First and foremost, thank you to all of our family, friends, friends of friends, co-workers and complete strangers who made this trip possible. You have given our kids life long memories and for that Autumn and I will be forever grateful.
Ever since surprising the kids on Autumn's Birthday, the anticipation from the kids has been uncontainable. Every minute of every day was spent talking about our trip to Maui. Where are we staying, when are we flying out, what are we doing every day, when do we fly out again, I can't wait to surf, I can't wait to cliff jump, I cant wait to see whales, when do we leave again...Autumn and I did not even have to wake up the kids that morning, they were ready to go at 5AM.
We got to the airport around 6 and the kids had sometime to go explore; it was Finley and Atticus' first time in the new airport, so they wanted to go look around. I had a little surprise for the kids on our first flight to Dallas as I was able to cheaply upgrade us all to first class so we could fly with Autumn. We then surprised them again on our 8 hour flight from Dallas to Maui with yet another upgrade to Premium Economy (like normal first class) courtesy of the KHS Class of 2000. The backstory is that on this flight, Autumn was booked in first class, but the kids and I were scattered throughout coach because we booked so late. One of the girls in Autumn and I's high school class heard about it, could not stand the thought of the kids sitting with strangers for 8 hours, reached out to the class to raise the money, and then upgraded us to the fancy seats. We did not tell the kids until we got on the plane and they were very surprised...and relieved to not be siting by strangers for 8 hours. They were pretty impressed by our seats and were left wondering why dad always makes them fly Southwest.
After a long flight, we landed in Maui and headed to get our luggage. On our way we were surprised with a sign with our name on it. They gave us all beautiful leis and took our picture. This was also courtesy of a high school friend. We then hopped into the car and headed to get some lunch at a place called Leoda's. I think everyone agreed that this was our favorite restaurant of the trip, so much that I went back and got it to go for lunch on our last day. After lunch it was off to our condo in Kaanapali, Kaanapali Alii. We could not have been more impressed with this property, our condo, the property, the staff, the landscaping, the cleanliness and the views...oh the views. They were amazing. We all went immediately to the patio and took in the panoramic ocean views, with front row seats for the humpback whales who migrate to this area for the winter mating season. It was so cool to see them jump out of the water. Our condo was right next door to the Westin, which is where Autumn and I stayed for our honeymoon way back in 2005. They had a nightly Luau that we were able to watch from our balcony. The kids immediately changed into their swim suites and headed down to the beach. Autumn and I laid on the porch and watched them play on the beach, it was such a peaceful evening. Later that evening, while Autumn rested, I took the kids to explore the area, including the flamingos at the Westin.
We were all exhausted after the early morning and long day traveling, so everyone was out by 9. The next morning Briley and I went for a run while the others got ready for the day. We decided to take it easy our first day as to let Autumn and the kids recover from the busy travel day. We got some beach chairs and then we went down to Black Rock to do some cliff jumping and snorkeling. There were some nervous kiddos, so on our first try we did the shorter of the two cliff jump spots. After seeing how much fun it was, we went back and did the high jump, or at least some of us did...I won't name names 😜.
That evening we had the honor of going to the Old Lahaina Luau. The Lahaina community was devastated by fire back in August, and is still very much in the early stages of cleanup, with a rebuild still years out. Old Lahaina Luau opened for the fist time since the fires the night before. It was neat to see the excitement from the staff to be back, and the way in which they honored those taken by the fire. It was a neat night, but by the time it ended at 8:45 (1:45am KC time) the kids were barely holding on. They got to sample some Hawaiian dishes but their favorite part was the drinks. They worked their way through the mocktail menu, and all had their favorites.
The next day we decided to head up north towards Kapalua and check out some cool beaches and rock outcrops. They had a good boogie board beach and we were also able to see our first turtle resting on the beach. The rain started to move in so we decided to pack up, head back to our condo and get some lunch. As soon as we got over the bluff, on our way back to the hotel, we left he clouds behind and the sun was shining...the kids wanted to know why we ever left the sunshine in the first place. After lunch we decided to go to the pool as the winds had picked up and we were getting sandblasted on the beach. I think all of us fell asleep at some point, so it was a nice relaxing evening. That night we went to Merriman's for dinner. They have a beautiful sunset view but unfortunately it was raining and we did not get to see the sunset. However, the view was still amazing, as was the food and service. Our server was so nice, and was great with the kids.
