President's Club & Maui

After ten years and a lot of hard work, Eric won the Boston Scientific President's Club award this year which provided us with a trip to Lanai'i at the Four Seasons.  We decided to extend the trip a few extra days in Maui once the President's Club part was complete.

The two of us had not traveled alone (longer than a weekend) since our honeymoon so we were VERY excited to get some rest and relaxation away from the kids.  It was hard to leave them and I put together an entire binder full of notes but once we were on our way I was able to relax and enjoy the time.  We were incredibly fortunate to have two wonderful babysitters help on the weekends and my dad and Mary during the week.  The kids had so much fun and didn't even want us to come home.  We are so thankful for everyone's help.

Hopefully it won't be another ten years before we get away again!

It was a loooong travel day.  We flew from Columbus to L.A., L.A. to Honolulu and then took a prop plane to Lani'i.

 We finally made it!  The Four Seasons greeted us with leis and this delicious coconut/pineapple/jalapeño shot.

We headed to our rooms to shower and get ready for an open house reception and dinner.  The room was awesome.  We had a view of the ocean and the attention to detail in the room was impressive.  Push button controls for the lights and shades, Dyson blow dryer, automatic/self-cleaning toilet that would open when you walked by, house cleaning twice daily, tall ceilings and plenty of space.

 Bruno the bird trainer could be found entertaining these birds each day.  When you walked by, there was a white one that would say "Aloha."

The pool area was gorgeous.  The staff was exceptional.  They would appear out of no where and get you set up with plenty of towels and jugs of cold water.  They would also come around throughout the day and offer frozen fruit, smoothies, sunglass cleaning, or Evian spritz to cool you off.

 The layout of the hotel was really cool as well.  It was all open air with really pretty decorations and so much greenery.

 Boston set us up with two excursions while we were there.  I chose for us to get massages and Eric picked a catamaran/snorkeling trip.  I don't enjoy snorkeling but Eric had a lot of fun and even got to hold an octopus that one of the guides picked up from the bottom of the ocean.  The boat provided lunch and some really tasty cocktails.

 Ariel yoga was offered at the hotel and so we gave it a whirl.  It was really fun and something that I would love to try again.

 On the last night of our Lani'i portion of our trip we went to a luau complete with fireworks.  It was a great way to cap off the first portion of our vacation.  Boston Scientific spoiled us rotten with daily gifts in the room and putting us up at the Four Seasons.  It was a really great experience that we will never forget.

 On Wednesday, we took a ferry over to Maui and spent a few hours exploring Kapalua and Lahaina before heading south to Wailea.  It was fun to walk around, shop for souvenirs and have lunch before heading to our hotel in Wailea.

Dinner sunset in Maui.

 The hotels around us in Wailea were all connected with this path along the water.  It was fun to walk, check out the scenery and the other hotels along the way.

 One morning we drove a few minutes to Big Beach.  The water was crystal clear and we were there early enough that we practically had the whole beach to ourselves.  It was great.

Our last full day came to an end.  It was our favorite day of the whole trip.  We spent the morning at the beach and then transferred to the pool the rest of the day.  We didn't bother to shower and go out to dinner but hung out by the pool until 5:30 and then ordered take out from the pool restaurant and ate dinner in this little pod/loungers by the ocean and watched the sunset.  It was one, big lazy day but so much fun.

Heading home!  We flew out of Maui at 6 pm and into Dallas.  Eric upgraded our seats so that we were able to lie down and sleep in these awesome little pods.  Getting a couple of hours of sleep on this stretch and then sleeping a couple of more from Dallas to Columbus really helped with the jet lag.  Well worth the money!

All in all, it was such a great experience and we have wonderful memories of Hawaii.

Here are some pictures of the kids that we got while we were away.....