The final installment! Wednesday was our last full day in Maui. Shane and Juliette took off early that morning for a zipline adventure while Isaac and I lived our best lives back in Wailea. He hit the swings while I drank my coffee…
This courtyard has the best morning light.
Isaac doesn’t know the rules of chess, but he did enjoy lining the knights up face-to-face for a smooch.
Lawn laps…
And then we hit the pool.
Isaac had been admiring another kid’s Spider Man rash guard all week and we finally broke the ice that day and made some proper intros. They played together for much of the morning while I sat by the edge of the pool and read my book.
Fly, Buddy, FLY!
Snack break…
And back at it. Spider Man brought a full kitchen set to the pool!
Look who’s back! Shane and Juliette had a grand adventure – I’m glad they got some one-on-one time.
But it felt good to be the four of us again.
We knew the waterslides wouldn’t be open before we had to pack up and leave the next morning, so this was our last chance. We did the full circuit several times over after lunch.
We had our route down pat; we knew which slides Isaac could brave alone, which ones he needed a partner on so that he wasn’t dunked in the rapids. We knew to swim quickly past the dragon statue, which Isaac said was a monster, and knew where the lazy river split with a particularly fast current that would pull you left if you didn’t veer right soon enough.
Every time we paddled through this misty canyon, Isaac would exclaim, “It’s so SOGGY (foggy) in here! I can’t seeeeee!”
Isaac feels so big in so many ways these days, but his hands look so tiny here as they grip my shoulders. That’s a comfort…
Finally, (most of us) got our pool fix and felt ready to head back to the room for a bit. We took our usual route through the hotel lobby, past the granite statue of a reclining nude where Isaac would stop every time, point, and yell, “EWW! BUTTS!”. Bonafide art critic, that kid…
Shane and I snuck away for a quick cocktail at the Four Seasons bar next door while the kids watched a movie in the room. It was a treat.
Golden hour drew us back down to the beach for reading and splashing and tossing the frisbee around.
Shane went for a swim…
I snapped photos…
And then I held Isaac for a bit, as he was tired and grumpy and needed a little love. Don’t let these hundreds of photos of his cheesy grins fool you – he did in fact still throw some fits in Maui, he still annoyed his sister sometimes and acted very three.
But dang if it’s not easier to sweep all that stuff under the rug when you’re in paradise. The attitude reset cycle felt shorter here…
There he is…
This evening was one of those evenings when Isaac really drove Juliette crazy, irrationally screaming at her for accidentally stepping on whatever project he was building in the sand, but like I said, it was hard for her to stay mad.
Isaac was so happy in Juliette’s arms that I decided to go for a quick dip with Shane – I’d gone all week without a proper ocean swim, but I couldn’t leave the island without at least a short bob session among the waves.
One last look, Buddy!
As we passed the uppermost pool on our way back to our room, the kids asked if they could hop back in, just real quick. I said, go for it. When on vay-cay…
Tuckered and tucked.
Thursday. Go day. Hard day. But still, we were able to squeeze in a couple hours of beach time…
These sand toys that another family gifted us on their final day in Maui got some good use.
One last hand-hold while Shane and Juliette swam…
And a few final jumps into the “swimming cool”, because I couldn’t imagine a happier note for our kids to end the trip on…
And then it was time to hustle to our room, do a quick rinse, shove our pool toys in our suitcases, and head the airport. WAIT, though. Make a wish…
We wish..for a Maui 2026 trip. Seriously, though, every couple of weeks, Isaac will sigh and say, “I really want to go to Maui…”, like he knows it can’t really happen at that moment, but he can’t help but speak his hopes out loud. I tell him we’ll go again someday, and then we talk about the pool and the sunsets and the beach and how brilliant it all was. The magic of the island is not lost on us. We’re so thankful.
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