Maui-Part 1

That's right, people. Maui. I, Miranda Merrell, went to Maui. It's pretty much a miracle. And to make the experience even better, I left the kids and husband home and spent the week with my sisters and mom. It's pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me.....except for, you know, things like my wedding day and giving birth to my two amazing daughters. But really, it was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I'm going to have to post about my trip on more than one post. So bear with me (and try not to be jealous), as I blog about my incredible week on the lovely island of Maui, Hawaii. :)

The view from the airplane. I have to tell you, I haven't flown on a plane since I was probably 6 years old and I have no memory of the experience. Airports are so stressful! I always wondered why people said they don't like to fly. Now I know. Going through security just about gave me a heart attack, and once on the plane I was gripping the seat in front of me during take-off, feeling as if I was on a roller coaster and wondering if I was going to die. Once I realized that I was not, in fact, going to die, I was okay. I can now say that I'm a little more at ease with the situation and had no problems with the rest of the flights or layovers. What an experience, though!
After some ridiculous amount of hours spent traveling, we finally arrived to our hotel! It was amazing! It was essentially made up of three buildings, in the shape of a U, and the center of the U was open to the outdoors. Beautifully landscaped and right on the ocean! I mean, RIGHT on the ocean. It went like this: Hotel, swimming pool, ocean. Couldn't have stayed at a nicer place.
This is a shot of the gigantic fish they had in various ponds around the hotel

They had little pineapples growing in the lobby! Coolness!
Straight away we headed down to the beach, so here is me being cheesy and looking very tired from traveling all day.
This is the kiddie pool. There was a big water slide hidden in the rocks to the right that emptied into 9 feet of water, but the kid places are nice and shallow and safe. Then the "Grotto" bar was underneath that waterfall over there. You just swim right under there and ask for some delicious non-alcoholic beverage and it's amazing. Just like that. If you keep swimming past another waterfall on the other side of the Grotto, you end up on the deeper parts of the swimming pool.
The view from the lobby.

Mom and Savannah at the beach.
Me, Missy, and Natalie at the restaurant by the pool.

This aint nothin' yet, so stay tuned. Maui-Part 2 is underway!