Fun in the Sun!

Most of our days in Maui were spent at the beach or at the pool- the perfect relaxing vacation. Everyone was so helpful playing with Andrew, I even got a few chances to lay out in the sun and read a book. Here are several of my favorite shots from our water adventures...

First trip to the beach
Andrew was in awe of the ocean and just said, "wow!" He was also a little scared of the waves for a good chunk of the week. We had fun playing a running game (running towards/running away from the water coming up the beach). He didn't like the unpredictability of the surf. Since I'd had nightmares all week (before we came) that he would run into the ocean and get sucked out in the undertow, I wasn't too devastated that he was more cautious.


He was mostly content to just chill in the sand



Maddie and Andrew looked so cute sitting in the beach chairs.



Our first trip to the beach was pretty short. Andrew was more interested looking at the birdies back by the hotels and playing with the showers. Kev, Scott, Cat, Jess, & Dan went out snorkeling a bunch though, while we chilled at the beach.


We attempted to use an umbrella on our next trip. The wind kept blowing it over though. Andrew was so freaked out by the wind blowing things... it was hard not to laugh. We told him he couldn't go to the beach unless he had his beach hat on. When the wind started blowing, he would scream, "my hat, my hat!" and hold onto it with dear life. By our second or third trip, I almost decided to stop taking Andrew to the beach... but he got better as the week went on.



One of the days we went to Wailea (about an hour away from Kaanapali Beach where we were staying). The beach had the perfect amount of shade and sun... and lots of good snorkeling. The adventurers in our group saw some huge sea turtles. Dan and Elise brought down pizza from Matteos Pizzeria and we pigged out on the beach. It was delish. Jessie and I also had fun tossing a lacrosse ball back and forth with our sticks on the beach. There also were bugs, birds, and a mouse running around, so Andrew was in heaven.


After our trip to Wailea, we went to Makena Beach and got shaved ice... (I enjoyed not having to blow dry or fix up my hair much on our trip either... can you tell? :))



and then we went to a deserted black sand beach close by (Naupaka Beach). It was also really pretty (... and so is Jessie! I looked like a scrub next to her all week!)


Little dude checking out the sticks at the black sand beach


Andrew's favorite thing we did each day was go to the pool. He would wake up in the morning asking to go to the pool. You can tell in these pictures why he loved it so much.




As you can see from this video footage, Andrew was easy to please just chillin on the pool steps singing his little song... but would randomly fall off into the deeper water, so we had to keep a close eye on him.

He also would sit and eat snacks for a few moments, before running back to the pool. At the beginning of the week he was afraid of the water a bit and would only stay on the stairs, but by the end of the week, he loved playing all over the pool... although he hasn't gotten back into his "jump into the pool (when no one is close by)" stage yet that he went through last summer... which we aren't really missing.


On Thursday we went to the Kapalua Bay Beach. The water was pretty flat, scenery was gorgeous, and there were tons of cool places to snorkel and explore. They also sold Mrs. Fields ice cream sandwiches and popsicles... so Andrew and I were happy.



Our last day at the beach was the best. Jessie and Andrew rolled around in the sand and got themselves filthy (we are still trying to get sand out of Andrew's hair). They had so much fun playing... and occasionally Jess would run Andrew into the ocean and dunk him (to try and clean him off). He was pretty shocked, but didn't freak out as much as I expected.



We will definitely be heading to the beach in Cali this summer to continue trying to get him to rekindle his love of the ocean. Plus, he loves the "big sandbox" (which is what he calls the beach).

Going to the beach and pool wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without Scott, Cat, Jess, Elise, Dan, Maddie, and my mom and dad keeping Andrew entertained. I think we are all going to have a little beach and fun family withdrawl for the next twos days (until we see lots of family again at the National Lacrosse Tourney in Scottsdale on Wed!).