Aloha Maui

We made it!  Zackary struggled during the flight to Oahu with the anxiety of the unknown but did settle down at times.  Emme did fantastic and acclimated well, I was surprised.  The short flight to Maui was easy.  We rented our car and made a trip to whole foods.  By the time we got to the market, the kids were melting before our eyes.  It was 2:30pm Maui time and 5:30pm LA time.  I quickly bought a rotisserie chicken, green beans, and a pear for dinner.  After getting some protein in the kids Zackary was still acting up so they sat in the car with Ben while I did the shopping.  Then we took the 45 minute drive to our condo in Kahana.  It was beautiful.  The lanai quickly became our relaxing spot the duration of our stay. 
One day we went to this beach called Napili about 5 min driving north from Kahana.  The waves that day were upwards 10 feet.  It was crazy and I actually saw a turtle riding them.   

Our family picture.  2 days were left on our trip and I realized we hadn't taken a family picture yet.  If only Emme was smiling...dang.

The condos we were at had two cats.  They slept under and on top of the cars.  Emme quickly fell in love with them and would spit at them, guess she was talking to them in her mind.  She spent a lot of her time trying to find the cats and watching them.  Guess she wants one!  

Emme is busy here collecting rocks on our lanai and lining them up!  It is so fun to watch her.

We spent most of our days at the beach playing with the sand.  Zackary went in the water up to his knees and really had a good time finding things in the sand and building sand castles.  Emeline loves the ocean and sand at home but in Maui she wouldn't go near the ocean and really was hesitant with the sand as well.  She got better with the sand as the days went on.  The kids also spent a lot of down time in the condo watching tv, playing, reading books and collecting rocks.  We took a couple of drives up and down the coast and did go to Lahaina a couple of days. 

Emeline was getting sick here with Zackary cold.  Isn't this cuddly picture cute?!  The day before we were flying home she got croup.  It was stressful for me and knowing we were going to be up super early (3:40AM) to get to the airport for our flight home, I was sad for her.  It did take her a long time to get over this cold.  Once home she made two trips to the pediatrician once for a croup check up and once for pink eye.  She definitely had a rough flight home (pressure in her ears was bad) while Zackary did much better.  It was a bummer that Zackary got sick right before the trip and she ended up getting it, but at least she stayed healthy for most of the trip.

They were having so much fun here!  The sand was the kind that doesn't stick, the grains are bigger and feel like they are exfoliating your skin with each step.  I loved that.

Playing with all their sand toys are rented and having a blast.  This is the beach where the waves were huge.  

Daddy's little girl.  

This picture was his first visit to the beach in front of our condo.  He enjoyed feeling the ocean dig his feet deep into the sand.  

The last 3 days of our trip the trade winds blew in and it was very windy.  It as 80 degrees, but super windy.  Ben went paddle boarding and the winds made it a real work out for him, but worth it with the turtles he say and how much fun he had doing it.

Our first family trip out of California.  It was a success.  A bit stressful on the flights and when Emme got croup, but overall so much fun and very beautiful.  Ben and I went to bed every night around 8pm and literally passed in the wind everyday, but we still had a great time.