Hawaii Week 2

•  While mom and dad were with us this week, Grampa read stories to the kids a ton. He had downloaded onto his phone a kids storybook, which contained fairytales and fables and ghost stories and stories from other countries. And they were always begging him to read to them. They loved it!
  

Sunday

• Since our Hawaii ward was having stake conference last week, we just watched church over zoom and had a Sunday lesson right after. 
• We made food to bring and headed right out, around noon, for the drive to Haleakala. The drive there, after hitting the airport, is beautiful and pretty windy and crazy. Mom was really struggling with carsickness for the drive up there. But the hills were green and there were trees. It was really lovely! At one point, we started driving up through the clouds; it was really foggy and misty, and once we passed the cloud cover, we were driving ABOVE the clouds, which felt really weird. Once we actually got into the National Park, we stopped at Hosmer Grove, a short little hike through a grove of trees that were planted in an attempt to preserve the natural wildlife (the attempt went awry). We ate lunch and walked through the trees and all got very dirty. The drive up to the very top of Haleakala continued on for another little bit, and we stopped at some cool overlooks to see how everything looked from up there. It was amazing! And we stopped to see the crater from the backside. At the very top, it was quite cold, actually, and some of our party (Brooke and Gramma and Grampa) didn't have sweaters. So we didn't actually stay at the top long. But the view was incredible, and it felt so crazy being above the clouds.
• The drive back down was mainly uneventful. We didn't make really any stops. We were pretty anxious to get back so we could get the kids to bed in a timely manner. It still ended up being close to 9.
  

Monday

• I got up and went running this morning on the beach. Well, actually it took me a while to make my way to the beach. I ran down the road leading to all the resorts, and sort of ran around trying to find beach access, and never did. I went back to the main street and ran down a few yards to the next street, and there found beach access, and finally got my beach run. ⛱️ It was lovely. I ran down about a mile after I found the beach, and then stopped to enjoy the beach for a few minutes before running back. I ended my run at the beach park close up our apartment to stretch. It was such a good way to start the day. 
• We got up and did school this morning. Mom helped me get school done for the girls. We each did one lesson with each of the girls, and got it done fairly quickly. 
• Camille has been begging to swim in the pool for a few days now, so we decided to do that after we got Sawyer down for his nap today. We had a great time swimming, and we were out there for at least 2 hours. The kids loved playing with Grampa in the water. Daniel woke Sawyer up at one point and brought him out to us, and he loved pouring water in containers, and he got his clothes soaking wet. 
• When Daniel was done working, we walked up to the close beach to play. Daniel and I walked out into the ocean to explore a little, and as we were walking back to the shoreline, I saw a turtle poking his head above the water! It was so quick, I wasn't entirely sure that I had really seen one. But we watched and saw him again. We stood in the water on the rocks for at least 15 minutes watching him, and one by one the whole family joined us to watch. He would poke his head about the water every now and then, and we'd see his flippers flailing out of the water, or the top of his shell. It was so amazing and fun, and we all loved watching the water to just catch sight of him. I loved it so much! It was so cool. The turtle was swimming above a big flat rock under the water, and he kept going back and forth along it. Daniel's theory was that he was eating the plants growing on the rocks. 
• We played in the sand and water for a little bit after our turtle sighting. The kids built some fortresses and walls out of sand and Sawyer and I waded and threw rocks and sand. It was beautiful this afternoon. 
• Tacos for dinner. So good. The kids were highly motivated to clean up and help tonight, and now the place looks great, with all the help that everyone gave. No problems getting kids to bed, except Sawyer. We're not giving him bottles at bedtime anymore. It's become a problem. So he cried a long time before falling asleep. 

Tuesday

• We took Gramma and Grampa to Honokawai Beach in the morning after breakfast, but before anything else. It was a beautiful morning, and we waded in the water, and the kids played in the sand, and Grampa  played with the kids in the water. 
• We did school in the afternoon during Sawyer's nap time. Gramma helped me with doing school with the girls. Both of the girls were anxious to have her do school with them, so we switched off and only did one subject with each girl.
  
