Valentine’s Day in Maui, Hawai’i

Way back when we were youngsters, an amazing five years ago, we were married on a beach in Maui by Reverend Dennis DeRego. If you know us, it isn’t the first time…in fact, it was the fourth time Dennis married us, the last time being on his boat near (a little too near, as naked men waved and shouted to us) Little Beach in South Maui. But this year, we had something different to consider…we now have our daughter, Catherine.

Jeanne found the perfect way to have our renewal of vows as a family when she spotted the For the Love of Maui 5K on the Web. We realized we had an amazing confluence of events…Valentine’s Day, our annual “wedding” and a race to benefit an amazing cause, the Hospice Maui and Valley Isle Road Runners’ Youth Running Program — a 3 for 1 deal.

Getting ready for Maui

We packed our awesome Bob Revolution stroller/mountain conquering device and our running shoes. We knew in advance that we wouldn’t be hiking a peak on this trip. Instead, we’d be doing things that would introduce Catherine to the island we love and have a rich history with. Her 27th flight in her first year (seriously…we counted) passed without crying or fussing and we were in Maui before we knew it.

The Sheraton Maui at Ka’anapali accommodated us nicely with room 6201 at the Black Rock, a corner room on a cliff above the beach, facing the sea between Maui and Molokai on one side and a view of the bay with its resorts and sailboats on the other. We were closer to the water than any room in the enormous resort.

Whales breaching in Lahaina Bay

There’s nothing quite like watching male humpback whales breaching in the mornings, mothers and baby whales waving their fins and flipping their tails only 100 meters from our bed. We had a cruise ship view without the rolling and rocking. In fact, we were closer to the whales than the vast majority of the boats that were taking people out to whale watch.

More than just hanging out and watching whales, we played ping pong after breakfast and spent time in the waves and in the pool. Yes, Jeanne is a mean ping ponger who loves to have me running from one side of the table to the other. Catherine watched patiently and laughed along with us.

Picking up our rings in Lahaina

We needed to pick up our new rings before the ceremony, so we had to stop by Lahaina Jewelry to pick up our rings. We chose koa wood rings as a reminder of how much romance and adventure we’ve had in Hawaii. We knew what we wanted and had seen the rings many times in the past, but when it was time to find them, it seemed no store stocked what we were looking for. We literally said, “Let’s check one last store” before finding exactly what we wanted with fantastic service from the owner’s daughter as well.

For the Love of Maui 5K

We made our way south from Ka’anapali to South Makuala Park Beach for the start of the race. There we found a fun group of locals catching up and welcoming us with lots of questions about Catherine. We ran the 5K and finished in the first third, a great achievement for pushing a 20 kilo stroller on a hilly course (yes, it rolls, but it still adds up on hills). We finished in a respectable 30:52 but were pleasantly surprised by the young kids who ran ahead of us, especially at the end.

It was surprising to see a camera-laden drone above us at the start and finish of the event. Anyone who thinks drone technology is just for the olympics needs to see how quickly this technology is growing.

Getting maui’d again

Just as we finished, we saw Dennis DeRego waiting for us just above the beach. Not waiting to dry off, we went straight to the sand and had our renewal of vows and exchange of rings right away. It was fun and romantic, our perfect combination, and made special by having Catherine patiently listening throughout.

We finished our day at Taco Bell in Kehei, a perfect way to end an awesome day in Maui!