Maui #3: Scuba Experience!!!

Our dive experiences during our trip were so inspirational that it is difficult to give a short synopsis here, but I'll try. This photo was taken on the dive boat on the way to our Molokini-Turtle Town boat dive. Everyone was very excited and the visibility at Molokini was said to be 200+ Feet, a great range to see all of the wonderful creatures around us during the trip.



The first order of business in preparation for our boat dives was to prepare Christopher and Julie for the day. They didn't have prior dive instruction, so were required to attend a short resort course in order to familiarize themselves with a few skills and equipment needed for their dive. Seth elected to attend the class with them, although he had completed the full PADI dive course prior to our trip. I jumped in to snap a few photos of them during their first scuba experience in the pool at the Wailea. The instructor emerged from the pool at one point and told me that he could tell that they were from a dive family and what great pupils they were! I was proud of them all and happy to be able to document their first underwater scuba experience.

The next day we were at the dock to meet our dive boat at 5:45 AM. Those of us who love to dive were very excited to go to Molokini and to Turtle town. The range of visibility is wonderful there and we were hoping to see some aquatic life that we hadn't experienced prior to our dive, needless to say none of us were disappointed.

Upon our arrival, Todd, Melissa and I as certified Open Water Divers were put into one group and Christopher, Julie, Seth and Madi were in another group that had less experienced divers and more instructors present. We then took the plunge! When I entered the water I was astonished at the range of visibility and completed my decent along with Melissa and Todd in record time. I watched as Seth, Madi, Julie and Christopher jumped in and started to descend along the anchor line. As you can see, Melissa even poses for photographs under the water and we attempt to accommodate all of her requests. What a ham!

As you can see we had the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of underwater creatures during our outing. I have included photos of some of our favorite encounters. First, there were countless tropical fish that were so beautiful and full of vibrant colors. I think all of us enjoyed those and even had a chance to get up close to them on several occasions during the dive. Another highlight for us was our interaction with an Octopus! Melissa, Seth and I had a chance to hold one and all of us loved that. We were on a shore dive at the Grand Wailea with the owner of the dive shop, Charlie Dolfun, who found and helped us hold the Octopus. We were all very impressed with that encounter and loved diving with Charlie, what an expert!


We also sighted the endangered Green Sea Turtle on numerous occasions during our trip. The beach at our hotel is one of the best snorkel sites in the world and these magnificent creatures like to hide in the reef off the coast in that location. We saw several of them while snorkeling and also during our dive at Turtle Town. Julie, Christopher, Seth and Madi, along with their dive group saw 7-8 during their Turtle Town dive. Seth and Madi were especially impressed with that encounter. Julie and Christopher also enjoyed their first experience with scuba diving, although Christopher was a little bit congested and had some trouble equalizing his ears during his dives. Overall, everyone loved the adventure and I think that Julie and Christopher are looking forward to their next chance to dive.

Todd, Melissa and I had the most amazing experience during both of our dives. As scuba divers, there is always the possibility of an encounter with one of the most amazing animals in the ocean, the shark. The more we have had the opportunity to dive, the more we have been excited to have that experience for the first time. We had been told that it is a somewhat rare occurrence, so we weren't really holding our breath or even expecting to have that happen in the area that we were diving. At Molokini, our group made our decent first and quickly split from the other group and made our way to a deeper area of the crater. Since it is a dormant volcano and protected from weather and currents, a wide variety of aquatic life resides there. About 20 minutes into our dive I turned to the right and saw something moving in the distance, and guess what it was? !!!


A White Tip Reef Shark!!! I couldn't believe it. We knew that there were sightings of these beautiful creatures in the location, but didn't really expect to see one. We have all talked about the first encounter we would have with a shark on numerous occasions and what we thought our reaction would be, fright, excitement, etc. Well, now I know. I got so excited and couldn't get Melissa's attention so I yelled "shark" into my regulator since it is difficult to get the attention of someone in front of you while diving due to the lack of vocal communication. When I finally got their attention, we just enjoyed the experience until we could no longer see it. This experience really changed the views that some of us had about sharks, especially for Melissa. This shark completely ignored us and went about his business like we weren't there at all. I had been told that they don't pay attention to divers and that information was definitely correct. It was an awesome experience, one that Todd, Melissa and I will never forget.

We completed our dive at Molokini, talking about our encounters on the way to our second dive site for the day. We all had a great experience there and were ready for our second dive. We stayed in the same groups and again split up shortly after entering the water. This time we experienced some very large Green Sea Turtles and then made our way to a small cave. I waited for Melissa to enter first with Todd following behind me. Right after Todd took this photo I entered this cave and couldn't believe what I saw. Another Shark!!! This time it was 5-6 Feet from me in this cave. There was a very large turtle resting inside the cave, and I think the shark was checking it out, maybe he wanted some dinner. I, again, attempted to get Todd's attention since he was holding the camera. He entered the cave and tried to get a photo, but this one didn't come out to clear.

If you look closely in the center of this picture, you can see the white tip on the shark's fin. Todd barely made it into the cave in time to snap the shot, but he was able to get this picture. We couldn't believe that we had seen a shark AGAIN, twice in the same day. What an amazing day, we loved it.

