Whales, turtles and crabs

 Today was filled with sand, sand in your hair, in your swimsuit, in all the snorkel gear and even the life jackets have some sand stuck in them. We hung out on the beach all morning, playing in the waves and Alivia and I went snorkeling for a good while and followed this cute turtle around. It was a very friendly turtle and was not afraid of people AT ALL. It came so close to us once I could have easily reached out and touched it. However I could see a headline "WHEN TURTLES ATTACK...." and so I quickly made some distance between the two of us. Although other people would gently touch it's shell, I was not so brave. They are amazing creatures, and so graceful and peaceful to watch. I could watch them all day. I wish I knew how to judge it's age, I would say it was middle aged, it was medium sized and often followed a bigger turtle around, and at times the bigger turtle would kind of nudge the other turtle away from him.

 The grounds at this hotel are so amazing!! The trees aren't quite in complete bloom but have some blossoms and the wind blows them off. The boys everyday hand me one of these flowers to put in my hair.

 After lunch we went snorkeling on the other side of the bay and didn't see as many turtles as I thought we would. There were two baby turtles and lots of really cool fish, very colorful fish, with some polka dot puffer fish. This area is not as easy to get in and out of the water because of the rocks and as I was getting out a big wave came up as I was getting out and I scraped my pinky toe. As I was drying off my toe was bleeding  pretty good and as I checked it out I had a pretty good cut. Luckily it stopped bleeding but it is pretty swollen tonight.

 We ended the day in the pool, I brought a few magazines and I keep forgetting to bring them with me but this afternoon I finally got caught up on some of my magazines. It was nice and relaxing.

 This morning as we were at the beach you could see out in the distance a few whales breaching? or coming out of the water and crashing back down, you could also see them blow air out of their blowholes. It was so cool, I would love to see them closer up. One of these times, check it off my bucket list. It was amazing how big the splash was from where I was I bet close up it is just huge!

 Ben and his Canadian skin, we have sun-blocked him up but he still is getting pretty red.

 Kessler and his growing confidence, he is getting more brave jumping off the edges, letting his head go under water. I decided I am going to do a few swimming lessons  for Bauer and Kessler when we get home.

I have been trying hard to keep my face covered while we have been here, but I can't promise I won't come home with raccoon eyes:)

Swimming, Snorkeling and Shopping

 Day started out slow, with the kids sleeping in a little longer than they have been, soon as everyone was fed and ready to go we went swimming for a few hours, lunch and then we headed down to Front street for some window shopping, ABC store and the Whalers store for some souvenirs.

 Outside Bubba Gumps.

 Sharing some Gelato.

 The 140 year old Banyan tree, it has one main trunk with 16 additional trunks.

 This is an example of one of the additional trunks.

 It is still windy and the surf is too high for these little swimmers so we drove to another beach where the surf aint so high. We got Alivia and Cooper to snorkel and they saw lots of fish and a really big sea turtle. We finally talked Bauer into going and he was so funny, once he saw the turtle, that was it he was done. The sand has kept them thoroughly entertained.

 We have used a lot of sunblock but still have some pink shoulders, nothing too painful yet.

 This was a great flat beach right of the main road. We were there when folks were getting off of work, there were a few people who came to the beach to either run, walk and mostly they would put on a mask and their fins and go swim back and forth between these buoys. I thought that was pretty awesome!!

 Never talked to this little kid into going and see the sea turtle in the ocean, he got pretty upset and so he stayed happy on the beach playing with his sand toys.

Brothers making a sand fortress together, they are so funny to watch all the ideas they talk about between the three of them.
I love going on vacation with my little family all the things they talk about in the car, listening to the highlights of their day. I also love listening to how they see the world through there eyes.
We have tried some fun foods, the kids I don't think have ever had gelato, we also bought some POG (passion, orange and guava) juice. We had some really great BBQ from this local Hawaiian place

Sand, surf and grilled pineapple

 Today has been a great day, we finally got to the store (Costco) and moved into the Condo (reservation we originally booked). It is nice to have all of our meals planned and ready for the week, snacks for the kids, waves crashing out our lanai, birds chirping, and the kids happy.

