Hamiltons in Hawaii
and the Series of Unfortunate Events
Day 6 - Headed Toward Hana
Unfortunate Event: Carrie was feeling a respiratory cold come on that turned into a nasty cold and cough once we all returned home. Ugh!
As the author of the blog, I have the pleasure of choosing which photos are posted and which ones are not. This also means that I usually don't post photos of my least presentable moments. On the sixth day of our vacation Keith took this photo and he said "This photo is to show everyone what I saw every morning".
"Hello, my name is Carrie and I'm an iPhone addict."
For the record, Keith insisted that I must have an iPhone two years ago for my birthday. He can partially credit himself with enabling this iPhone addiction. In the meantime, his vacation mornings are greeted with Kellan enjoying a bottle, Oliver having a snack and drink and his beautiful wife catching up on her iPhone.
Another cute note to point, how cute are Kellan's ankles crossed with his toes out stretched?
Super Cute!
On the sixth morning, Kellan and Oliver enjoyed a snack at the bar.
Whatever Oliver is trying to convince Kellan to do, Kellan is questioning the sanity of.
Clearly he thought that it was OK to
Raise Your Hands in the Air and Wave Them Like You Just Don't Care!
Day six was the day we tackled the road to Hana.
Rainforest Oliver was well equipped with his lizards and lizard tattoos.
The car was loaded up and we were ready to roll out. Before long, Kellan was catching some Z's.
Keith was happy to be our driver of the mini van.
The road to Hana is a VERY twisty turny road with numerous waterfalls, some of which you can see from the road and some you have to hike too. The first one we went to see was a very short hike through the rainforest.
Kellan was well equipped with his sherpa and his twig switch to beat off any unwanted preditors.
Oliver tackled the slipper roads with care and precision.
"Look Mommy, there is dirt in the rain forest and it attached itself to my hand."
I'm sure that if Mommy wasn't here and it was just Daddy they would have relished in the fact that there was dirt and they could get dirty. Since Mommy was hot on his trail, Oliver was quick to show his dissatisfaction with it. I have witnessed this change in attitude when he didn't realize I saw him admiring a snake in our front yard. Once he discovered I was there he quickly switched his tune and said snakes were not welcome.
Daddy and his boys watching the tadpoles in the pond.
Family photo at the waterfall.
Keith and Kellan made it!
Ok, so the trail was very short but very slippery with wet rocks. We decided that we were not the hiking crew with two small boys and opted out of hikes the rest of the day. Maybe next time we're in Maui we'll tackle a few more hiking destinations.
On a side note, do you see anything missing in this photo?
Mommy and Oliver on the way out of the rain forest hike.
The road to Hana was draped in a canopy of trees and moss. It was a gorgeous setting that we thoroughly enjoyed. The road was also very narrow. At times, the center line ended, because there was room for only one car.
We stopped at Half Way to Hana because the travel book said they had good banana bread. When in Rome Maui try the Banana Bread. It was good, but $6 a loaf!
The sign also cracked me up that it was the last stop for film. I wonder how many people actually still use film?
A waterfall view from the road.
Another canopy of trees waiting to guide us to Hana.
Toward the end of our journey we stopped at Wai'anapanapa State Park. This was one of my favorite places on Maui. It has the only black sand beach created from lava flow and it proved for some nice relaxation and photo ops.
After a fairly short walk down the hill to the beach, Oliver announced that he had to pee. In the spirit of being a 3.9 year old boy on vacation, he utilized the facilities as nature intended. AKA he peed on a tree.
We all enjoyed relaxing and stretching at this beach.
Nana and Papa enjoying a gorgeous view.
The Ham Fam on the black lava beach.
The rocks on the beach were warm and actually comfortable to sit on. Kellan really enjoyed playing in the rocks. He enjoyed tasting them too but that's just part of being a toddler.
Oliver enjoyed finding the perfect rock to throw out to sea.
It didn't take long for Oliver and Daddy to discover a small cave on the side of the beach. They were soon off in search of pirate treasures.
Oliver basking in the glow of a natural sky light in the cave.
After the search for pirate treasures left Oliver empty handed, they headed back to the beach.
Outside the cave, Kellan was enjoying a lava stone massage. Mommy explained to him that people pay big bucks for massages with stones like these and his bum was getting free hot stone massage by just relaxing on the beach.
Kellan has the softest hair and his Mommy may enjoy running her hand through it now and then.
Since Oliver's first try at finding Pirate treasures left him empty handed, he thought having Mommy with him on round two might make for better luck.
Oliver's hope in Mommy being his good luck charm left him disappointed without Pirate Treasures once again. However, he was quick to point out that the cave was meant for him since the doorway was his perfect height and Mommy and Daddy had to bend down to fit through.
The beach was gorgeous and I was mesmerized by the high contrast between the beach and the water.
Oliver was thrilled to give a few rocks back to the ocean.
Oliver too was enthralled with watching the waves of this beach.
Then, he asked when he could go swimming.
No swimming this time, but we did get our toes wet.
We headed back up and had a nice picnic in the park with the family.
Just as we were finishing up, Jeff, Lindsey and William arrived from their daily adventures on the road to Hana.
Jeff, William Carrie and Kellan.
Nearby the beach was a water blow hole.
This... was it.
It had been blowing when we first drove by but after lunch the tide was out too far and the blow hole was taking a break.
We waited and waited but the hole didn't blow.
Looking back at the beach that we had just been at prior to lunch.
Oliver and his Sherpa Daddy.
Nana helping Kellan walk around.
Kellan was very content playing with these smooth lava rocks.
Oliver joined Kellan for a while to play with the rocks.
It always makes me happy to see these two boys playing well together. They have a life time ahead of them full of good times.
Once we were back in the car everyone was a bit sleepy from a long day of adventures. The boys were not shy to take a cat nap.
On the way back we stopped for a few photos of a waterfall we missed the first time around.
We also took a few photos of the scenery from the window of the moving car.
I loved these old mossy bridges.
A view of the ocean down below.
When we got back to the condo we were quick to clean up for dinner. It was our last night together as a big family and we were heading out for dinner.
This is a common image with Oliver around but it cracks us up every time. It looked like he had just stepped out of his clothes to get in the tub.
The sunset on the way to dinner was gorgeous.
Hurry quick, take a photo before the sunset is gone!
Yes, these are "out the window" or "on the go" photos.
The whole Hamiltons in Hawaii vacation gang.
Nana, Jeff, William, Lindsey + .5, Papa, Carrie, Kellan, Keith and Oliver
The Texas Hamiltons
Jeff, William, Lindsey + .5
Can you see the thrill in Kellan's body language? It had been another long day.
When was the last time we had a "just you and me" photo?
That was the question that prompted this photo of just the two of us.
Having fun on our last night together as a group.
Talk about a Ham!
Nana and Papa enjoying the sunset.
We ordered a bottle of Washington wine with dinner and I was deemed the official taster. Kellan appears to be doubting my ability. He probably has valid concerns.
We had a great night to wrap up our week together.
The Texas Hamiltons were heading out the next morning and the rest of us would follow suite the following day.
