hawaii — Blog — The Chelsie Channel

For our 9 year anniversary we headed to Maui!

Getting to Hawaii felt so dang difficult because of Covid. Hawaii requires a negative Covid test within 72 hrs of your flight, and they only accept results from certain testing centers. I kept hearing stories about being denied entry and it stressed me out so terribly that I didn’t get much sleep for weeks ha ha We finally figured things out and did the testing through Costco and it turned out just fine. We did have to scoot our flight back a couple of days to make it all work due to Christmas and the weekend but it wasn’t a big deal.

We decided to still leave home for Monday and Wednesday though since we still had Camille for the kids and we wanted to enjoy our full break, Hawaii or not, so we went to SLC and we stayed in Kyler’s sister’s camp trailer which was quite nice because it had heating and electricity. (Thanks Awna! ❤️)

Those days we saw the frozen ice chips on Utah lake, went to our favorite stores (DI and Costco ha ha) and the Salt Flats. It was fun to goof off and explore with Kyler!

Wednesday was our flying/airports all day. Our flight left SLC bright and early, we got delayed in Dallas for a few hours and then we finally made it to Hawaii that night around 9pm!

Finally leaving Dallas after an already long layover was made even longer with flight delays 🙃 so tired!

The next morning we woke up fairly early and were ready to get out and explore! We went for a run on the beach and got lost from each other for a bit ha ha oops. Then I went for a swim while Kyler finished his work out and we got lunch at a place called Piko Cafe which was pretty good. Hawaii does a chia seed pudding with fruit that is quite yummy.

Chickens everywhere! I finally understand Hei Hei in Moana ha ha

After that we started the bus trek to Costco to get groceries for the week. We walked quite a bit as well, and then after getting what we needed we took an Uber back to the condo.

I took a little nap and we had dinner on the beach. Then we searched for sea turtles and found about a million (okay, probably just 100) all along this rock spot which was so cool! Apparently they come up to sleep there! We also tried to catch some little ghost crabs. If you throw sand on them they think they are hidden so you can grab them ha ha poor little crabs. Twas pretty fun though, and we saw some huge ones! We face timed the kiddos too. It was a really fun first night in Hawaii. It was also New Year’s Eve but we were so tired we were asleep by 10pm! Ha ha!

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Friday was our first day of snorkeling! We took the bus to a few different beaches. My first time snorkeling was magical. It was so cool to see all the fishes and the little anemones everywhere! I felt like I was in a whole new world, it was incredible! Our second snorkel was a little crazier because the water was more rough and it made me nauseas. But we did get to see a sea turtle which was amazing!! We walked around quite a bit in the Wailea area which is more upscale than Kihei where we were staying. We got lunch at the fairmont hotel and then checked out their huge swimming pool and may have snuck in to swim in it for a little. They even had a water slide! Ha ha it was really fun.

Then we grabbed some dinner from home to eat on the beach and watch the sunset, and we saw more sea turtles and watched them come from the ocean to the shore.

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Saturday we headed up to Lahaina and had a delicious lunch at a place called Down the Hatch. Shrimp tacos and fried calamari! Delicious! We also got a shave ice from there, also so yummy. Then we walked along the shore area and found the aloha dollar store for some little souvenirs for the kiddos and Camille. They were much cheaper there than the other stores! Then we walked back to the bus stop, got another shave ice and some gelato and then ate dinner at the hotel and watched another sunset.

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Then on Sunday we got up for church which was nice and then rode a bus out to Makawao for Kyler to see a Buddhist temple and a place called The Secret Garden. We walked to it, about two miles. He really loved it there. I thought it was pretty but also got bit by quite a few mosquitoes while there and really wanted a nap ha ha then we got back to the condo, face timed the kids and hung out.

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Monday morning was paddle boarding day! We got a deal for rentals on groupon. This was probably my favorite day. We paddle boarded out about a mile and were able to get within 50 feet of some whales!! We saw them spouting out water, saw their bellies and fins and they waved their flippers at us a couple times too. It was incredible! I had been super anxious to paddle board out and I couldn’t stand on it because I was shaking and tense but I’m so glad I pushed past that fear and went anyway! It was an amazing time! Then later we went snorkeling and it was the most amazing time! We were literally swimming with sea turtles and had them all around us, and seeing how beautiful they looked when they swam (like birds) was awe inspiring . We saw fish “riding” on top of their shells, just like in finding Nemo ha ha it was so wonderful! We also saw this weird long, skinny fish. Kyler thought it was an eel, I thought it was a squid. It turned out to be a nu nu fish. Ha ha so many pretty fish everywhere. I think we saw 4 or 5 turtles that time. It was just so cool having them swim by us- I loved it so much! Then we ate lunch at McGillicuddys pub which was yummy. This was probably my favorite day of the trip. :)

That orange sauce was sweet and delicious!

