I Like my Fish and Poi! I'm a Big Boy! (Part 1)

Wow where do I begin!! This past week Austin and I took a trip to Maui with my family. We had such an awesome and relaxing time and lots of pictures to prove it so be ready :D

Monday:
We left our house at four in the morning and two connecting flights later we made it to Maui around two in the afternoon (gotta love the time change). We didn't waste any time once we made it. First things first- we ran down to the ocean to get our toes in the sand and then spent even more time exploring the different pools.

That night we celebrated my dad's birthday at the hotel restaurant called Duke's. 

 For dessert my dad ordered a Hula Pie that was "as big as our waiters head" hahah we got a good laugh out of that one. He meant to use the expression "I'd like the cake that's as big as your head" but seeing as our waiter actually had a huge head it came out a little wrong. It was a good memory though haha 

I know we are washed out in the picture but I just love the background! 

Tuesday:
First thing Tuesday morning my mom wanted to take some family pictures on the beach. It had rained all night and all morning, so as soon as we saw a break in the clouds we ran down to the beach to snap a few shots. Here are a few of my favorites!

Once pictures were over we threw off our clothes, put on our swimmies, and it was back out to the beach for a day in the sun. We spent most of the day throwing around a football, swimming as far out as we could in the ocean, and we even made Jessica into a mermaid while Austin built a very manly sand castle haha

Building a trench around the castle

Jessica the mermaid! 

 After digging the trench Austin decided to turn his sand castle into a chair

hahah I don't know why but this picture of Lexi makes me laugh every time!

 Chillin by the pool after a long day at the beach

 My mom found this weird rock with coral on it washed up on the beach!

That night we got all cleaned up and headed to Old Town Lahaina. We rented some snorkel gear, walked around the shops, and then went out to eat at Ruth's Chris. Austin has now found a tie for the best steak he has ever eaten haha

 One big cheesecake! Austin was in heaven :D

Wednesday:
Wednesday was dubbed our adventure day! We were up bright and early so we could tackle the Road to Hana! I had told my family all the horror stories that people told me about the Road to Hana... I don't think my family really believed me at first, but we soon found out why people get so car sick on the drive... here are some pictures to help you understand.

 I think my mom had her head out the window the entire time. 

 It was a really pretty drive though!

Us girls luckily took some Dramamine right before we started the long drive so we didn't get too car sick. We took the drive so that we could go on a horse back riding tour at Maui Stables. It was an extremely wet and rainy ride, but it was so much fun - probably one of the most fun things we did on this trip. I thought we were just riding along the road, but no, we went up half a mountain to this beautiful/sacred Hawaiian spot. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgable and very entertaining.

 Austin nicknamed his horse "Sandy Hula Hoop" hahah 

 Riding back down the mountain

After we got done horse back riding we were all exhausted. We needed to refuel so we stopped off at a barbecue referral from our tour guide. We didn't realize it was just some woman out cooking in her front yard haha but it was very good! Sometimes those little po-dunk restaurants are the best :D

We also heard about a black sand beach, so of course we had to go see for ourselves. We didn't stay long because we were all so tired, but we had to stop and take some pictures.

On the drive home, most of us fell asleep because we were so exhausted and did not want to have to deal with the drive again. Austin unfortunately stayed awake and later told us that my dad pulled a Jeff Gordon on the drive back. He thought he was gonna lose it a couple of times with the way my dad was whipping around those curves haha

Now you may be wondering about the title to this blog post. Well Wednesday morning we heard a local Hawaiian song and that was part of the chorus so the rest of the trip we kept singing "I like my fish and poi! I'm a big boy!" haha so I thought it was a fitting title.

I Like my Fish and Poi! I'm a Big Boy! (Part 2)

Thursday:
We decided that Thursday would be the day to test out that snorkel gear we rented! My dad, Austin, Jessica and I went right out off the beach from our hotel to see what was out there. We didn't realized we would find so much! It was crazy to think that Tuesday we had been walking all over that coral and come to find there were tons of fish and sea urchins out there! Kind of scary but also very fun.

This was my favorite fish with the blue lips and neon yellow stripe.

 Hello!

 Ouch!

 I stayed out for a while but then I started getting cold so I went back to the pool with Lexi and my mom. Of course after I leave my dad, Austin and Jessica found a turtle! 

After another great day at the pool and beach we got all cleaned up and went out to dinner at a place called Mama's Fish House. This was unanimously the best place we ate the entire trip... so good!!

As you can see it was a little windy that night 

 Austin's favorite.. the tiki man!!

Friday:
Friday we decided to go explore some of the different beaches and see if we could find some more turtles! After driving around all morning to some different beaches I think we concluded that our hotel had better snorkeling than any of the places we drove to.

All ready to go!

I love sandy toes :) 

We went back to the pool for a little bit and then my dad grilled some fish for us. It was way good :D 

 Once dinner was done we tried to hurry and get out to see the sunset... we just barley caught the end of it. 

Saturday:
We spent Saturday morning doing our usual routine... swimming haha but I mean come on.. when you go to Hawaii all you really need to do it swim and relax. So we spent the morning doing just that. Then come night we went to a fun Hawaiian Luau! Besides the super cheese-ball MC it was a fun time and the pork was awesome :D

Sunday:
That morning we got ready and went to the local LDS church for sacrament meeting. Then once we got back to the hotel, it was out for our last day at the beach and pool :( but we had a fun time. Austin and my dad were the only ones who went out snorkeling and what do you know... they saw another turtle!!! I guess it just wasn't in my cards to see a turtle...

Playing football in the pool

 Drinking our virgin drinks :D 

 Turtle number 2

Also while I was there, I discovered this new iphone app called Intagram that gives your pictures cool effects, so I spent some of my time messing around with photos. 

Our last Maui sunset on the beach

Monday: 

It was our last day in Maui, but we had to check out of the hotel by 11 so we couldn't spend another day at the beach or pool. Instead we went back to Old Town Lahaina and walked around before going to see Cars 2. Also while we were there we had to try the "best shaved ice" in Maui. Not gonna lie it was pretty bomb! 

Our flight didn't leave until 10 that night so needless to say we have been pretty messed up from all the time zone changes and lack of sleep but it was all worth it for the trip. We had such an awesome time! I can't believe how fast it came and went. Luckily though our vacation still continues as we have another 10 days in Texas and then a week in Utah!