West Maui

Okay, out of laziness, I'm just throwing my way-too-detailed trip notes from my Keep app here...

Tues

• We managed to bring just one duffel + a backpack for each of us. And car seats of course.
• Airport and flight pretty good and sat/swapped seat with other fam with two kids. Nervous cuz didn't take off til an hour late cuz of "paperwork" or "lightbulb out" (?!) 
• Enterprise nicest cust svc ever. Met Amy Kevin & girls there
• Meg to Tin Roof - absolutely delicious Hawaiian food, noodles & meatballs
• All met at Costco
• Us to Target
• Drove to Honua Kai Resort  and got settled. Room is tiny, smells mildewy. Kids are out in open and we'll have to sneak past them for bathroom once they're in bed. No view. Back patios here are connected!? 
• Went to A&K's room. Soo much nicer, bigger, ocean view
• Hotel beach and gorgeous sunset, pool (hot tub)

Yes, there's more beer than luggage...

Wed

• Up at 430, kids singing Frozen 
• Meg run in the dark, checked out nearby shopping ctr, spooked by feral cats 
• Brewed coffee to take down to beach to watch sunrise with family. 
• Explored pool area and watched lady feed feral cats, Ada Ryan played on beach 
• A&K's room, second breakfast. Talked about luaus and what to do.
• Naps
• Pool with everyone. Nachos. "Aloha Hour" from 3-5; very good mai tais, just not strong. First hung out near kid area with waterfall, then moved closer to main center area that also had big kiddie pool. I spent a lot of time in the hot tub. Cliff took kids back while I hung in hot tub for awhile longer. A&K etc were with their friends at this point.
• Kevin grilled at resort BBQs (had to compete with a man we started calling 'Que ["Q"], this guy that we saw there EVERY day) then we ate it back at their place with Corene and fam. Crazy! So many kids. So loud cuz music (why Craig disappeared--to literally run back to their hotel and get Bluetooth speaker!?) and people shouting over the music.
• Poor Ryan has sustained at LEAST three bites from Emrie. UPDATE: by the end of the trip, he would have at least six bites, and Ada one. We started calling Emrie "Baby Shark" and singing the song. I didn't think Ryan picked up on this, but one night when Molly said "Emrie, eat your dinner!", Ryan chimed in: "Emrie, Baby Shark! Eat!" Lolol.
• We went to bed and the party continued without us.

Watch out for baby sharks 😂

Tri-tip

Thurs 

• Beachfront walk with A&K early morning, Molly mad we didn't wait for her. Rained a little. 
• Sat around at their place, made pancakes. More sitting and figuring out what to do, then our fam walked to food trucks for Thai food. I thought it was really good; Cliff thought meh. Walking back carrying hot leftovers in the heat sucked. 
• Naps 
• Stopped for coffee at Hawaiian Village Coffee on way to Nakalele Blowhole.
• Drove to blowhole spot trailhead. Really tricky to find blowhole--we kind of got lost along the way. Ryan pooped in bushes. Waited for Molly & fam, then trekked through foresty terrain and mud. Can't believe they did it with sandals and with a car seat since E was napping when they first got there. I was too scared to walk down to actual spot but could see two blowholes from top of hill. We saw A&K across the way on a different trail. Lots of other people around, which it didn't seem like when we were hiking through lonely forest. 
• Finally saw my first Maui chickens in cool looking foresty area on drive back. 
• Got food to-go from Duke's and watched sunset with Molly and fam. 

So spicy I cried, but it was delicious

  

Finally found it, over the edge of these cliffs! Didn't bother posting pic of blowhole cuz it's so far away in my pics

Feral kitty

Fri 

• Coffee, read by koi pond by myself. Heron was fishing there 
• Slappy Cakes. Noo bueno! Plasticy film on pancakes, not good flavor. Stupid gimmick. 
• Back to hotel, kids early nap. Finished the book "Educated." Crazy creepy fascinating book. 
• Black Rock beach with everyone for rest of day. So much effort. Finding parking, schlepping shit. So much sand. Ryan's hair 😱 
• Back to hotel to rinse off. 
• Took kids to waterfront while Cliff got Star Noodle to go, brought back to eat there on the lounge chairs. Ramen very good. Pork buns meh. 
• Back to room for bedtime, cleaning, etc. It sucks we don't have hotel service to clean for us. Towels and floor are getting gnarly. 

