The last day

 Our last day we had to get checked out of our hotel in the morning so we headed out to explore.  It was rainy so we drove North a bit to see a blowhole.  We had a short hike down to it.

 A heart rock!  And can you see Calli navigating the rocks?

 C3 and Austin checking it out.

 After the blowhole we stopped for a jungle walk to a rocky beach.

 Vine swinging!

 You would think a rocky beach wouldn't be very fun for young kids, but for these boys it was heaven.

 



Walking out just barely beating the rain.

 

It was a wonderful trip!!

 



A pirate ship and some pretties

We saw a rainbow every day we were there!

 

 There was an awesome pirate ship pool, but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance most of the time we were there.  Happily we got to play on it the last couple of days.  Initially there were a ton of kids and the boys stuck together mostly.  Oz liked to go down on his stomach.

 Oz really liked to "drive" the ship.

 Zach liked the slides.

Some pretty jungly pictures from when we went to the waterfall.  I just love to take pictures somewhere like that!

Whales and a sunset

I know these Hawaii posts are getting excessive.  I promise I'm almost done.  :)

 

We went on a whale watching cruise one day.  We saw a ton of humpback whales!  We even saw a baby breaching repeatedly (no pictures).  And luckily none of us got sick!  Zach got a little queasy, but not too bad.  It was a lot of fun.

 

 

The pools were a little chilly so we spent a lot of time in the hot tubs.  Oz would play with his diggers and Zach spent a lot of time underwater diving for toys or just playing.

 We spent the evening out on the beach for sunset.  My favorite!

 

 Our path to our beach.

 The boys being silly.

 Coral and rocks!

Wonderful!

Snorkeling, a turtle, and boogie boarding

 We took Zach out snorkeling! It was so much fun. He had a mask and snorkel and we put him on a boogie board and swam him out. He was really excited to see the fish.  He didn't last a long time because the water was a bit chilly, but he felt really special to get to go out with Mom and Dad.

 

(Thanks Calli for letting us borrow your waterproof camera!)

Cal and I went out a few times and we found a turtle!!  I have been wanting to swim with a sea turtle for a long long time so I was REALLY excited about it.  I had seen them before, but never been in the water with one.  This was the first time we saw it.  It was just resting under the coral.  We waited a bit for it to come out then kept going.  When we passed back over it, it was gone.  A few days later we swam over the same spot and it was there again!  So we waited longer this time and it backed out and came up right next to me.  It was close enough that I could have touched it, but I didn't.  We just kind of floated there looking at each other for a few minutes, then it went back down.  It was amazing!

Austin in our castle.

I was trying to get pictures of Zach boogie boarding and Austin was clinging to my leg.  Cute fluff.

One of Zach's favorite beach passtimes:  looking for coral pieces.

Decorating the castle with the found coral pieces.

The waves were really calm, but good enough for Zach to do a little boogie boarding.

 

 

Aquarium, Waterfall, and Puddles

We went to the Maui Ocean Center one afternoon.  It was a great aquarium and we all enjoyed it.  Zach really liked to listen to the information on our self guided tour radio things  (what are those called?) and the octopus.  Austin really liked to find the blue fish and the sea horses.

 

Outside there was a tide pool that they could touch the sea stars and sea cucumbers.

We loved the sharks and rays.  Austin, of course, loved the hammerhead shark!  So fitting for

Mr. Workerman.

The underwater tunnel.

The next day we went and hiked a short hike to see a waterfall.  It had been raining and was really muddy!  At least we didn't get rained on much while we were out because none of us had rain gear.

There were a few waterfalls, but the top one was closed off due to high water.  This is the lower one.  You can kind of see how high and muddy the water is.

Austin coming out of a plant cave and with Grandad Cal by a huge plant.

Zach hiding behind an old leaf. 

 

Another attempted family picture...

We headed to an overlook to watch some surfers and eat a snack.  There were a couple, but we were a bit distracted by the boys.

 It started raining pretty hard and they couldn't resist these huge puddles.  I couldn't blame them.  They had a blast.

 Here is Austin first testing me out.  He would put his hands in the rain (we were under a covered picnic area), then look back at me and giggle.  Then get a little more in the rain.  I finally just took his shirt off and said okay!  It's not everyday they get to jump in puddles.