Tuesday was Road to Hana day! We downloaded the gypsies guide to road to Hana app and left the condo at 5:30am. We saw a tip onlinr to drive it backwards so we could do the most popular attractions before all of the people were there and so if we didn’t get to see everything we wanted we could just come another day and not have to drive the whole thing again.

This day was full of adventure! First stop was the big water fall at Pa’ihi gulch. There was only one other couple there. We got to jump in and swim right next to the falls! It was freezing at first and then felt quite lovely. Next was a hike on the pipiwai trail up to the falls there. Kyler stopped to meditate about 1/4 the way up so I finished it by myself. It was fun and very pretty! Bamboo everywhere- it was cool! I slipped on my way down though and hit my elbow super hard on a rock step. Thankfully it was just a bad bruise and scrape and not sprained, although it felt like it was the first day.

After that hike we saw the 7 sacred pools and then tried to find a red sand beach which was quite difficult. Ha ha we just couldn’t find the spot people had told us about. We watched some surfers at koko beach and ate lunch, then drove to Hana beach and found a little trail to some fun lava rock hiking and a tiny red sand beach that had massive waves so it was a little crazy. Kyler somehow convinced me to do some crazy rock climbing and we saw the birth place of Hawaii’s favorite queen. Kyler found some coconuts that had fallen so he busted them open and then he found a little pineapple from some street vendors. It tasted delicious! I only had a little so I wouldn’t get mouth sores but it was so good! (And I woke up the next day with 3 massive mouth sores anyway dang it!) Then we headed home and stopped for a few scenic views. I got a shave ice, we went home and then watched Waco on Netflix. Super good and sad. Then bed!

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Wednesday we got a late start because my sleep schedule was all wonky. And then Kyler wanted to sign papers for a refinance he was doing and it took a bit for all of that stuff to work out. We finally got to Wailea beach and I was hoping to see a lot of turtles while snorkeling but the water was way way too hard. It was scary and you couldn’t see anything, so it was a bust. Then I asked Kyler to take me to the condo so I could get a little break. He went and walked on the beach looking for shells while I got some cool down time which was nice. Then we went to dinner at Ka’ana kitchen at the Wailea resort and it was yummy and very fancy. Then we went to the market and got some treats and started watching When They See Us. Also very sad, about the central park five.

The red part was swollen and you can faintly see a blue outline of the bruise around the red 😬

Flourless chocolate cake from Ka’ana kitchen, quite yummy!

Thursday we headed up DT Fleming’s beach because it’s good for body boarding and Kyler wanted to try it. We stopped at some random spot on the highway because Kyler wanted to look for some seashells ha ha Then we went to Honolua bay to do some snorkeling. The water was a little rough but we still could see quite a bit and saw a few sea turtles! Then we went to see the lava tube thing where water shoots out really high through a blow hole and then headed to DT Fleming’s. The waves were kinda crazy but Kyler still looked like he had fun. It was fun to see people surfing over there too. A couple of Hawaiian teens were killing it! Then we got some yummy ice cream at island cream co which was delicious, then Kyler went to find more shells while I showered and hung out at the condo.

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Friday morning we packed up and headed back to Road to Hana to see the Arboretum. It was a beautiful spot, we really enjoyed it! Then we visited the tiny town of Ke’anae which was so cool with all of the lava rocks in the water! We just kind of took our time heading back down the road and taking pictures of things. Then we ate some shrimp and fish tacos at Paia Fish Market which was yummy and we bought some seashell souvenirs from a store across the street. The woman noticed our garments and asked if we were lds ha ha she was a member too! Then I got some gelato and we headed to Good Will to see if we could find any cute Hawaii dresses for the girls that weren’t $25 bucks each like all the souvenir shops. We found some cute dresses for the girls and Hawaiian shirts for the boys for $12 for everything! Score! Then we headed to the airport. We flew all night and landed in SLC around 11am.

The view from Ke’anae. Easily my favorite little town in Maui :)

It was such a fun trip! We really needed that break and getting that rest helped us feel ready to take on life again! It sure was nice being able to snuggle our little and kiss their faces again though. ❤️