a celebration and much needed r and r...

Woo Hoo...Hubby and I celebrated 25 years of marriage this December and spent a wonderful week on what we consider the most beautiful of the Hawaiian Islands, Maui. In the middle of our crazy work schedules and all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the Christmas season, we put our everyday lives on hold and headed off for a great adventure, and it turned out to be just that.  This was our first trip, less children, in way too long and it was exciting to think about how we wanted to spend our days while there. It turned out that our mornings were for snorkeling and our afternoons for exploring and hiking.  A week is certainly not enough time to see everything that Maui has to offer, so we concentrated on three areas that we chose to explore.  First was Honokowai, on the west side where we rented a condo that had a beautiful view looking out at the islands of Molokai and Lanai.  

View to the island of Molokai

We saw the best sunsets while there, the most rainbows and had fun looking thru our binoculars for whales spouting, breeching and tail slapping (all while hanging out on our lanai sipping cold ones).  The time we spent reconnecting with each other was exactly what we needed.  Why is it that our everyday lives give us so little time to do exactly that?  (Note to self; need to work on this).

Resting after a long hike

Our next destination; Hana.  Now we’ve been to Maui several times but have never made the trek over to the east side to see the waterfalls that everyone raves about.

Baldwin Park near Paia, stopped along the way to Hana

So off we went driving on what seemed to be the never-ending road up the mountain and over to the wettest side of the island. We spent a couple days exploring this lush paradise.  The flowers were amazing and the local papaya, bananas and cocoanuts were delicious. We’re glad we got to experience a bit of Hana, but the high winds, huge surf, intermittent rains and the sense of remoteness were not our idea of a restful vacation.

Hamoa Beach - Hana

Been there, done that… and off we went to our third stop, Kihei.  Unexpectedly, it turns out that this part of the island is our favorite.  Gentle breezes, great snorkeling and beautiful sandy beaches welcomed us and stole our hearts.

Kihei...we love you...

What an amazing week of focusing on the Us that have been partners for the past 25 years. It seems like yesterday that we said our I-Do’s. We’ve known the joy of raising a family and have also known the heartbreak of difficult challenges over the course of this journey called marriage.  I’m happy to report that we return refreshed, full of gratitude and ready to face the challenges that lay ahead, because as we all know, life just keeps on coming at us…P.S.  made time for a bit of hexipuffing too!