My best friend from high school, Jennifer, and her family live on Maui, including her mom, Susan. Susan was going to Alaska for a week and asked if I wanted to come housesit. How could I pass that up?! I briefly considered taking the whole family, but then thought better of that idea. I would have loved to go with Chuck, but we have no one to watch the kids, so I decided to take Cameron. Needless to say, he was super excited.
Susan lives in Kihei. She picked us up at the airport and after stopping at her house, we headed straight to the beach. C headed right into the water before I could educate him on the waves. He was pounded by the first wave that came along. He got right up and didn't come running out of the water, but after that , he didn't venture very far into the water. He did not like swallowing salt water and did not like being covered in sand. I did get him out a couple of times by dragging him and I did get him out to do some paddle boarding. I could tell he was nervous, but he seemed to enjoy it.
Once Jennifer got off work, she headed over to Kihei and we did a little shopping and went to the Grand Wailea to make our spa appointments. Susan stayed with the boys (Jenn's son, Dean) and let them though pennies in the mermaid's shell. I showed C were Chuck and I were married. He didn't seem that impressed.
on the road to Hana
shave ice at Halfway to Hana
Waimoku Falls hike - C and Dean were champion hikers. This was about a 4 mile hike to a 400 ft waterfall. The weren't so impressed with the scenic drive to Hana, but they did enjoy the hike.
We of course had to visit the fire station. This is the Wailea station. They have 3 trucks: ladder, pumper and engine as well as a wave runner for ocean rescues. C had to get in every truck and get a picture in each.
the aquarium
We took a boat ride on the Four Winds out to Molokini Crater to do some snorkeling. Jenn didn't go because she gets sea sick, but her husband, Joel, and Dean went. I honestly did not think C would snorkel. We got him a life jacket and a boogie board to hold onto and after a fit about the mask not working, I got him in the water (which was really rough) and he snorkeled like a champ! I was super impressed. He said that was his favorite part of the trip.
C being silly in Lahaina where we shopped, went to the old courthouse, jail and banyan tree. We drove up the road a bit to Ka'anapali which has a awesome beach, but C didn't want to go to the beach. So, we drove home and he fell asleep of course...
This is my fav picture of the trip. We were sitting on the beach at sunset reading The Lightning Thief.
We drove out to La Perus Bay and hiked around a bit.
When we were watching the sunset, C saw some people playing paddle ball and he wanted to try. So, the next say we bought paddles and played. However, it was more like a game of fetch for us.
We flew the red eye home and as we were waiting to board, we were being told Mahalo for flying US Airways. C asked what Mahalo meant and I said, "thank you." He looked at me and gave the me the cutest smile and said, "Mahalo for taking me to Hawaii." He was great on the way home, but the next couple days, he was pretty tired.
I really enjoyed taking C to Maui and spending time with him. Although, it was not without frustration. He and Dean fought more than I would have liked, he was always by my side, would not play without me and threw too many fits. But overall, it was a great trip and he is a great kid!