Maui- Part 4 Luau Night

We took part in the Luau at the Sheraton one night.

View of the Luau setup beforehand looking out to the ocean

 Waiting in line to enter

 Seated with endless Mai Tai's and Pina Coladas!!

Souvenir Photo!! Luau #2 in 6 years.....I think we've had our fill! 

This one had exceptionally great food!!

Maui- Part 3 Driving Around the Island and more

A few random photos from the week....in no order

 Another great view of the Sheraton from the top floor. The pool was amazing! It was a big connected river layout that looped around and ended in the main pool. Warm, and enjoyable!!

 Forgot this one in the last post.....Us before we stepped onto the catamaran snorkel tour

 Driving along the North end of Maui toward the Road to Hana

 Night out in Lahaina on Front Street, walking the shops/restuarants

 Dinner on our last night....at Leilani's in Whalers Village (if you go, its a must! It was a tough call, but probably our BEST meal of the week)

 Some sightseeing, driving along the windy roads North of our hotel

 And some ME shots! We definitely got some good color in Maui! 

And below, after a night out for Sushi on the resort where the Ritz Carlton is situated.

Maui- Part 2.....Snorkeling and more

Our one big excursion for a day was a catamaran snorkel tour.

It was a fun day from 9am to 2pm......and we indulged and tried out SNUBA diving for the first time.

Snuba is a way to get below the surface of the water but not fully scuba dive. You are attached in pairs to rafts that float at the surface with oxygen tanks, and the cords allow you to go down 15 feet to get closer to the sea life below. It was so much fun and we would definitely do it again!

So half of the tour was SNUBA and we got a good amount of time to snorkel as well.

 SNUBA instructor giving us our 10 minute crash course in hand signals, how to relieve the pressure in your ears underwater, and generally be safe using the tanks, etc.

 View from the catamaran as we trekked along to our snorkel site

Each day of our trip the weather was in the mid 80's and sunny!

 What I looked like under water

 TURTLE!!! We were up close and personal to the sea turtles (center shot above) They would regularly rest on the reef so that the small fish could clean their shells for them.

 SNUBA self portrait

 The boat ride back after a long day of snorkeling

 The view from our cabana on the beach in front of our hotel.

The Sheraton is situated at "Black Rock", which makes for great snorkel experience right off the beach. And everyone was jumping off the cliff all day long.

 So Mike just had to join in on the cliff diving fun!

He jumped in with our sport waterproof camera attached to his chest, so we got fun video from that!

Maui Trip 2013

Well, we finally did it!

We succeeded in taking a real vacation by ourselves.....it only took 10 years....in Navy life years, it feels like longer!

First one on our own since we've had kids too!

It was the BEST place to be, together, alone......did I mention NO kids??!!!!!

We would go back in a heartbeat, even with the kids.... 

We were SOOOO lucky to have my sister Sarah and my mom come stay with the girls for the week. Not only were they thoroughly entertained and taken care of, we never worried for a second. For once, everything went smoothly. No one got sick.....which was my biggest worry beforehand.

Here are some of the memories we captured of our 5 days on the island of Maui.

 Goodbye parenthood (for five days.....) Hello PARADISE!

 

Arrival......in style of course :) TOPLESS!! The best way to see the island according to the agent behind the booking counter.

 Our upgraded deluxe oceanfront room

The lawn out in front of our room on the bottom level

The morning view from our room.....looking out at the island Lanai

 The Sheraton Resort was gorgeous. We had a bit of a trek from our upgraded room to get to the main property each day, but it was good exercise, and nice to look at!

 Our first stroll through the property on day one

 Grounds of the Sheraton

 Looking out to Ka'anapali beach and the other hotels from the 8th floor balcony off the rotunda

 From in front of our room overlooking the water

 Each night at sunset the hotel does a re-enactment of a cliff diving ceremony

So the diver runs through the property lighting multiple tiki torches, then lights the torches on the rocks, proceeds to do a dance with the lit stick and tosses it into the water, then does the same with the lei around his neck. Before he dives into the water himself.

Bedtime Buddies!!

The girls are MORE than enjoying this whole sharing a bedroom business!

We battle almost nightly for them to stop giggling endlessly.....its really ridiculous.

After days on end playing together, we are shocked they still find things to giggle about.

This is a photo I took of our video room monitor of them a few weeks ago.....I woke up early, walked the dog and got my coffee......they normally get up around 7am.....at 7:45am I saw them on the monitor giggling and talking together in bed, not even aware of the fact I was already awake and downstairs. LOVE SISTERS

Sharing a room at the best time in their lives....making memories!! (even if it drives us crazy)

Amy's Visit

Aunt Amy came for a quick overnight visit two weeks ago!

Its SOOO nice to live so close to family once again....especially now that the girls are older.

We walked Cannery Row and made a brief stop into the Aquarium!