove to the condo.
We put Jake right to bed and then we followed soon after.
Sunday = Sunrise Baby
My sweet boy was so tired and jet lagged that he woke up crying at 3:30 am after just 5 hours of sleep.
We tried for almost an hour to get him to go back to sleep with no luck.
So we got up and tried to make the most of it.
There is a volcano that has spectacular views of the sunrise so we decided to make the 1.5 hour drive there since we were already awake.
It was so beautiful to be up above the clouds but so cold!
Jake was awesome in the car and I think he dozed off a little on the way there.
After we headed back for breakfast with the rest of the family and a nap for Jake.
We also hit the beach that day to blind fellow vacationers with our white Wisconsin skin.
Good thing most of them brought sunglasses with them!
The water was absolutely amazing at 80 degrees!
That afternoon we did our grocery shopping and had time to chat and catch up with each other.
We were sure to head to the beach for sunset.
We walked the beach until it was dark and then we all headed in to get some much needed sleep.
Monday = Feel the Burn
So as you can imagine pretty much everyone woke up sunburned on Monday.
Except for me and Ryan who were anal about sunscreen since we knew how white we were.
So most people wanted to stay in and avoid the sun.
So we took Jake to the pool in the morning and then we all headed to Lahiana that afternoon for some shopping.
On the way there we got to practice our Spanish by playing the Spanish version of I spy.
We checked out the banyan tree and browsed the shops.
The best part was the shaved ice from Unulani's recommended by my wonderful friend Michelle and it did not disappoint!
That night we played some very cheesy games like down by the bay, big booty (Mike was the reigning Big Booty), Meow, and Murderer in the Dark.
Tuesday = Wave Chasing and Mountain Hiking
By Tuesday Jake was finally starting to adjust to Hawaii time and was acting more like himself so we decided to take him to the beach.
He was scared of the sound the waves made but eventually walked around in the water.
When he was tired he sat with me just where the waves just touched out toes.
I won another Mom of the Year Award when I didn't lift him up high enough when a bigger wave came in and he got a nice sand bath!
That afternoon was overcast so we headed to the Iao state park to do some hiking.
Turns out the "hike" was only 0.6 miles so there wasn't much to it but we still had fun checking out the rainforest and river.
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Recreating a classic Alyssa picture from the last trip.
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| December 2008 |
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| August 2014 |
That night we played some more traditional games like Sequence and Headbanz.
Wednesday = Swimming with the Fishes
Wednesday was the day we booked our trip to go scuba diving and snorkeling.
We loaded up on the boat and headed out to the Molokini Crater to do the first dive.
Ryan, Dani and I were planning to scuba dive and Jenna, Ana, and Feliu were going to snorkel.
We got all the gear on and got in the water when I started to have a panic attack.
I tried to start my descent underwater 5 times and each time I could only make it about 10 feet down.
So I had to ditched the scuba gear and I joined the snorkelers where I head a much better time.
The water was so clear and you could see all the way to the bottom.
Then we got back on the boat and headed to the second dive site.
on our way we came across some dolphins so we followed them for awhile.
Dolphins are so fast and it was incredible to see them so close!
The second dive site was closer to shore and the water wasn't as clear but we did get to see some sea turtles and star fish.
On this dive Jenna and Feliu got so sea sick that we ended early.
They looked so sick just floating on their board and noodles demanding that the boat come to pick them up.
When the captain found out how sick they were he gave Jenna a chance to drive the boat back and she said that really helped.
That afternoon we hung by the pool and took some naps to recover from all the swimming we did in the morning.
Thursday = Surfing and North Shore
Thursday morning we rented surf boards and paddle boards.
I stayed on the shore with Jake and took him to a park.
Everyone else tried to become expert surfers but instead ended up with board chaffing and sun-burnt calves.
That afternoon we headed to the North Shore for lunch at the flatbread company we had been dreaming about since our last trip.
After lunch we did some shopping and tried to watch some expert surfers at the beach with bigger waves but the water was really flat so no one was out.
Friday = Sandy Toes and Anniversary Celebration
Today was our last day so we all headed to the beach.
We buried Michael, built a sand castles, walked the beach and swam in the ocean.
Today was also our five year anniversary so we headed out to lunch to celebrate.
The food was heavenly and I'm still dreaming about that pineapple upside-down cake!
Our flight left that evening at 10:30 pm so we packed up and put Jake down for a "nap" before heading the airport.
We got so lucky because from Maui to LA and from LA to Minneapolis we had a whole row to ourselves.
We witnessed a miracle as we watched Jake sleep through both flights!
We said goodbye to my parents and sister in Minneapolis and managed to keep Jake entertained for the short flight to Milwaukee.
We arrived home on Saturday and 2:30pm exhausted and sporting sunkissed skin.
We unpacked, hit the grocery store, and our block party to get to know our neighbors before collapsing in bed at 9pm!
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