Vacation Day 4 & 5

Monday we are still in Kahului, Maui. Today we visited one of Maui's most beautiful and popular attractions. At the Maui Tropical Plantation, we enjoyed a fully narrated 40-minute tram tour of the plantation's agricultural villages, macadamia nut orchards, sugar cane fields and flower gardens, and even see demonstrations of coconut husking and a fruit tasting. They grew coffee, avocados, and lots of flowers. The plantation was very interesting and we learned a lot of things. Like pineapple doesn't grow on a tree it grows in the ground with just the crown showing. The plantation also had two monkey and Chase liked watching the monkeys swinging and jumping around. Chase and Cody had a lot of land to run around in.

Cody Running Around

Very Cool Monkey

Tonight back on the ship, was formal night. I had decided that the boys needed to go to the Kids club again while we ate dinner and then I would go and get them dressed in their suits for family pictures. We were dressed up in suits and long dresses. We went to dinner at the main dining room called "Skyline". Food was delicious and even the waiter was a good server. Dinner was the best so far in my opinion. We got the boys dressed and we took pictures and took the boys back to Kids Club.

Chase and Cody after a long evening of playing.

Tonight's theme at Kids Club was Prince and Princess. And they were dressed just like a prince in their suits. They made crowns out of paper with beads and glitter. They even had a parade through the ship to show off everyone crowns.

We went to The Not-So-Newlywed Game. They took 4 couples that had volunteered out of the audience and hide one half -the guys first- and asked the women questions about their relationships to how they met. The guys then came out to try to come up with the same answers. Then the men were asked questions and the women had to match their husbands answers. It was very cute on how the answers were different and some were the same!! Good time at that show.

Monday night we set sail at 6pm for Hilo, Hawaii.

Tuesday when we woke up we were in a totally different place. Hilo, Hawaii (The Big Island) is more industrial then Maui.

This was the second largest city in Hawaii with about 38,000 people living here. Hilo is America's wettest city, over 120" annually. So today, we decided to check out a beach one the bartenders had said was very pretty. It was called "The Black Sand Beach". The sand is black because it is made up of crushed volcano rock, Lava. The sand is very course, the water cold but pretty scenery. We played in the sand and some of us got into the water. I guess once you got into the water, it was warmer but I couldn't get past the cold part.

We also went into the town of Hilo and did some shopping. We were craving some Mexican food and margaritas. Found a local Mexican food restaurant and had a good lunch there and some even better margaritas. We all bought souvenirs, clothes, and candy walking along the street in downtown Hilo.

Tonight's dinner was at Little Italy. The food was good there. After dinner we sat at the Aft party bar and had some cocktails and listened to the water. We were already on our way to the next stop Kona, Hawaii.

The boys were in Kids Club again having a great time dressing up like Pirates. They also were having cookies and pictures with the captain of the ship. They said that they might be able to drive the ship also. I don't think they trusted them enough to do that. I bet you that Cody would be able to drive it better than the Captain himself!! Chase and Cody brought home there treasures from the treasure hunt also. They brought back beads, balls and shoelaces. They also had there faces painted like a real pirate!!

Cody