Hawaii family vacation-Island #1: Maui (part 1)

After planning for 18 months, it finally arrived: our family vacation to the Hawaiian Islands. Let's back up a quick second to explain why it took 18 months. I had a burning desire in 2018 to take the family to Hawaii and had saved up a ton of money by selling things here/there for a few years. Ryan didn't want to know or see an account, so we kept it completely separate; side note, he was later shocked to see how much I had saved :)  Ryan also wasn't keen on such a big vacation with Lincoln being only 4 years old in 2018 (we'll call that strike one against my plans). Then the giant volcano on the Big Island decided to blow: strike two. And then a hurricane was headed dangerously close: strike three. I gave up on 2018 and shifted my plans to 2019. It's probably a good thing we waited for all of the reasons above, but mostly having Lincoln be so close to 6 years old (he turned 6 the day after we got back). He was a BREEZE to travel with!

So here we go.....Due to number of pictures, I've divided up our vacation by islands. Warning! this is a very long post, with lots of pictures.

We started the vacation in Maui, the most sunny, consistently gorgeous weather I have ever seen. It seriously was beautiful all of the time. I found an Airbnb with 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and 2 amazing lanais. The condo was outdated, but it was spacious and had everything we needed. We fell asleep to the waves crashing against the sand and woke up to the same. Our view looked out to Lanai Island, which seemed to not have the same weather we did daily as we saw a cloud hanging over the island every day. Talk about dreary!

This beach was literally steps from our lanai. See the cloud over Lanai Island in the distance? 

We saw a rainbow everyday in Maui. While we stopped to admire, we giggled wondering if those who lived on the island admired them in the same fashion. 

I took in advice from many friends and coworkers on island Must-Do's before we left. One of my doctor friends at work commented that I "Danny Tannered" our vacation with my "clipboard of fun" :) I had itineraries and options of fun for each day.  I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this vacation, and I wanted us to have a lot of fun. Each day we had adventures or excursions planned and downtime for beach or swimming. It was the perfect balance for our busy family.

Nakalele Blowole 

Lincoln insisted we climb down to the blowhole. We parked wayyyyy up there! 

It was quite the hike in the heat but the memories we made will last forever. 

Maui beaches had beautiful golden sand and crystal clear water. I took more panoramic shots than I ever dreamed. I couldn't resist!  

Smoothies from food trucks on the side of the road, only the freshest fruit and ingredients.  

Prior to leaving for Hawaii, we had purchased tickets to Old Lahaina Luau. Although crazy expensive, I'm so glad we bought these. This luau tops our list of fun things we did in Maui. We arrived early and were able to participate in some of the fun activities prior to dinner: photo ops, luau lessons, crazy fun drinks for the whole family and coconut tasting. We watched as they unearthed the pig and then sat down to feast, watch the sunset, and enjoy the show. Sadly, Lincoln couldn't make it to dinner and zonked out at the table as we sat down (something he ended up doing at almost every meal for the entire vacation). He missed the whole luau show.

So many folks wore Hawaiian attire, even this fella who reminded me of Baylor. 

Ziplining in Hawaii was also our on list of "to-do"s but I wanted to be sure we found a place that we could all enjoy; most places didn't allow 5 year olds, and some even had a minimum weight which excluded Sidney as well. I managed to find North Shore Zip in Maui which could accommodate the whole family. It certainly wasn't the most thrilling zipline we have ever done, but it was perfect for us because we could go together. We climbed and zipped through a former WWII camp with views of the ocean behind us.

The location of this zipline happened to be just onto the Road to Hana, so while we didn't actually go all the way to Hana, we can say we were on it. The last town before Hana is the tiny town of Paie, which turned out to be the most quaint adorable little town, with what we have decided is THE best pizza imaginable! Plus the shops are adorable and we found the most amazing shave ice shop, WINNING!

Although black sand beaches are not very prevalent on Maui, I had learned about this beach and wanted to see it myself (we later saw a real black sand beach, but this was pretty amazing for now).

South Maui was beautiful, much different than West Maui where we were staying. Definitely upscale and more honeymooners than families. We spent the evening on one of the most popular beaches of South Maui with golden sand, where sadly, Regan then Ryan then I were stung by a jellyfish. Darnit. Top it off that Lincoln tossed Regan's phone onto the parking lot and the charging port broke; it was quite the evening. (not to fret, the resourceful social worker that I am got to work and found a phone store nearby with wireless chargers for sale).

We saw, we ate and we loved up on Maui. I may call it my favorite because the size is perfect and the weather is AMAZING. But then again, I may call every island my favorite :)

Up next...Part 2 The Big Island.