Vacation - Day 10 (June 9)

The Road to Hana. If you know anything about Maui, this is a must-see attraction. But you have to pay a price to conquer it - the drive from our condos in Kaanapali is over 3 hours, one-way (and that's if you don't stop to take any pictures)! A little beyond Hana is a place called Oheo Gulch, also known as The Seven Sacred Pools (referenced by Meg Ryan in the movie "IQ"). That was our target. It's an amazing drive out there, if you have the stomach for it. "The Road" has over 50 bridges, 600 curves, and a lot of waterfalls. Most of the bridges are one-lane, and part of the road is only one lane too. To some, that may be enough to turn you around, but you just have to see it. As a driver, it was awesome, even in our big rental car. Here is more or less the route to get there.


As I said, the road has tons of winds and curves. Here are some pics of the road, our trail of cars (we went with Amy & Scott, Brett & Stephanie, Ryan & Jennifer, and all the kids).





We took a quick pit stop and then pressed on. The scenery is breathtaking, almost unbelievable.



At last, we made it to Oheo Gulch. It took so long, that we thought we had past it when we made it to Hana. As it turns out, the Gulch is about 12 miles past the town. Here is our stop at The Seven Sacred Pools.





We made our way back to Hana for lunch at the Hana Ranch Restaurant. The 1/2 lb. burgers are pretty good, although overpriced. The pineapple spear was quite delicious. After our stop, we made the 3-1/2 hour drive back to Kaanapali.




It's Monday, so that means Family Night. Brett and Stephanie were in charge of the lesson. They had a couple really good games for the kids on families and building happy homes. The little kids put together a puzzle to make a happy home here.

Vacation - Day 9 (June 8)

Today was a pretty calm Sunday. We remembered our camera today, so we got a couple nice family pictures, and the girls got to wear leis for their own picture. Mom and Dad posed for a shot this week too.



On the way home, we grabbed our last couple shots for our Hawaiian Scavenger Hunt (G - golf course, and V - Verizon). Cassi and I volunteered to be in charge this year. Everyone has to find a picture of something from every letter of the alphabet. Adjectives are not allowed. It's been fun to take extra pictures this week. Today is the deadline to finish and submit all the pictures to us. Over this week, I'll compile them and we'll announce the winners next Friday. It should be fun.

Vacation - Day 8 (June 7)

Today was another Sugar Cane Train day, only this time Cassi came with us.





Tonight we had a Saturday Night Live - family style. Everyone showed off some talent. We sang "Popcorn Popping" because it's one of Megan's favorite nursery songs. The biggest laughs for the night came from Amy's kids. They did a choreographed rendition of "Hula Oni Oni E" that had a lot of shakin' going on. They also rocked out to "Life Is A Highway."



Stephanie made cute little flower hair clips for the big and little girls. Katelyn and Megan were super-excited and showed it.


The kids had a movie night tonight, so we had to have a pajama picture. I'm sure they stayed up way too late, but they had fun so it must have been worth it.

Vacation - Day 7 (June 6)

This morning we sent off our acceptance to sell our house! It seems a little surreal, but we're really excited. Now we have to make sure everything goes through, and decide on one to buy in Arizona! We'll always remember that we sold our house while we were in Hawaii.

Surf's up! Today was surfing day. Some of the kids had surfing lessons, but the younger ones came along to watch (and play Ring-Around-The-Rosies). We started the day at the Royal Hawaiian Surf Company. We got rash-guard shirts and shoes before walking over to where they keep the surf boards.


We carried our boards out to the beach for a quick lesson, then it was surfing time!





Tonight the menu was BBQ. The boys cooked up a whole bunch of burgers, hot dogs, bratwursts, and italian sausages. Most days it gets windy by dinner time, so we decided to eat a little earlier tonight. The trade off today was that it was hotter, and the sun was still high on the horizon. I let Katelyn use my sunglasses so she would eat her dinner.



The after-dinner activity included the white-envelope game at Grandma-ma's room. Everyone in my family loves this game, because it always means we get some money. Cassi and I came out great, with $100. Thanks, Grandma-ma!