I remember both kids melting down + me having to wait way too long for restroom. Yucky pancakes. My carnitas eggs bene was just okay. So bad experience overall.

Long climb to jump off Black Rock

Kevin jumping off

Cliff made our kids into merpeople

Waiting for Daddy to come back with Star Noodle

Sooo good this ramen!

Sat

• This is where we reached the point everyone was annoyed--Burdicks were mad at each other, and Hart-Lyles were fighting amongst themselves 😂
• Meg run along beach 
• Back for cinnamon rolls and cereal, trying to decide what to do 
• Kapalua Coastal Trail. Parked at south end and walked north. Saw a bride & groom. Did the whole trail, ending at dragon's teeth and labyrinth; it rained on us for a bit, then the sun broke out and it was too hot. Cliff ran back for car and got us. This was a beautiful walk/hike!
• Lunch at Fish Market Maui. Such good fish tacos! 
• Naps. Meg read by the pool. Super windy, like ALWAYS. It has been easy to sneak booze to the pool; they just didn't want us drinking near Duke's, but we'd put stuff in plastic cups or water bottles and no one said a word.
• A&K came by, then Cliff etc when Ryan done napping.
• Sat by pool, C took kids in pool, K and C did waterslide. 
• K-fed BBQed, then we ate meal back in their room. The sunsets last night and tonight haven't been as good as the first nights.

Beginning of KapaluaTrail (or the end, depending on where you start)

I love when strangers ask if you want your pic taken, otherwise we'd rarely get these family pics!

Rainy time at the labyrinth

Burgers & chicken

The energy level in this room is astounding 😂

Sun 

• Breakfast in-house 
• Tried to decide what to do for the day 
• Drove to sugar cane plantation, walked around. Would be cool place to have lunch; the plantation is allegedly a "miss" but the restaurant is supposed to be great. 
• Stopped for pies at Leoda's. Need to return one day for full-sized pies and other goodies. 
• Downtown Lahaina--Banyan tree park, tasted the pies, walked to Ululani's shave ice. Delicious! Consistency was heavenly, though I still think the insanely expensive fresh fruit one we had on Kauai was better. It was so hot and humid there, and uber touristy, so the shave ice was perfect to cool us off and be out of the stream of tourists. 
• Drove back for naps. Meg to Maui Fish Market, crafts market (too hot and lots of crap made in China), coffee at Island Press. 
• Read by pool where I could see the ocean. Cliff and kids joined me after nap, A&K shortly after. 
• Back to room to get ready for luau. 
• Luau. Cheesy but enjoyable. Food totally meh. Ada: "when's Moana gonna come out?" The kids loved watching the show. Left early cuz already way past kids' bedtime, which meant we missed Molly dancing on stage with the hot dancer we were all watching the whole time...

The 4-yr-old had a huge and actually super comfy couch bed

Rented this crib since Ry's kinda big for a pack n play

Our stash of goodies. The choc-macs for a gift from prop mgt co

Plantation House

Banyan Tree park in Lahaina

So so good

This is how I do--sipping hot coffee on a hot day by the ocean + Kindle

So mad we didn't get a better pic!

We took up a whole table

Nice sunset shot of the West fam!

They invited people to learn a bit of hula on stage. Ryan was too cute on stage with his hands in his pockets 😂

The Guy. (The one in the middle.) Why didn't I get a better pic of him?!

Mon

• Breakfast at Duke's. Tasty! Finally got some decent pancakes. 
• Played at beach by hotel. Cliff boogie boarded. 
• Naps. I read by pool again. 
• Everyone else including Korinne and Craig came to pool, we snacked and had beer. Waterslides for all. Hot tub. 
• Parted for dinner. They were doing Leoda's which was too far/late. Back at our room, the prop mgt co had given us a $50 gift cert for Duke's, to compensate for our TVs not working (no sound on one, and they'd both randomly turn off).
• So we ate at Duke's. Ryan meltdown. Chatty lady kept saying how cute the kids are and talking about how she wants to come back with her grands. Ryan lay down on the floor there. Later was going in circles. This kid cracks me up. Food was pretty good, though way overpriced. But... Maui. 

