So this all started because a certain someone was having a really hard time with turning 40! So I decided that rather then have him have a mid-life crisis that I would give him a trip to Hawaii and be there when he turned 40 so it wouldn't be so hard on him. Because 40 sucks!! (Thanks to our cute friend Donna who gave this to Matt.) :)
Matt was so excited - this was our first picture of Hawaii from the plane...I should back up a bit and say that we left at 5:45 in the morning and drove to the airport in freezing rain and I am not kidding when I say that over 20 cars were on the side of the road that morning. Well we made it through that safely and got to our plane. Then we we waited for everyone to be counted (20 minutes later) then we waited to be de-iced (20 more minutes) then the ice wasn't all the way off the plane so we had to go back to be de-iced again (40 minutes later) then we took off. We thought the pilot would make up for some time. But he didn't. We walked off our plane in Las Vegas and missed our flight to Hawaii by 10 minutes. If you know any of Matt's and my history with Hawaii or just trips in general I will let you know that we have never had good luck. Something always goes wrong and tests us. So this was no shock to us. :) We decided to make the best of it and not have any bad feelings the WHOLE vacation. It worked. We got a hotel room and slept most of the afternoon. Then went to dinner and back to the airport to catch our 1 am flight. Everything else was perfect!
Day 1 - Matt's 40th B-Day! :)
So I am not the biggest food fan. I figure it is just for fuel. But the food we ate on this trip was to die for!! We started with Banana Macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. Happy 40th bday breakfast!
When we got to the hotel we hurried and changed and went to the beach. I got a few shots of the beach we went to by our hotel.
I had to stop and take this picture for Makai. :)
Matt wanted Sushi for his bday dinner. It was the best I have every had!!
In our lobby at our hotel.
Nothing like topping off the evening with a macadamia nut brownie for the bday boy. :)
Day 2 - Boat Cruise
So we headed out on the great northern pacific whale boat cruise. We left pretty early in the morning and were very excited to see whales, dolphins, and snorkel.
Little did she know how sick I would get. :(
We spent 3 hours on the boat. They served breakfast and lunch - which I heard was great! Even though I was super sick, it was amazing all the wonderful things we got to see and do. Matt loved it!! Our fist sighting of a whale.
This was our hotel from the boat.
Another whale.
Another view of where we were staying.
Mokoleni - Matt has always wanted to go here to snorkel.
Look how clear the water is. Even though this looks close it is very deep!!
Picture under the water of us snorkeling. I actually did go out once to do this. The water was freezing and I am not to sure of myself when it comes to swimming, but I had to get off that boat. It was a lot of fun and amazing!!
Here are more picture of the whales and dolphins we saw.
Do a double take with this picture! I could not believe that one of the volunteer workers on the boat had her dog with her which was the boats mascot. He looked so much like AJ I couldn't believe it!! I didn't know if this was suppose to be really cruel or if this was something to help my heart heal. I showed the lady a picture of AJ which I have on my phone (But didn't tell her he had died two days earlier.) and asked if I could get a picture with him to show my kids. I just wanted a picture, but she let me hold "Waggles". When Matt went to take the picture Waggles gave me a big kiss. I couldn't believe it. And yes the tears came again!! But I was so happy just hold this little guy! It was a blessing! :) (That night we went to Lahaina to shop for and go to Matt's favorite Hawaiian restaurant. I had the best fish stir fry. I am telling you the food was to die for!
Day 3 - Volcano and waterfall hikes
We ventured up to the top of the volcano and it was amazing. Cold but amazing!
Matt took a panoramic view with his camera.
I couldn't believe we were above the clouds.
This is an actual picture of the crater. It is a 14 mile hike down to them. If we weren't dressed in our Sunday best we might have. The actual crater has sunk down 3000 feet since it was formed.
We were at 10,000 feet. Pretty crazy!
This view was cool because you can see the whole island including the ocean.
The only thing that grows up there.:)
My favorite part of the trip - hiking through the waterfalls!!
From behind the waterfall.
This was in the bamboo. So cool!!
Matt had to get his bamboo stick to hike with.
And to end we ate at the most amazing restaurant! It was called Mamma's fish house. We had Asparagus bisque soup, lobster guacamole, crab stuffed mahi, seared tuna, and a coconut pudding dessert. With all that hiking we did we deserved a wonderful meal!
When they brought us our car I found our coconut water buckled in. I thought it was pretty funny!
Day 4 - north shore
We did another short hike up to needle nose. There is a lot of history behind this. I was just grateful for another hike! :)
Then Matt did some snorkeling at black rock after we had our Maui Taco's. :)
Picture of surfers.
Some of the beaches we went to were just breathtaking!
Matt catching a wave.
Some views from our hotel.
This is from our balcony.
By the lilly ponds.
The eternity pool.
Love the Banya tree's.
Our Koi pond.
We couldn't find many plumaria's, but we did get a couple and I brought them home with me.
Another shot of our eternity pool.
This is the view we saw driving into our hotel everyday.
Matt found his HIC store. He was very happy!!
It was a great trip and we loved every minute of it!!
Then we came home to find Matt's car covered in snow and ice. :)
But it was worth it because we came home to these cute faces!!
(Thanks to grandma Jules for watching the kids for us!)
