palaola a me honu.

i think, although it's about 64% possible that i'm wrong, that palaola a me honu means "whales and turtles". (are there any native Hawaiian speakers out there who can help me with this?) and that title pretty much sums up my favorite parts of maui. and i'm going to tell you about it, along with some photos, mostly taken by my husband and family members, because i'm just not good at this blogging thing...i get caught up in the moments and forget to record things to show you guys later on.so being in maui is awesome, but getting to maui is...less than awesome if you live in the northern middle part of the united states. 3.5 hours to la, and another 5 to maui from there. that's longer than it takes to get to europe from here. but no matter, because once you arrive and smell the humid air and just a hint of that salt water, you forget about that guy in front of you who kept bouncing his seat while you tried to sleep on your tray table.

the beer helps too.

speaking of beer, the husband and i took a little day trip to the local brewing company on maui, conveniently named, maui brewing co. we went to the warehouse/tasting room, and it looks really sketchy when you get there, but if you ever want to visit, don't give up, just keep going until you find the door! you're not in the wrong place.we have a few main things that we like to do when on a hooley vacation. eat, relax and adventure. sooo crazy RIGHT?! but seriously. we eat. so. much. and relax. so. much. and adventure just. a. little.one of my favorite restaurants in maui is a little breakfast place called the gazebo. it's in the back of this random little hotel in napili, and you have to get in line before it opens at 7:30am, because by the time it opens, the line zigzags up through the courtyard. and you want to know why? because their pancakes be BANGIN'.

coffee because it was early. oof.

i, being the OG that i am, obviously don't order the pancakes though. i order the 5-lb fried rice plate. and then promptly took home 4.5 lbs. of it as leftovers.

food baby!

we also love one of the restaurants at kapalua, an okay amazing golf course overlooking the ocean. the pineapple grill is one of those places that never changes, so it feels familiar, yet it always manages to stay current and fun. and the food is to die for. not to mention their cocktails. i had one called a frisky whiskey, and it may or may not have been the inspiration for the cocktail i'm making this weekend. for dinner i had the seafood bouillabaisse. gah. how many ways can i say delicious??there were so many good meals. i'm decidedly softer after this vacation. it would have been worse if we hadn't done at least some activities. we were lucky enough to be able to play a round of golf at the plantation course at kapalua. and i happened to play the best round of my life there. if you count my insanely high handicap, i beat my dad, brother and husband, which has never been done before. high fives all around!

look at that form.

my sisters and my mom happened to bump into halle berry and had a lovely conversation with her in town while we were golfing, so you know, normal days for everyone! (p.s. they totally called her pregnancy...) later in the week, halle berry was a distant memory, because our kayak/snorkel/hike excursion was just that good. we kayaked in the ocean, and were lucky enough to get close (about 150 yards) to a couple of humpback whales. we could hear their incredibly loud blowholes, and we could actually hear them singing from above the water! you can normally only hear them if you put your head underwater to listen. we dropped anchor and threw on snorkels and fins for a quick swim with the turtles. yea. just casually hanging out with a bunch of green turtles in a reef. i'm in love with them now and i think if forced to choose, it would be my favorite part of the trip.our hike was a bit rainy, but so much fun nonetheless. nothing makes you feel more like a badass than fording a flooded stream barefoot. Mister Man, my dad and i even got brave enough to jump in to one of the fah-reezing cold waterfall pools. it was very invigorating (read: numbing)![gallery type="square" ids="1516,1524,1525"]

MM took this while standing on a tiny rock wall in the middle of a rushing stream. my brave man!

[gallery type="square" ids="1523,1522,1520"][gallery type="square" ids="1527,1526"]so if you can't tell, we had the best time. this was one of those vacations that just feels special. like you know you will never have the same opportunity to do this kind of thing again, and so you need to relish every moment of it and really let it sink in and become part of you. my most favorite thing about family vacations is just getting to hang out with my family all week. i know so many people who think of this as their nightmare, but i just can't relate to that. i pretty much just turn off all my connections to the outside world and enjoy the people i was lucky enough to be born around (plus my husband who i was lucky enough to meet and steal for myself).[gallery type="square" ids="1550,1551"][gallery type="square" ids="1534,1535"][gallery type="square" ids="1556,1554"]

oops we dress alike.

thanks for making it through this lengthy thing (if you're still reading). i tend to get a little excited about things and go overboard. but that's my prerogative! aloha and happy weekend to all you crazy kids.

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