Welcome to Maui!!!

We made it to Maui safely on Monday. Maddyn did awesome on the flight. Everyone, both passengers and the flight attendants kept coming up to us telling us how awesome she was. That was a huge relief. She wouldn't nap- and so for the full 9 hours she was playing or doing something. But overall, she was happy and did great! Since 1st class was so roomy, she had much more room to play and move around and I think that helped.

We checked into our hotel room- and it is gorgeous!!! We were upgraded to an oceanview room and the view is just breathtaking! The mountains over by Ma'lea and the ocean make a beautiful view, especially at sunset. It was very windy, but warm and just wonderful!

We ate dinner at Matteo's Italian restaurant- it was delicious. Kid friendly, and reasonably priced. After dinner we walked around and got to see the sights of the hotel and Wailea. After the 9 hour flight and 5 hour time change - and no Maddyn naps- we were all beat.

We woke up today and dove right in!! We first hit up Iao State Park. It is free and has some beautiful trails. We saw the "needle" and some creaks and awesome scenery. I have plenty of photos -just gorgeous. After we hit Iao we went to the Maui Fruit Plantation. That is where they grow all kinds of fruit, from pineapple and mangoes to lichey(sp). Again, lots of trails to walk around and very pretty scenery.

We went into Kuhuli to do some quick shopping- aka, Wal-Mart for groceries and such. Grabbed a lunch and headed back to the hotel so Maddyn could nap. Mom & I walked the trails along the ocean. Wailea is neat, b/c the entire way south and north of the hotel, there is a walking trail parallel to the ocean. You can see all the resorts, beaches, and ocean views and it's great. We got a good workout in, and still felt like 'vacation'.

Our resort is in Wailea, which we found very quickly is the more "hoity-toity" part of the island. Kanapali/Lahaina get a majority of the tourists from all over the place, which makes it more family friendly. The restaurants and shopping selections are much more reasonable up on that part of the island. Wailea has quite a few 'fancy resorts' and overall the restaurants and such are less family-oriented and more expensive. So we ended up going to Lahaina for dinner, and that was a great drive. Lots of little towns on the way, and view of both the mountains and ocean- you can't beat that! We were able to walk around in Lahaina as well, which is very cute.

I have loads of photos already (big surprise, huh?), but I am so beat I won't be able to upload any yet. Maybe tomorrow. The time change is still affecting all of us. We have all been crashing early.

Tomorrow our plan is to either hit the Maui Ocean Center or do the Road to Hana (though, we only plan to do part of it- with Maddyn a full day would be too much). We figured we would see what time everyone wakes up and go from there.

I'll see if I can post photos tomorrow!!