Memorial Day Trip 2015 - San Jose & Santa Cruz

Morning trip to Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz

Momma and the girls enjoying a relaxing beach day

Exploring a bit of Santa Cruz and climbing the whale

Checking out the view of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Visiting our cousins and littlest nephew in Campbell, CA

Alina loved cuddling Baby Gabe

Adorable Baby Gabriel snuggled up and asleep

Alina did not let him out of her sight all day

LA Trip Part II: A Morning of Amusement at Pacific Park & Santa Monica Pier

View of the beach and Santa Monica Pier / Boardwalk

Riding the Pacific Wheel at Santa Monica Pier; great views!

Our birds eye view of Pacific Park & Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica pier souvenirs

Fun on the rides, Elise wasn't too sure about the roller coaster

Beautiful flowers on the pier

Pacific Park amusement fun

Our next stop during our LA trip was beautiful Santa Monica Pier & Beach. Pacific Amusement Park had just the right amount of rides to entertain the kids for a couple of hours then we had the rest of the morning to relax. We all loved riding the Pacific Wheel as the views of the sprawling Santa Monica coastline were stunning. They really enjoyed the other rides too, however Elise was NOT happy with Daddy for convincing her that the roller coaster would be fun haha. Although we visited on a Sunday morning, we arrived early enough to beat the crowds so there were little to no wait times on any of the rides, which made for a productive day. 

We had lunch on the pier and then headed to the beach for some relaxation time. The beach was very windy on this April day, so Mom stayed warm by wrapping herself up like a burrito in beach towels while Dad and the girls braved the cold ocean water. They had fun building sand castles and dad helped to build a giant sand pit to shield the girls from the wind! They also enjoyed feeding the hungry seagulls who were skilled enough to catch the food midair. Santa Monica was a great place to spend the morning, and I'm glad we finally got a chance to visit during this trip. We definitely plan to visit again someday.

Cute smiles and laughter all morning long

Voldemort & Barbie are neighbors here in Santa Monica

Lovely Santa Monica Beach

Daddy helped the girls build this awesome sand pit

Sandy toes and beach play fun

Feeding the seagulls; they caught the food in the air!

End of Route 66 in Santa Monica & the end of a fun day!

LA Trip Part I: Fun in the Sun, Water, and Sand at Redondo Beach, CA

Watching sailboats at Redondo Beach

Our little beach lover, Alina

Redondo Beach Landing & Pier

They loved dipping their feet in the waves

Little beach bums

Two very happy girls having fun in the sun, water and sand

Redondo Beach Pier - My grandparents took me here years ago

Last weekend we took our third family trip to Los Angeles, except that this time there was no Disneyland fun/madness; we went to visit my Aunt, Uncle and little cousins in Torrance and got in plenty of relaxing beach time too. It was so nice to have a more laid back family trip where we weren't on-the-go from sun up to sun down. It was also wonderful to see the little cousins spend time together as they are all close in ages and shared so much laughter in the time they spent playing.

We also had the chance to take the girls to nearby Redondo Beach & Pier, which was a great experience for all of us. When momma was little, I used to visit here with my grandparents and had so much fun! It brought back lots of great memories from my childhood, even though the pier has changed so much from what I remember back in my youth. The girls loved exploring the fun little shops on the pier and we even enjoyed seal watching right out our table window at breakfast, which was a great treat for the girls. Their favorite part of all was the beach! They loved running through the sand and waiting for the waves to crash and drench their little toes. Alina was so brave around the water this time. She last experienced the ocean waves in Maui, and was very cautious back then. This time around she waded out even further and didn't have a care when one larger wave soaked her waist level. The smiles and laughter that they shared on the beach that day is unforgettable.

Windy day fun on the pier

Exploring Redondo Beach pier

Bright future indeed!

Walking the pier and seafood spotting

Pink & white shrimp

Seal watching at breakfast, the girls loved it!

Elise spotted this stoic Black Crown Night Heron watching us

Sweet little cousin play time

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