• Ka'anapali Beach in the afternoon. We hadn't done this beach before and wanted to try it. It's the big main beach on the island, close to all the big resorts, and it's usually pretty crowded with people. I think the part we were wasn't the best part of the beach. There wasn't much room from the hotels to the shore, so the beach part was kind of short. But there was some amazing snorkeling there. We saw a couple of turtles there in the water! It was rough snorkeling, because the rocks were super shallow and it was hard to maneuver over the top of them without incident. Daniel and I went out first, and I turned back when I saw him going over the shallows. But then we he found his way back, he said we should really try it. He'd said that after you get over the shallow parts, the water opens up a lot and gets deeper, and you see a ton of fish. So Dad and I went together and tried to make it over the shallows. At one point, my breathing tube came undone, and it was so shallow that I had to stand up to get it back on; I couldn't swim and fix it at the same time. But the problem was that we stopped right at the point where the waves break, and it kept bashing us around. In the end, I got pretty scratched up and bruised, on my leg and hands. We did eventually make it out to the deeper part, and it was super amazing. There were a lot of fish out there of all kinds and it was cool to see them.
• Dinner that night was at the food trucks, where we got Mexican food, Hawaiian food, and fish.
  

Wednesday

• Mom wanted a Mom and Daughter shopping trip, so this morning we went to Lahaina Town First Street, where the cute shops and restaurants are right off the harbor. It was nice doing a little window shopping together. We had a nice time! We went into a small quilting store there (which didn't have much), got a Dole Whip to share, and mom bought me some beautiful pearl earrings, a blue-black stud pearl. I love them. We also stopped at one place and got some sarongs for ourselves and Julie, Mary and Diane. It was very fun. But I ended up with quite the headache (I'm not much of a shopper).
• I honestly don't remember what else we did this day.
  

Thursday 

• I always want to do more hiking when we visit places, and so I decided I was going to make my kids go on this hike that was close by. It was called the Mahana Ridge Trail, and it's 17 miles round trip and takes you up into the west mountains. So my plan was to go a mile or so and then turn back. Dad and I told the kids that we were going on the hike (Mom didn't want to come, she's not big into that kind of thing, and I'm sure it would've been hard on her knees), and that whoever wanted to could come with us. Well ... it was quite the adventure. All the kids ended up coming, even though they all grumbled when I first mentioned going on a hike. I guess they didn't want to be left at home, hahha! So. We drove out to the public beach parking where it said the trail started, and got ready and started hiking. But I could tell right away that it was the wrong place. So we walked back down, and started asking people where the start of this trail was. And people gave us directions that were wrong. We walked all over the grounds of this resort, asking people where we're supposed to go, and then going where they told us. Eventually we ended up at this old golf course, and we're walking around and sort of following the paths. When we finally found a map, it showed us some hiking paths, and, even though we knew it wasn't what we'd planned, we decided to take one for just a short while. But, the map was wrong, and when we made a turn to go back another way, we ended up hiking all the way up to this duck pond. We watched the ducks for a few minutes, and then started back down the way we came. At this point, the kids are all tired, and Sawyer looks like he might fall asleep at any moment in the hiking backpack (Dad and I took turns carrying him on our backs for the hike), and every one of us is thirsty, and Jack's little legs are getting so tired (he was honestly such a little trooper that day. He complained a fair bit, but he kept walking and even had some fun while we were out, looking at the birds and plants and holding my hand for much of it. I was so pleased with my cute little boy). I was concerned about getting Sawyer back for naps, so we just trucked it back to the car. I carried Jack for a portion of the way back, and then I carried Sawyer in my arms for a portion, before getting tired and putting him back on my back in the backpack. Anyway, it was a much longer hike than I had planned for the kids. They did SO well, they did complain a bit (the girls didn't complain as much), but I think mostly they were glad that we went. We saw some really beautiful plants and birds, and it was quite the adventure getting lost. It ended up being the Kapalua walking trails that we were hiking on.
  
