Little Rosey's Adventure: Sunday in Maui

We are so thankful for today because on our first day in Hawaii we have received everything we came here looking for and more: peace, calm, rest, fun, beauty, sea turtles, and ocean. It's amazing what you can fit into one day when that day starts at 6am (no complaints, we went to sleep at 8 last night and Rory slept most of the night).

By 8am this morning we were on the beach. We are staying in the Grand Champion Villas in Wailea. Our quaint studio condo is not on a beach, but less than a 5 minute drive from many beautiful beaches. This morning we went to Ulua beach. I knew we were in a good spot by the number of divers that were gearing up right next to where we parked. The beach was beautiful. It wasn't the blue, Caribean -like water that I'd envisioned, but it was just as beautiful. From the start, Rory didn't like the sand on his feet. (We had discovered this once before in Seattle.) So Joe and Rory sat in a beach chair and I went straight to the water.

Before long I was snorkeling! The beach was not crowded at all (it was 8am after all) but 80% of the people there were snorkeling. The water was crystal clear, but there wasn't much to see other than sand, except for around the rocks nearby. I was trying to practice my snorkel breathing (it's exactly the opposite of using a CPAP machine) so hadn't gone near the rocks where others were quite yet. I turned around in the water to go check in on Joe and I almost had a heart attack. Seriously, about 2 feet away, was a big sea turtle!!! We're talking like 2-3 feet wide. It was most startling because there wasn't even a single fish to see, so I certainly wasn't expecting that. I'm mad at myself because I was so startled that I didn't even get to enjoy it! But it was quite an experience! Now that we've bought our underwater camera I'm sure we won't run into any more sea turtles, but that was amazing. We managed to get Rory more comfortable with the sand by teaching him to throw it. Hopefully tomorrow he'll give walking on it a try!

Even watching me swim exhausted Rory. By 11am we were back in our Maui home and Rory and I both took a long nap while Joe watched the Steelers. It really was a win-win situation.

This evening we walked the Wailea Beach Walk. It's a path that's about a mile + long and just winds around the ocean. It was a great tour of the beaches that surround us (Ulua, Mokapu, Wailea) and passed all of the amazing ocean-front resorts. Joe and I have big plans for our future here in Maui. The walk was so beautiful. The ocean breeze is one of my favorite things in the entire world. Many others were walking or jogging as well and we met so many nice people.

Much to our surprise, Joe and I have successfully been sitting on the Lanai since 7pm with Rory peacefully asleep inside. We are shocked...and very happy. Here's what we're doing right now: