Maui Wowee

WARNING: Pictures are totally out of order. I cant figure out how to move anything. Its been a long time since I have blogged and I have already spent a while getting this post together so Im not going to take the time to figure it out. Just read and view and enjoy.

Our last night in Maui, hence the amazing tans!!

In front of Cheeseburgers in Paradise. A bunch of the restaurants we ate at had windows that opened all the way, or no windows at all, so it was basically open air and so much more enjoyable that way.

Our last stop at some waterfall on the road to Hana

A view at the Seven Sacred Pools

Seven Sacred Pools

The Beginnings of the sunrise on top of Haleakala Crater

Mr Muscles

Amazing sunrise above the clouds at Haleakala Crater at 10,000 feet

Devin took a little walk and found these vines to swing on. I got video, and was just praying the vines wouldn't break and he wouldn't fall into this 6 inch rocky creek bed.

This waterslide was so fun it was hilarious!!

The Gazebo: Best breakfast ever, including fried rice at 10am

Our sweet off roading shot

A picture near the blow hole and tide pools

The jungle was so dense it was amazing! It reminded us of Guatemala!

At the lava rock beach

At the beginning of May Devin and Ash got to go to Maui with some of our good friends, Mike and Jess. It was amazing to say the least. Whenever we get asked what our favorite part was, its hard to pin down just one event that could have been our favorite just because every single thing was so incredible!!

We arrived in Maui on Saturday, and were immediately struck by the perfect weather. The airports in Hawaii that we stopped at were both mostly outdoor and it was so fun just smelling the clean air. We read somewhere that air in Hawaii is more clean than almost anywhere on earth because it is surrounded by so much water that the pollution from big cities far away gets wiped out. And we could sure smell the clean air. We were instantly in love. We took an evening swim in the ocean right outside our hotel and couldn't believe how warm the water was. We all just walked right in!! It was nothing like the freezing California ocean water we are used to. We also went to the grocery store and spent more on a weeks worth of groceries, than I do in an entire month. It was a little depressing, but it was still cheaper than eating out for every meal, or at least thats what we are thinking. We also found this random little beach with these round lava rocks all along the shore. It made a sound kind of like one of those GIANT rain sticks every time the water would go out. It was fascinating!!

Sunday we went to church, and then did a little sightseeing. We traveled around the west end of Maui, about a 3 hr drive with a few stops along the way. We enjoyed the amazing sights of being the only people around!! We saw a couple of really neat blow holes, where when a wave comes in, the water shoots up really high and fast through a hole in the lava rock. To celebrate mothers day, Devin took me to what quickly became my favorite restaurant ever. We got dessert at a small place on the beach called Leilani's. We got my new favorite dessert, Hula Pie. An Oreo crust, macadamia nut ice cream, a thick fudge topping, whip cream, caramel, and more macadamia nuts. OH MAN!! It was amazing I think we went and got it 3 or 4 times. Devin made it for me again for my birthday and it was just as amazing as I'd remembered.

Monday we spent the day acting like kids! We had one of the best breakfasts ever at a little place called the Gazebo. If you go to Maui, go there. It was so yummyWe swam pretty much all day long in the ocean and in our pool. The pool at our hotel was INCREDIBLE!! We went down the water slide probably 30 times and sat around watching people go down and were just dying laughing at how much fun grown adults, and silly kids, were having going down this little 30 or 40 ft water slide. We even learned all the tricks to make the slide faster. It was so much fun.

Tuesday, we got to do one of the most amazing things I have ever done. We got up at 2am, a little crazy if you ask me, and got in a van and drove to the top of this mountain to watch the sunrise around 5:30am. It was quite breathtaking being there above the cloud cover. We then got to ride bikes down the mountain from 8,000 feet and down. We hardly had to pedal at all and just got to FLY down the mountain at 6am. It was so much fun until Devin ate it trying to jump a 1 inch curb. He scraped his shins up pretty good and got bonked on the head by the sidewalk, but we weren't going too fast at that point and he was able to ride on. It was honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen. AFV worthy. And I couldn't stop laughing, even to ask him if he was ok. It was a little scary when he wouldn't respond because I was laughing so much. It was such a beautiful experience, and although I was exhausted for the next 2 days, it was definitely worth it. We enjoyed long naps that afternoon, and just relaxed for the rest of the day. We went to dinner at Cheeseburgers in Paradise and fell in LOVE with coconut shrimp. Yum Yum!!

Wednesday we enjoyed some snorkeling which was so fun. The ocean is so beautiful. We really had a fun time just being out in the open water. Wednesday night we went to a magic show called at a place called Warren and Annabelles. It was not only hilarious, but mostly impossible. We were sitting in the front row, and I still cannot imagine how in the world this guy pulled 2 bowling balls out of a hat right after he put it on Mikes head.

Thursday Devin and I did a little snorkel and kayak trip. We saw an octopus, that our guide decided to stick to my leg. It stuck really tight and hurt so bad when the guy pulled it off. I thought it was going to rip my skin off, but it didn't. Somehow on Devs stomach it didn't stick as tight. By the time we kayaked over to "turtle town" I had gotten seasick, forgot to take the Dramamine, and didn't want to swim anymore so I didn't see the turtles. But we snorkled at another spot later in the day where we saw a few turtles. It was so fun. They seem to be as relaxed as Crush in Finding Nemo. I still haven't developed the underwater camera, but I think Braden will want to look at the pictures all the time.

Friday we drove the road to Hana. We took a few stops along the way at some beautiful pools and waterfalls. It was a long and tiring drive, but it was so beautiful. By the end of our trip, we were excited to go home and see Braden, but very sad to leave the perfect weather and atmosphere of Hawaii, not to mention the amazing vacation.

As a sidenote, when we came home it rained for like a month and a half and wasn't really warm enough for swimming so we lost our Hawaii glow. It was really depressing!!