Maui 2009

After receiving an email from Suzanne and Nick wondering if we wanted to buy their Marriott time share for the year, a trip to Maui was planned for the end of October. Last year we spent a wonderful Thanksgiving week on Maui with the Mecham family and could not wait to go back. It's hard to find people that still like to play with us, my wife says it has something to do with the shorts I like to wear but that is a whole other story. Some folks are "kid hogs" and claimed they couldn't come and others said money was the problem. Finally we talked my parents and the Averett's into coming with us and these are a few pics from our trip. I am still learning to use the new camera Cindy got me for my birthday, (30 I believe), so please excuse the quality. Thanks Nick and Suzanne for allowing us to have such a wonderful vacation.

Early morning on day one and we were out and about enjoying the lava at the end of the road in Makena. Nick and Cindy are standing on a lava arch that had a crazy green sea turtle swimming in the rough water underneath.

Nothing special about this one, just a nice picture of a great kid pointing at the many crabs crawling on the lava.

The view from our lanai was blocked by pesky palm trees and the sky was full of funky colors. Too bad our porch at home doesn't have the same problems.

Everyday was full of activities, sun and sight seeing. By early evening we were tired and ready for bed. That was fine until four in the morning when I was wide a wake and looking for something to do while it was still dark outside. So I got the camera out and took a couple of shots from the deck. One with the help of the moon and the other with flood lights.

Nick and Jason had a great time riding their boogie boards together. Nick thought he would be bored being the only kid on the trip. What little did he know.

You would think that Jason had seen a Great White shark by the look on his face.

Mom and dad at the Nakalele blow hole.

What a romantic picture, a loving husband (me of course) with his adorable wife and the cutest rock in all of Maui. OK, OK, so it's just a couple of tourists not really wanting their picture taken in front of the stupid rock in the first place but since everyone else was, why not.
P.S. Jason and Nick were too lazy for a hike to the cute rock and blow hole so they stayed in the car and had a nap.

The Makena Grill, along the road by Big Beach, was one of our favorite places to eat. She had kabobs with beef or fresh fish and grilled bananas with caramelized cane sugar, honey and whipped cream. Very, very good.

Being the photographer and the blogger allows me to choose the pictures I take and use on the blog. Whether Cindy likes this one or not, I do and that is what matters. Here she is, showing off her new Versace shades while sunning on Big Beach.

Mom and dad joined us on the boat "Pride of Maui" for a snorkel and dive trip to Molokini crater and Turtle Town.

Nick and I are loaded up and waiting for Cindy to get her gear on. While at Molokini we dove to 105' were we saw a White Tip Reef Shark that was around 7' long. Moments later our dive guide James had caught a good sized octopus that he let us hold. It was fun letting it wrap its legs around our arms and crawl around on us. At Turtle Town we saw many Green Sea Turtles, some of them seemed as big as kitchen tables. They were huge.

Zhalore bought a bunch of post cards to fill out and send back home to those that could not make it with us. She spent a lot of time, working really hard as you can see, writing many good things to people, only to realize she had left off most of the addresses when she dumped them in the mailbox. Oh well, they sell more postcards.

The three of us on our way down the beach for some shopping and dinner.

Nick and Jason with their new tats. Nick got the best deal, by morning the ink had left its mark wherever he had laid on his arm throughout the night. It was like five for the price of one. Hopefully they will wear off in a couple of weeks.

Just another family picture while on the Road to Hana. A beautiful place with waves crashing all around us.

Everyone likes scrounging around the rocks for little treasures.

The crew, minus me, at one of the many falls along the way to Hana. We were just hours away from heading to the airport for our flights home. Not so happy at this point.

The last beautiful scene before it got dark. There is a neat black sand beach just below this point. Aloha and mahalo.