Aloha!

I can't believe my son is not yet 4 years old and he has been to Hawaii 3 times already... I think when I was the same age, I could only claim than I had been to Elko, Nevada 3 times. How things change... Mom and Dad took all the Evers kids and grandkids for another fabulous week in Maui. The plane ride was actually less of a disaster than I expected, so that was a great start for the vacation. Thank goodness we had lots of fruit snacks and 3 DVD players, one for each kid.

This trip was quite different, though, compared to the first Evers family Maui trip. The first time we all came, Scott was only 3 months old. We could pretty much go anywhere and do anything and he just slept. But this time, with 3 mobile grandkids, our days were spent hanging out at the pool and working around nap time.

By far, the highlight for Scott was the waterslide at the pool. He would have slid on that thing 24/7 if we let him. I was actually quite proud of how independent he was with his little life vest on. He could do it all by himself, which was nice since I had to spend most of my time with whimpering little Charlotte who wasn't crazy about the water.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Scott, Charlotte and Elle

Drew and Ryan in their Scuba lessons

Charlotte teaching Elle about her favorite place

Our First Real Getaway

Drew and I came to the realization that since Scott was born, we haven't spent a single night away from our kids together. It was WAY overdue... My parents bought a timeshare through the Westin at Ka'anapali Beach on Maui, and were able to refer their friends and family to take advantage of a fabulous vacation package for only $750. That's a great deal for Maui. So we took them up on the offer! With the kids thrilled to be hanging out with Grandma, Drew and I took off for a wonderful 6-day vacation.

It was so relaxing! Since we have been to Maui before and done a lot of the touristy things, we could skip that stuff and just enjoy the beach and the pools and the good food... So here are the things we added to our list of favoriates on Maui:

1) Go see Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show. It was amazing AND hilarious! Totally worth the money. I am still thinking about some of the tricks he did and have no clue how he could have pulled them off. The show does sell out, so get tickets early: www.warrenandannabelles.com/

2) Have dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Wow. Expensive, but the fillet was to die for.

3) Order the popcorn shrimp at Bubba Gump's in Lahaina. The atmosphere is crazy and fun, and this was the best shrimp I've ever had.

4) Get a massage! Drew and I spent one afternoon at the Westin Spa. We both had a massage, Drew got a facial, and both of us just enjoyed relaxing in the quiet room, reading and sipping herbal tea.

5) Order Lava Flow drinks wherever you eat! The first night we arrived our waiter suggested a virgin Lava Flow. It was awesome! We had at least one a day.

6) Go to Honolua Bay. There are actually two bays right next to each other, and since they are up on the north shore, they are a little more secluded. The first bay had great waves for body surfing, and the second bay looked like it had great snorkeling. We weren't able to try it out, but we'll go back next time.

So did we miss the kids? Well, sort of... We knew they were having a wonderful time with Grandma, so we could really just enjoy ourselves without worrying about them. And 6 days was just the right amount of time to be away. We loved it so much, we also decided to buy a timeshare through the Westin! My parents have really loved theirs, and we feel really good about it being a totally worthwhile investment for our family for the rest of our lives.