Do you have ANY IDEA how far away Maui is???

Mothers tell all sorts of harmless lies to themselves. Prime examples would be "These jeans shrunk," "I'll fold that laundry in the morning," and "I'll work out tomorrow." The lies that aren't harmless are the ones that we tell each other. You know, "Oh, no, he's not sick. He just has allergies." Or "We don't drink soda in our house." But the worst lie of all? "Oh, I love traveling with my kids! We wouldn't vacation any other way!" Beware of anyone who tells you this. He or she is either lying through their teeth or certifiably insane. In fact, I'm pretty sure after taking both kids to Maui (which is 10+ hours of flying away) I am now certifiably insane and I still won't lie to you about it. Flying that far with two kids and then flying back is my new personal definition of hell. Why do you think this post has taken so long? I had to wait until my kids were both sleeping through the night again until I could objectively look at the vacation and say "Oh, how fun!"

Now, before you judge me and my love for my children I'd like to say that we DID have a great time. Maui was unbelievably gorgeous. It was amazing. But Little Man doesn't like the beach. Or being hot. Or sleeping anywhere that's not HIS crib in HIS room here at home. Glitter Fairy Princess was WONDERFUL. She was well-behaved, she loved the beach, and she thought the waterfalls and waves were "pretty cool." But she really just wanted to be at the resort pool making "new friends." The sheer majesty of Hawaii was a little lost on her.

So, how did we survive? With one simple secret: We brought my parents. If we had attempted this vacation without the two extra sets of (very patient) adult hands I'd probably be tweeting this post from a hospital following my mental breakdown. But the plane wasn't NEARLY as bad as it could've been. My dad is the "baby whisperer." Little Man spent most of the plane time (there and back) on his lap or chest. GFP spent most of her plane time playing my DS (thank you "Build A Bear Workshop" and "Wonder Pets" games.) I spent most of the plane time thanking God that I was already on anti-anxiety medication. ("Leg room" is apparently a term of the past.)

As for our time there, well, words don't do it justice.

Maui Sun 2009 from Leigh (Modern Mommy) on Vimeo.

Our trip to Maui, August 2009.

And, just because I know you want to know, these are the things that we did while we were there.

We ate. Well. And a LOT. Our personal favorites? The Hawaiian sweet rolls from the Kamoda Store and Bakery in Paia and the Hawaiian Shave Ice from Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice in Lahaina. I got the "Tiger's Blood" flavor. Coconut and Cherry. OMG.


We went on a "Sunrise Bike Tour" but thanks to Tropical Storm Felicia it was too rainy and cloudy to see the sunrise. We did see an amazing rainbow, though.


We went snorkeling and to the beach, despite Little Man's objections. Of course, Modern Daddy got caught in the current (no one told us the trade winds whip things up at 2 pm every day!) Consequently he got stung buy some of these guys:


My parents and I went ziplining while MD watched the kids. This is a shot down into the valley that we were zipping over.


And, OF COURSE, we went to a luau. GFP even got a lesson in doing the hula.


It really was amazing. I can't imagine a better vacation. GFP keeps asking why we can't live in Hawaii and I just want to sit and stare at the pictures all day. I know we'll be back someday.

But maybe we'll wait until the kids are old enough to entertain themselves on the plane..