Maui 2013

Eric & I were fortunate enough to go to Maui from January 21-29, 2013! My mom took care of the kids and it was our first real vacation away since becoming parents of 2. We enjoyed some beautiful spots and loved having our good friends Tyler & Kaitlin Snow along with us! I took a lot of pictures and have narrowed it down to my favorites. I know there are still quite a few but I don't want to forget all these memories or beautiful things. So here's a peek at our trip...Enjoy!

We LOVE big beach! If you get there early in the morning there is no one else around and having a beautiful beach to your self is the most relaxing way to start the day. These are pics from the day we watched the sunrise on the beach. It was breathtaking!

The sun hitting Molokini before the water

Gorgeous water!

Sun coming up

The only sets of footprints on the beach...ours!

Beautiful way to start the day

Eric enjoying some Kona coffee in the morning. This is the view towards Haleakala.

My favorite part of this beach is how wide it is. It's so shallow going into the water. It's a perfect beach for walking and there's tons of space to spread out! Would be great with kids too...maybe next time (0:

The sun made the water look like GOLD! 

The sun hitting the top of the clouds.                                     Foamy water.

Why Hello, Mr Sun!

This is why my favorite color is BLUE!!!!!

On Wednesday we met up with Jennie Dissmore Kanapali Beach Club. She was staying there with some of her family. It was great to have lunch together and get to visit Alice & Kenny too! This is the dessert us girls shared. It was delicious!

This was s HUGE whale mural at her condo.

This is where she stays.                     These were HUGE koi fish inside the condo.

The view from the back of the condos

One of my favorite things about Maui is the flowers...just gorgeous!

Heading back towards Kihei from Lahaina. That hill on the edge is the one at Big Beach

This is why you rarely see me. I'm always behind the camera!

These trees were very cool. They provide a canopy while you drive! 

On Thursday we met up with Henry Chu and went to the top of Haleakala. It was all clouded in but still beautiful. It's not often you go up to 10,000 ft and back down within a few hours. Not even in an airplane as it would be pressurized. Kaitlin and I both felt a bit 'off' after that. The views were quite pretty up here.

Looking down into the crater

It almost felt like we were on the moon

Here we are at the top.

Feels like you're floating

Me       Eric      Tyler       Kaitlin

Neat plant. It was almost feathery and very soft.

The boys getting ready to ride down the trail (NOT the road)

Henry is a pro at hauling bikes in his truck.       All ready for their adventure!

10,000 ft to sea level on a mountain bike.

 
Kaitlin and I drove Henry's truck back down the mountain.           She makes me laugh!

Off they go!

Technically us girls went 23ft higher than the guys...just saying!

These are the NASA observatories

Heading off to the trail head

Thursday night we went to the Grand Wailea for a Luau. It was so much fun. The grounds of the resort are amazing and it was fun to talk around before the show began. I'd recommend this one for sure!

Someone got ahold of my camera...hmmm

We were here for our 1st anniversary and it was exciting to be back again!

Inside the lobby. There are pools and statues everywhere.

Some of the rooms

Heading down to the Hawaiian gardens

This guy was up at least 2 stories cleaning the glass in the chandelier

Checking out the view of the pools

This was on top of a roof below

I love this girl...

Gorgeous! 

The first time Kaity & Tyler got their feet wet on the trip.

This is one of my favorite pics! 

taking pics

Luau

Okay, this girl was INSANE! No idea how anyone can hang from 2 sheets by her feet and do the things she did. All the guys in the audience were in awe and I think all the women either wished they'd taken gymnastics and stuck with it or secretly hated her. I just couldn't believe my eyes!

The fire dancers are always my favorite....Blush! haha

Church on the grounds

I didn't have my tripod but wanted a pic to remember walking the beach at night. So fun!

Saturday we went on a snorkeling trip out to Lanai. It ended up being so rough against the shore that we came back to Maui to snorkel instead. We enjoyed a very fun ride and saw LOTS of whales.

Eric & I rode on the pontoons and had quite the workout hanging on! It was so fun!

Enjoying our ride

The only pic I got of a whale. I had too much fun watching them to try to snap pics.

Kaitlin & Tyler snorkeling

Sunday we went to meeting at Henry & Sharmane Chu's house. They are always so welcoming and wonderful to visit. I can't wait til the next time we get to see them. Henry is the one that led the boys down the crazy trail. 

We went to Maui Ocean Center and were surprised at how cool it was. These are all the fish we wish we would've seen snorkeling! It was a great way to spend the afternoon!

I see you!

This is a fish up and down...I missed him all together until Eric called me back to the tank.

This octopus was AMAZING to watch. I took way too many pics and deleted a ton. These are my favorites. I could sit and watch him for hours.

Shark Tank...

Gotcha!

In the tunnel under the shark tank

Feeding time

Smile!

Love how these colors showed up

Love this one!

Monday morning it was a bit rainy but I had signed Eric up for a surf lesson. This is a picture of him riding a wave on his VERY FIRST TRY!!!!

I love this pic of him bailing off the board! haha.

Eric & Kihei his instructor. He gave me a quick land lesson and I went out with Eric. I caught 7 waves that day and had a blast. No pics to prove it as I was in the water (and I'm the photographer). So glad I did it. He was a really cool guy and got us tickets to Ulalena that night. He's in the show and it was a great way to end our trip. Look forward to seeing him again someday.

Our trip was amazing and so much fun. We ate yummy food, enjoyed some sun, relaxed on the beach,surfed, barbecued, saw a luau, went to Ulalena, shopped Lahaina and Wailea, and enjoyed some much needed alone time!

We can't wait to go back!!!!!!!!