Vacation

Well everyone, we are back from our vacation in Maui. My husband and I went with our 4 kids, my parents and my sister and her family for our annual family vacation. Last year it was Disneyland, this year Maui.

I am so glad we chose March to go! Let me list the reasons why:

It's whale time. Whales breaching and blowing everywhere. Babies and their mommies swimming together yards from our beach. Even the kids could see them.

Only a 2 hour time difference. In the winter, before daylight savings, our kids only have to adjust 2 hours as opposed to 3 hours during the summer. For those of us with kids, we know the value of that!

Nice break in the middle of winter. The day we left, it was pouring rain here. We arrived to a sunny sweet smelling island. Although it's winter in Maui too, we got by with a light fleece jacket in the mornings and evenings. Sometimes it's windy or could rain but we lucked out.

Flights are cheaper. We flew Hawaiian Airlines and flew out of Oakland. Our tickets were $200 cheaper than United (each ticket). Hawaiian Airlines boasts to be America's oldest and safest airline. But the clincher for me was that they still serve hot meals that are all natural and delicious! As a parent you know what that means on a flight with 4 kids.

Of course every time we go on vacation and the kids are swimming we get a lot of comments about what great swimmers they are. Our kids are walking advertisements. As we chat with other parents at the pool, we always meet people we know or have friends in common. This time, I noticed a little girl who swam just as good as my kids. She was probably 4. I marveled to the mom about her daughter's swim skills. Come to find out, she has swam at Silver Bear Swim School, in Reno, since she was 6 months old. My sister's best friend, Katie Hall, owns and operates that swim school. It was nice to pass on to our friend Katie she has great little swimmers coming out of her school too.

My 8 year old son even took an introductory scuba class in a pool! His instructor exclaimed, "Wow, he really knows how to kick well. He's very comfortable in the water." I just nodded and casually mentioned that we are swimmers:)

So parents, if it's financially possible to take a vacation in the middle of winter, your kids will thank you and put to use those swim skills they are learning. My kids were in the pool for hours, only getting out to eat. We came back home tanned and feeling like we had a true break!