Why do I live in Louisiana?

Day 6

This was our last full day in Paradise and we definitely made the most of it. Just off the road to Hana we stopped to do a short hike to the Twin Falls. Only one of the falls was running due to lack of rain, but it was BEAUTIFUL!!

Rich fulfilled his dream to swim under a waterfall in a pool of gorgeous water! Hunter was right there with him. The water was cold, but I got in there too.

That afternoon was spent on yet another fantastic beach- Big Beach- which is one of the top beaches in the world. The waves were crazy and we took advantage with our boogie boards!

Bree got in on the action, too. It was a great way to spend our last day on the island. "Mahalo" Mom and Wayne, for all the money & time you spent to make our trip really special!!!!!

Day 5

We traveled WAY up high, even above the clouds,to the top of the volcano Haleakala. It was a little hard to breathe and I felt a little dizzy considering we're used to living at almost sea level!

Of course, we had to take some crazy pictures of our family looking like we are jumping off the edge of the world. It was beautiful up there!

Our afternoon was spent at another beach where there were dozens of people surfing, windsurfing, and kite surfing. It was super windy so we were being sand blasted on the beach, but it was worth it watching them doing all their cool tricks.

Then, we had an evening to take advantage of Bree, my personal stylist, to color my hair and my mom's. Don't we look GREAT!!

Day 4

On this day, we started out by driving to Wailea and dropping the kids off at the beach. All of the adults (me, Rich, my mom, Wayne and Barbara) went into the Grand Wailea Resort Spa for some royal treatment! This place was incredible!! The pic above is at the resort, but we don't have any pictures of the spa itself. We spent time in these baths with different waters for your skin, spent time in these massage showers, jacuzzis and had our skin scrubbed with some other special stuff. Then we all had massages- it was heavenly :)

We met up with the kids on the beach afterward.

This is how Hunter started the day. . . . . . .

. . . . . this is how he ended it! OUCH!!!

Day 3

I know it's taking me forever to blog about this trip, but life has been a little busy lately. (Those details to come in a later blog!) Anyway, this day we got up and went to this cool mall in Kahului to see some Hawaiian dancers. They put on this cute little show and then we wandered around and shopped a little.

Then we went to the upcountry to see the beautiful views. It's crazy how much cooler it is up there! Bree and I are at the Kula Lodge throwing pennies into a pond for good luck :)


Then it was off to the Lavender Farm to see more beautiful views and scenery and sample their Lavender Lemonade. I thought it tasted pretty weird. Later that night, we went back to the mall to see the movie "Soul Surfer" which we thought was an appropriate movie to see while in Hawaii. Except that it made us a little nervous to go back out into the water! (not really)

Day 2

We got to meet my step brother's new little baby, Tela! They also have the rough life of living on Maui :) She's a cutie!

On this day we took a ride over to Lahaina to see a huge banyan tree and go whale watching (that's "whale washing" for you Modern Family fans! ;) ) But first we ate a delicious meal at a restaurant named Cool Cats.

Here we are on the boat looking for "sprays" so we could rush out to catch some whale sightings. . . .

. . . . .and here is one of many shots of a real life whale!! There were 5 whales swimming in a pod and we followed them around watching them spray, flip, and jump! It was CRAZY COOL!! What was NOT crazy cool was the little girl that threw up all over Rich's mom from sea sickness! Of course, then, she in turn, threw up 6 TIMES! But at least she made it to the bathroom. Poor Barbara, this whale watching was memorable for all sorts of reasons.

Day 1 in Paradise

We got up early on Saturday (there is a 5 hour time difference for us, so it wasn't hard!) and went to a little farmer's market just across the street from my mom's neighborhood in Pukalani. Rich is enjoying coconut water from the real deal, just chopped open. As you can imagine, they have tons of yummy fresh fruits and veggies.

After that, we went to another market place in Kahului that sold t-shirts and such and delicious Italian Ice. Anyone who knows our family, knows we can't pass up a food opportunity :)

Next, was our tour of the set of "Lost" well, not really, but it did look an awful lot like it! This is the Iao Needle and we took a little walk/hike to check it out. Just BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

This is Baldwin Beach where we spent the rest of our afternoon. It was VERY windy, but nice to finally enjoy the waves and some time in the sun.