Paradise

What does paradise mean to you? I'm a bit torn... Maui is definitely a paradise. It is beautiful and pristine... it is away from the busy-ness of life. That is not the only reason why I consider it a paradise. This time, paradise is being anyplace without my children. This way my shirt can remain snot free for a whole day, and I can sleep- in and I don't have to do dishes or cook or have cartoons blarring in the background! Don't get me wrong... I adore my babies, and someday I would love to take them to this paradise, but for some reason, this time, paradise was being with my man on an island across the sea.

Burke and I got to go to Maui with my brother Adam, his wife, Sarah, and my mom and dad. We had such a great time. Our hotel was right on the water.
We got a tourist guide and did lots of snorkeling at the recommended spots. It was awesome!!! Each spot held different treasures to be seen. Black Rock had cool cliff jumping, sea turtles, and needle fish. It was also just a really cool reef. We did see an octopus too. In fact, while in hot pursuit of a fish, Burke about grabbed it. They camouflage really well. Once he got our attention, we all came and hovered over it. They have the bluest eyes! Underwater Paradise... and yes, the water is really this blue! This is Honalua Bay. You part on the side of the highway and take a dirt path down through a thick cove of huge vine covered trees. I wish I would have had my camera with me down there it was beautiful. There is not much beach here, but the snorkeling is great.
The volcano on the big island was putting off excess amounts of sulfer dioxide which resulted in a smog-like haze...they call it vog!!! It was so thick you couldn't see the islands across the sea.
The last night we were there we decided to just kick back and watch a sunset. With the Vog it wasn't that exceptional, but we were rewarded for our interest. As the sun was setting across the sea a mother and baby whale decided to put on a show for us. They were jumping and splashing. It was AWESOME!!!!

So my mom was kind of sad that she didn't get to see a whale. On the way to the airport we were driving along the coast and I said "I wish we could see a whale for ya." and wouldn't you know it... within a minute a whale started jumping . We pulled off and got some great pics. In this picture, you can actually see three whale tales if you look close and get your magnifying glass. This time there was two mamas and two babies. It was our official Hawaiian goodbye!

Paradise is definitely not sitting on a red eye flight for 6 hours, but I can safely say that when we got home, I found it to be just as much of a paradise as the Hawaiian one we had left the night before!