Adventures in Maui: Day Two

Day 2....ahhh. The first full day here.  Thanks to the time change, we were up bright and early to reserve the ideal location for lounging.  Not bad, huh?  (In case you are wondering, John has a pigment issue - so that when he tans, certain spots on his hands and feet don't tan...he calls those his "tan-o-meters"  =)  )  

Of course, the kiddos had nothing to do with lounging - they dove right in, counting down the minutes until the slide opened. 

They practiced their synchronized swimming moves. 

After some time in the ocean surf too (proud of us that we spent equal time in the ocean....last time we didn't do nearly enough of that) - we changed to walk down the beach promenade to Hula Grill.   Of course, pics of the kids were mandatory....

 

And, finally, to our favorite locale on the island - the Barefoot Bar at Hula Grill.  This is the place you dream about returning to - watching the ocean, with your feet sinking into the sand, enjoying delicious food, live music, and the blissful ambiance. 

While we were waiting, John had fun with his camera taking pictures of images in images.  Mikayla taking a pic of me with him taking a pic of her, and then, of course, the cool reflections in Brayden's atrocious pick of sunglasses (he's 13....we have to pick our battles....)

Sadly, our experience at Hula Grill this time around was less than phenomenal.  Our server seemed like the last thing he wanted to do was wait on our table, the group behind us were totally drunk (at noon), and we were seated off in the corner and shadows.  We might have to give the restaurant another try to redeem itself later this week...

The rest of the afternoon was spent taking it easy, some more soaking in the sun, naps, and allowing our stomachs to get empty again before our next gastronomical adventure.  

Then, off to Lahaina, yeah!!!  Along the way, we witnessed to most beautiful sunset - I am shocked that my little cell phone captured this image as we were driving into town. 

Expecting a long wait, we all piled out of the car at Bubba Gump's, leaving John to try to park the vehicle somewhere in the madness of the mainstrip of Lahaina.  We were seated immediately, but it took John 25 minutes to return from finally securing a location.  We had all eaten and were ready to leave by then....(ha ha, just kidding!).    I actually stood outside waiting - and was able to holler at our table bunch to pose over the railing.   Unlike Hula Grill, this time we had OUTSTANDING table placement and Trevor, our server, was a hoot.

Our food choices made us all happy too - this was John's plate of ribs - he was in Heaven!  

The only bummer to the experience was Mikayla being so tired she fell asleep on me in the restaurant.  We were parked a long ways away, so she was a zombie getting back to the car.  So much for soaking in the rest of the sights and sounds of Lahaina.  Oh well...there's a whole week ahead to make that happen.  =)