• Once we got back and put Sawyer down for a nap and ate something, we went to the condo pool to cool off. It felt very nice to get in the pool after that long, hot morning hike. And we had fun.
  
• That evening, Daniel and I had a date night while Mom and Dad watched the kids. We went to  Black Rock Beach, a portion of the long, beautiful Ka'anapali Beach, for some snorkeling. It's so named because there's this long stretch of rock jetting out into the water, and people like to jump from the rocks into the ocean. There was also some really cool snorkeling. Right when we got into the water to start snorkeling, a sea turtle swam right into Daniel! It was amazing to me how the sea turtles were not at all intimidated or troubled by humans whatsoever, because there were a ton of people right there in the water that afternoon, and the turtles just swam right among them, doing their own thing. They were amazing. We watched those 2 turtles for a while, and then ventured out a little farther along the rocks. There were a lot of people snorkeling there that afternoon, so it was a little tricky. Daniel wanted to snorkel around the rock to the other side, where his friend Kash told us we might be able to see some reef sharks. But the wind and waves were working against us once we made it around the rocks, and I wasn't at all confident that I could swim all the way out. I felt badly, though, because I knew Daniel wanted to, and he wasn't going to do it without me. We saw another sea turtle out there past the rocks, just swimming so slowly and peacefully through the water. The fish were so beautiful and vibrant, and we saw a bunch of different kinds of creatures. After snorkeling, we went back onto the beach to rest a little and to swim in the deeper parts. Then we walked along the beach and watched the sun set and the moon rise, and we sat on the beach and kissed in the dark. The moon was out and full when we walked back along the boardwalk to the car. We started walking around the shopping center at Ka'anapali, looking for a place to eat. But every place was booked, and we decided to try the food trucks instead ... but they were already closed (at 830pm ... Hawaii *eyeroll*). It was quite the fun Hawaiian date, though.
  

Friday 

• Road to Hana today
• We used the Shaka guide on our journey up to Hana. He told us stories and stops along the way. 
• The drive was incredible! It was crazy windy, with all kinds of hairpin turns and one lane bridges that you had to take super slow and watch for oncoming traffic. And Mom was super carsick for the first leg of the trip. But after our first stop, she drove the rest of the day and was fine after that. But it was all through the jungles of Maui, there were trees and plants everywhere. Hanging vines and bright flowers. Waterfalls and mountains. It was so amazing, more than I could drink in. I loved it.
  
• Our first stop was the Garden of Eden Arboretum, which we stopped at and walked around for a while. We looked at the gift shop (where Dad bought me a watercolor print of a pineapple which I said I liked... so sweet of him), and walked in the gardens. We saw some ducks and peacocks, and the 100 year old mango trees, and rainbow eucalyptus trees, and bamboo forests... it was really cool. I think Dad said it ended up being his favorite part of the day. He wished we could have spent more time there. But there was a lot more we wanted to do.
• We stopped at the Keanae Peninsula and drove through a cute little town and stopped at some rocks and tide pools. We walked on the rocks and looked at the tide pools. Gramma especially loved the waves crashing the rocks, and we stayed quite a long time, and ate lunch there. 
• We stopped at the lava cave on the side of the road and got out to walk through it. The kids loved it and thought it was really cool, but they were kind of scared to walk all the way through it, because it got pretty dark at one point before opening up around the bend at the end. 
• We saw lots of waterfalls on the way, but only stopped at one Wailua State Park to see the waterfall there. 
• We missed the black sand beach, because we couldn't get a reservation there. But we drove through Hana Town, just this cute little town, and went to the little beach there and played in the water. We ate at some food trucks there in Hana, and then made the long drive back. It started to get dark when we were heading back, and after it was truly dark, it was a little scary driving that road and making all those little turns. Fortunately, there was very little oncoming traffic after dark. And we made it home without incident.
  