After the dives we all got back into the boat and headed to the dock. We then went to Fred's for breakfast and got to talk about our experiences under the water. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to go again!!!

Maui #2: Relaxation

As you can see the boys got all decked out in their matching resort attire and we were all headed to the pool for a nice relaxing day swimming and having fun. I think that they looked so cute and both of them loved swimming in the pool and at the beach.

Todd and I were very surprised when we called and were able to get a Cabana in a great location at the pool. Usually at the Grand Wailea they are reserved up to a year in advance, so it was wonderful to get one for a couple of days, especially with the two little babies. They brought a playpen over, so it was very comfortable for all of us and we lounged by the pool and at the beach during our first day at the resort. Aiden was very impressed with his new cousin, Maximus, and spent a lot of time kissing him along with the rest of us, how cute!

Chris and Julie had a great time at the pool, playing with the babies and relaxing.

Seth and Madi loved it too.

Aiden and Max spent a lot of time swimming during our trip. Aiden has become a little fish and really has to be watched near the pool. Julie was having a great time with him, he's very funny in the water.

Maui #1: The Day Of Travel!!!

After spending a comfortable evening at the airport Residence Inn we were up and ready for our adventure at 6 AM the next day. I was somewhat surprised that the morning was as organized as it turned out to be since we had so many people to account for at that time of day. We were all ready to go and took a shuttle to the airport a few blocks away.

We even made it to the gate with time to spare! We had 20 bags to check due to our scuba equipment, so in my opinion we did a great job. I think Madi was a little tired, but overall everyone was very excited to get going.

Fortunately we were able to get enough first class seats on the plane to accommodate our large group, so our long flight (6.5 hours) was very comfortable. Aiden was the only one who was not satisfied with the seating arrangement, so that made it a little difficult for Melissa but she persevered and we were off to Maui!

We landed in Honolulu at around Noon and after the challenges that Melissa endured during the flight I think she should be commended for her upbeat attitude following that flight. Mahalo Wissa Q!!!

We're Back From Maui!!!

I was so excited to see Christopher, Julie and Maximus again. They arrived in Phoenix on June 5th, the day before our departure to Maui. After gathering their belongings from the airport we stopped by Grandpa and Grandma's house to introduce them to little Max for the first time. They were departing for their own trip several days after we left, so our first destination was their new house.

We took the traditional 4 generation photo that I have with Aiden and myself as babies. I think that his one came out great and really resembles the photo of me as a baby with my dad, grandfather and great-grandmother.


We also took a nice family photo of Julie, Christopher and Maximus and one with them and Grandma and Grandpa. It was a very nice get together and I think that Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed it. Following the photo op, we went to Dillon's (a great barbeque restaurant near my Dad's house) for lunch.

That was the extent of our time in Phoenix prior to our trip. The next day we were off to Maui. We stayed at the Residence Inn next to the airport in order to save time the next morning, so after leaving my dad's house we went home and gathered our luggage and headed to the airport hotel.

Melissa And Lori's Sex And The City Adventure!!!

Melissa is a HUGE Sex and the City fan, so since she found out that there was going to be a movie she was very excited. I decided to make it a special night for her and for us to have some girl time. We decided to go to the Ritz-Carlton in the Biltmore area of Phoenix for the evening. We loved the movie, it was very funny. After the film we went to a restaurant that Todd and I love called The Capital Grill. I called the waiter we always request and told him I would be there with Melissa following the film, so he made it a special experience for her.

Melissa had never stayed at the Ritz, so after we checked in we got some Champagne brought up and had a quick toast to our special evening. She was loving it and looked very stylish in her new outfit.

This was another shot from the room prior to the movie. She was so excited to see it and we weren't disappointed.

This was in the hallway of the hotel shortly after our arrival.

This is a really bad photo, but I left the camera in the room and took it with my phone, so it's pretty blurry. It was in the theatre following the film.

This morning we were both so rested and relaxed, we decided that it would be nice to do this together more often. Melissa went to get coffee in the lounge for us this morning.
When we were getting our champagne, Melissa really wanted to order some chocolate covered strawberry's. It was going to take longer than we could wait before the movie, so we decided to order them after dinner instead. As you can see she was having a great time. She put her Ritz bathrobe on and got tucked into bed and had 2 delicious strawberry's before going to sleep.
Another shot of her with her strawberry's.

This was in the restaurant. She had to have the signature Cosmopolitan in honor of the movie, although she wasn't to impressed with it, at least I got a photo of her with it. She loved her dinner and next time you go to The Capital Grill try the Filet Oscar, it's to die for!

After dinner, at around 9:30, Melissa was soooo tired. I couldn't believe that she was ready to go to bed, but when you have a baby and don't get a chance to relax very much I guess it's understandable. We had an awesome time and can't wait to do it again. Now it's time to prepare for our big trip to Maui. Everyone is so excited to go on a vacation together and to such a beautiful place. Only 3 more days until Chris, Julie and Maximus arrive and 4 days until our departure, we'll keep you posted! We had a great time on our night out and I think we've all decided that you can't beat living in the city!!!