The Houston Family

We had a wonderful vacation to Maui, HI! Jesse, Hank, and I had an amazing 7-day vaca at the Hyatt resort on the beach. I would describe Hawaii in three words: Beautiful, Tropical, and Relaxing! Hawaii is breathtakingly beautiful everywhere you go, from the agriculture to the geography, i.e. sunsets, beaches, waterfalls, etc. it's Tropical aspect is found everywhere from the plants, to the people with their flowers in their hair and around their necks, to the local food! everything has a flower or pineapple attached to it and looks, smells, and tastes delicious. and there couldn't be a more relaxing place. the resorts, beaches, restaurants, and even the people are low-key and easy going.
Hank had the best time i think of all three of us, because where ever we went, whether toward the pool, breakfast, to get our car, or to walk to the beach and boardwalk, there was something exciting for Hank to see on the way. he loved running down the hall from our room to push the elevator button, say hi to the birds in the ponds, parrots in cages, and coy fish in the streams all throughout the lobby. Our hotel was amazing. Hank loved the kid pool, drinking the tropical smoothies, and running along the boardwalk. he especially loved the hot-tub with the waterfalls in it, and playing in the ocean and in the sand. The ocean water was calm, very blue, and warm! He even rode on the boogie board with mommy quite a few times on the little waves that broke along the beach. so cute. Some of Jesse and I's highlights included snorkling, Jesse went scuba diving which he says was just amazing, and we saw whales jumping out of the water while walking down the boardwalk, awesome!
Our room was very comfortable and we had a great little patio that had a partial view of the ocean. Hank loved to eat out there everyday for lunch (lunch was the one meal we made ourselves every day i.e. sandwiches, fruit, applesauce, etc., as we had a fridge in our room.)
Breakfast was included in our reservation, and boy was it some breakfast! Gourmet breakfast buffet, all you can eat, omelets made to order, a cereal bar, fruit bar, pastry bar, toast and bagel bar, and a line of freshly made eggs, pancakes, waffles, potatoes, etc. Fresh Guava, orange and apple juice were served daily. and to top it off, all the dining room was in a big open area to the outside that sat along a huge pond with a big waterfall in it. very beautiful and peaceful. around the pond was a pretty path lined with tropical plants and little patches of grass with flamingos walking around - so after breakfast every morning we took a stroll down to see the "Mingos" as Hank requested.
We did a lot of playing and laying by the pool, walking the boardwalk, eating at great restaurants for dinner, and a little bit of site-seeing. We drove the famous Hawaiian "Rode to Hanah"...it was a windy, long road with many beautiful sites to stop at where you could look down at the coastline, or hike to multiple waterfalls, or walk along the lava rock beaches. very pretty.
It was a grand 7 days, hard flying back on the red-eye flight, and sad to leave such a beautiful place, but we're happy to be home in one piece. :)