Saturday 

• We took Gramma and Grampa and the girls to Black Rock Beach in the morning to snorkel. We thought it was such a cool experience, we wanted them to be able to do it. Plus, that location was a mild location that was good for beginning snorkelers. The girls finally tried snorkeling this morning; they've been too nervous try on the other times we went snorkeling. And they LOVED it. Especially Camille. She kept asking  me to go out with her, and I hadn't planned on snorkeling this morning. I was saving my energy for Daniel and my snorkeling tour, and I wanted to give Mom and Dad a chance to snorkel. But I consented in the end to go with her for a little bit, and it was really fun. She was so excited to do it, and to see all the fish. I was really hoping she would get to see a turtle, and she did! It was on the bottom of the ocean floor, sleeping and moving back and forth with the waves. She kept pointing to stuff that she wanted me to see and giving me thumbs up when she saw something cool. Then Brooke wanted me to take her out, so I went out with Brooke for a bit, and she had fun too, though she was a little more nervous and cautious than Camille. She got to see the turtle, and I think by then, the turtle was awake and moving around and going to the surface and such. She ended up loving it, too, and wanted to keep going out.
  
• We left the kids with Mom and Dad, and rushed out the door to make our snorkeling tour, grabbing sandwiches for lunch on the way out. We drove out to Ma'alaea Harbor to grab our boat, and barely parked and made it in time before they set off. I took some dramamine before the drive out, so that I wouldn't be seasick for this boat excursion. And I wasn't! The boat ride out was fun! The sun was super hot, but the wind cooled us off, and the sea spray felt nice. We saw whales a bunch while we were out, and sat down on the netting at the front of the catamaran and got sprayed with water and it was amazing. Our tour took us straight out to Molokini Crater, a big C-shaped rock in the ocean, that's really too small for anything, but has some amazing snorkeling. The whole thing is a nature reserve for birds and sea life. The snorkeling was INCREDIBLE. The water was so clear, and the sun was bright and shined on everything in the water. We saw so many varieties of fish and schools of fish. Our favorite one was this bright neon rainbow colored fish. Daniel dove down to follow one at one point. We saw sea anemones and gigantic sea urchins, and these little skinny, snakelike fish that kind of liked to hang out right at the surface of the water. The water was plenty deep to swim in, except right near the shore of the rock, and it was amazing to watch the fish and the little community of sea creatures. 
• On the way back from our trip to Molokini, we stopped for smoothies at a roadside stand, and got a fresh pineapple smoothie, and another fruit smoothie. We had dinner at home again, a little after Mom and Dad and the kids, and helped get kids to bed, and watched part of a movie while we ate.
  

Hawaii Week 1

• When we were first flying in, Brooke looked out the window (and it was dark outside, so she couldn't see very well), she saw the lights of the city, and said, "I imagined more plants and less... city." 😂
• Everywhere we go, Sawyer waves at everyone we pass and says, "Hi!" It's so cute, Daniel and I are constantly dying over it. He's the friendliest little man. 
• Daniel has been working while we're here. Our current schedule is early to bed, early to rise. We get up between 4:30 and 5 in the morning to start our day; we read scriptures and workout, and then the kids wake up at some point after that between 6 and 7. Daniel has been trying to start work around 6 every day, and my schedule with the kids tends to be different every day, depending on what we want to do. But we've mostly been trying to get school done early so we can do things in the afternoon. Then when Daniel is done with work between 2 and 3, we do something together as a family. And we try to be back to get kids to bed at between 6 and 7. And Daniel and I go to bed before 9, so we can wake up early. Hawaii schedule. It's been a little different. But good! 

