Blowholes and Craters and Tidal Pools (oh my!)

Haleakala Crater

The Maui Challenge Picture!   Friends of ours challenged us
to find this exact spot to take our family picture!  What a fun
thing to do!  Say Cheese!

Warning sign before the treacherous
hike down to see the blowhole

We did so many amazing day trips during our Maui vacation.  My husband read "Maui Revealed: 5th edition"  which is by far one of the best books to help plan your trip.  Besides some much needed beach time, we also planned a few field trip days to see some of the island sites.  Our field trips were definitely one of the highlights of our vacation.  Within the first 3 days, we saw the Haleakala Crater, the Blowhole on the northwest point of the island and the Olivine tidal pools.  The crater itself was breathtaking.  We drove up to the summit, and hiked up to a great picture spot.  We were 10023 feet above sea level!  The scariest part was when we were driving up to the crater, there were some extreme-sports dudes racing down the switchback roads at top speed on their skate boards, which completely freaked me out.  The Blowhole and the Olivine pools was another day trip and had its fair share of treacherous hiking....the sign says it all.  Thankfully we all made the hike with only one minor cut (yes, it was me!).  

I think what we enjoyed most about Maui was that there was so much to do, yet, there were also days where it was just as wonderful to sit on the beach and enjoy the view with a few Mai Tai's.   

The lookout before the crater...we were above the clouds!

 

The Olivine Tidal Pools

The largest pool here was great for a quick jump and dip!

Smile for the blowhole!

She's about to blow!

Amazing!

    

                                                       

Aloha!

The Brown Goddess herself

Aloha!  It has been far too long since my last blog post!  We were in Hawaii to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, for my husband's 40th birthday and for a much needed family vacation.   As far as vacations go, I don't think words can express how amazing it was.  We were in Maui for 12 glorious days and nights and had some phenomenal island adventures.  We did a 14 hour drive around the island...those of you familiar with Maui know that as the Road to Hana.  We saw a huge blowhole, drove up to the summit of the volcano crater, snorkelled with sea turtles, saw dolphins, relaxed on the beach, watched 12 amazing sunsets and most importantly, the four of us spent time together as a family with no interruptions.  No doorbells, no phone calls, no mail.  Our kids actually belonged to us for 12 days and nights.   I even think they became friends during this trip (when I mentioned this to them though, the kids were NOT impressed).  We are a close family and do enjoy spending time together, but at home, life happens when you are not paying attention.  On vacation, its like everything takes a break, and you can really spend quality time together. It doesn't always have to be Maui (though wouldn't THAT be nice?) but really, this vacation reiterated the importance of spending time as a family.

On the boat to Molokini!

Hey...its his last day of being 39!  And...he's smiling!

Father and son.

All around, a great day!

The kids on "our little beach"

Happy Anniversary Dance at the Sheraton Luau

A view of our beach from the deck

Our sunset deck....ahhhh......Mai Tai anyone?

Sherene and Christina
aka  rawchefchristina.blogspot.com

We stayed at an amazing place called Polynesian Shores Resort but rented our unit from "vacation rental by owner" vrbo.com  The condo complex itself was beautiful and the property was amazing.  It was a smaller place, with a shared deck where you could barbecue overlooking the ocean.  It was like clockwork everyday....people would gather on the deck between 6 - 6:30 with their sunset drinks and sit, and watch the sunset at 7 pm (yes, I took a few pictures of the sunset...about 10 - 12 per day....).  Then we would all BBQ, chat, laugh, drink...and we met some amazing people!  (Hello to Sharon and Cory and their family!  Hello to Christina and Gary!)

We have been back for almost a week, and all suffered from PMD....Post Maui Depression.  Of course, now, life goes on, and we have the memories of the trip (and over 500 photos and some assorted video clips).  What an amazing gift we were given.  I have dreamed of Maui a number of times since our return, and every dream has flowers, and water, and us.  Mahalo!