Back to Maui

On Friday, June 14th, we returned to Ka'anapali, Maui to finish out our Hawaiian vacation. Our second hotel was the Hyatt Regency which was very nice. Upon our arrival, they greeted us with our first floral leis!

Perhaps the biggest highlight for Christopher was the fact that the lobby of the Hyatt had a little pond which eight penguins called their home. As you can imagine, this was one of Chris' favorite parts of this whole Hawaii trip. They were endangered black footed penguins and, of course, we visited them every single time we went down to the pool, to eat, to the beach, to the car, etc.

If you happened to be around the penguins at 9:30 in the morning, you could watch them being fed their daily ration of fish! The hotel was great and we used the rest of our vacation time to relax and be in the water. Here is the view from our hotel room:

There was a tree directly in front of our deck that had a pair of birds nesting in it. (Not sure what the birds were; something black and native to Hawaii). When we had some down time, we would just watch out the window and check out the pair taking turns finding food, building their nest and sleeping... In the first picture you might notice a white boat in the water. The first full day at this hotel, there was a rowing rigatta in Lahaina Bay. It was cool to watch the boats line up and take off! Another view from our room was of the hotel's nightly luau called "Drums of the Pacific." It would start right around Christopher's bedtime but our little man-who-will-sleep-anywhere drifted off to sleep with the sound of said drums dancing in his head! Here is kind of what we could see of the luau:

On our last night at the hotel we got all dressed up and had a nice dinner at Sonz, a semi-outdoor restaurant with a view of a pond filled with swans, ducks, and flamingos.

And speaking of ducks, Christopher insisted that I tell you all this story... As we were enjoying a luxurious meal in such a beautiful setting, there was an overly-friendly duck who decided that he wanted to see who was in a generous mood this particular evening. After having enough of being harassed by a swan, the duck hopped out of the water and proceeded to visit each of the tables in the restaurant. It was very reminiscent of a dog looking for table scraps because he would walk up to a table (literally a foot away from each person) and look directly up as if to ask, "Um, so what do you have to share with me today?" He was so cute. We watched him for awhile and as he was walking away from our table, he proceeded to poop on the nice carpeted floor. Chris, of course, thought this was utterly hilarious (as did we)! When we told our waiter about it, he said, "Oh, he has done that the past three nights."

Surfing Mommy

When in Hawaii... I couldn't go all the way to Maui and Kauai and not get on a board. I took a lesson with professional surfer Charlie Smith on the waves of Hanalei Bay. I can now say that I've surfed in Ireland, La Jolla, Southampton and Kauai. Out of all of those places, Kauai had the most beautiful and even waves I've ever surfed on! They were super smooth and easy to stand up on. It was great to have Brian and Christopher actually get to watch me this time too. In La Jolla, it was rainy so they went to an aquarium. In Southampton, they had to park at a beach farther away. So this time, they were able to swim and play in the sand while they watched me catch some waves. Brian was even able to get a video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gblV0hG5UXk

After the lesson, the instructor found some shallow water to put the board in and Chris tried standing up on the board. Of course, he loved it and as soon as he's able to, I just know that boy is going to ride some waves. He got to boogie board while we were in Hawaii so that's a start. Now if we could only find a beach in Kansas...

Sunsets

We were fortunate enough on both islands to face west so each night we were greeted by a different and beautiful sunset. Sometimes we were on the beach, other times we were on our patio, and another time we were on a hotel's terrace but each time, the sky was stunning! It also restored my faith in people that they would gather and watch something slow and quiet each night. Here are some of the sunsets we got to see on our trip...

The first picture is from the beach in front of the Westin in Maui:

The following set of pictures are all from the patio of our condo in Kauai. Each is a different night:

 

 This last set of pictures is from the St. Regis Hotel in Princeville. They had this beautiful terrace outside one of their restaurants where people gather to watch the sunset over Hanalei Bay:

Flowers

For this entry, I just want to share some pictures I took of the beautiful flowers and plants that grown in Hawaii. Just amazing...

In February, we bought a number of plants at a local nursery for the inside of our home, partly to add some greenery to the house and partly to help with air quality. Many of the plants were tropical so when we were walking around different areas of both Maui and Kauai, we would see a lot of the plants that we either saw at the store or bought for our house! Of course in Hawaii, they all grow naturally.

Kilauea Lighthouse

One afternoon in Kauai, we took a trip over to Kilauea Lighthouse and wildlife preserve. It was just down the road from our condo and well worth the visit! As we approached it, I realized our son has never been to a lighthouse and so we had to change that. Growing up on the East Coast and spending summers down the shore, I have many memories of visiting various lighthouses such as Barneget and Cape May Lighthouses. You may notice that the lighthouse is not very tall. I suppose it doesn't need to be when it is on such a high cliff!

It was a beautiful area with a tremendous view. Since it is a wildlife preserve, there were tons of beautiful birds, including albatross. Here are some more pics of the area around the lighthouse and preserve...

On the same afternoon trip, we drove over to see Wailua Falls. You can't go to Hawaii without seeing waterfalls! The lookout was, well, very high up with warning signs along that way telling of the "severe drop off." No kidding! They were worth it though and we enjoyed just watching the mesmerizing water.

Limahuli Botanical Garden

One afternoon we took a ride over to the Limahuli Botanical Gardens on the north shore of Kauai. When driving on Kauai, there is one main road that goes around most of the island. The break in the road occurs once you reach either side of the Na Pali Coast. Limahuli Garden is close to one end of the road so we first drove all the way until the road literally ends (at Ke'e Beach) then turned around and stopped to check Limahuli out. It was a beautiful native Hawaiian garden that had a 3/4 mile walking trail with little stops along the way where you can learn all about native plants, ancient Hawaiian farming techniques, and legends told by native Hawaiians about the mountains, plants, and ocean. We actually stopped quite a few times to read the little guidebook we got before setting out because Chris (and us too!) found the legends really interesting. Here are just a few pics from our afternoon there...

There is a story that goes along with the second picture in this previous series... Apparently, the native Hawaiians would climb up that dome shaped mountain carrying unlit torches. When they would reach the top, they would light the torches and throw them off and the wind would carry them out to sea where a chief (or kahuna) would be waiting to see which one went the farthest. The person who threw their torch the farthest would be honored. There were many, even more interesting stories and legends like this but what amazed me most (really the whole time we were in Hawaii) was the fact that the native Hawaiians would just climb these ridges and peaks like it was nothing. When you see them and how high they were, you can appreciate what an amazing feat this was!

Pardon the Interruption

We interrupt these Hawaii posts to bring you a video of Christopher swimming at his lesson today. The video is a little blurry but you get the gist! That's his teacher, Ms. Charlotte, behind him watching him go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9VVPPBOd8