James' Birthday Trip - Maui, Part 1 (Aug 2016)

Someone in our house celebrated a milestone birthday this summer.   After a lot of discussion on where to go we decided to go to Maui.  Yes, we love the Big Island and we usually go there but we wanted somewhere a little different.

On August 20th we flew SEA - SFO - OGG for our 10 day trip.  We brought along James' parents so they could share in the celebration.  As always, our super awesome traveling children were rock stars the entire way there, even on the 5.5 hour flight from San Fran to Maui.  

We splurged and booked a 3 bedroom condo in Kihei that was oceanside.  A marvelous decision.  The condo was nice but the BEST part about it was the lanai with ocean views and the proximity to the beaches.

sunrise from our lanai

ocean front lawn

It was right in between two of Maui's best beaches:  Kamaole Beach Park I

and Kamaole Beach Park II.  

We also discovered the snorkeling between the beaches was amazing!  There are 5-7 sea turtles that live in the rocks there and we got to see them every single day.

Our first day there we went to church, played at the beach and had shave ice.

I'm sure at some point we also went to the pool since we did that every single day we were there, sometimes twice.

The second day, we went to the pool and beach.  Mostly hung out in our condo and around the area. With the condo being so close to the beach, there was no reason to really go anywhere else.   The girls worked on their snorkeling and boarding skills in preparation for our sailing/snorkeling tour for James' birthday

And to top of a fun filled day, we had a lovely sunset that we just had to walk down to the water to watch.  

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The next day,  the BIG day, was James' 50th birthday.   We booked a snorkeling/sailing tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation so we had to get up super early (4:45 am) to get out the door and to the marina in Lahaina by 6 am check in.  It sounds early but with the time difference of 3 hours our kids had been getting up by 5:30 am anyway.  

We cruised north up the west side of Maui.   The girls thought it was pretty fun. It was a perfect morning to be out on the water and we even saw a few dolphins on our way to our first snorkeling site.

When we got to the first site and got ready to snorkel, Elin suddenly panicked realizing she could not touch the bottom and she refused to get off the boat.

We convinced Ani to try it for a few minutes but she as also apprehensive, mostly because her sister was a little scared.

The adults had a great time in the water (we took turns snorkeling and watching kids).

Maija

Ward and Sherry

James

Sherry

After the first stop we had a great lunch on the boat while we cruised down to the second site.  We did manage to convince both kids to get in the water at the second site.

I saw an awesome sea turtle and white tipped reef shark while I was snorkeling.  Pictures didn't turn out all that well except this one.

Then we sailed back to the marina.

Despite a whiny 6 year old (who I suspect might have been a little seasick) we managed to have a good time.  

Back at the condo we let James' open his presents.  A Hawaiian shirt for dinner and an Apple iWatch.

For dinner, the birthday boy requested Mama's Fish House. 

We had eaten there once before on another trip to Maui and James always says it is the best fish he has EVER had.   It is on a beautiful beach in Paia. 

It really is a magical place with the most fantastic, local caught fresh fish.

We tried very hard to get ONE good family picture.  It was not happening.  My kids were just too tired to want to cooperate. I had even gone to great lengths to get us coordinating hawaiian print outfits.  Oh well. This is the best that we could get.

Dinner did not disappoint.  The Mahi Mahi was just as delicious as we remembered.  Luckily, Anikka fell asleep on my lap and we were able to enjoy a peaceful dinner, although I was a bit uncomfortable trying to eat with a kid on my lap.

Because it was a bit of a drive from Kihei to Paia, both kids fell fast asleep on the drive back. So, we were not able to have cake on James' actual birthday. We had a little cake party the next morning (pretty much after breakfast) on the lawn right by our lanai overlooking the ocean.  The girls even insisted that we all wear lei's instead of party hats.  

After the first couple of days, they all seem to kind of blur into each other.  Breakfast, beach, lunch, pool, dinner, sunset, pool. Repeat the next day.  Very fun, very relaxing and very tiring for two littles (ok, and their parents).

We went out for breakfast one morning to the Kihei Caffe for mac nut pancakes with coconut syrup. 

We also had some unexpected excitement when the girls knocked heads and one of Elin's front teeth popped out.  Luckily, her tooth fairy travels and was able to find her in Hawaii with some special Hawaiian chocolate coins.

to be continued.....