Maui with Mom

July 30, 2026 Thursday 

I’ve been bugging my mom to visit me in Hawaii and told her that if she came this year, I’d take her to Maui for a couple of days. The offer worked and she booked a trip to see me.  It would be both her and my daughter's first time visiting Maui.

Max and Bà

My mom, husband Bill, 2 year old daughter Max, and I grabbed an evening flight to Maui on Thursday after work. The 40 minute flight was delayed over an hour due to tire problems so it was past Max’s bedtime by the time we arrived.  Our friend Duffy generously hosted us in his beautiful home and welcomed us with lots of snacks which we quickly devoured. 

Honolulu Airport

Tired Max meeting one of Duffy's cats

July 31, 2026 Friday

Duffy made pancakes for everyone and we spent the morning relaxing in his home. 

Finding a cat under the covers

Shaka with Uncle Duffy

The first event of the day was the part of the trip I was most excited about: a glass blowing lesson in Makawao! I’ve always wanted to take a glass blowing class and my mom agreed to join me. We each made an ornament while Bill took Max to the nearby Kalakupua Playground.  We regrouped at Makai Glass to admire their gallery and watch some glassblowers making art. 

-->Video of our glassblowing class!<--

Mom chose bright warm colors

Adding color to the glass

Rolling the glass

Our instructor Olivia did all the hard parts

Making swirls/designs

Shaping

Blowing

Mom actually got to do everything twice cause her first one broke (first attempt on the ground).

My blue ornament

We grabbed poke and fried fish at a food cart across the road for lunch.  Then we hurried off to our tour at the Maui Alpaca Farm where we got to pet alpaca and hold angora bunnies!

Food time

Hand feeding

Mama alpaca

Baby alpaca

Alpaca snuggles

Mom liked Lani's big cheeks

Max did not want to be in this picture

Fluffy little bunny

Max liked the bunnies best

Yarn making demonstration

Concentrating

Our next stop was Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm.  It was pleasant, but not as spectacular as it had been when I had visited 14 years earlier.  Maybe it was the time of year. Max fell asleep on me while we walked through the gardens.  We snacked on lavender cheesecake, lavender coffee, lavender lemonade, and lavender scones with lavender honey.

Dilly dilly

Sleeping

Bumblebee

On our way back, we stopped briefly at Surfing Goat Dairy to watch goats getting milked and eat some goat cheese chocolate. Duffy treated us to dinner at the Maui Country Club. Max was thrilled to swim in the pool at the club.  She referred to the kick board as her lily pad.

Banyan tree at Maui Country Club

Aug 1, 2026 Saturday

We left the house by 6:30am to grab coffee, croissants, and banana bread in Paia.  Then we embarked on my favorite part of Maui: the Road to Hana!  These were the stops we made on the 64 mile winding road:

1. Ke'anae Arboretum - I just love the rainbow eucalyptus trees here!  Max was very excited to point out all the different flowers.  

Max taking it all in

Red torch ginger

Red ginger

Spider lilies

Rainbow eucalyptus

2. Ke'anae Peninsula - we watched the waves crash over the lava rocks and saw some pretty cool banana spiders.

Got a stick!

Sorceror's apprentice

I live for those smiles

Banana spider

3. Pua'a Ka'a State Park - a nice spot to see a couple small waterfalls and eat some fresh coconut.

Max's first fresh coconut

Waterfall

Stylish

4. Hanawi Falls - a quick stop to admire a waterfall on the side of the road. 

Hanawi Falls

5. Nahiku Marketplace - we shared some huli huli chicken for lunch.

Dandelions

Sick Toms

7. Wai'anapanapa State Park - a black sand beach, a cave, and a walk on the coastline with views of a blowhole and crashing waves... so much to love!  This is one of my 5 favorite things to do on a trip to Hana (we'll get to the others later, but they're the Hana Lava Tube, the Red Sand Beach, Wailua Falls, and Haleakala National Park).  

