In the spring I happened to see flights to Maui go on sale and on sort of a whim, Sean and I decided to book flights for our family for during fall break. I am so glad we did! It ended up being such an amazing trip. We stayed in a condo called the Mana Kai with an incredible view and it was right on the beach. We called the beach "our beach" and it really was our favorite of any of the beaches we went to. There was a small rocky section on one far end that made for great snorkeling. The rest of the beach was nice and sandy and there was a grassy area with lawn chairs and a pool by the lobby. It was perfect! The view from our balcony looked like a post card.
The kids loved looking for this cat in the lobby each day.
We ate some really great food during the week, and this banana cream pie from Monkey Pod was some of the best.
On day 2 we woke up and tried Malasadas for breakfast and then headed out to hike to the blow hole. Beautiful scenery all around!
We then headed to Kaanapali Beach and snorkeled and jumped off of the black rocks there. The kids were all brave and jumped multiple times! We were all excited to see sea turtles swimming with us while we were snorkeling. The kids also swam in the nearby hotel pool for a bit.
Sean
Jackson
Bode
Molly
Davis
We grabbed dinner on the beach at Hula Grill and walked around the shopping center for a little while. It was a really great day!
The next day we did the Road to Hana. Sean and I had attempted this years ago, but we were both so tired and car sick, we ended up turning around. Happily, this time went much better and we had such a great day. We downloaded an app with commentary and listened to it the whole way. Our first stop was at a short hike to a few waterfalls. The kids all swam in the last one!
We stopped at a lookout further down the road and saw a bunch of spinner dolphins swimming in the ocean. It was so beautiful!
We of course had to stop for some banana bread.
Davis had really been wanting a coconut, so we stopped at a stand on the road and got him one. He liked drinking the coconut water, but was not a fan of the actual coconut meat!
Black sand beach. Thankfully I had made us a reservation to visit here. Crowded, but beautiful and we had fun watching this big sea lion napping on the sand.
Another beautiful beach a little further down the road. This was probably my favorite beach on the route.
Yet another beach just a few miles down the road.
We made it to the end! The Seven Sacred Pools. They no longer allow you to swim in them, so that is a bit of a bummer, but they were pretty. The highlight of this stop was getting a stamp for the national parks passport books, little woven birds from palm fronds, and a really amazing hike with a huge banyan tree,
a bamboo forrest, and a long waterfall at the end. Molly and Davis were tired toward the end, so just Jackson, Bode, and I made it to the waterfall. I'm so glad we did-- it ended up being one of my favorite things we did all day!
Our drive back from Hana was very memorable! After a day of perfect weather, it started to rain shortly after we started back and it rained the ENTIRE way. It wasn't light rain, it was a downpour! Water was pooling on the road and with it getting dark, it was scary. Sean didn't seem to be phased by it, but I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole way back, praying for a safe return. Thankfully, we made it and stopped for dinner at a yummy pizza place for dinner before making it back to the condo.
The following day was pretty laid back. We spent it at the beach, eating yummy food, and getting shaved ice.
The next day was Sunday and we decided to attend the local ward for church. It was a great experience and fun to hear about the missionary experiences and baptisms happening in that area. We followed it up with brunch and a little thrift market shopping, and then a drive up to the top of Haleakala to watch the sunset.
We spent our final day in Hawaii hanging out at our beach. We rented a paddle board for Jackson and spent most of the day alternating between the beach and pool. Sean went and got us some delicious poke for lunch and we had to make one more stop at Ululani's for shaved ice. We had fun spotting sea turtles near the rocks and were treated to another beautiful sunset. We were flying home on a red eye, so we packed up after that and headed to the airport. It was a really great ending to a really great vacation together. I hope our family can return together again someday!