 Monday

• We went to the beach first thing. After the kids woke up, I got us all ready and I took them to the beach that's really close to where we're staying. It's a 5 minute walk out to it, and there's this tiny beach and little play ground there. We played in the sand and water, and the girls and I climbed the rocks a little bit and tried to find wildlife. 
• Sawyer HATED the sand when we first got there. He sat on a towel on the beach and just cried and fussed for maybe 20 minutes. And I let him cry, for the most part, and joined the other kids in playing in the water. I came over to him every now and then to prompt him to play with the sand toys, and I took him into the water a couple of times. But it wasn't until his second time in the water, and digging up sand with his hands that he started to appreciate the beach. And then he LOVED it. He loved digging in the sand with the shovels, and picking up sand and throwing it in the ocean, and filling up buckets with water. He got mad when I said it was time to go. 
• We did school when we came back, after we had lunch and put Sawyer to bed for a nap. 
• When Daniel was done with work, we went to a different beach called "Baby Beach" together. We swam in the water and sat and played in the sand. Daniel went out first to snorkel, and told me to go out. I took a little while to get my bearings. It took several minutes for me to not panic and be able to just breathe smoothly. And I scraped my knee on some rocks. But it was fun after that! I saw a bunch of fun fish. 
• We had dinner at the food trucks right down the street from where we're staying. We had an elote, Mexican food, a hot dog, shrimp pasta, and completely amazing Brussel sprouts. It was very much money for just that food that we shared. 😬
• I showered 3 times that day: once after my shower, once after the beach, and then again at night, after we had dinner. 😂 And decided we needed to plan the days better so I didn't have to do that anymore. 

Tuesday

• We did school early this day, and then did some swimming in the pool here at the condo. Sawyer swam with us for a little bit, and then we came in for lunch and up put him down for a nap. And then the kids and I went back out swimming. I played with Jack and carried him around in the pool until he was all done, and then I swam with the girls and taught Brooke how to drive into the pool. It was nice to just be able to swim like a normal person for a little bit, without having a child on my hip. I like both: having a child on my hip and also being able to swim like a normal person. 😊
• Once Daniel was done with work, we went to the Kapalua coastal trail for a little hike/ walk. We walked out onto a rocky part of the coast and climbed the rocks and saw crabs and sea anemones. Jack complained almost the whole hike. His legs were tired and he kept tripping on rocks and he didn't want to be left behind... etc. But the hike was lovely. And we saw whales breaching in the distance! It was so amazing. And it was just nice to be outside and moving our bodies. I think we went a little too far for the kids. Eventually, even the girls stayed complaining and wanting to go back. Camille also scraped her ankle on the rocks, and was unhappy about that. It was a nice evening and nice to see the island and ocean. 

Wednesday 

• We had a bit of a rough start this day. We got school done quickly and then wanted to go to the beach right off of the Kapalua trail that we had seen the night before. But, we got a later start than I wanted. And then the road was closed due to construction, so we had to find another route. And then there was no parking. And then we found parking, but it cost money. And then we tried another beach, but it was closed. And at that point, it was close to naptime. So we just headed back and had lunch and put Sawyer down for a nap. 
• Then we decided to try another beach while Sawyer was napping. We got there and sunscreened up and started playing in the water and were having fun... and then Daniel texted and said Sawyer was awake and screaming and we had to go back to get him. 😒🙄 
• Finally, after gathering up Sawyer, we went back to the same beach, a little further down than we were before. The new spot didn't have rocks and coral close to the beach line, and there was a big drop off in the water past where the waves were breaking. It was the perfect place for us. The sand was nice for the boys to play with, the waves were perfectly crashy for Camille, and Brooke and I had a nice little swimming spot out past the drop. It was a lovely afternoon. Daniel joined us when he was done with work, and that's about all we did that day. 
• All of us girls got a little (or a lot) sunburned that day. We were outside for quite a long time. The girls were so happy and content to play in the waves for almost that whole time. And the boys were happy and content to play in the sand almost that whole time. And I did a little of everything with all the kids. Brooke really loved swimming in the ocean with me. We had a good day. 
• It took a lot of convincing to get Jack to potty in the ocean. He told me right after we got to the beach (the 2nd time, after it had taken so much effort to get there) that he had to go potty. And I was NOT going to walk all the way back to find a bathroom after all that trouble. So I told him to pee in the ocean. But he was too nervous to. And he didn't for a long time! Until I told him that I went and peed in the ocean. 😏😂 And then he let me help him do it. 😂😂

Thursday

• This was our cleaning day. We mostly stayed in and did school and cleaned up the apartment (because it was a massive mess, from playing and getting sandy from the days before). I did laundry and swept and mopped and vacuumed and did dishes, and I had the kids help with tidying. 
• When Daniel was done with work, we went to Honolua Bay. The walk out there was a little hike in the middle of the jungle, and it was really cool. We felt like we were hiking through a legit jungle! There were cool birds and a bunch of chickens, and we saw a spider spinning a web, and some of us got eaten by mosquitoes. 😬 (Daniel and Camille) The actual bay was only rocky and the kids struggled a little walking on them, so we didn't stay long, and then hiked back through the jungle. 