 The weather has been windy (more than normal) and there was big waves today and the kids loved watch the surfers.

 More turtle watching/spotting, snorkeling will resume once the surf is not so high, for now boogie boarding, body surfing and sand castle building.

 Lots of pool time this afternoon. Kessler has much more fun when he has his life jacket. We made it over to the airport today and got our bag that made it's way here via Houston, Memphis, Los Angeles and then to Maui. The bag had all our life jackets, sun block, sun hats, more snorkeling gear. I am glad it didn't get so lost we would have had to replace all of that.

Overall fun day, we had the best dinner I will spare you the photos, I am not a good food photographer, I think it makes the food look worse. We got some great steaks from Costco, some fresh green beans, grilled pineapple and this crazy chocolate cake, some Hawaiian lady raved about!! (it was heaven)

Sea Turtles and Body Surfing

 Our day started really early I couldn't sleep after 3am Maui time (7am Utah time) and the kids were awake at 5am. We hung out until breakfast time, which we thought was 7am but was acutally 730, so we ended up being 2nd in line at the ocean-side restaurant and had a great Easter breakfast, bacon, eggs, pancakes, coconut syrup, Hawaiian potatoes (cooked a special way I guess). So nice to sit by the ocean for breakfast it was warm but windy.

 After breakfast some swimming and lounging by the pool.

 On our way to pick up Ben from the aiport, we stopped at a couple scenic spots and tried to spot some humpback whales but saw some other amazing views instead.

 After lunch we played in the ocean and that kept us busy for a few hours. The kids loved playing in the waves and then they saw a few sea turtles swimming through the bay and almost riding the waves like the kids were. The turtles were so close to the shore, the kids would run from one place to the other following the sea turtles trying to get a good view one time it came so close to Alivia she probably could have reached out and touched it.

 Watching the sea turtles.

 So happy Ben made the flight and is able to get some R&R, he deserves it and are so thankful for how hard he works to make this possible for us to do this as a family. I hope he feels rested when we leave and maybe a little more tan, he was looking a little pasty today:)

One of the action shots from today, hope the kids sleep good tonight!

Aloha.........We're baaaack!!

 Like the Hawaiin's care that the Whidden's are back in Hawaii, but for some reason this place has such a warm, home feeling to me.

It wasn't easy though and not necessarily "fun" getting here.

Stand by turned into a chess game, which move should we make. We ended up flying to St. George and getting a one way rental to Phoenix. (found out Phoenix was having MLB training camps busy, busy flights.) I didn't think the drive was going to be bad, it isn't until I drive for more than three hours, then I remember how much I hate it. It was a pretty drive though.

There was one section in the drive that was so thick with cacti and other desert plants it made me thankful for the beauty of the earth, It reminded me of when we drove through the everglades and how swampy, water logged everything was and this was COMPLETELY opposite, I was so thankful for our beautiful earth.

 We made it safe and sound to PHX and stayed the night in a hotel, had a fun night in the pool and a good nights sleep, breakfast buffet and on our way to the airport. We made the first flight to Maui, we got the last 5 seats Cooper and Bauer were on the same row, but both window seats, they were in heaven.. The kids did really well, Cooper and Bauer sat by this cute Hawaiin family who took really good care of them, shared snacks, played games with them.....Alivia sat by these teenage girls that slept the whole time:) Kessler and I were towards the front. 

Our beloved Napili Bay!

On the docket tomorrow....
Macadamia nut pancakes for breakfast,
Watching a special Easter video,
Enjoying some of the beauty all around us,
Picking up the Mr. tomorrow, can't wait!

Stand by...shmand by!

We are packed and ready to go, now the stand by stars need to align and give us a little luck. All of the flights are filling up, just like I knew they would and that what makes it so stressful, BUT I am just going to show up and see what happens. We are only trying to make it to PHX tomorrow and then our flight to Hawaii is on Saturday so that eases my tension a little bit.

This pic below doesn't do justice of what we have to fit into it, that is Ben's department, I got the kids ready so he gets  to take the family bag.

 Tramp's in....boom!!