Hawaii

This post has been a long time coming and believe me, it has been on my mind like a 20 page paper for weeks now! All kinds of stuff going on in the Hogue home right now and I'll try to fill you in in a bit. Dylan has been working so hard editing the 1,500 pictures taken by the family in Hawaii, and still isn't done. I was going to use that as an excuse for not getting this post done earlier, but after spending an hour tonight trying to get pictures uploaded, I'm not even going to get to post any after all. The files are just too large! :(

I can't begin to do the trip justice by just saying a few things here, but I'll try to sum it up as best I can before the munchkin wakes up. Hawaii is absolutely the BEST place on earth. I'm convinced. The End. :)

Seriously though, we had an amazing time. We left Houston Thursday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. and arrived in Honolulu at around 7:30 p.m. there time. Of course, after almost 12 hours of travelling, we were all just ready for bed! We spent the next day and night in Honolulu, visited Waikiki beach, the International Market, Pearl Harbor, did some hiking, good eating and other site seeing in the big city before making our way to Maui. Honolulu is an interesting place! If you are like me and have never been to Hawaii, you probably picture everything there to be a lush, tropical beach. Honolulu is a hustling, bustling place...with malls!

Maui = PARADISE. Honestly the most beautiful place I have ever been (I know that isn't saying much...). What I really loved about Maui is not only are there beautiful beaches, but there are mountains and waterfalls and caves and lush, amazingly beautiful trees, flowers, and more plants than I knew existed. It didn't hurt that the condo we were staying in was completely over the top! It was about 2,200 square feet, I think, either the top or one floor below the top floor, with the best view of the beach in the whole place! There were two master suites with two master baths, as well as a third bedroom and 3rd bath. Everything appeared to be brand new and very modern. Walking into the living room/kitchen was probably the best part of the condo. The whole back side of it was all floor to ceiling glass doors that opened up to a balcony that went on forever and an outdoor kitchen and dining table. We ate many breakfasts and dinners out on the balcony and I don't think there was a single morning that we didn't have a whale watching session in our pjs right from our balcony! Truly amazing! We took some pictures inside, but they won't even do the place justice. Here's a link that has some pretty good pictures though. Kaanapali Beach Rentals

While in Maui, we spent time at the beautiful pools on the condo grounds, went snorkeling, took the Road to Hana, shopped in Lahaina, took a fishing excursion, went to a luau, and lots of other fun things! The Road to Hana was an all day trip, taking the windy road up into the mountains where we found waterfalls, swam at the black sand beach, visited the Garden of Eden (where we saw the rock that the helicopter landed on in Jurassic Park), and just got the most breathtaking view as we wound around. I think my favorite part of the Road to Hana was the black sand beach. It was gorgeous - I've heard of it many times, but seeing it was unbelievable. The road is treacherous though! :) If you get car sick fairly easily like I do, be prepared!

I could really go on and on about everything we did and saw and how much fun we had. We didn't want to come home. In fact, it took Dylan and me a week or so to give up on the idea that we were going to just pack up and move there. We will forever be grateful for this opportunity and thank Dylan's parents, Nana and Papa, for everything they did to make this trip a reality for all of us. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience...we just hope it really doesn't turn out to be exactly that - "once" - because we want to go back! Thank you guys again for everything!!!!