Hawaii!!

We were lucky enough to get to go to Maui last week with our friends Brigham and Cassie and their little girl Reagan.  We had so much enjoying the beautiful beaches and awesome weather!  Here are lots of pictures for you to see.

 Just hanging out at Kaanapali Beach.  The water was so clear that you could see to the bottom.  We actually went snorkeling at this beach too at a place called Black Rock.  There are rocks jutting out into the water and tons of coral with pretty fish to see around them.



Caden loved playing in the sand.  He carried this yellow shovel around the whole time that we were at the beach. 

He also loved the water.  The first day he was a little apprehensive, but after that he got so excited and started running as soon as he could see the water. 

Just chillin' with his glasses on. 

On the 4th of July we drove up to the top of Mount Haleakala to see the sunset.  It is really pretty because the mountain is higher then the clouds.  The elevation is 10,000 ft, and it took about 2 hours to get up there driving on a really windy road.  I was a little car sick by the time that we got to the top.  We thought that we would be able to see the fireworks on our way down the mountain since there were pretty much views of the whole island, but unfortunately the fireworks were in an area that we couldn't see.  I was a little disappointed about that because I thought that it would be fun to watch fireworks on the beach.

Matt and I were looking for a good spot to snorkel, and the map showed a good spot at a beach called Olowalu.  When we got there this is what we saw.  We were a little apprehensive, but decided to check it out.  The water was pretty murky, and we chickened out. 

We did and up playing in the water a little bit right near the shore, and  Caden posed for some pictures on this tree. 

Caden liked this beach because it was right by the road, and he pointed out all of the trucks as they drove by. 

This is a huge tree that is in downtown Lahaina.  All of the branches and trunks are connected to the big tree in the middle.  It is pretty crazy.  

Here are Brigham, Cassie, and Reagan in front of the tree.

We went on a boat ride, so that they could see the fish too.  The whole bottom of the boat was glass, so you can sit down there and see the fish.   

When it got out to a reef they had divers that went out and brought some stuff up to the window.  This is an octopus, and we also saw a turtle swim by.  

Here we are on the top of the boat which was called the Reefdancer. 

After the first few days the winds started picking up, and we saw some huge waves.  This was at Big Beach.  The waves were huge and the current strong, so there were life guards out there not letting anyone get into the water.  It was cool to see the waves, but a little disappointing because we couldn't go swimming or snorkeling.  

Later that day we went to the beach in Kapalua, and the water was much calmer.  The kids had fun playing in the sand, and Matt and I took turns snorkeling with Brigham and Cassie.  We actually saw a pretty big turtle.  He was as long as Caden and much wider.  He just swam around really close to us, and wasn't scared at all.  It was pretty fun.

On Thursday Brigham and Cassie were nice enough to watch Caden while Matt and I went out on a boat trip to Lanai.  Lanai is about 8 miles from Maui by boat.  It is privately owned, but has 2 Four Seasons Resorts and about 2500 people live there.  Most of the island is just Cliffs, but there is a small beach that is rated as one of the top beaches in the world.  We only got to see it from the boat though.

 The boat stopped at two snorkeling sights near Lanai, and here is Matt snorkeling.  We were supposed to be able to swim with the dolphins because they live out near the island, but unfortunately we weren't able to find them.  Apparently that is really uncommon.  It was super windy and the water was really choppy, so I guess that is probably why.  We were both disappointed about that, but the water was really beautiful and really blue.  While snorkeling we saw a Spotted Eagle Ray which was pretty cool.



 This is the beach at the condo that we stayed at which was called The Hona Koa.  There was a turtle that swam around out here every afternoon. If you look close you can see him sticking his head out of the water in this picture.  He is near the middle. 



 We saw the Penguins that are at the Hyatt.



Caden and Reagan were so cute together!  They got along really good.  As soon as Caden got up in the morning he started saying "Reagan" and looking all over for her.