Aloha!

*WARNING- Extremely long post!*

One week ago today we left paradise to come back to beautiful hotter than heck Arizona! Everyday I wish I was still on the beach. We had a WONDERFUL time and did everything we planned to do and everything turned out perfect. To summarize our trip, here are a few (out of 749) pictures along with our itinerary.

Monday we flew over. Uneventful flight except Haylee stayed awake the entire 6 hour flight and fell asleep right after we touched down. After we got our car and checked into the hotel we went to Waikiki beach and swam a little. Haylee loved the waves and kept saying "here comes a big one" and squealing. After swimming we ate dinner at Moose McGillicuddy's and went to my favorite, the ABC stores (located every 20 feet pretty much).

Tuesday was the big day. The day Haylee had been waiting for- swimming with the dolphins at Sea Life Park. Before the dolphin program Haylee fed the turtles and laughed at the penguins and sea lions. Then after waiting at the pool for the instructors (which seemed like forever) we were allowed into the frigid water to interact with a dolphin and a wolphin (whale-dolphin). When it was our turn, we were to step up to the platform, bring the dolphins face to ours and let it kiss our check, and in return kiss the dolphin. Then we got to hold it's fins and "dance" with it. I followed directions, however Haylee just kept kissing the dolphin the whole time. She stole 3 kisses!

What a fun time! Haylee was a little upset because she wanted to keep touching the dolphin but we weren't allowed if it wasn't our turn =( That night we ate dinner at La Cucaracha and of course, shopped a little more.

Wednesday we snorkeled Hanauma Bay. The water was pretty cold but it was so clear and the fish were everywhere. Haylee could look down and see them underneath her little floaty. It was an awesome experience. Josh and I had only snorkeled one other time in Cozumel but never in Hawaii. Later that afternoon we took a drive around the island stopping first at the Dole Plantation for a yummy dole whip. Continuing on, we went to the North Shore where we ate at Cholo's and then stopped at a beach to watch the sunset.

Thursday we checked out of our hotel and went to the Honolulu Zoo. It was very hot and humid that day so Haylee was kinda cranky. A lot of the animals were hiding not in there exhibits at all. Maybe they died of heat stroke like we almost did. Haylee's favorite animals were the giraffes, zebras and meerkats-her newest favorite. We bought her a meerkat stuffed animal which would later play a big role in Maui (more to come). We headed for the airport to take our plane over to Maui, got our car, went to Walmart for groceries, and headed to our beautiful resort- Ka' anapali Beach Club.

Friday we drove the road to Hana. It was stunning. It's 52 miles along the coast twisting and turning some 600 curves and passing over 54 bridges- it's no wonder they sell shirts saying "I survived the road to Hana." But we all did. No one got sick but we did almost loose meerkat. Okay, backing up just a bit. At the beginning of our day Friday, we decided to take pictures of Haylee's meerkat everywhere we went in Maui so I could make an album for Haylee. At one of our stops along the road to Hana, the black sand beach, Haylee dropped him in the ocean. My heart dropped as I saw him go out to sea, but when the next wave came crashing in, so did meerkat-thank God! So meerkat swam in the ocean but survived and behaved himself the rest of the trip. It turned into a fun adventure as we took his picture at the beach, with waterfalls, waiting for the plane, with the sunset, on a boat etc. making for an awesome album for Haylee with a lot of laughs and some wonderful memories. Okay, back to Friday, after the road to Hana we ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise and shopped a little bit in Lahaina.

(Meerkat after his swim in the ocean)

Saturday we celebrated our 6th Anniversary as well as Josh's 27th Birthday. We started of the day taking a helicopter tour down West Maui and then over to the island of Molokai. I was totally scared at first but it was such a smooth ride. We had awesome views of the worlds highest sea cliffs, Hawaii's tallest waterfall "Papalaua Falls" and just the all around beauty of the islands. It was a once in a lifetime experience and we loved it. That night we went to the Drums of the Pacific Luau. When we first arrived it started raining so we all wore ponchos. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes and that was the only time it rained the entire trip. Haylee behaved so good the entire time and tried to copy the hula dancers. She was jamming out. The food was delicious and the show was a lot of fun too.

