Maui

So, this particular post was started at least two months ago...but, well, it's just been impossible to come up with a way to adequately do justice to our brief but blissful Maui vacation.

Our friends Darcy and Bryan did us the favor of choosing Maui as the site of their late September wedding. So we (and by "we" I mean Mike and I) had no choice but to pack up and head to Hawaii. While it was hard to leave Walt behind, going through security without a toddler, stroller and diaper bag was enough to show us we made the right decision.

If we still had doubts, they disappeared when we saw the view from our room at the Royal Lahaina.





And if not then, definitely when we saw our first Maui sunset.



Here is the 5am version of that view...a sight I became quite familiar with since I never quite adjusted to Hawaii-time. This meant I had to sit on the balcony with a cup of tea, reading by moonlight and listening to the crashing waves...boy, I hated that.



Many of our SF friends made the journey as well, and it was such fun to sip mai tais in summer clothes without a chill in the air or a wisp of fog in sight!

The highlight of the trip was, of course, the lovely wedding. Held at Olawalu Plantation House, right on the water, the location was simply stunning.











And here's a shot of the happy couple (with their adorable son, Luke) taken by our talented friend, Jen, who did the photography for the wedding.



At this point, you may be wondering what Walt was doing while we were living it up in Hawaii. Well, he was entertaining his Nana and Grandad who came all the way from Decatur just to keep an eye on him.





(From these pictures, it looks like he was just roaming Golden Gate Park on his own, but I'm assuming the grandparents were close at hand.)

In the course of the long weekend, aside from wedding-related festivities, Mike did some surfing (I did some reading) and we did lots of beach-walking and beach-relaxing, peppered with bits of pool-side lounging. It was rough.







Mike and I also managed to slip away for some much needed alone time...including a delicious dinner at Mama's Fish House.



As we wanted our trip to be as relaxing as possible, we didn't do much advance planning...which is how we ended up with a 4:45pm reservation on a Saturday night. Luckily, having a toddler, this does not seem like an unreasonable time to dine and we were able to score the best table in the house with this lovely view:



One nice thing about dining at 4:45pm in Hawaii--plenty of daylight after dinner to relax and watch the windsurfers at Paia.



On Sunday we joined our friends for a snorkeling trip to Molokini. I had only been snorkeling once before, in the Bahamas when I was fifteen--I HATED it. It awakened a profound fear of the ocean that has haunted me ever since. However...since I'm more than twice as old now and I didn't want to be a spoil-sport, I gave it a try and stayed in long-enough to get this great shot:



I look like I'm enjoying myself, right? This one was actually closer to the truth:



Mike was not afraid at all:



Once we got the snorkeling out the way (phew!) it was time for food and fellowship.





It was such a great trip, a much-needed getaway. Needless to say, though, we were super-excited to see our little boy when we got home!