Hawaii

When I was a child my father was in the restaurant business. Every year, in January, my parents would travel to Maui with the owners of the restaurant chain he worked for. I recall grandparents coming to stay with us and a sun-kissed mother and father returning with big smiles on their faces and lots of souvenirs. Years ago my father began speaking of a family vacation to Hawaii.
After a lot of planning, that vacation opportunity came this year, a trip years in the making, complete with a very special extra little traveler.

{Unfortunately my sister was unable to travel with us, she's in the retail business and vacay is a no-go from Thanksgiving to Christmas. While we missed her, she took care of the dogs and assured us she was okay, sand & sun isn't really Alysa's idea of a vacation. She's more of a theatre, shopping, no sunburn zone type of girl.}

We left Knoxville on Thursday morning. This was Lauren's first flight {of many to come} and I was a little anxious, but I followed the tips I've read and heard from other moms and we had no issues. On the first flight, from Knoxville to Atlanta, she slept through the entire flight. We met Matt in Atlanta {he flew in from Cartagena the night before} and we were on our way. It was great to be reunited with daddy and know that we had no more 'good-byes' on the horizon. The rest of our flights {Atlanta-LAX, LAX-Maui} went amazingly well. Lauren did fabulously and received lots of compliments from strangers and her own set of wings for her baby book.
We arrived in Maui about 9pm, local time, which was about 2 am our time. Lauren did well and even allowed us to get a few extra hours of sleep the following morning. We spent Friday exploring and made our way over to Lahaina, where we were staying at my parent's time share on Ka'anapali Beach.  The Marriott is located right next to the Kaanapali Alii, where my parents stayed on their previous trips, so it was fun to explore and see all that they had shared with us about gorgeous Maui for so many years.

Some highlights from our trip:

*Gorgeous scenery*
We were in awe at the amazing ocean views and lush greenery all over the island. Each day, several times a day, we commented on how gorgeous it is. My parents have told us for years there really is no place like it.
I concur.
We were also in heaven with the weather. 80's by day, no humidity and a cool down at night that actually allows for a cardigan.
Paradise.
Done.




{my first Hawaiin lei}



* Lauren's Wardrobe*
Yes, this was a highlight of my trip, dressing our dolly up in beach appropriate attire. It was an exciting way to begin the day, the dresses, shorts, and tank tops. I use the term, "I", but I think a few others were as enthralled with Lauren's daily ensembles as I was.
And let's not even start on the swimsuit topic. Lauren officially had more swimsuits in her suitcase than I did.



*R&R*
We often throw out the term, R&R, to describe Matt's bi-annual vacations, but this vacation was R&R in every sense of the word. It was an extremely relaxing week. There wasn't a lot of rushing or too many plans. We kept it casual by day, with a few scheduled adventures throughout the week and spent our evenings cleaning up and enjoying delicious meals and time together. It was a perfect vacation.
A large majority of our days were spent relaxing at the pool. The property had several pools and after trying out a few different spots at different locations, we found one that was just right for us. We lathered Lauren up with sunscreen, kept her in the shade, and she did amazing. She played, napped, and was a happy Hawaiian baby.

She even allowed mom and dad to enjoy a few pool side cocktails.




*Paddleboarding*
I've had my eye on this paddle boarding trend for sometime now. I was determined to try it out this summer at the lake, but upon discovering I was pregnant I decided that was out. Hawaii offered the perfect opportunity to give it a go. I was a little nervous at first. Considering the art of paddle boarding rests on core strength and balance, I felt a little off my game after having a baby 10 weeks prior and missing out on many barre3 classes. Matt, Tyler, and I all gave it a try.
LOVED it. So much so that buying a paddle board is on my to-do list.
Matt loved it too so we did it again later on in the week.
And I am proud to say, I never fell.
Not once.
{Side note: Matt and I can get pretty competitive in some things. This was one of them. So, if I sound a little boastful, I have to take my wins when I can get them. We are trying to work on this for Lauren's sake.}

{I enjoy this picture, because I am the only one up... see about statement about competition}




*Whale Watching*
Obviously a huge part of Hawaii is the whales. At least it was for my family. That is one thing my parents raved about. While we weren't technically there for whale watching season, we were on the cusp, so we scheduled a whale watching and snorkeling excursion through Trilogy. While it was really more of a snorkeling excursion due to the season, we lucked out and had an amazing whale watching experience. The captain actually said it was the best he had all year. On our way back from snorkeling, we were very close to a mother and baby whale. We saw the mother breach and at one point the whale was beneath our catamaran.




It was truly amazing.
While the whale watching was the highlight, the snorkeling was not far behind. By far, the best snorkeling experience I've ever had. We snorkeled at two different locations, and Slaughter Bay, and saw every brightly colored fish you could imagine, eels, and sea turtles. Gorgeous.



After enjoying both breakfast and lunch on the boat, as well as an extremely friendly staff, we sailed back to Kaanapali...



and to Lauren and Grandma who stayed back and enjoyed their own little play date.

*Family Walks*
We've learned that Lauren loves going for walks and since we had a great location for walking, we took a nice little jaunt along the beach each day.

It was a great way to explore the area, spend some time together as a family of three, and Matt even got to use the cup holder on the stroller.



{walks usually result in this}


*Luau*
Another must when in Hawaii is a Luau. We attended the Drums of Pacific Lu'au at the Hyatt. We had a great evening with a little Polynesian culture, music, dance, a fashion show, and of course our fill of native Hawaiian cuisine.


In case you're wondering, Lauren did fabulously. She fell asleep on the walk over and literally slept through the entire event.

*Mixology Class*
Since my parents are timeshare owners of the Marriott, we've had the opportunity to attend a few of their regularly scheduled activities. Our favorite: The Mixology Class.
While I had to take it easy with Lauren in tow, it was still a great afternoon.
The bartender made us Mai Tais and we learned and discussed the basics of creating cocktails. We were then randomly split into teams of two. I was with a mother of four from Anchorage, Alaska. Tim was with her daughter, a young girl who was involved in politics in D.C. Ann's partner was a 50-something male, celebrating his birthday in Maui for three weeks, by himself, but he talked a lot about his girlfriend... who wasn't there. That left Tyler and Matt as partners.  Our assignment was to create a drink that would be judged by the other teams. Mama Alaska and I came up with a glorified Cosmopolitan and called it 'Maui Christmas'. Tim and D.C served up Yukon Gold, a frozen concoction with banana. Ann and the Birthday Boy also had a frozen concoction that Birthday Boy was quite enthused about. Ann wasn't as enthused as we later found out, her partner really wasn't a team player and she didn't get a lot of creative say. Finally Tyler and Matt came up with "The Cooler". Despite my beliefs that we would be taking a straight shot, their cocktail included ice cream, chocolate, and banana.
And they won.



*The Ocean*
While the ocean views were amazing enough, we were quite excited to introduce Lauren to the ocean. While we were a little skeptical of what she would think, we slowly introduced her to the water and proudly watched as she put her little feet in the sand of the Pacific.








*Family*

There were many elements that made this trip an amazing week and an incredible first trip for us with Lauren. But one of the most important aspects was the time spent with family. This trip was a long time in the making, so to share the evenings reliving each beautiful day with loved ones was very special.
They are memories I will always cherish.

Something else I will cherish... Hula Pie.

I've already started planning our next trip.
Honestly.
I have.
Until next time Maui...
Aloha.