Maui 2013

 Our trip began immediately following school on Wednesday afternoon, the 13th. 
  We picked the kids up from school, and after a few stops were on our way to Great Falls. The hotel was a good one but no matter what we tried the room was about ten degrees too warm which made sleeping very difficult (we added to it I am sure with our seven bodies in the one room).  I think I totaled about 2.5 hours sleep before the 4:30am alarm went off. We caught the shuttle at 5am and were at the airport minutes later.  As we stood in line a man down from us turned in a wallet of an Eric Baker.  Yes, the wallet had fallen out as he was picking up the luggage outside.  So thankful for this man's honesty!
  The kids were excited for the day. This was the first of three flights (GF to Seattle, Seattle to Portland and Portland to Maui).  The flights went really well; the kids played on the ipads and watched movies Jeff Vaz helped to download onto them.  Luke took one brief nap on me...but was happy. We arrrived at 3pm.  Picked up the rental car....Oh, I almost forgot when Eric went to the carousel he came back and said one bag was missing. Must have been picked up by someone. 

  Well, we immediately started to look for someone who might have taken it.  I am praying...Finally Eric goes back to the carousel and realizes the black bag (he had seen previously) was ours!  It had been there the whole time...he had not recognized it at first, whew!
  Safe on Maui and with our rental van, we headed to Costco.  So grateful to have gotten the Worldmark timeshare as the hotel we were to have been in did not have a kitchenette. I cannot imagine two weeks in one room and with a dinky fridge...ugh!  This was such a blessing. We had to move 3 times to different rooms but not too bad as they move your stuff for you.

 

  We went to the beach by the resort right away...kids still in their regular clothes. They got wet and sandy in a matter of minutes and loved it!

 Eric's parents had arrived late the night before and met us on the second day.

 The weather was of course wonderful, though it was interesting how many days the wind was quite strong....
come on, you would think we could get away from it for a while...
somehow with warm weather, palm trees, ocean and ice cream we didn't mind it so much.

Luke has been walking in brief stretches this past month but the last two weeks on Maui he got it!  He is a full-fledged walker.  It was fun for Grandma and Grandpa to be there and see it all happen. He has mastered getting up and down and now just needs to become away of sharp edges that seem to make their way in front of his head.

 Luke loved the sand and ocean. He did eat some of the sand but it wasn't bad.

 Olivia would dig holes and Luke thought they were perfect for climbing in and out of.

 What a happy little guy!

 You can see how the effects of the wind :)  Grandma and Grandpa would keep a good eye on the kids at the beach which was so helpful.

 Two years ago Justin just wasn't up for snorkeling. Well, this year he was out there seeing it all. So proud of him for giving it a chance. Madeleine, who loved snorkeling from the first time she went on the last visit, encouraged him, which helped.

 Austin rode the boogie board for hours and then would go to the sand when he was tired of the 

salt water in his mouth.

 Worldmark, the view from our place.

 We found this beach we had not known from previous visits.

It is right past Makena surf resort and it is fabulous. A beautiful path down to the beach with 

showers available which is so helpful with sandy kids.  It has the smallest parking lot and its sign is almost imperceptible.  I had been keeping an eye for a secluded beach we had found on

our first visit years ago, and it is for this reason it caught my eye. Definitely our favourite.

 Justin took surfing lessons up in Lahaina.  I'll get his surfing photos up 

soon.  Grandpa went up with him and Eric at 6am, and we met them up there.

 For 5 days Eric would go up to Kaanapali for his

conference.  He would have to leave at 6am to get

up there by 7am. He'd go until noon and then come back or we'd go up there

and meet him. This day we went up and the kids and I went on the submarine. Then out

to lunch at Bubba Gumps.   

The walk on Kaanapali beach.

Whaler's Village.

This is at the Sheraton Hotel. Home of Eric's conference and where we were to have stayed.

 Dinner at the Fairmont  Eric treated us to a wonderful 

night out at one of the Fairmont's up scale restaurants.  The kids did so well,

especially considering it took almost 2.5 hours.  Great food and service, a real treat. 

A Sunday drive led us to this neat little beach.  Eric, Grandpa and the two oldest kids were driving to Hana.

Up north.

 A great flatbread pizza restaurant up in Paia.

 What a wonderful trip!

We were so glad to have shared it with Grandma and Grandpa. Here are a few memories with them:

• reading the Hardy boys books in the evening...hard to stop as the end of the chapters would always leave the kids wanting more
• ice cream in the evenings.
• special rides in their car
• morning walks and sometimes breakfast with them
• pool time
• having a sleep over                 

We were so glad they were willing to not only come but share our unit with us.  We loved having so much time with them!