Hawaii: Day 5

 Today was our first "no plans" day, and it was lovely to just go at our own pace.

Eric and I started out the day with a wonderfully relaxing walk along the beach. We pulled off our shoes as soon as we hit the sand and enjoyed the feeling of the beach with every step. We walked down to the lava rocks to see what we could see. I had hoped for a sea turtle sighting, but no luck in that department. Eric saw one head out sea but it eluded me. Sneaky little turtle! Even without any turtles, we saw a lot of neat sea life in the tide pools, including some sea urchin, tiny little fish, and helmet urchin (we had to look up what they were called). While we were climbing on the lava rocks and taking in the amazing view, we realized how neat it is that the kids are now old enough to be left on their own for a bit while we have some much-appreciated "just us" time. 

Greetings from Maui!

Molokini waaaaay off in the distance

Eric looking for turtles

Sea urchin

Helmet Urchin

Lava rocks, palm trees, and clear blue water ... no doubt we are in Hawaii

After breakfast, we hopped into the car and drove down to Wailea to poke around. The first shopping center we went to was WAY out of our league - it had Tiffany and Prada stores. Uhh... nope. We went to a more budget-friendly shopping area and poked around the various shops in search of some souvenirs. We found a neat Christmas tree ornament of the islands for the family. Conor found a hat (he looks quite sharp in it!) and a pan flute -- so far, we have been treated to a few rounds of "Old McDonald". Annika found a pair of blue/green earrings that look very pretty and she proudly modeled them for us as soon as we returned to the condo and she could clean them.

Conor rockin' his new hat

I hoped to get a new pair of knitting needles at a quilt shop that I found online, but it was not meant to be. The shop had all of 3-4 pairs of knitting needles and none were the size that I needed. Oh well. I did find some adorable fabric that I'm going to turn into a quilt after we get home, so it was still a win. 

In the same shopping area, we found a 50s-style burger place called Peggy Sue's and had lunch. A slow lunch, but we all agreed the fries were worth the wait. I'm fairly certain that was the first indoor restaurant dining experience we've had since the pandemic began. Wow!

After our souvenir hunting and burger-ing, we headed back to the condo for some time at the pool. I made a quick side trip to Boss Frogg, a chain that rents snorkel gear on a per-day basis. (We've seen people paddle boarding and snorkeling in the morning hours at the beach across from our condo and hope to enjoy some open water time, too!) Eric opted to hang out at the condo and read (aka hide from the sun to let his sunburn heal a bit) while the kids and I hit the water. We spent about an hour and a half in the gloriously cool water. The kids played and had a great time together. I happily sat to the side watching them play and swim.

Eventually, we called it a day at the pool and headed back to the condo so we could shower and figure out a plan for dinner. A family friend (hi Auntie Barb!) recommended a local food truck called Da Nani Pirates, and we decided to give it a try. I picked up our food and was quite impressed... it wasn't a single food truck in the lot. There were 8-10 food trucks around the perimeter. It was like a little food truck round up! And, yes, there were chickens a-plenty running around, too, because we ARE on Maui after all! The food didn't disappoint. We opted to have a low-key family fun night and watched the new Disney movie Luca while we ate. The whole evening was wonderful!

The rest of our evening was nothing but kicking back and relaxing. Just what an island vacation should be.