Today's post is not going to be an bragging post about how I managed to book us an unbelievable luxurious stay at the Regency Hyatt Maui for Christmas with points that ended up costing us ZERO. Nope! It's not even going to be a bragging post about how we flew TO Hawaii for like $11 a person...but then we had to pay a pretty penny for Robert to get home for work so had to pay full price for that!
Also, it was a little non-standard but Katya flew separately from RDU to Maui. I managed to have only enough points for three of us to fly with American airlines. And then Katya flew almost at the same time on Delt through Atlanta. When we landed, we had about an hour to go get a bite to eat from the famous food trucks next to the airport and then circle back to pick her up before heading to the resort.
But anyway! This post is a beautiful post because let's be clear--Hawaii is stunning. We don't agree with people who say there is no need to go to HI as we have the Caribbean islands nearby. Those are amazing too BUT...Hawaii is something special. That place just feels different and we love it!
Most importantly, this trip was a wonderful opportunity to be together and think collectively about how much we miss Alex.
Our resort was right on the beach. We got upgraded to the majestic ocean view room with a balcony on the highest floor.
And because I mentioned Mark's birthday in my email to the hotel manager, Mark even got a special birthday cake made out of towels plus a whole basket as an amenity gift! Super special!
We had 6 nights to spend in Maui so we decided to soak in whatever time we had and spend it outside as much as possible. We did a lot of beach hopping (our beach was so-so but the beaches just a bit of a walk along the shore were much wider and still sandy).
It's not stressful nowadays to go to the beach because the kids are not little. But at the same time, you don't hear them squeal and jump and play in the water like they used to either.
Robert is the one that does most of the jumping and playing nowadays, indirectly forcing the unimpressed teenager(s) to join him.
So...you know how I always thank Robert for being our sponsor of the trip and so on...well, this time I can thank myself for sponsoring it with points-hahaha! I promise...I am only mildly obsessed with my successful points redemptions.
Beautiful Katya enjoying the sun and really happy to be on a break from a stressful semester of school at BYU.
On the first day, after our beach escapades, we ran into the #LightTheWorld kiosk! We had never seen one in our area so this was just perfect!
In the afternoon, we decided to chill at the resort and signed up for a lei making class. I really enjoyed doing it and we ended up with four beautiful creations that hung on our mirrors in the room.
It was so easy to make, but I just can't imagine how long it takes to collect those flowers off the bushes!
And then we reserved a pickleball court to play a "friendly" family pickleball match. We all are pretty competitive--it was fun!
One of the highlights of our trip was Whale Watching! I went into this excursion not expecting much. Well, then what was I paying so much if I wasn't expecting it? Not sure. The point is, we all were in for a huge surprise! We literally were watching several whales for a couple of hours. It was absolutely incredible to see it in person! No pictures can do this experience justice.
We got to celebrate New Year's in Maui too! So we all got dressed up and took pictures before venturing out to a different fancy resort.
Katya on our balcony with beautiful lighting.
We took so many pictures that night!
It was already 2025 on mainland but we enjoyed the last rays of sunshine of 2024.
We were just happy we didn't get sunburnt this time (🙄).
Mark, 16 years old.
Katya, 21 years old.
And here we are at our really nice dinner. Maui is not really a party place, but this was a solid choice for a special meal right next to the beach.
After dinner we walked around that resort and then to the beach to look at the amazing starry sky above the black ocean. It was gorgeous!
The following day we were up and ready to go for more adventures! I signed up Mark, Katya and Robert for a surfing lesson! I didn't particularly want to risk doing it with my non-existent ACL situation.
I took a lot of pictures though and enjoyed seeing them doing something hard!
Basically, Katya was a natural and easily found balance every time. Mark was still like a baby giraffe with his long legs and tall body-haha. Robert did an amazing job and stood up on that board so many times! Pretty cool surf dude!
In the evening, we had an opportunity to go to the Old Fashioned Luau Dinner.
Look at these gorgeous kids!
By far, this was the most expensive excursion/activity that we have ever booked! It was more than the New Zealand dinner!
But it was worth it! These pictures were taken during the pre-show where we could walk around and see some cultural exhibits, practice some dancing and enjoy the atmosphere.
Mark was really enjoying himself as shown on the Exhibit A.
And yes, I did get a dress from Amazon just so I could wear it in Hawaii-haha. And now I am writing this and thinking when else will I wear it? I guess we need to go back to Hawaii!
The dinner was delicious with a variety of food! It was unique and actually really tasty. We had a lot of food! It was not a true buffet as we were brought platters of all the food and then we had that "buffet" on the table.
One more festive selfie!
The performance was pretty magical too! By the time they started it was dark and kind of mysterious, so that added to the mood.
Here is just an example.
Great evening had by all! We were happy to support that Lahaina community that suffered a terrible fire disaster only a year prior.
Finally, on one of the days we went on a hike in a different part of the island to see Dragon's Teeth--cliffs that look like teeth sort of. Beautiful easy walk!
Gorgeous views all along the way! I mean, the sky is truly honestly blue like that and so is the ocean.
And then we also drove South towards a completely different part of the island to experience a different beach.
Keawakapu Beach was in the Wailea area. Next time I would love to stay and explore this area more as well. The beach here was a lot flatter and wider than north of Lahaina.
On the way back, we stopped for lunch at this gorgeous restaurant!
The views were majestic! The outside patio was very spacious and we enjoyed looking at the setting of this historic pineapple plantation.
Another family selfie!
On our last evening, we went to the beach next to our hotel again. And Robert took the kids to the pool with the slide (on our property).
So we had the pool and the pool next door from the Hyatt vacation club (with a lot more shade). It was pretty crowded, and we know it's because we were there during the busiest season of the year.
One more cool thing to mention is that we had penguins at our resort! Yes! crazy! We could watch them come out get fed every morning at 9:30 am. Super cute!
And that was a quick recap of our Hawaii trip! So many new memories made! Maui is beautiful and I hope to return someday (but only if it's for free-hahaha)!
We had to split up for our flights back as well. Robert and Mark flew back to NC together. Katya and I had a flight at the same time with Delta but we flew to Seattle first. And then after a few hours of a layover, she continued her journey to SLC and I flew to RDU. It worked out as we could spend a few hours at the Seattle Priority Pass Lounge, so at least we had comfortable chairs and food.
Lyana.