Sunday was Mother's Day and Haylee got me a beautiful bracelet and a turtle windchime-both from Hawaii. I told Josh Mother's Day seems to be the most important holiday now because it means I survived another year! Haylee had her moments in Hawaii but for the most part was a very happy girl and that meant we were all happy! Sunday we snorkeled Black Rock. Josh and I went out first and saw some fish. Then as I played on the beach with Haylee, my mom and Josh went out and saw a big sea turtle. I was so upset! Haylee had a blast playing in the sand with her toys, but let me just tell you how hard it is to get all the sand off. It's next to impossible! We shopped at Whaler's Village, ate lunch and headed back to our room to shower. That night we celebrated Mother's Day at Kimo's. There was a beautiful sunset and dinner was super yummy. Haylee was an angel all day and I told her that was the best Mother's Day gift of all. Both my Mom and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Monday we went to the Maui Ocean Center. It was fun, but a big waste of money. We saw some fish, a couple turtles, some sharks, and that was about it. That night we ate at one of my Mom's favorite restaurants, Bubba Gumps. I always get the popcorn shrimp. Neither Josh or I are big on seafood but my Mom loves it so we had to compromise a little. Haylee loves the "little shrimpy" so everytime we saw a sign she'd get excited.

Tuesday was one of the most fun days we had in Maui. We did a snorkel adventure aboard the Quiksilver. They took us to Molokini first and the water there was crystal clear. It was so cool because once again Haylee could just look down and see all the fish. We paid a camera man to follow us the entire day and capture us snorkeling and all the things we saw underwater. The DVD turned out awesome and Haylee wants to watch it about 10 times a day. Once back on the boat we were informed there was white tip reef shark under us-yikes! The camera man got right up infront of him with the camera so we later saw it on the video. The next stop was Turtle Town. When we arrived there were wild dolphins swimming under the boat. Everyone hurried to jump in the water to watch them. It was awesome to see them swim in the wild and make noises. They stayed around us for awhile. And then, the moment I had been waiting for. I got to swim with the big sea turtles. There were about 6 of them. A couple swam on the surface and popped there head up infront of Haylee so she was excited. One swam about 2 feet infront of my mask and that was the best experience of the entire trip. I LOVED IT! The camera man also brought up a sea urchin from the bottom of the ocean and we got to hold it-weird. Back on the boat, we ate lunch and headed back. The entire trip lasted about 5 hours. Josh, Haylee and I all took dramamine so none of us got sick but Haylee slept the whole way out and the whole way back to the harbor-I think the rocking put her to sleep. When we got back to our room Josh and I went down to lay out just for a little bit. We couldn't go home white after being in Hawaii 2 weeks so we needed some more sun. That night we ate at Outback-my favorite!

(View from our balcony. We were right on the beach.)

Wednesday we drove to the South end of the island. Our first stop was Kihei where we shopped at a little swap meet and found some cute souvenirs. We continued on down to Makena and Wailea and saw some of the stars homes. We ate at our resort that night and watched our resorts 1st luau from our balcony. Haylee and Grandma took a walk on the beach and then that night Josh and I enjoyed a walk on the beach =)

Thursday we tearfully packed our bags to head home. We took some pictures on the beach and in the flower garden and Haylee talked to the birds in the lobby one last time. After arriving at the airport we were informed our flight was delayed 5 hours due to "a mechanical problem." Haylee was actually really good as we sat and waited the entire time. Finally after 8pm (11pm AZ time) our plane left. Haylee slept most of the way home. Right before our plane was about to touch the runway it lifted back up in the air. Talk about panic! All I could think about was the "mechanical problem" and how we were gonna die. It ended up being a "miscommunication" and we circled and landed safely around 4:30am AZ time. So we made it home safe, tan and tired. We had an amazing time and can't wait to go again in 2 years. Thank God for my Mom's Maui timeshare!