Hawaii!

It's been a few weeks since my last post, because we were on the most magical family vacation EVER!  This trip has been in the works for several months, or several years depending on how you look at it.  Matt took a family vacation to Hawaii way back when we started dating, and he said that we'd have to go someday.  "Someday" has arrived!  This summer will mark our 20th wedding anniversary, and as we started brainstorming winter vacation ideas, things fell into place to celebrate this milestone year with a special family trip.  There are so many awesome family memories that we made during this trip, so I'll do my best to summarize!

We started our trip with a long day of travel from Burlington to Detroit to Seattle to Honolulu.  From door to door it was about 24 hours of travel, but we arrived at bedtime, so we all went to sleep and quickly adapted to Hawaii time (5 hours behind VT).  

We spent the first half of our trip on Oahu, at a resort in Ko'Olina, which is a really peaceful area about 45 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu and Waikiki.  We stayed in a beautiful villa at a Marriott resort, so there were lots of amenities, like pools, waterslides, hot tubs, a beach, and restaurants right there.  

While we were in Oahu, we did a couple fun excursions.  Our first adventure was a UTV tour at Kualoa Ranch, which is a nature preserve where they have filmed lots of famous movies and shows, including Jurassic Park.  We saw so much breathtaking scenery, from the volcanic mountains to the sparkling ocean, and we learned a lot about the history of the Hawaiian islands and people.  We stopped by a Macadamia Nut farm afterward, and the kids got to try their hand at cracking their own macadamia nuts!

A stop by Lanikai Beach on the way back - simply gorgeous!

Our next adventure was driving in to Waikiki to see a Cirque du Soleil show.  The traffic and overall vibe of Waikiki Beach is hectic and crowded - unlike everywhere else we visited in Hawaii!  We really enjoyed the show, and it was cool to see Waikiki Beach briefly, but we were glad to head back to the quiet of Ko'Olina.

On our last day in Oahu, we visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial before flying to Maui.  We are glad we went and experienced this important piece of American history, but it was a heavy and somber experience.

We all felt a little sad leaving Oahu, but we landed in Maui and immediately felt like it was more of a Vermont-y vibe.  The busiest road was a two-lane highway, and the entire pace felt more relaxed.  Our resort was especially luxurious - we were welcomed with flower leis, fresh guava juice, and a bottle of champagne in our room to commemorate our 20th anniversary!   The resort in Maui had some awesome waterslides, pools, and a great beach, so we spent a lot of our time relaxing and soaking it in (with a Pina Colada in hand, of course!).  The most incredible thing was watching the humpback whales out in the ocean while we were sitting on the beach!  There were also sea turtles that went swimming past us at the beach every afternoon. It was surreal!

We took a snorkeling boat tour one day to Molokini, which is a partially submerged volcanic crater.  There were so many incredible fish and creatures to see, and the boat tour kept us well-fed and hydrated during the 5-hour trip.  The tour was run by the Pacific Whale Foundation, so we learned a ton about the ocean, and really appreciated how much they all cared for the environment.

After spending time on the boat and watching the whales from the beach, we decided that we had to take advantage of the opportunity to go out and see the whales even closer.  We booked a morning trip on an outrigger canoe, so we paddled our way out into the ocean (with a guide), and we probably got within 20-30 feet of some of the whales.  We could hear them coming up and breathing, and seeing their grace and power in their natural environment was spectacular.

As our time in Maui came to a close, we spent our last night at a traditional Hawaiian Luau at Old Lahaina Luau.  This was a really fun evening with an elaborate 4-course meal, games, and dancing.  We had one final day at our resort, and then caught a 10pm flight to begin our 20-hour journey back to Vermont.  It was a long day of travel on each end, but 100% worth it!  I am overflowing with gratitude for this unforgettable experience as a family.  Now, how soon can we go back?!  Ha ha!

The dog with sunglasses attending the Luau was pretty funny!

Seattle airport nap at 5am!

Re-entry wasn't quite as terrible as we expected, because we had one recovery day before the kids headed back to school.  Evie got right back into the swing of dance, since she has the World Championships at the end of March!  And Frankie sure was happy to see us.

Noah is enjoying having some free time after school these days since his basketball season is done, and we even had time to go watch a St. Mike's basketball game with some friends one night.  A special shout-out to Noah for being named the Eagle of Excellence at school for February!!  We are so proud of him for this recognition.

Go SMC!

Noah's completed project from his AMT class at school