Day 4 :: Little Hiking, Little Beach Time

Rise & shine ... it's hiking time! Right off the road north of our condo, we saw a hiking trail in a thick wooded area that we nicknamed the "jungle." To kick off this morning, we headed out to explore the trail near Honolua Bay.

Crossing the stream can be a true test of skill...

 Loved this tree!

 More words of wisdom from the locals:

"Most days Honolua is one of the 

best places to snorkel. If the waves big 

or the water is brown,

it's no good for snorkel."

Time out for a jungle injury...

Time for a dip in Honolua Bay...

The boys explore the rocky coastline.

After our hike, we loaded up in the car, met up with Papa & Kathy, and ventured south to check out a new part of the island called Kihei. For this beach excursion, we settled on Keawakapu Beach and adored its bright sunshine, calm waters, and ideal snorkeling spots.

Move over, Hawaii Five-O. Here is the Leahy Five-O.

 Papa & his little surfer dude check out the water.

"Is this how you Hang Ten?"

 Someone may have face planted in the sand.

Or he's grown a sand goatee.

Either way, he seems fine with it.

 Pure joy! Check out Reid's face... 

Papa has been known to use a funny alias 

name on occasion. So ... meet Maui Pete.

Waiting for the next big wave...

 About to catch it!

Next up ... teaching Luke the finer points 

of boogie boarding.

 Father-son memories!

 Paddle, paddle. Catch the wave...

 Riding the wave!

A day at the beach is a day full of smiles.

Reid catches a wave...

 And survives the wave! Way to go!

Hang loose!

Day 3 :: Brunch, Whales, Water Spouts

Ah, Sunday morning brunch at The Plantation House Restaurant ... Divine! This restaurant with a rich heritage as a pineapple plantation sits high upon the coast with wide-spanning views of the ocean and its highly acclaimed golf course. After feasting upon treats like Crab Cake Benedict with Roasted Red Pepper Hollandaise, the Signature Plantation House Omelette with Portuguese Sausage & Molokai French Toast, we watched the local birds fly in and out of the open air windows (no screens here ... no bugs either) and took a stroll around the grounds. Sunday brunch at its finest!

 Birds on the back of Luke's chair.

An entertaining addition to the ambience!

This morning was a bit cloudy, but the views 

were still amazing! In the distance, our condo was

just to the left of Reid's shoulder.

 Mama & her sweet little men

The great thing about Maui is that if the weather is rainy on one part of the island, you just drive a little and the sun is shining. And so was the case as we departed cloudy Kapalua to head south to sunny Lahaina to catch our whale-watching excursion. March is wrapping up whale season in Maui, where the whales venture to enjoy the warm waters during the winter, breed & raise their babies until they are strong enough to make the 3,000 mile swim back to Alaska. As we boarded the boat, we hoped to catch a glimpse or two of these magnificent creatures. Little did we think that we'd have non-stop sightings of whales all around the boat for the 2 hours out on the open waters. We couldn't believe it! Just when we spotted a whale in one spot ... another would pop up elsewhere on the horizon. Our tour guide shared some great knowledge with us on the whale culture & their behaviors, and he even gave a shout-out to our Reid because the guide shared the same name! Funny side note about the whale-watching trip ... both Grant and Reid fell asleep. Maybe it was the rocking of the boat, but they both worked in good naps!

 On the lookout...

Just a little whale watchin' with Papa...

 

The tail of a humpback whale 

with distinct white markings.

Taking a dive...

 The whales weren't the only ones in the water that day.

This Princess cruise ship was docked for the day,

while the passengers explored the island.

 Captain and Little Skipper

 Cheers to the Whales!

The whales often are sighted in groups. Here the male
whales competed to be noticed by the female whales.

 Two whales here. Can you see the spray 

and his mouth on the far right?

 All that whale watching worked up an appetite.

Time for some gelato ... yummy!

(Reid loves to sneak in funny faces in photos now.

Grant likes to sneak in bites of other people's gelato.)

After the whale-watching adventure, we did some shopping in Lahaina and then ventured a little further north on a drive. On our map, there was natural landmark for the Nakalele Blowhole, where the ocean water comes into the rock formations and spouts up high into the air. We missed the sign for this somehow on our drive out, but our adventure led us along a one-lane road to a little coastal village. If you met another car on the road, you had to pull over off the side of the road to let them pass. We stopped to ask for directions at a little house selling shaved ice and banana bread. What a hidden treasure this detour was!

 Driving into the village. And yes, chickens 

were randomly hanging out on the side of the road.

We joked that they were true "free-ranging chickens."

 View of the village tucked into the bay.

 An old church & just a few houses.

We turned around at the village, traversed the one lane road back, and eventually found our way back to the blowhole.

 

Many of the landmark signs are hand-painted.

This one was interesting with its words of caution:

"Warning: Stay clear of the blowhole. You can be

sucked in and killed. It's not a waterpark."

We heeded the warning and stayed well enough away!

 The blowhole bubbling up...

 "Thar she blows!"

 Always up for an adventure!

Day 2 :: The Great Explorers

With our first full day on the island ahead of us, we set off to explore! First stop ... Snorkel Bob's for some gear and then a quick walk down to Napili Beach. We were all beyond excited to put our toes in the sand and play in the waves ... and of course, to try out that snorkel equipment.

 Snorkel Scott encountered many fish & a sea turtle or two!

 Which way to the best snorkel spot?

Luke caught on quickly to snorkeling!

 Beach baby loved the sand!

 Reid, the sand artist!

 "Boys, today I'm going to teach you a lesson

in basic sand castle construction..."

 It's a team effort on this sand castle!

 Let's bury Mom in the sand!

Sneak attack by the wave...

After several hours of playing on the beach, we ventured into town and found some delicious local fish tacos for lunch. We were anxious to see more of the area so we set out on a little drive just north of our condo and discovered this about 10 minutes away...

 Beautiful coast near Mokuleia Bay 

& Honolua Bay

 Rugged coastline

 Sandy Sleeper #1

Sandy Sleeper #2

We returned back to the condo for "dinner in" that evening. Upon arriving in Maui, we stopped at Costco to stock up on some groceries. It's funny to shop at Costco in Hawaii. They sell the basic items like Honey Nut Cheerios & Wheat Thins ... and then other items like surf boards, fresh seafood, and Hawaiian shirts.

Mama & her "keiki" ... which means "little one"

 This day goes on record for Luke as the

most accumulated hours of swimming.

Between the beach and 3 trips to the condo pool,

he logged nearly 5 hours of swimming that day!

And yet, the next morning he woke up and asked,

"Can we go to the pool now?"

 Night Snorkelers in the Pool

 Dad gives Reid a little snorkeling lesson.

Reid was all about wearing the fins!