Maui Day 6 (Christmas)
Our day started out just like any other Christmas day. Except we were in a hotel room. In Hawaii.
We had only brought a few gifts for Declan, and he understood that Santa was making a minor drop there in Maui, and the rest of his presents would be waiting for him back in Denver.
But not to worry. He got the one thing he REALLY wanted. The one thing he had been asking for over and over again. And over.
A happy birthday sign. A $1.99 string of happy birthday letters from Target. I threw in the Shrek so at least he’d have something warm and cuddly for Christmas to go with his cardboard letters.
And what is Christmas in Hawaii without a cheap bottle of champagne (my favorite) to make mimosas with? Except we made ours with guava juice instead of orange juice. Nanny nanny boo boo!
And here is the gratuitous “Aimee and Danielle With Drinks in Their Hands” photo. Please, all my family members, do not fret. I do not have a drinking problem. I have a “Here, Take A Photo of Me While I Am Drinking” problem.
And before we headed out for the day, we had a lovely rainbow from our balcony. What a nice Christmas present.
And then we headed into Lahaina for our whale watching excursion with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Declan promptly declared he was feeling sick, and tired, and fell asleep on the cushions below. For the entire trip. The kid did not see one whale. And him being below limited Bryan’s whale sitings too – so he definitely gets the Good Dad Award for the day.
But the rest of us? We saw two ginormous whales playing with a dozen dolphins for about a half hour. And not just one kind of dolphins, – but two. The bottlenose dolphin we are used to but also the spinner dolphin – which leaps into the air… and well, spins. Our guide said that she had never, ever, seen whales frolicking with that many dolphins before.
I made an animated gif of all my pics (below) and pulled out some of the really good ones separately so you could see them more closeup. It was seriously beyond cool.
[click any image for a larger version]
The dolphins also swam up right next to the boat. I about fell overboard in my excitement.
We were also treated to a second rainbow that day – one floating right over Lahaina.
Another cool thing that the guides did was stop the boat and put an aquatic microphone into the water, so we could hear the whales singing to each other. They also told us about a website, WhaleSong.net – where you can hear whales from Maui singing.
And then we headed back to shore, over rough seas, and we all tried to hold on to our lunch. Not everyone aboard accomplished that feat.
Of course, Declan woke up about 5 minutes before we docked – refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, nothing’s cuter than catching two boys in bed reading before we go out for the night.
We went out for a special Christmas dinner to IO’s. And I have to say, this was the only meal we were disappointed with during the whole trip. Well, it was pretty good. But not worth the $460 tab, that’s for sure. Obviously they had inflated their prices for Christmas, and the service was lacking, but who really wants to work on Christmas anyway? – so we sucked it up and enjoyed the ocean breeze, and the company, and figured, what the heck? It was better than room service. But seriously – four. hundred. and. sixty. dollars – not. including. tip. And one of us was 5 years old.
Afterwards, though – Declan got his groove on with the wooden whale. Seeing as he missed all the REAL whales.
Overall, a wonderful day. And really, the best Christmas present of all is spending the holiday in paradise with people that you love.
And alas, tomorrow is my last recap.
What will I write about THEN?
You May Also Like
This article has 22 comments
Comments are now closed.
i hope you won’t be sad to come home all over again when you end the recaps. 😉
Your posts are making me want to go to Hawaii!
That last photo is awesome 🙂
I’m diggin’ the recaps! But, it’s too bad you all have to be so serious in all the pictures. :p
Love that last one…love it. 🙂
i am so jealous that you saw whales. we went out on a boat when I lived in CA, but saw NOTHING
Look at those whales!!!! oh my!
Oh. My. Guava mimosas! Awesome.
Raging with jealousy here.
How nice were YOU to Santa this year to score such a fantastic trip?
Oh! The dolphins beside the boat is amazing!! So jealous!
Great pictures! I hope there’s more!
Sounds like a wonderful way to spend Christmas. I probably would have been down sleeping next to Declan as I get seasick really easily- blech.
hmmm… What to write about… I’m sure you’ll think of something.
I’m enjoying your trip to Hawaii, thanks.
Maypole, I think it’s all about volume in Maui. About 80% (or something like that) of the whales in the world migrate through the islands.
And Gretchen, YES, I was VERY nice to Santa. LOL!
And Monstergirlee, I get VERY motionsick too. Dramamine is my FRIEND.
Thanks all!
Whales playing with dolphins! How cool is that?
My family went whale watching off Monterrey. My son got sick and had to go inside the boat. I followed, the boat lurched and there we were, both getting sick all over the place. Kinda gross but it was one of our odder bonding moments.
note to self..
“self, must go to Hawaii”
those whale photos are awesome!
Carrie, they have Guava Pineapple juice in our grocery store that is an adequate substitute!
That looks like so much fun, I love all of your photos.
You guys crack me up.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip, I’ve been enjoying all your recaps. Dolphins are amazing…I was at OBX for New Years, and on New Years day a pod of about 40 bottlenose dolphins spent a couple hours swimming back and forth and feeding in front of my friend’s home. They were very close in to shore. It was amazing, rejuvenating and joyful to watch them…the only thing missing was a spinner dolphin!
What an amazing Christmas. Truly one you’ll always remember.
I miss Maui. Went with the out-laws (their dime) back in Feb of 02. Only regret was going deep sea fishing with my sister in law and her husband rather than touring the island with the “grown ups”. My wife was sick as a dog at the time, so we need to go back after the kids get a little older.
I feel like I’m on vacation too!
Except, I misplaced my guava mimosa somewhere . . .
Well, seems like you guys recovered from the bill in the last photo.