Christmas in Hawaii, part 1

Merry Christmas from Maui! ... a little late, but better late than not at all!

That's right, people. We spent our Christmas and New Years in Hawaii this year, and it was so wonderful! I started writing this post while we were there, but never got it finished. So, I'm posting a first bit now, with plans of further posts in the coming days. (I mean, who wouldn't mind looking at numerous palm tree pictures while all that snow continues??)

The skinny on our fabulous trip... it was a part-family vacation, including Dad and Mom Bishop, Janice and Jay (Brian's sis) and their two kids, Brent and Jenalyn (Brian's bro) and their six kids. This trip was a surprise Christmas present for most of the kids -- except Sammie, who has been packing her bag for the beach every day for the past two months! Here's part of the group, on the first morning after we arrived...
We flew in on Christmas day, and stayed most of our time at a condo timeshare in Maui, that Janice and her family booked. We also spent a couple days on the rainforest coast side of Maui, and a few days on Oahu. So, here's part one, the Hana rainforest coast...

We drove the Hana highway, said to be one of the most scenic coastline drives in all of Hawaii. This was our "scenery"...
And this...
Well, they don't call it a rain forest for nothing, right?! Our best view was this one, but that was only when Brian soaked himself running to a "lookout" point to get this picture...

At one point, we started on a scenic detour to see an arboretum. But we had to turn around when we came to this...

Our brother-in-law, Jay, rented a motorcycle for the 3hr Hana Highway drive. I always tease Brian about packing a huge plastic rain poncho (he takes it EVERYWHERE we travel!) Well, this time it came in handy for poor Jay, the soaky wet rat... (not the best picture of him, but it was the best I got!)
I asked a lady at a souvenir shop whether that kind of torrential downpour was a bit overwhelming, but she just laughed and said it's quite normal for winter time. They get around 300 inches of rain per year on that side of Maui!!

We stayed the night in cute little cabins at Waianapanapa State Park (I loved hearing Brian's mom try to say that one!) Here's the outside...

And inside... last updated in 1952?? They weren't much to look at, no one was allowed to go shoeless (poor Spencer didn't get to crawl once), and I thought we might float away in the rainstorm that night.

But the surroundings were secluded, and the coastline views in the morning were spectacular!We took a morning walk down to the ocean, to watch the waves crash on the rocks...


Spencer wasn't too impressed...
After the rain cleared off, we took a drive further up the coast, to see some more of the coastline and visit some waterfalls. This one was just off the road, quite spectacular...

A guy was sitting by its side, weaving baskets, hats, and flowers from coconut fronds. He's been sitting there weaving, and selling his wares, for 30 years! wow!
Sammie got a little bird, like her cousin Eric's, for $3. Jenalyn got a darling hat for $15, but I didn't get a picture of it.

We drove to Oheo Gulch, or the Seven Sacred Pools, which was much more astonishing in real life than in these pictures. The water was really high (from all that rain, I imagine), and was just gushing over the rocks to the ocean.

The sign behind me says something like "extreme danger, don't walk past this sign or you'll probably die." I stayed on the right side, even though Sammie and Grandma thought I was getting too close.

The "hike" down to the falls was perfect for small children; Sammie and her cousin Ashton gathered lots of rocks and sticks on their journey, some of which stayed in our trunk the rest of the trip!
We did a little stop at a bay, so the kids could finally say they were in the ocean. Spencer loved it...

But not as much as Sammie...

That's all for now, folks! But rest assured, there's more sunshine to come. Stay tuned...