Adventures in Maui: Day Three

When we woke up this morning, John was less than excited about getting up to reserve lounge chairs by the pool.  Bless that man's heart, but when he finally gets a chance to lay out in the sun, it's like he opts to cook by turning the dial to "Broil High" where the rest of us apply the sunscreen to slow bake at a nice 325 degrees.....  Thankfully, he wasn't really burnt, (due to some pre-trip tanning preparation), but eager to do something a little bit different than lay out all day.  Given Travis' interest the day before in trying to chase down some turtles, the lot of us opted to drive north to Napili, rent some snorkel equipment, and see what we could find.

Unfortunately (as explained by the snorkel rental cashier), the surf was very high due to swells yesterday.  Upon arriving at the beach, we figured that out in a hurry.  It was one of those situations that if you were gonna give it a go - you just had to dive in - get through the breaking point of the waves - and swim on out to the reef.  As the kids were busy playing with boogey boards, I went for it.  As did Travis - I saw him for one brief moment way out there - but he was just as focused and intent on following the fish that we didn't even stick together.   This was one of those times I was proud of myself for doing the activity that took a little effort, but merited reward.  I'm not big on swimming in the ocean, but am trying to do a little more of that - so me and the Pacific...we're getting acquainted.  =)

When we returned from our long swim, I invited the kids to come out.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out so well.  Mikayla was so light, she just couldn't get out of the surf without being pummeled - and ended up returning to the shoreline to John in tears.  Brayden gave it a bit more of a try, but once again couldn't get through the wave break - so, there you go.  Time to pack it up and leave Napili Beach.  Sadly, we never encountered turtles, but did see a whole lot of the many species of native colorful fish.

At one point, while waiting for Brayden and Mikayla to join me, I tried to anchor myself on my rear end to keep from getting swept out.  Without being too graphic, my back end got sanded, polished, and FILLED with that pebbly coarse sand.  When, three hours later, I finally changed, the amount of sand that fell out was horrendous!

We ended up dropping the kids and Steph off at the hotel as we traveled back south - and then, in search of a fruit stand I'd seen en route from the airport, John, Travis and I took off through Lahaina....and on, and on.  I was starting to lose hope, until, there it was - the perfect local stand that just screamed "stop here, and experience a taste of real Maui".  We took lots of fun pictures and the three of us agreed that something so spontaneous was really a highlight of the day (despite the OUTRAGEOUS prices for the local produce - but, hey, it was organic!)

This little dude was funny, he kept counting again and again the fruit I had and writing the fruits out on his sticky note.  Soon after this picture, his grandpa shooed him away and took over the tallying.

We almost left before remembering coconut milk was one of the reasons why we ended up here in the first place - as the kids REALLY wanted to try some.  So, this guy, the grandpa - picked one out for us and cut it open.  We proceeded to try a little (a lot more like water than I expected) - and then wrapped up the chopped pieces, poured the milk out in cups - and were on our way back.

Not surprisingly, the kids weren't all that impressed with the taste - and we were all disappointed with the actual coconut.  It was way slimier than I anticipated - and not the right taste either.  I think I'll stick with Baker's sweetened variety in a bag!  We did, however, enjoy quite a feast of fresh pineapple, mangoes, and oranges for lunch.  =)

After an afternoon return to the pool with less than stellar overcast weather, we headed out to the group favorite of "Moose McGillycuddy's" for dinner. 

Unbelievably, Travis ordered the Elvis Presley burger - complete with burger patty, onion, tomato, lettuce, and then peanut butter, jam, and fried bananas!  Can you believe it?  Brave guy (or crazy...), but he did admit to enjoying it.

Views from where we sat...

Following dinner, we headed down to Scoops Ice Cream Parlor - now that place knows how to do coconut - as I was able to verify with their Kaui Pie and Coconut Caramel Macadamia double scoop waffle cone.  Ahhhh, bliss!

I'd like to say the rest of the evening was spent in paradise-exploring bliss.  However, John and I ended up hashing it out upon returning to the hotel.  While Travis and Steph went down to the hotel restaurant and swung in a hammock together, the two of us worked out our anger, frustration, and criticism of one another.  I'll probably give you a transparent taste of our finer issues on a post-vacation post, but to fast forward to the hour-later ending - we did end up much closer to each other and aware of our need for ourselves to constantly submit to God to continue refining us through our shortcomings.

Needless to say, glad today is a new day - and eager to take it on with a new sense of joy and unity!

Napili on Dwellable