Almost three full months have passed by in Maui. How does time go by so fast like this!? And I have been absolutely horrible about keeping up on my blog!
I came on this trip hoping it would point me in a solid direction for my life. And while I have felt more confident in a life path I have found that I have learned so much about myself. I have been learning so much, not just about myself but who I want to be and become and VERY importantly who I do NOT want to be.
A lot has happened since my last update. We work hard every week and spend almost every afternoon and day off at the beach or exploring this beautiful island.
Every sunrise is unique and gorgeous! (I think I've seen 2...)
January 6th we went to see the I'ao Needle in the I'ao valley where Hawai'ians used to live.
There is the needle. Warriors would climb to the top as lookouts. Its amazing!
There was a walk all around the valley. It was very beautiful!
Walking around the valley!
We went on a snorkeling trip to Molokini on January 8th. I was petrified to go in the water but in the end I did go in! I braved my fears of sharks (thankfully I didn't see one) and had an amazing time! We rented a digital underwater camera and were able to take some awesome photos!
Hang Loose!
Look at the cool fish!!! I wore a wetsuit top as we went out at 7am to beat the big snorkeling crowds so it was pretty chilly!
Cool fish! We saw so many neat colorful fish out by the small island of Molokini. We also saw so many huge whales! It was absolutely amazing! This is the time of year when the come down here from Alaska to have their babies.
Swimming with these huge sea turtles was absolutely incredible. There is nothing like swimming right next to one of these!
This is such a goofy looking fish! It's called a unicorn fish because it has a little pointy thing in front of its face.
Very happy after the amazing snorkeling trip!
We then took our snorkeling gear and headed to the most amazing beach in Wailea. It is hands down my favorite beach ever!!!! The water is clear, the waves are manageable and the beach is so sandy and soft!
After the beach we went out to eat at Life's a Beach which was a yummy mexican restaurant.
Here are some random work pictures. Nic loves feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs!
This is the Rainbow cottage where we clean and prep for guests.
Doing laundry in the laundry room!
Chopping down bananas! Nic's favorite thing is chopping up trees and chopping down the bananas with big sharp machetes! :)
On our way to a trip to Lanai'i. Lanai'i is a small island off Maui. It's where Dole used to grow pineapple and produced 85% of the worlds pineapple! We saw SO MANY whales on that trip it was so cool! I also saw a flying fish and some dolphins! It was about and 1.5 hour trip over and back. There wasn't a whole lot to do and see on the island. We went on a Sunday so most everything was closed as everyone goes to church on Sunday. We walked around the small town and some of the big resorts and then spent the afternoon on the beach. It was hot and the waves were huge! We went to Lahaina (back on Maui) for dinner and then home after a long day!
A cute little elephant outside a store! :)
A cool sign! (Nic loves taking pictures of signs)
This is a pineapple!! It's soooo cute! If you chop off the top of the pineapple and plant it in the ground, a pineapple grows out of the middle!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?!
These are koi fish. There were a ton in a pond by one of the resorts. There were so many and they were weird!
Oops! Don't know why this is sideways? But this is also at the same resort and this is a cool chinese gazebo thing!
Same gazebo thing...super pretty!
On the beach at Lanai'i putting on sunscreen! Don't want to get burned!
We went up Haleakala on the 17th and boy was it cold! I'm sure not as cold as back home but since we aren't used to it it was sooooo freezing! We even saw frost at the top.
We were a little over 10,000 feet high. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the top. One of the top celestial observatories in the world was at the top of Haleakala!
Sitting on the cool lava rocks, freezing our bums off!
Nic sitting near the crater. It is amazing!
Nic being a goof. He thinks he's being tough in a t-shirt!
Standing in the clouds!
Both of us in the clouds!
When we got home we had a little friend on the counter checking out our banana bread! These little geckos are all over the place!
We found this really neat nest hanging from a branch. It was woven to hang like this. I don't know what kind of bird uses it but it was so cool! (Bonnie I'm sure you know the answer!!)
Weed whacking! It's a hard job here because there is about 2 days worth of weed whacking here. I have like 3 blisters! OUCH!
We went to the beaches Ka'anopoli for the second time on the 22nd. I don't remember which day was the first time we went...but these are some birds we saw there! They look like mini puffins.
Nic and I took the buses on the 23rd back to the beach in Wailea that I love! We got a little bit burned since we spent the whole day on the beach BUT I did reapply 3 times so the burns weren't too bad. We had so much fun just relaxing on the beach playing Scrabble and then jumping in the water when we got to warm!
We spent some time in Wailuku yesterday at a little cafe. We got an amazing cappuccino with chocolate powder on top. YUM!
Nic and Kai love to spend time boogie boarding at Paia Bay Beach. Yesterday the waves were huge! They had so much fun!
Riding the waves like a boss!
Yay for the beach!!!!
<3<3<3
