Maui recap! Three months ago we boarded a plane for our favorite island…
That special touchdown kind of feeling – vibes were high.
This year we mixed it up just a tad and booked three nights up in Ka’anapali prior to our requisite stay down in Wailea. After a quick stop at Costco for the essentials (sparkling water, trail mix, Pocky), we checked into our hotel, quickly traded our travel clothes for swimsuits, then hit the pool, white bellies and all.
And then the beach beckoned.
We laid out our towels on the sand, grabbed poke and chicken strips from a nearby beach cafe, and settled in for a golden hour picnic.
Cheers, Buddy.
I love going to bed our first night in Maui, knowing the long day of travel is behind us and we have several days of sun stretched out before us. The promise of it all! But dang it if Shane didn’t wake me up at midnight, asking if I’d packed any Iboprofen, because he felt awful. Fever and chills and aches all over – Isaac’s cold bug from earlier in the week had found another victim.
SO, on Friday morning while Shane stayed in bed and tried to sleep off his sickness, I took the kids to the beach for a swim.
But first, ACAI.
Napili Bay was gorgeous – soft sand and aqua water and gentle waves. Our family has a particular allegiance to the beaches at Wailea, but this place was turning out to do juuuuust fine.
Ready, set…
Jump!
We spent the full morning strolling up and down the beach, dipping deeper and deeper as the sun rose higher and higher.
The beach has a way of bringing out the very best in their relationship. Silly…
And so stinking sweet.
We eventually shook the sand from our towels and headed back to the car. We made a run into town for cold meds for Shane. And a black robot for Isaac, because his Spiderman action figure needed someone to duel against.
Post-lunch pool…
And then a drive up to the north shore of the island to check out the Nakalele Blowhole. It was a rockier trek than I expected to get down to where the water crashed on the rocks, but the kids scampered the terrain like champs.
We sat for awhile on a pair of rocks to watch the spray, but kept our proper distance.
Honestly, this was one of those attractions where the journey to and from was better than the destination. No complaints!
We all felt like we’d earned a treat after our mini-hike, so I made a hard left when I saw a sign for shave ice. It was close to dinnertime and I recommended that we be responsible and share rather than overindulge, but…
This thing could have fed a family of six.
Dig in, kids!
Shane was feeling the tiniest bit better that evening and joined us for a walk over the food trucks for dinner, but then it was early to bed for all of us. We needed to be up early the next morning.
Early as in, rise and shine at 2:30am, kids! Every year that we go to Maui, we debate making the drive up to Haleakala for sunrise, and every year we decide that we just can’t swing the middle-of-the-night wakeup that it requires. But since we had an extra day on the island for this trip, and since Shane had snagged a last-minute Saturday morning reservation that granted us access to the mountaintop, we decided this was our year. Carpe diem.
We ushered the kids from their beds into the car, pajamas and all, and mapped our route. Isaac slept through most of our two hour drive; we arrived at the top of the mountain by 5am with time to spare. We put on every bit of warm clothing I’d packed (sweatshirts and the handful of beanies I’d grabbed on our way out the door in Seattle), wrapped ourselves in our hotel blankets, and settled in to wait for the show. And shortly before 6:00, the sky lightened from black to navy, with the boldest streak of orange right at the horizon.
Unreal. Totally worth the obscenely early wake-up and the cold-temp shivers.
The kids were such good sports. Isaac whined a bit about the cold but hung in there with the rest of us. Juliette was supremely validating with her exclamations of, “Wow…wow…WOW” as the sky changed color.
Super troopers.
Now let’s crank up the seat warmers!
We reached the bottom of mountain as the island’s cafes and bakeries were just opening their doors. We stopped in the charming town of Makawao for coffee and guava-filled malasadas.
While I would have happily napped the afternoon away, the kids had other plans. Pool time!
And then a trip up to Whaler’s Village for burgers and lemonade.
I was eager to show Shane the turquoise water at Napili Bay, so we hightailed it over the beach for sunset.
So happy to have him back in the land of the living.
Rain showers drove us back to the car before the sun fully set, but Isaac enjoyed watching daylight wane from our patio, all while jamming out to the live band playing 70’s rock covers from the bar below.
On Sunday we packed up our things and said goodbye to Ka’anapali. We’d had a fun little stint there, minus Shane’s bug, but we were eager to get down to Wailea.
That said, we had several hours until check-in at our next digs, so we took our time heading south, stopping first at Baby Beach for swimming and sand play.
The water here is remains shallow way off-shore. Isaac kicked around in his floaties and then joined Shane for castle-building while Juliette and I walked out to see just how far the shallows extended.
We moseyed on out and then a turtle swam by, not ten feet in front of us! Another checkmark on the Maui magic list.
We decided to grab lunch in Paia but then I saw the sign for Leoda’s Pie Shop on the way and figured we shoud probably check it out…reviews raved about their key lime pie and both Juliette and I love a good, tart dessert.
Followed by a Mopsy pizza at Paia Flatbread. Every time we visit this place I wonder if we should try something new, but that pulled pork pizza is just so good. The heart wants what it wants…
And then our hearts were set on Wailea. Next up!