Maui Vacation: Beach Day #3, the Ocean Center & Coming Home

March 23rd


In addition to the lizards and creepy geckos (or whatever they were) that lived under our air conditioner, there was a bush next to the parking lots that was like a LIZARD CONDOMINIUM.

We spent the morning of our last full day at the beach, and it was the funnest beach day yet. Not too windy, no crazy-huge waves. We’d finally fine-tuned what we were bringing with us and didn’t even have to drive because it was just like, my beach bag & our towels, Sym’s chair and a little boogie board we found near the condo’s bike rack (Taylor’s big one was broken by this time).

I’ve mentioned before how scared Symphony was of the big waves, and how after she got churned up she wouldn’t go past the breakers at all. Well, that day I’d devised a plan to get her to broaden her ocean horizons: BRIBERY. I told her that if she came out into deeper water and used the boogie board as a floaty, I would buy her a new humpback whale stuffy at the Maui Ocean Center, where we were going that afternoon. Lovely parenting, I know. I used the same method six years ago to get her to poo in the potty.

I managed to get her to let Taylor pick her up and carry her past the breakers, where we then transfered her to the boogie board. She held onto one side and I stayed on the other to keep her calm. She was really anxious at first and started freaking when she saw a big wave coming, but once she realized that the waves would lift us instead of knocking us over she was fine. It was a lot more fun for me too, since I didn’t have to keep going back and forth from Taylor in the deeper water and Symphony right on the shore. Instead, we all got to hang out together!

After lunch we headed up to Wailuku to visit the Maui Ocean Center. For Symphony it was definitely the highlight of the trip- if you ask her now if she had fun in Maui, she says “I went to the aquarium!” The girl is mental for aquariums, for real.

I’ve never gotten so many non grumpy, non-squinky, non-monster-faced pictures of her in one day.








I can’t see seahorses without thinking of Away We Go: “Why the seahorses, Rod?” “In the seahorse community, the males give birth. The female inserts her ovipositor into the male’s brood pouch. That’s where she deposits her eggs.” “If I could, I would lay my eggs in your brood pouch.” “I know you would.”

I’m pretty happy with this picture I got of a teenage sea turtle.


They have this big tank full of sharks and stingrays, it’s super cool.

There’s also a tunnel that goes through the tank. This picture would have been perfect if Sym hadn’t turned her head to look at the giant stingray!

Two seconds later a hammerhead shark swam past and Taylor and Sym BOTH turned their heads. GREAT YOU GUYS.

Unfortunately, when we got to the gift shop they had NO HUMPBACK WHALE PLUSHES. Crazy! All they had were babyish dolphins and depressed looking sharks, so after about 45 minutes of deliberation she choose six little toys instead. I did find a pretty awesome humpback whale Christmas tree ornament, but it was forty-six dollars. Yes, FORTY-SIX DOLLARS. I don’t even know, you guys.

March 24th

Leaving day 🙁 Let me tell you we were NOT happy to be going home! We got up and instead of going to the beach we had to finish packing, do the dishes and vacuum. So lame! We left the condo at 9:30, stopped at Starbucks for coffee and headed into Kahului, where we killed time at Old Navy trying on shorts and dresses until it was time to take our truck back to the rental place.

Last year we took this redeye flight back on Sunday night, and let me tell you, it was the WORST flying experience of my life! The plane was totally packed and apparently, lots of people with little kids take those redeyes because they figure their kids will sleep on the plane. Well, they don’t. They scream for six hours! This year I was like, NO WAY am I doing that again, so instead we took the afternoon flight, which leaves at 2.

Symphony did pretty well on this flight as well, although she did start to feel sick towards the end. The flight attendants were super nice kept bringing us different things they thought would help: an icepack, water, damp paper towels and a bigger bag to throw up in, just in case. I think they would have brought her the kitchen sink if they thought it would do any good! In the end she made it to Vancouver without puking, thank goodness! I had the same ear problem I did on the way to Hawaii, my right ear kept popping and popping until well after midnight (our flight arrived at 10:30).

So yeah. That’s it, that’s our trip. Now all we have left is our memories, 1,000 photographs (if you think I post a lot of pictures YOU HAVE NO IDEA how much restraint I showed), our macadamia nuts, the cheap summer clothes we got at Old Navy (we have Old Navy here but all the stores are out in the suburbs where I never go, so I end up buying stuff there when I’m in Hawaii or Seattle or wherever it’s convenient) and this quilted pillow slip that I haven’t bought a pillow for yet:

I actually want the bedspread but it’s $800. EIGHT HUNDRED.

DANG IT.