Friday was a big day, surfing lessons! The kids were nervous but the instructors immediately put them at ease. Baylor was sick, so that was a bummer, but he got his surf lessons our last day. Atticus, with his low center of gravity, was a natural and was up on the first wave. Finley, Briley and I took a few more attempts to get up, but I am proud to say, we were all catching our own waves by the end of the lessons. Finley and Atticus were not so keen on paddling back out, they just like the surfing in. After surfing lessons, we went and got some lunch at a really good roadside pizza place, and then headed south to explore Makena Beach and Makena Cove, a really cool hidden beach with the softest sand I have ever felt. We also saw a few more turtles sleeping on the beach. The kids had fun playing in the waves and watching the whales. On our way back to our condo, we stopped for some famous Ululani's shaved ice and we are so glad we did. It was so good that Autumn has been craving pina colada since we got back, so much so that I had to hunt down pina colada popsicles and make trips to Tads shaved ice to quench her cravings. We were also able to beat closing time and pick up some delicious cinnamon rolls from the Cinnamon Roll Place for breakfast the next morning. That night we grilled some steaks and had a quiet evening at the condo watching the neighboring luau. It's so funny because the kids pretty much had it memorized, so if we were walking up to the condo, they would hear what music was playing and they would no that they needed to rush up because their favorite part, the fire dancing, was about to start.
On Saturday we had planned to do the road to Hana, but Autumn was tired, Baylor was still sick, and I was coming down with a bug. We spent the day on the beach, I spent the evening sick in bed, and Autumn and the kids had leftovers. Thankfully, by the next morning I was feeling fine, Autumn was feeling much more rested, and Baylor was good to go, so we headed off on the road to Hana.
There were so many cools sites along the road, and we downloaded an app that guided us along the way. It had some corny humor for the kids, and told interesting tidbits about the history of the island and Hawaii along the way. Being Sunday, a lot of the road side stands we wanted to try were closed, but we still got some great food, especially Huli Huli chicken, which Baylor said was the best chicken he has ever had. There were so many cool water falls and beaches, but I think the black sand beach and hikes in that area were one of the highlights of the trip for the kids. It was just so beautiful, with the deep blue water, black sand, black rocks, arches, lava tubes...just so much to explore, and explore we did. We had dinner plans on that side of the island that night, so after we finished the road to Hana, we went to Baldwin Beach, and then to Holy Rosary Catholic Church to see the shrine to St. Father Damian. Father Damian was a priest who went to the leper colony on the island of Moloka'i to help the leper's that had been banished there. He ended up contracting leprosy and dying, but not before he was able to help countless people that had contracted the deadly disease. That night we went and had dinner at the Haliimaile General Store, a restaurant Autumn and I missed on our honeymoon, but had wanted to eat at. It was really good, and after a long day of exploring, everyone scarfed down their food.
On Monday I had plans to explore some other areas of the island, but the road to Hana wiped Autumn and the kids out, so we decided to take it easy. The kids had a blast playing at the beach, swimming at the pool, grabbing Starbucks, and walking to Whalers Village to do some shopping...big kid stuff. That night we had dinner in Whalers Village, did so souvenir shopping, and got some gorgeous sunset pictures.
Tuesday was our last day, but luckily we did not fly out until 9:15 at night and I was able to get a 6pm check out at our condo as they knew Autumn's condition and nobody was checking in for a few days. It was like we had an extra day of vacation. Baylor started off the day with surf lessons, and like the other kids, he was a natural. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach, walked back to Black Rock for some more cliff jumping, and this time everyone but Atticus did the tall jump. We then spent some time at the pool, got cleaned up, packed up the car, and drove down the street to have dinner on the beach at Maui Brewing Company as the sun was setting. It was a perfect ending to the perfect trip. Our flights back were seamless, and we hit the ground running with practices when we got back to KC on Wednesday afternoon.
So many memories were made on this trip, memories that would not have been possible if not for the generosity of others. Autumn and I feel blessed beyond measure.
For some reason, Blogger keeps posting the photos in reverse order, not sure why. I am rusty at this.
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