Aloha from Maui

 This was a dream trip for Kevin and I, as well as, Alyssa and Eli. We waited almost 10 years for this trip, and we could have not been more excited to go.  One thing we realized right away was that taking a 1 year old on a 5 and half hour flight was really not a good idea. I think that's why we kept trying to wait for our kids to get older before planning this vacation. Nonetheless, we were going!
I had anxiety about taking Luke on the flight for months prior to the trip, and lets just say not only did my assumptions come to reality but they were 10x worse than I had expected. I literally thought how can I survive this entire flight? It had only been 20 minutes and Luke was not the Luke I knew. I really wasn't sure he was even mine. No Joke!

So getting off the plane we all took a deep breath, picked up our rental car, and headed to Costco. That is what everyone told us to do the minute we got off the plane. I think we heard it over 30 times. Go to Costco, go to Costco. So we went to Costco and were grateful we did, however the kids were quite squished after picking up all the yummy food and alcohol we needed. And yes I mentioned alcohol. We were ready to drink it right there in Costco with another family we met that was on the same plane with us. 

After arriving to our first hotel, the Marriott Ocean Club, we saw the same family again arriving at the same time as us. So of course, Kevin being the outgoing guy he is, introduces our entire family to their family. They were great! We spent almost every day together which was great for the kids. They had a son, Aiden and a daughter Rory, who just loved Eli and Alyssa. We also met another amazing family at the luau. I think they purposely sat our families together cause we couldn't have been more alike. So much fun! During our days at the Marriott we did alot of activities: whale watching, deep sea fishing, luau, zip lining, snorkeling (thank you Kim and Craig), and lounging by the pool.

Limo Ride to airport

Hammock Time

walking along Kannappali beach

Alyssa getting her hair threaded

whale watching

Crazy looking trees in Lahina

Alyssa, Luke and Rory playing in the sand

Dinner at Lailani's

Deep Sea Fishing Trip

 Fred Flintstone and I are selling some yummy Ice Cream

Alyssa Zip lining

Pencil pencil or you won't make it across. 

Getting our last name engraved 

Hang Loose and its Luau Time

Drink up the free drinks Kevin

At the Westin Luau

Henna tattoo

Fire Dancers

AMAZING

Lei's from the Luau

ITS... Craig and Kevin (how did we find Kevin's other brother there?) Weird!!

So here is where we left Kannapali and spent our remaining stay in Wailea. We could have not been more excited to see the Grand Wailea and the amazing pools they have there for the kids. So off we went, checking in and so amazed by all the beauty. We get to our room and head straight down to the pools. We get all situated, Luke finally lays down for a nap by the pool, and no more than 3 hours into playing and swimming, Alyssa comes running over saying "dad just got hurt. I'm kinda reacting like no big deal, until I saw all the blood. IT WAS BAD!!! He ripped open his toe and off we went to urgent care, ugh!!! So our remaining time was spent lounging. Here are some more pics from the Wailea side of the Island.

Walking to the pool at the Grand Wailea

Eli had to take pics wherever he could

Peekaboo

Luke smiling and happy

before the accident

Dinner

Dinner running away

Where we had dinner

Pose Please????

So tired  and ready for bed

Eli was excited to take a picture with the man that made his tiki

my silly daughter shopping with me 

this is what Kevin and I needed before boarding the plane to go home.

Plane ride home

Getting ready to land on Sacramento soil. Mahalo Maui!!