Dear Maui, I love you!

Can I just say that I love Hawaii? Really I love anywhere that has great weather and pretty beaches. Is that too much to ask? The first week of August we traveled to Maui for a fun-filled family vacation for a week with all the Encalades. It was an adventure getting there because we flew stand-by, thanks to Debbie's previous employment with American Airlines. I am not complaining about our little "adventure" because it is very worth it to save the money. Plus, the girls are at a such a good age to travel, it really isn't too hard.
Debbie, Ernie, and Granny got to Maui on Thursday, and Blake, Katy, and their kids arrived Sunday. The original plan was for us to leave Sunday night on a flight to L.A. after the girl's last CTW (Christain Theater Workshop) performance. Then we would leave early Monday morning on a flight to Maui. We got to L.A. just fine and spent part of the night (it was pretty late) in a hotel. We got up early to try to make our flight, but unfortunately a flight to Maui had been canceled on Sunday which meant there were a lot of other people trying to to get to Maui. Since we were flying stand-by we had to let all of those people go ahead of us. We waited in the airport all day trying to get a flight out and were finally able to catch a flight to Kauai at 5:30. We spent the night there at a beautiful hotel then caught a "island hopper" to Maui. Honestly, I didn't mind the little detour to Kauai. It is such a beautiful island.
We were able to stay at Wes's Aunt Dianne's gorgeous house in Wailea. It was absolutely perfect! It was wonderful being all together under one roof. The cousins, of course, had a ball playing together. We ate most of our meals there and enjoyed some great dinners outside since the weather was so nice!
Our days were filled with swimming in the pool and ocean, boogie boarding, taking walks, a little bit of shopping, playing games like Hand and Foot and Monopoly, some golf for the guys, and massages for the gals, and just hanging out. We also spent one whole day at the Grande Wailea Resort. Here is a description of the pool area. "This multi-faceted, 2,000-foot-long, 25,700-total-square-foot, 770,000-gallon pool consists of nine free-form pools at six levels -- beginning at 40 feet and dropping to sea level. The pools are connected by a river that carries swimmers along at varying speeds, from whitewater rapids to lazy currents. Wailea Canyon includes four jungle pools, four tile slides, a whitewater rapids slide, a Tarzan pool with rope swing, the world's first water elevator, a sand beach, six waterfalls, caves, three Jacuzzis, an infant pool, and a swim-up bar, where guests can order refreshing beverages." Yup, it was amazing!
The Grandparents watched all the grandkids one evening so Katy, Blake, Wes and I could go out for dinner and shopping. That was a nice treat!
I was hoping the flights out of Maui were too full for us to fly stand-by, but alas our wonderful vacation had to come to an end.
A HUGE thank you to Ernie and Debbie for treating us to such a FANTASTIC vacation! Also, a HUGE thank you to Aunt Dianne and Uncle Chick for letting us stay at their amazing house!

Taking a nap while waiting in the airport.

These pictures were taken at our "detour" in Kauai.


Aunt Dianne's beautiful vacation house where we stayed.


A view from our bedroom balcony.

The cousins are ready to go swimming!


Hanging out in the pool in the backyard.



We paid a visit to the Maui Ocean Center where we saw all kinds of marine life and were even able to touch some starfish.

Playing games and having fun with arts and crafts.


The Grande Wailea Resort.


Beach fun! Playing in the sand, dancing, playing beach tennis, boogie boarding, and riding the waves.


Family Pictures


Eating a yummy snow cone while out shopping.


Avery enjoyed writing names in the sand. The "?" is for the little cousin Katy is pregant with. I thought that was pretty cute of Avery to think of that.