A Disney Princess Castle Play Day

It's Disney princess castle play time!

Sleeping Beauty, Brave, Aladdin and Little Mermaid doll fun

She loves her Genie, Aladdin, and Jasmin dolls

Fairies love castles too; Tinkerbell multiplied by three

Beauty and the Beast, Elsa, Rapunzel, and Alice joined the fun

Her favorite princesses; Rapunzel and Tiana

In Disney heaven - happiest girl ever

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014

2014 St. Patrick's Day fun and festivities

Our two sweet little Irish girls had the best St. Patrick's Day treasure hunt and activity time last week. That mischievous and clever little leprechaun planned a day full of fun festivities. It started with an exciting treasure hunt for gold, and led to hours of St. Patrick's Day arts and crafts fun. The girls were thrilled to discover that the cheeky leprechaun left his footprints on the toilet seat. That was certainly the icing on the cake...or perhaps it was the special shamrock milkshakes he left behind? Either way, the Easter bunny had better be on his game after the leprechaun's success!

Leprechaun Mickey and Minnie crafts; shamrock shakes

Road to Hana with Kids: Part III - Hana Lava Tube, Black Sand Beach, Driving off in the Sunset

Halfway to Hana waterfalls, flowers, and banana bread

Hanging tree vines on road to Hana

Ready to explore Hana Lava Tube

Inside the cave created by Hana Lava Tube

Lavasicles; they reminded the girls of melted chocolate

A peek in to the beautiful Travassa Resort in Hana

Black sand of Wai'anapanapa beach in Hana

Once we arrived in Hana, we made the most of our time by checking out the Hana Lava Tube and black sand beach of Wai'anapanapa State Park. The Ka'eleku Cave/Hana Lava Tube was a huge highlight on the way. The cave itself is easy to navigate and doesn't take long to explore. The girls liked getting to carry their own flashlights, and were especially intrigued by the lavacicles, which reminded them of melted chocolate. After spending some time spelunking (what a word!), we soon made our way back to the surface with the goal of reaching the Wai'anapanapa black sand beach. Once we arrived we realized that there is a lot to see in Wai'anapanapa State Park. If we weren't on a race against sunset, we would have stayed much longer to explore the bluffs and sea caves. The black sand beach is actually fairly small and crowded, so we stayed just long enough to leave a few footprints. The girls had fun chasing a few Hawaiian mongooses on our way out of the park.  

After a very long and enjoyable day on the Road to Hana...with kids, we arrived at our final destination; Ohe'o Gulch in Haleakala State Park to see the aptly named Seven Sacred Pools. These tiered waterfalls are an incredibly beautiful sight. We arrived close to 6pm, which was nice because we didn't have to fight the crowds. The downside is that we didn't make it early enough to hike the Pipiwai Trail and bamboo forest, but in all honesty I don't think the girls would have made it far. We didn't stay too long as it was still a very long drive back to Kihei. The girls were pretty tired out toward the end of the journey, as were we. It took about another hour and half for us to drive from Ohe'o Gulch back to Kihei. Driving up toward Haleakala at dusk gave us our last incredible views of Maui. What a crazy/long/fun/exhausting/fulfilling trip it's been. We couldn't have envisioned a better vacation to start off 2014. Aloha Hawaii!

Beauty of Wai'anapanapa state park; Hawaiian mongoose

Seven pools at Ohe'o Gulch

Waterfalls, mountains, horses and cows

Secluded tropical bungalows outside Hana

A final Road to Hana shot before sunset

Lights of Maui at dusk

Road to Hana with Kids: Part II - Parrots and Waterfalls

Picturesque old bridge on the Hana Highway

Parrots on the Road to Hana, Maui

The girls loved the macaws; one loved momma too, hah!

Bird man dad; he took on all six

As we continued on our Road to Hana adventure, crossing picturesque old bridges and stopping to take photos of a few waterfalls, we eventually encountered some very beautiful parrots of all colors of the rainbow. This was, hands down, the highlight of the day for the girls. They loved getting to take photos with the birds. Elise was even able to hold one of the parrots in her hands. They were all very well trained and sat very still for photos. Perhaps the funniest moment of the day was when momma was duped into "pretending" to kiss one of the parrots. I was not expecting him to stick his tongue out, ack! Daddy and the girls thought it was absolutely hilarious. Elise now asks to see the photo at least once every few weeks, so she can break into laughter all over again. Despite getting up close and personal with that particular parrot, I really enjoyed the blue macaw that sat on my shoulder. He had the most mellow personality and even little Alina felt comfortable petting him. They were all gorgeous birds and this was a very fun and unexpected surprise on our way to Hana. 

After spending some time with the parrots, our next stop was at Waikamoi Falls. It is a smaller waterfall around mile marker 10, and it happened to be flowing quite well considering it had rained heavily a day prior. The best part about this waterfall is that it is right off the Hana Highway and only takes about five short minutes to hike up to the top. This is perfect when you have small kids in tow. We all found the falls to be quite beautiful and much less crowded than some of the other waterfalls along the way. Daddy took both girls up to the very top of the waterfall. I was a nervous wreck taking photos of the three of them sitting atop a precarious waterfall ledge, but those little thrill seekers loved it! It made for great photos as well.

Waikamoi Falls off mile marker 10 - Hana Highway

Dad and the girls hiked to the top

At the top of the waterfall

Picture perfect shot atop Waikamoi Falls