Maui: Special Time with Mommy

Our vacation had an interesting twist to it. About two weeks before our trip, Daddy got asked by one of his clients to attend a meeting in Houston. Unfortunately he couldn't get out of it, so three days into our vacation, he left me and Mommy for a quick trip to Houston and back. We missed him, but he ended up only being gone for 36 hours and, well, we were in Hawaii after all. There are worse places we could have been left. We were also able to extend our trip by two days to make up for his lost time, so I had nothing to complain about.

Anyway, Mommy was happy to spend some extra special time with me, and she took me on some special outings. After dropping off Daddy at the airport, we headed to the aquarium. We came here on our trip last year and remember having a good time. The shark tank was my favorite.

I found this turtle at the gift shop and convinced Mommy to buy it for me ("May I have this turtle please? He's a baby turtle. I'll take good care of it!"). For the rest of the trip, this turtle went everywhere with me. Poor Gato, replaced so easily.

In the evening we had a mommy-daughter dinner at the resort's restaurant while enjoying the sunset and live Hawaiian music.

The next day, Mommy took me on special outing #2. We went for a ride on the Sugar Cane Train. The station was a minute drive from our condo, which was convenient, although the hour and a half round trip was kind of long. It was an old fashioned train that blew steam so that was kind of neat (if you're into those kinda things). 

It took us six miles (very slowly) along the shore to the town of Lahaina and then back again. Along the way, we saw some great views of the ocean, went through old sugarcane fields, golf courses, and even some peoples' backyards. I love train rides and enjoyed every minute of the way there.

Then we stopped at the Lahaina station for about twenty minutes before turning back around. It was getting hot so we cooled off with some shave ice.

Finally it was back onto the train for the ride home. About ten minutes before we got back to the station, the excitement (and the sugar rush from the shaved ice) wore off and I fell asleep on Mommy's lap. She had to wake me up to get off.

A little too tired and grumpy to smile.

I really enjoyed my special time with Mommy, but we're glad Daddy came back to join us! 

Maui: Celebrations

While we were on vacation we celebrated two very special occasions. First, was Mommy's birthday. We had just arrived in Maui that day and headed straight to the pool, so for dinner we grabbed some takeout from the Maui Fish Market and had a relaxing dinner at home. Afterward, I got to help Mommy blow out the candles on her cake, and help her eat it too!

I also sang her a song and we had a discussion about her birthday. A while back I had decided that on her upcoming birthday she would be turning twenty-five, and I stuck to that statement. If I say it then it must be true. Mommy took a video to prove it.

The next day we celebrated Mommy and Daddy's anniversary. They've been married for six years! They were nice enough to let me tag along on their celebration. We had lunch at a favorite Maui restaurant, Mama's Fish House. We had come here during last year's trip, and Mommy and Daddy loved it so much they had to come back.

Celebrating three years together with my lunch date Gato.

I had fish and chips, Mommy had a ti-leaf steamed ono, and Daddy had a whole steamed opakapaka. Yum.

Lilikoi creme brulee

The restaurant has this small private beach in front, so after lunch we went for a romantic stroll.

I took pictures on this same canoe last year. In fact, I also wore a similar dress.

Gato in paradise.

Maui Vacation!

Brace yourself for a ton of photos from our Maui vacation. Mommy went kind of picture crazy and narrowing down ten days' worth of photos isn't easy. We had lots of fun in Maui. The weather was perfect, I went swimming every day, we had the best afternoon naps (all three of us), and ate a ton. It was a great vacation.

We stayed at a new condo resort in Ka'anapali that had everything, including three swimming pools, direct access to the beach, a restaurant, and market. It was also nearby lots of restaurants and shopping so we took plenty of outings.

View from our balcony.

Hockey and sunset. Daddy's in paradise.

With so many photos from our trip, we'll dedicate this post to the water activities. There were lots of 'em. Our unit came equipped with beach and pool toys, which I took full advantage of. Hmm if I had known that Mommy would take so many photos of me in the water I would have brought more than one rashguard set.

Yay! First morning in Maui. Playing in the baby pool.

Ka'anapali Beach, right in front of our resort.

The ocean water was warmer than the pool water!

The waterfall pool. I was obsessed with my ring floatie and wanted to take it everywhere.

This was the keiki (kid's) beach pool. They said it had a sandy bottom but it was more like a tiny pebbles bottom. I still loved it.

We also drove out to explore some other beaches. One morning we went to a popular beach called Black Rock, named for this huge rock that people cliff jump off of. It was nice calm beach and Mommy and Daddy took turns snorkeling while I built sandcastles. Mommy even saw a big turtle. Unfortunately, there was no sun protection so it got pretty hot.

Black Rock. You can see that guy on top of the rock is about to jump off.

More pool time...

Gotta have a fruity beverage when you're at the pool.

On our last day, we took an outing to Napili Bay, a short drive away from our resort. Too bad we didn't discover it earlier, because it turned out to be our favorite beach. The sand was so fluffy, there were trees to provide sun protection and best of all, lots of huge turtles! They were fun to follow while snorkeling, but also swam up close enough to the beach that anyone could see them. I loved seeing the turtles!

Snorkeling with turtles!

They were so friendly and swam right up to us.

That guy totally shouldn't have been trying to touch it - there's a $10,000 fine for touching the turtles!

This one was hanging just by Daddy's feet and he stuck the camera underwater to take a pic.

It was a great day at Napili Bay - two thumbs up!

First time getting my legs buried in the sand.

Still lots to come, including some excursions, food, and sunsets!