The rest of our week in Wailea, Jake was at his law conference in the morning and working some of the afternoon, so the girls and I alternated between the beach and pool every day while he was gone. Thankfully, after figuring out where everything was, it was totally doable getting everyone down to the beach or pool, even easier than it is at home! We called the valet to drive us in the golf cart down two minutes to Polo Beach where they set up chairs and umbrellas for us and set us up with plenty of ice cold water and towels. I wish I had this service back home!

We didn’t bring any sand toys this time, but the girls were plenty occupied running from the waves, digging holes and jumping off rocks. The hardest part was moving Eleanor constantly to keep her super fair skin from getting fried. I was constantly reapplying sunscreen on all the girls, and sunscreen and sand were everywhere, getting all of our snacks and towels sandy and sticky!

Ready, set, go.

Who needs sand toys when you can make shapes in the sand with your hands and sticks?

The girls got very creative thinking of games to play in the sand.

Eleanor was eyeing the snacks.

The giant mermaid baby.

The girls had a blast jumping on and off rocks into the water once the tide got a little higher.

Samantha and Amelia were incredibly muddy by the time we were ready to leave. They were covered in sand from head to toe after all that body surfing.

So sandy!

By 11:30, it was too hot to stay and the girls were hangry for lunch. The beach attendants called the golf cart people for us, and while we were waiting, I showered off 1,000 tons of sand off of Samantha, Amelia and Meredith, while Eleanor was strapped to me in the Ergo and got soaked! Everyone was screaming bloody murder and I was yelling/ordering everyone around to stick legs/arms/neck/back in the water. It felt like a hundred years of my life getting them clean enough to go back to the hotel!

As soon as the golf cart pulled up, Amelia tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face. Along with Meredith and Samantha, who were crying from being wet? hungry? who knows?, Amelia was now bloodied up all down her legs and was screaming on the ground. The golf cart driver was so nice and carried Amelia to the golf cart, along with all of our gear. I was so relieved to finally get them all back and contained in the hotel room– everyone was so exhausted, hot, tired, and hungry and it was definitely one of the more stressful moments of our vacation!

In the afternoons, Samantha and Amelia checked out the kids club, and every day going forward, they asked to join the kids club! I don’t know if I should be offended by the fact that they wanted to go to the kids club rather than hang out with us, but whatever. It was run by a sweet old lady who organized crafts, stories, games and took the kids on adventures every day. Every day was themed– volcano day, gecko day, sandcastle day, coral reef day, etc. Meredith wasn’t old enough to go, so she hung out with Jake, Eleanor and me while the twins were enjoying their adventures.

From our lanai, we spotted the kids hunting for geckos one afternoon. On volcano day, they built volcanos and looked at some volcanic rock on the beach, and on sandcastle day they had a sandcastle making contest. On coral reef day they learned about coral and sea creatures and went snorkeling in the shallow water. The girls were so sad that we weren’t staying long enough to check out the rest of the theme days!

Meredith hopes that next time she’ll be old enough to join her sisters!

Meredith picked so many hibiscus flowers on our trip I thought we’d for sure be billed for them or something.

Practicing her yoga moves.

On our way to pick up the twins from the kids club.

One of the afternoons, after picking the twins up from the kids club, we took the hotel’s Escalade service to the Shops at Wailea to stock up on chocolate macadamia nuts and let the girls pick out a souvenir using their chore money. The twins picked out stuffed turtles, while Meredith kept browsing and picking up the most random items, but eventually settled on a small purse shaped like a fish, which she still affectionately calls her “fishy purse.” We grabbed a bite at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which was basically just burgers and chicken fingers and not my favorite, but the girls loved it. The staff ooohed and ahhhed over Eleanor’s chubby cheeks and she was her usual magnetic self.

On our way to eat, we saw Hawaiian Santa and his elves decked out in Hawaiian shirts and shorts! We decided this could be our Santa photo for this season.

Aloha, Santa!

Another morning in paradise.

I did another day at the pool/rented cabana in the morning while Jake was gone and by then, the girls had the drill down pat. Swim gear on, water slide, splash pad, pool, snack breaks in the cabana, potty break, and then repeat until lunch.

I was so afraid of Eleanor having a blowout in the pool, but she was a good girl and waited until we were back in our room!

The twins made a new friend and splashed for hours, pretending they were lost at sea on their turtle boat, with shovels as paddles.

Eleanor was getting hot and wanted back in the pool!

After a day at the pool, picking tropical flowers, going to kids club, and more swimming, the girls ate pizza in our room and watched a movie with the sweetest babysitter we hired from Maui Nannies. We put Eleanor down to bed first so that the sitter only had to handle the twins and Meredith, but she was such a pro, she would have been fine with all four. She brought her own crafts, stickers, and books for them to do and they were so engaged, they didn’t even say goodbye when we left to walk along the boardwalk past the Four Seasons and over to the Grand Wailea for dinner at Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (Humuhumu for short, apparently). We had a beautiful view and enjoyed our dinner out/walking in the cool Maui breeze. When we returned, our sitter reported that all the girls were great and while Meredith had gotten out of her bed a few times, she eventually conked out. We ended up getting a sitter two more times on our vacation so that we could have a relaxing adult meal!

Goodnight, Wailea.

Lots of love,