Luau at the Hilton

Jeff's brother lives on Maui and he got us GREAT VIP tickets to this luau. We were literally on the front row. It was so cool. My favorite night of the whole week we were there. There was one part when the warriors challenged Jeff to pick up the leaf, which is an offering of friendship I suppose, and I wish I could describe how funny it was. We have it on video, and I don't have the pictures to do it justice. It was awesome though!

Whaler's Village/Kaanapali

We drove over to Lahaina one day and took a look around. I realized then that we were staying more on the local side of things and that Lahaina and Kaanapali are where all the tourists go. It looked more like the Hawaii I had seen in pictures.

Road to Hana

These are just some pictures of the rest of the journey on the Road to Hana. I didn't get sick driving on it, but it was exhausting! You can tell by some of these pictures of me that I was ready for a nap. I am not sure why I was so tired. It was a beautiful drive, but not as beautiful as it would have been if it were raining. The black sand beach we were on is actually broken up pieces of lava. The cave we are in is a lava tube. It was really cool. This is not a beach you can swim in. When we were taking pictures it was nice and calm. Not even 5 minutes later, the tide was coming in with huge waves! It was crazy how fast it changed!
We also stopped at this blow hole. It's just this area of lava and rock that creates this hole and when the waves come in, water will fly out of there! I didn't catch it with my camera, but Jeff got it on video.

The Garden of Eden

While we were on the Road to Hana, we passed this place called the Garden of Eden. It was really beautiful. Beautiful is almost an understatement when it comes to Hawaii. Anyway, we walked through Bamboo alley, saw a 100 year old Mango tree. (Which you can see how huge it is when Jeff is standing next to it.)
We also so the place where they filmed the beginning part of Jurassic Park. We saw one waterfall. The waterfalls really were not all that impressive while we were there. We came during the "dry" season. I have a feeling the road to Hana is a lot more impressive when it rains.
We saw a lot of banana trees too. It was just a beautiful place to stop. Even though we probably wouldn't do it again. You can see all these things from the road and not have to pay $10 a person to get in. But it was still relaxing.

Why? What?

Zack is 2 1/2 years old. He hardly talks at all, but lately he has been saying more and more words, and talking in sentences sometimes! A couple days before I left for Hawaii I told him to do something and he says "Why?" I was so shocked that I just kind of looked at him, and then I was excited that he was actually saying words anyone could understand! Now, I can't stand the word! Everytime I ask him to do something, or tell him to do something, the answer is always "why?" Why can't I stick popcorn up my nose? Why can't I cross the street by myself? Why Why Why Why!? When I answer, he says why. It really is so cute to hear him use words and fun to see him questioning his world and asking questions. Maybe that means he will be a leader and not a follower.
His other word is What? I have to admit, I still like that one. He has the sweetest little voice.
It just made me think about how we can't wait for our kids to talk and then when they do, we want them to be quiet. I try to remind myself of this when all I hear is why. I am grateful my kids can speak well and express themselves so well. I love them so much!

Funny

Yesterday I was talking to Ethan and I called him my Angel Face. He looked at me and said "Don't call me that!" and I said "Oh you don't like that? Well what can I call you then?" He said, "Chicken head"
No joke, I laughed so hard, so now instead of Angel Face, he is my Chicken head. Only Ethan...

thoughts

I know I am not done with Hawaii yet, but I had an odd realization today. I have never been one that says not to let your kids sleep with you. When they are babies, it is so much easier, and sometimes when they are older it is nice to be next to them for awhile. But Andrew and Ethan have always preferred sleeping in their own beds. I didn't count on Zack, who lately will only sleep if he is in bed with me. Today for naps he was so tired, but threw the biggest fit when I put him in his bed. So I take him out, as a test, and lay him down in my bed. He was asleep before I could even get the other boys in bed. What the heck? So now I am in a situation where the only time I will get any sleep at night is if he sleeps with me. I am not really happy about this. I don't like sleeping with kids all night long because they touch you while you are sleeping, and I can't sleep with someone touching me.
Jeff says it is because we have been gone, and I have been out at night working on Pampered Chef so he misses me and it will calm down when our schedule relaxes a little. What do you think? Am I on the path of having a child sleeping with me until he is like 13? I am not okay with that! Just wondering if you guys have any ideas as to what to do.

Robert's Grave

Jeff has some family that lives on Maui. His brother Robert died last year in a motorcycle accident so we came to see his grave. He has a nice view of the ocean. The cemetery is on the Road to Hana, so we stopped by on our way out. His brother Jr. came as well.

Snorkeling

So the next day I did NOT want to go snorkeling again. Jeff was frustrated with me and I was mad at myself too, I wanted to be cool and go along with everything he wanted to do! (personally I just wanted to sit on the beach and read my book, but that is boring for him). He took me to this other place, past Wailea, it is a reserve so the fish are really friendly. There were no waves here. You could see the fish from above the water, so I knew we wouldn't have to go out very far. I was feeling a little better about it. So I jumped in. Not literally, but I ended up loving it. We saw a sea turtle and some beautiful fish. I was getting more confident with swimming on my own that I actually let go of Jeff's hand. (Much to his relief!) Then as we were coming in I was caught in a surge and crashed my knee into the rocks/coral. OUCH! Not fun. But it didn't ruin the experience and I went back in everyday, except Tuesday because that was when we did the road to Hana.