Nichols Family Maui Vacation!

Nichols Family Maui Vacation

Day 6 (Saturday)

We sleep in a little today, and breakfast at the poolside grill buffet. Then take a walk down the beach to see some of the other resorts and let the girls go parasailing. Unfortunately, the parasailing is booked until the following Tuesday, the day after we will leave. Amazing to us, since it's not exactly cheap, and they're going from sun up to sun down everyday. Must be a goldmine! Walking a little further up the beach to Whaler's Village shopping area, we find one of those floating trampolines just off the beach, and stop to swim and jump for awhile. They have an excellent and wide beach here. Clear water and perfect sand with a normal grade until it drops off over your head about 15 feet from the shore. This is nice because you can swim near shore instead of having to wade out a couple hundred feet to find deep water. (It occurs to me now though, that this underwater topology would also make it easier for certain sea creatures to get close to the beach, if they desired.) It's a great spot for the trampoline; you can jump and bounce into the water, and it's not such a long swim back after wearing yourself out. The girls had a great time jumping and then playing in the waves.

Danielle and Sarah started a sand castle while Paulette went and scouted out some of the nearby resorts to gather information for certain newlyweds-to-be. When she returned, Paulette and Sarah went back to the Hyatt to inquire about scuba diving and braids for the girls. Scuba diving was out since we'd be flying the next day. Danielle and Dad continued work on the sand castle, but it turned out to be a pyramid modeled after someone else's the girls had seen previously. A wave barrier was also needed, since the larger waves started reaching the pyramid and washing it out. Danielle has always loved playing in the sand.

After some snapshots of our handiwork, we headed back to the Hyatt where Sarah was relaxing in the spa getting her hair (partially) braided. (It's much more expensive here than it was in Jamaica 15 years ago.) I decided to try windsurfing at the resort while Danielle got her hair braided, also. The conditions were deceiving. The water was choppy, which led you to believe it was quite windy, when in fact, there wasn't a whole lot of wind out on the water. I was informed of this upon returning to shore, after an hour of climbing up and falling off of the sail board, and right in front of the returning catamaran crowd! They were yelling encouragement, though. After I was finally able to balance for awhile, and after paddling far out from the shore, the wind would barely propel me. This was evidenced by the resort "expert" who, after taking the board from me back at shore, tried his hand at it to no avail. I collapsed on the beach with a glass of ice water and a beer to wash the salt water out of my throat and recuperate. Rarely has either tasted so good! Sarah played in the waves while we relaxed and waited for Danielle's hair to be finished on another gorgeous afternoon.

While I wasn't on the board long enough for Paulette to get a shot, here's the beach where the attempt was made, and the saltwater drank.

When Danielle's braids were done, she came out and ran right for the water, then right back up for the bathroom. Sarah had tried a boogie board in the waves with some success until toppled by a big one, and now Danielle tried it without much.

About 4:30, we walked down to Whaler's Village again to eat dinner at the beachside grill of Leilani's On The Beach, which had been recommended by someone Paulette talked to. I guess we were shopped out, because we never did shop here, and we missed the Maui Onion Festival that was going on at the time. Anyway, the girls had massive California burgers, which were delicious. Somehow, Sarah ate the whole thing, and Danielle ate about 3/4 of hers! Must have been all that swimming they did. Everything was great including the sashimi appetizer.

After dinner we hiked back to the Hyatt, girls on the beach, Mom & Dad on the sidewalk, where we staged lounge chairs at the pool for the evening's "Dive-In Movie" while the girls swam more in the pool. Sarah ended up not feeling well and staying in the room with Mom. Danielle was scared as the feature, "Jurassic Park III", made it's loud, intense, start. So, after a little more swimming, we called it a night.

Go on to Day 7

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