Ry has a healthy fear of the ocean

Ruffly girls

High Maka Maka (don't know if this is a real drink elsewhere) with coconut and rum

I spent the better part of this dinner alone, since Ryan had a meltdown and Cliff took the kids to play while waiting for our food.

The duo band played Harvest Moon by Neil Young, and I started getting really sad our trip was over!

Tues

• Breakfast with everything left over, cleanup and pack. Found out our flight was delayed an hour and a half. 
• Drove all the way down to Wailea/Makena. Kihei kinda dumpy and dry. But at least there's the mountain behind it. Wailea looked nicely manicured. Didn't get a good glimpse of the beaches there :/ which is what I was hoping to do. Prob couldn't afford the resorts there anyway! I just still prefer and love the green and canopy and mountainous terrain of Kauai. I really wish we'd done Hana and stayed there, because I think we'd like the scenery. 
• Drove through Wailuku to Iao; didn't think we'd have time for the Needle so just quickly walked around Heritage Gardens. I saw the big stream and a tiny waterfall so ✔️! 
• Tin Roof for broke da mouf [seriously delicious] chicken, pork, garlic noodles. Ate in trunk of mini van. 
• Meg one last shave ice while Cliff gas. 
• Airport :-( 
• Flight... Delayed already then had to return to gate cuz of faulty sensor. It's 2:45 and we're finally pulling away from gate. Ha! Our plane backed up and let 3 planes go ahead of us. WTF. I seriously almost had a panic attack being stuck at the window with two ladies next to me who already had blankets and headphones on/cell phones plugged in blocking me. 
• After we finally took off, I moved to the very back row on the other side, kitty corner to Cliff and the kids. I didn't care that those seats don't recline, I just needed access to my fam not to mention bathroom and ability to stretch whenever I needed to. 
• The guy in the window seat (no one in middle) was a beach bummy guy from Hawaii who just sold his pool cleaning company and is spending a few weeks with fam in CA. He got in trouble on the flight for vaping in the bathroom--lol.
• Our bag (we gate-checked it) and car seats took what seemed like forEVER to come out. Then we waited 20-30 min for the damn economy lot shuttle! Two came by for the other location but not PCH. UGH. Finally made it home with Cliff's fast driving around 1:15am.

"Helping" clean up

Drive-by Kihei

Heritage Gardens

Second and final shave ice. It's a tragedy that I only had two 😭

Not pictured: me about to actually have a panic attack cuz we weren't moving, and I was trapped in a window seat next to two ladies who were very much settled in

My panic clearing but sadness increasing as we finally flew off the island

My Summary:

It was a really good time, aside from the travel to/(and especially)from the island. Cliff and I agreed we both love Kauai more. I would love to go back to Maui to do the road to Hana and stay there. I think this would be more our style/pace. I didn't love how touristy West Maui was, but I can't really be mad at it, as I totally get wanting to plop down and relax at the pool or beach all day. That's what the resort life offers you... And being able to go out my door and see the sunrise or sunset over the ocean in two minutes--that was a plus we didn't experience when staying at a condo in Kauai. Having that ocean access was awesome at Honua Kai, and I feel like we didn't take advantage of it enough. I guess it's fun to explore other beaches, but it's too hard to schlep kids and stuff, so I wish we'd done more at our "local" beach. I also regret not taking time for a little date for Cliff and me.

Things I Wish I'd Brought:

• Hat or headband/scarf. Forgot how windy it can be, and I hate those baby hairs flying/tangling 
• One nice outfit. I knew we wouldn't be hiking as much but I packed like we were (didn't pack anything I didn't want dirty). I guess my romper was fine for the luau, but wish I'd had one or two other nice things.
• Plastic bags and baggies for various things; dirty clothes/shoes, snack distribution
• Water shoes... Those dang rocks in the ocean made me too scared to boogie board.
• I almost brought sweater instead of hoodie but am SO glad I went hoodie. It was essential for the constant wind! to cover my hair, and for random cold moments (airplane, air conditioned buildings, even just windy nights) and rain.
• Two-piece (tankini) cuz it's just too hard to go potty in one-piece