Fall Break: Part IV

 One of the last days we were there, we walked to Black Rock to snorkel. This is supposed to be great snorkeling, but it was a sea of people. Apparently, everyone has heard that Black Rock is a great snorkel spot. There were so many people that we didn't stay long. It was way too congested and hard to snorkel. 

BUT, for the little time we were there, we were snorkeling with a turtle. The pics don't do it justice. It was pretty cool. The turtle was just swimming around doing his thing while we hovered above watching.

After snorkeling, we just chilled at the pool.

We spent our last day of vacation at the pool.

Max fed the Koi fish at the resort.

We washed up and had dinner before heading to the airport for the red-eye flight home. These flights are always tough because I cannot sleep on a plane. I spent most of the time working. Once we landed, we all headed home and straight to bed to get some sleep.

Another fall break in the books. We missed our framily on this vacation, but we had some good quality time together just the three of us.

Fall Break: Part III

One day we decided to show Max the Road to Hana. I love this drive, Andy not so much. That could be because he was driving all day while I played passenger princess. It's a windy road that takes you to the other side of the island. It's an all-day adventure, and it's a slow drive, think around 25ish MPH. We left the resort at 6am so a very early morning and we were gone all day. It's a very unique ride and nice to see the slower side of the island and where locals live. It's also a gorgeous view of the ocean the whole way, and you get to see many waterfalls. Andy and I did this on our honeymoon, and I was excited to take Max.

Our first stop was to get the world's best banana bread at Aunt Sandy's. I did not get to eat it, but Andy and Max both agreed that it is the best banana bread. We then stopped at a restroom down the road and took in the beauty.

We stopped to checkout a waterfall along the way and get some pictures.

The next stop was the black sand beach. This place is so cool to see. 

The lava tube was also pretty cool.

Once we got past Hana, we arrived at the state park to do the 3-mile (round-trip) hike to see the giant waterfall at the end. Andy and I did this many years ago, and I was now excited to show Max, BUT by the time we arrived at the state park, Max was melting down. He was tired and cranky. We only made it .5 miles up the hike before it was time to head back down. There was no way we were getting Max to finish it. We made it to the first waterfall, but due to drought, there was no waterfall. This made Max even more annoyed.

After we returned back down the mountain, Andy and I decided to walk the loop to see the seven pools. Max decided to stay behind. He was done!

I didn't get to show Max the bamboo forest or the giant waterfall at the end of the hike, but we did spend the day together looking at the scenic views of Maui. After the hike it was time to head back. We arrived back to Lahaina, where we swooped some shave ice for a treat before we headed back to the hotel. It was such a long day that nobody wanted to go out to eat so we just picked up food from the Fish Market.

Fall Break: Part II

 We got up early to head to the Farmer's Market because Max wanted some fresh fruit. He especially wanted some fresh star fruit, and we got that along with fruit smoothies and homemade gluten-free banana bread.

We dropped our goodies off at the resort and went to a local chocolate factory for a tour and tasting. The tour was interesting to learn how chocolate is made, but Max really went for the tasting. It was really good dark chocolate.

We spent the afternoon at the beach with a little snorkeling and relaxation.

Then the pool for some drinks.

Daily sunset watch.

The next morning was some really cool snorkeling because we followed a turtle around.

Fall Break: Part I

 This Fall break we headed to Maui. Just the three of us. No framily this time. We haven't done that in forever so it was different. Our framily went to the Bahamas and we decided to show Max Maui. 

We started the trip in a Waymo ride to the airport. This was my first time in a Waymo. For my WI readers, that's a driverless car. I will say, it was interesting.

After a long day we arrived, checked our our room and got dinner while we watched the sun set on the ocean.

The next day was a beach bum day. We snorkeled on the beach from our resort and saw plenty of cool fish. Max saw a puffer fish and they both saw an eel. We saw multiple turtles this week. We also saw a group of dolphins playing and jumping out of the water. It was so cool.

That night we watched the sunset from our beach. I didn't know Andy was so into watching sunsets because we watched them every night from the beach. 

The next day we had family photos taken. The photographer took us to an amazing cliff for the photos. It was extremely windy so I had to tie my hair back. That is not a good look, but the photos ended up turning out awesome. I am very happy with them and will be replacing the photos on my wall with the new ones. I have not received the final edited photos yet, but trust me, they look great!

That night we hit up the foot trucks that were a short 20 minute walk from the resort. This is where we got some really good food all week. 

The next day we snorkeled in the morning and saw some more cool fish.

Then we spent the afternoon at the pool.

Nightly sunset before we listened to live music by the pool with some cold drinks.