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.