Waking up from a nap

Wide awake now

Hanging out

Troublemaker

Snuggles

Me & Max in 2023 vs 2026

We attempted to go to the Hana Lava Tube which is another one of my favorite spots, but sadly it was closed by the government until further notice. The nearby Kahanu Garden was also closed. Fortunately, we were able to check into our vacation rental at Hana Kai Maui early.

Koi at Hana Kai Maui

After a little break, we took a short hike to Kaihalulu Beach (known more commonly as "The Red Sand Beach"), which is one of my favorite places.  It was uniquely stunning, as always.

Bill and Max at Kaihalulu Beach

Our next stop was Koki Beach.  It also has some red sand, but it's not as dramatic as the beach we had just visited.  

Koki Beach

Max's favorite part of the day was definitely the third beach, Hamoa Beach, because we finally let her go in the water.  She giggled and jumped each time the waves came in.

Hamoa Beach

For lunch, each of us chose a meal at the food trucks to share. Mom chose poke, I chose pad se ew, and Bill got a chicken sandwich with onion rings. Mom's choice was the clear winner.  We bought some beer at the Hasegawa General Store and ate dinner on our lanai which overlooked Hana Bay.  It was such a delightful experience that Mom and I ran back out to buy dessert (ube ice cream and mango cookies) so we could all hang out on the lanai one more time before bed.

Swinging by Hana Bay Beach Park during our dessert run

Aug 2, 2026 Sunday

The day began at 5:58am with us all watching the sunrise over Hana Bay from our vacation rental.  I grabbed masubi and banana bread at a nearby food cart and we enjoyed one more meal on our lanai.

Watching the sunrise

Our view!

Max had had so much fun at the beach the day prior that we decided to squeeze in a visit to Hana Bay Beach Park.  Max was very excited.

Hana Bay Beach

This girl loves water

Swinging

Black sand!

All cleaned up and ready for the day

One of my favorite spots of any Hana trip is Wailua Waterfall.  It was early enough that we had the place to ourselves for a little while.  This waterfall never disappoints.  

Family photo

Group photo

Another comparison of 2023 vs 2026

Our last destination before heading out of Hana was Haleakala National Park.  We hiked the Pipiwai Trail, which is one of my favorite hikes in Hawaii.  The four mile trail took us past Makahiku falls, up to a huge banyan tree, over a couple little bridges, and through a beautiful bamboo forest.  It culminated at the stunning 400 foot Waimoku waterfall.

Max's fourth National Park!

Banyan Tree

3 Generations

More sticks!

Napping

Bamboo Forest

Granddaughter and Grandmother

Hiking

Waimoku Waterfall

Waterfall all to ourselves!

Incredible

Following our hike, we took the short trail to Oheo Gulch (also known as the Seven Sacred Pools), which has views of a black sand beach, freshwater pools, and a small waterfall.

Ocean view at Oheo Gulch

Waterfall at Oheo Gulch

On our way back, we stopped at the Hana food trucks for lunch.  This time, Bill and I chose a plate lunch with Korean chicken and fried shrimp and Mom chose a garlic shrimp plate.  Mom won again.  We ate at a picnic table in Hana Bay Beach Park.

Max insisted on one more beach walk

Since I'm prone to motion sickness, I had been driving the majority of our time in Hana.  However, Max started getting tired and cranky and asked for me to join her in the back seat.  I switched places with Bill, and Max and I immediately regretted that decision.  Bill's driving is faster than mine, and when combined with those windy roads, it only took about 10-15 minutes for Max to develop her first experience of motion sickness.  She threw up all over herself and me, and we needed to take a break on the side of the road to calm her down and get her cleaned up.  Bill drove more slowly after that, and Max was able to tolerate the rest of the drive.

We stopped by Hookipa Beach to see if there were any sea turtles out, but we didn't see any.  Mom and I had arranged to pick up our glass ornaments at Makai Glass, but after driving half an hour out of the way with a plane to catch, we found they were unexpectedly closed without warning and unable to be reached.  Fortunately, we made it to the airport in time and our flight home went smoothly.  Despite a couple of hiccups toward the end, all of us agreed overall it had been a wonderful trip.

One last 2023 vs 2026 comparison: the Tram at Kahului Airport