Aloha

So we went to Maui for the kids spring break, and had a wonderful time. We planned only a few excursions we went whale watching, snorkling in Molokini Crater, and a Luau, we also went exploring on volcanic rocks over the ocean, and found a cool rock beach, and made the drive up haleakala. Beyond that our time was at the pool and beach which is where the kids had the most fun ...so next time we can go to quality inn in Corpus.

The whales were amazing Grey Whales travel from Alaska to Hawaii to in Nov birth their calves, they want the warm water for the babies and return in April ...hard to put into words .... mammals the size of busses jumping out of the water. The calves gaining 5 lbs per hour, and consuming 150 gallons of milk a day....and the moms do not eat the entire trip...yikes but so poetic to see. I think I could be happy as a whale in my next life....hefty size is a good thing, you travel, swim, all who see you stop and stare and have very few predators...pretty good.

While we were there Maui was having very non hawaiian weather.... it was a little cloudy, rainy and windy, which made 74 feel chilly, and the ocean VERY choppy and rough, so when we went out to Molikini to snorkle and it was calm it was very appreciated....but the ocean was a chilly 71 and with the wind added to wet it was COLD. Dale and Reid both tried it, hind sight we should have practiced in the pool but they both did ok....Reid got the hang of it quickly but did not last long in the cold water even with the wet suit on ....Macy got in and directly got out, and Dale did great when he had his mission to get back to the boat and get out of the cold water...but strangly this was his favorite part of the trip...but I would have sworn we were torturing him.

Whale watching was very cool and you can see them from shore, but to be on the water with them is very neat. The Drive up haleakala was long and a little rough....only 40 miles but it takes 2+ hours and it is VERY curvy with a switchbacks and no end in sight. Dale got a little car sick, probally the back seat with a DS is not a good idea on curvy roads. So the top was a sight for sore eyes but it was very misty and erie and cold at 12,000 feet up. The excursions on the rocks were fun and we all had a good time making wishes... you stack up rocks like a snowman kinda and they have a name but I could not recall it but we called them wishes and for every one you made you could make a wish, the views were amazing but made me a little nervous with the kids so close to the edge of a 400 foot cliff into crashing waves and jagged rocks.

We also celebrated macys birthday there as we were with Mamma Sam who will not be able to come to her birthday here. The kids really enjoyed seeing her and spending time with her. You might think that with the wind and such the pool was not a daily event...you would be wrong....one day I was in pants and a sweatshirt watching the kids swim...nuts but they loved it. I am glad that some great memories were made. Duke and I talked about how his grandparents saved their whole life and took a trip to Hawaii....and my kids have been twice , Macy 3 times and all under the age of 9 which is not a bad thing I just hope they appreciate it.

There are soo many pictures so below is a slideshow of them all