Friday

• No school or work for anyone on this day. 😊
• First thing in the morning, we got ready and out the door for our whale watching tour. We were late (obviously), and had to quickly park and rush to the harbor to get on the boat. We barely made it into the boat on time. I was a bit sea sick and trying not to be, and towards the end, the girls started feeling a little gross too. But it was one of the coolest experiences ever. We saw a couple of mom and baby pairs, and a couple of other whales. We only really saw humpback whales. 🐋 And we caught many little humps and fins, a few tail fins when the mamas were going down deep, a "teenager" whale showing some belligerence with "chin slaps", and one good beach from an adult. It was incredible, and I gained such a fondness for whales.
• I actually got kind of emotional watching the mom and baby that we saw at the end. I'm a little embarrassed to admit. But just watching that mama taking care of that little baby whale, it was so sweet and made me feel such an appreciation for and kinship with the mama whale. I just loved them. 
• I started feeling better on the way back into Lahaina harbor. And we saw some more whales in the distance breaching, which was such a great way to conclude our whale watching tour. 
• We explored around downtown, historic Lahaina after we disembarked. We went in a few shops, a couple art galleries and a museum. We got a Dole Whip and a shaved ice to share. Both were delicious. And it was a cute little town. There was a humongous banyan tree in town that was amazing! The grandfather tree shot out branches that became new trees, so there were a dozen or so little satellite trees around this big tree, and they were all connected. So cool. 
• On the way to our next activity, we stopped briefly at the condo (Sawyer fell asleep on the way, so we wanted to give him a chance to sleep longer) to get some sandwiches and lunch together to take to our next adventure. 
• We drove out to the Nakalele blow hole. The hike down to it was tricky and very rocky, but kind of cool. Jack really struggled with it, but was quite the little trooper about it. We watched it a good long while and explored around it. It shot up once really high while we were there, but the other ones we saw were a lot smaller, mostly. We ate lunch, and Daniel caught a hermit crab to show the kids. 
• On the way back, we stopped at slaughterhouse beach for a swim and a play. It was down a flight of steps, so it was secluded, and the waves were sufficiently crashy for Camille, and it was pretty shallow so we could wade and swim in the water. Daniel went snorkeling and saw a whole bunch of sea turtles! It was a nice little day! 

Sawyer, saying "hi" to someone. It's his current favorite thing. 

Saturday 

• I woke Brooke up early in the morning to do a sunrise swim. It was completely magical! The sunrise was beautiful, the colors so soft. It reflected of the water and made it look iridescent. Brooke and I went to airport beach again, because there's a good swimming spot where the sand drops off and it gets deep. We swam in the water and watched the sun rise and talked and it was absolutely amazing. 
• Mom and dad flied into Maui Saturday morning, so we piled the kids into the car along with everything we'd need for the day, and drove out to the airport to get them. They'd been spending the last week in Kauai, and they came to spend another week+ with us on Maui. 
• Since we were already by the airport, we took advantage of being on that side of the island to do part of the Road to Hana. We made it to Twin Falls. There's a beautiful hike up to 2 sections that you can see waterfalls from. They both have swimming holes at the bottom of the falls, and we swam in the upper falls swimming hole. It was FREEZING compared to the ocean, but it was a hot day and felt really nice to get into the water. Daniel bribed Brooke to swim under the falls. The reward was French fries. 😆 She did it, but she hated it. She felt like she was going to drown.
• After the hike back down, we drove back the way we came and stopped at a roadside stand selling Huli Huli chicken. We shared a few dinners between us. It was good! They had no picnic tables, so we sat on rocks there and ate dinner.