Maui, Part 2

 We started day #4 of our vacay back on the beach. 

Then after lunch & showers, we jumped in the car. We listened to our GuideAlong & headed to Haleakala National Park. Despite it being sunny & upper 70's on the beach, it was cold & windy at the top of Haleakala. We enjoyed the views & Visitor's Center. Then we ate dinner at the top of Haleakala while we waited for the sun to set.

On what we thought would be our last full day on Maui {thanks to Alaska Air cancelling our return flight home at the last minute, we unknowingly still had another full day before we'd start our journey home}, the kids wanted to spend as much time on the beach as possible. So that's what we did. The most epic hole digging occurred & we saw a whale slapping its tail just off the coast--it was a day to remember! We lost count after about fifty consecutive slaps..it was the coolest thing!

On our last planned morning in Maui, we checked out of our Airbnb & boarded a boat for a whale-watching tour. After having so many whale sightings from our condo's balcony or from playing on the beach, we weren't sure if the whale-watching tour would be that much better/worth the time & money. But we were all so glad we did! The weather wasn't the greatest--drizzly & windy--but the captain of our boat said that's when the whales tend to be the most active & playful, and we saw so much! We didn't try to take many pictures so we could just experience everything, but we did get a couple shots!

{notice the tail slap in the background behind Hadley!}

We spent the rest of our day driving around the island--we checked out North Shore one more time, drove through the cowboy town of Makawao & visited their local library {since our fam loves the library so much, we often try to check out the libraries in the cities we visit!}, and drove through Lahaina. It was crazy to see what it looked like six months out from the fires. We also saw the most beautiful rainbow while driving into Lahaina--in fact, it was the first completely full rainbow I think I've ever seen in my life!

Then, just as we were sitting down to a quick dinner en route to the airport, we discovered that our flight has been cancelled due to a "mechanical issue" with the plane. {I guess flying on Alaska Air just a couple weeks out from the incident with the door plug flying off will do that, ha!} So then we had to scramble to extend our car rental, find a place to sleep for the night, and find a new flight. Despite the fact that our direct flight home turned into a layover in San Jose and Seattle resulting in us getting home at 3:00 in the morning, we were so thankful to get home just one day later than originally planned. And I'm pretty sure Derek & I were the only ones who complained. ;)

And just to make sure we had the full Alaska experience, this is what was waiting for us when we landed! About fifteen inches of snow fell while we were in Maui, but thankfully we got to miss out on the 25 below zero temps! 

We are the luckiest to have Derek always so willing & eager to plan such memorable experiences for our family! I hope the fun we have traveling & exploring new places together as a family is something that will stay with our kids for all of their days.