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 The condo was outdated, but it was spacious and had everything we needed.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.

Fall fun

Before we get to the biggest post I will probably ever type (coming soon!), I wanted to do a post on life lately. We had a lot of fun at the beginning of fall, taking in the last of the Minnesota warm weather and enjoying some crisp evenings and beautiful sunrises.

 

Both girls had wonderful fall seasons. Sidney's team roster was a bit full (too full but there wasn't much anyone could do), so we made the most of it and knew she would still have fun. It was fairly relaxing, it's fall afterall, and she made some awesome relationships being coached by quite some talent. They finished consolation championships and Sidney had a great tournament which was quite fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regan started out her fall season with her new club team: Minnesota Vortex. She is have a BLAST! Her fall season was more about skill development and just a few games, but they took 3rd in the State Tournament so there's something to be said about that.

 

 

 

 

 

Regan was named captain of the middle school cross country team, though ended up with a knee injury mid season which essentially sidelined her for  most of the meets. She continued showing up to practice, working hard with her team and being a strong leader. Because we knew she was on the mend, I encouraged her to run the last meet of the season. It sure wasn't her best time but it was nice to see her running again.

 

 

 

Lincoln enjoyed wrapping up the fall hockey clinics and gearing up for his next hockey season. He learned stick handling during dryland and is working hard on learning how to stop. The kid is hooked though, he loves going to hockey. I'm still figuring out how to get him dressed and thank my lucky stars for dads who help me tie his skates up tight (why I can get one and not the other is beyond me). We got sucked into putting in a lot of volunteer time for this organization, Ryan as assistance coach and me as team manager. I'm going to need some warmer clothes to survive being in the rink all winter.

 

 

 

Lincoln had so much fun tagging along to Friday night high school football games, where we met up with some of his buddies in the stands. If we did the math correctly, Ryan and I could be watching these Friday Night Lights for the next 12 years...…. But man do we all love it!

 

 

 

To say we were busy this fall is an understatement. I sometimes chuckle at just how much we are on the move. These kiddos love their activities and certainly wouldn't want it any other way. But how we can both hold full time jobs and get them to all of their practices, performances, meets and games is sometimes a miracle. So if we don't reply to a text message, or seem a little absent minded, forgive us, we are just trying to keep up with these three amazing kiddos!

Goodbye my fluffy friend

I still can’t type this without tears rolling down my cheeks....

We learned suddenly that my friends service dog was diagnosed at just 7 years old with a terminal cancer. Little did any of us realize, he would be gone in just 8 days. 

Sweet Lincoln had been VIP at school the week prior, listing Baylor as his "pet" on the VIP poster. Although we all know that Baylor was more than a pet, Lincoln believed he was a little bit his own.  

To say we made the most of those days is an understatement. He was spoiled and loved and snuggled and fed. 

For his entire service dog career, he would come into the office suite every day and march right into my office. He'd even open my door if it were closed, all just to come in and say hello! His last morning was no different. My door was almost closed and he stuck his nose against it and pushed, letting himself in for a good morning rub. He looked fine and sweet and almost healthy. He was gone just a few hours later.

Rest in Peace sweet boy.