Final Update!
July 25, 2023
It’s with a heavy heart that I write the final 3A trip update. These amazing past two weeks would not have been possible without all 11 of our amazing students.
Day 9: Today we had an early wake up for windsurfing! This activity was new for all of the kids, so everyone was excited to jump in the water and see what it was about. All of the boys were ready to challenge themselves and opted to grab the 2.5 meter sails. Due to the Hurricane coming through the day before, the weather was relatively calm, making it perfect conditions for learning how to windsurf. Emma Grace was a natural at the sport. Typically, the windsurfing instructors only teach the kids how to jibe. She was so advanced that they were teaching her how to tack! This was so impressive even the outfitters commented on it. As we finished up our first day of windsurfing, everyone was just starting to get their sea-legs and understand how to maneuver the sail. After windsurfing, we headed up to the north shore of Maui to go cliff jumping! This was a long awaited activity for everyone in the group, and everyone was excited to see what is was about. We walked down to the cliff jumping spot at the Kapalua Cliff House, and it wasn’t long before everyone was jumping off. Fitz took the lead and jumped off of the highest cliff, and it wasn’t long before everyone followed. After jumping off of every different cliff possible, we walked over to a hidden beach spot. As we hiked down to it, everyone was amazed by the beautiful rock formations surrounding us. Per usual, all of the boys ran straight to the water to play in the waves. We can always count on them to explore every inch of the island and have fun while doing it. On the beach, the girls caught some rays and read their books. As we were about to leave, everyone ran into the water to play a game of tag. Lucy and I watched from the beach and appreciated how close this group has become. After a long day in the sun, we decided to surprise the group with a gelato spot! Everyone was elated to get a refreshing treat. On the way home, we jammed out to Taylor Swift and King Von. Back at camp, we split up the group into two to have an iron chef cook off. Group 1: Fitz, Thomas, Miller, Julia, MC, and Emma Grace. Group 2: Jack, George, Anna, Ella, and Marissa. First, we started with appetizers. Group one started us off with edamame, chips and salsa, and a delicious summery blackberry juice. Group two made us a mini charcuterie board and nachos. For the main dish, group one made a chicken salad and group two made blueberry pancakes. It was a close finish and both groups came very close to winning. The salad was the breadwinner of group ones presentation, and had a Greek twist and every bite held a different pop of flavor. The nachos were the best of group twos food, and they were able to capture the leaders heart through a classic comfort food. Ultimately, group one came out on top due to their creativeness with the salad and beautiful presentation that wowed all of the leaders! We finished up the night with dance parties and cleaning, followed by another moonup under the stars. Everyone quickly went to bed, tired from the day and excited to experience what tomorrow was to bring!
Day 10: Today we woke up excited for another day of windsurfing! All of the kids were excited to jump in the water, as they had the basics of the sport down. After our Taylor Swift jam session from yesterday, we now knew that everyone could get hype to her songs and played them the whole ride there. Once we arrived, everyone quickly put on their shoes and life jackets to head out to the water. Today, the wind started to pick up, and it was perfect timing for the kids to truly understand the sport. Julia impressed us with her windsurfing skills, and showed us how quickly she was able to tone her abilities. She mastered the art of quickly turning her board around even in the most unsteady of waters. Similarly, Jack was showing off some new tricks the instructors showed her. Her was able to twist her sail around two times in a row! This was an incredible feat and everyone was applauding his abilities. After windsurfing, we went to Wailea to check out a new beach for the afternoon. Everyone was excited to snorkel in the reefs. After snorkeling for almost an hour, everyone came back to the beach raving about the wildlife they saw. Miller brought a bracelet and a sea urchin bone back to the beach to show everyone. As the winds started picking up towards the later afternoon, everyone hopped in the water to play over under. Ella added her own twist on the game, insisting that everyone jump on the waves like a whale. Eventually we were all cracking up watching each other crash into the waves in as many ways as possible. After the ocean tired us out, we headed back to camp to play a quick round of shothead and have some snacks. Anna made a delicious piece of avocado toast, inspiring almost everyone else to make the same. Once everyone was full and our card games were finished, we loaded up into the van to head to Haleakala to watch the sunset! Haleakala is one of the tallest dormant volcanoes, and is known for being one of the best places to watch the sunset in Hawaii. We were able to walk around and explore the mountain from above the clouds for about an hour before the sunset. Additionally, we made chicken sandwiches on top of the mountain to help make the experience memorable for the kids. Soon enough, the sun began to set and we were able to see the colors capture the sky. Everyone was mesmerized by the sunset, noting how beautiful it was. MC made sure to grab some awesome pictures to remember the moment forever. After the sun set, we had moonup in the parking lot. Everyone was freezing cold, but it didn’t matter because we were all so content with the amazing day we just had. Additionally, the group used this moonup to truly get deep and know one another. I can proudly say it was a turning point for our group, and allowed for us to become a family. After closing our moonup and admiring the stars, we drove down the mountain listening to old One Direction and Olivia Rodrigo songs. Before going to bed, everyone was talking about how great the sunset was, and how amazing today was.
Day 11: Today we had an early, yet relaxing morning, as we got out on the water to go paddle boarding! Everyone was able to slowly wake up on the water. The water was so calm and clear that we could see all of the coral reef and wildlife on the bottom of the ocean from our paddle boards! While it begun as a relaxing activity, it quickly turned into who could be the last man standing on the paddle board. Everyone was on the lookout for George, as he made sure no one’s hair was dry within the first 30 minutes of the activity. He was jumping from board to board seeing how many people he could dunk under the water. Once we got to a stopping point, the paddle boarding instructor told us about the history of Maui, and explained the islands that we could see from our vantage point. We were able to see Maui, Molokini, Lanai, and Molokai. He also explained the interesting background of the Shaka to us! This especially caught the groups attention, as we have been throwing up the sing all summer long. In the past, Maui was a big sugar cane manufacturer, so a lot of the residents worked in the sugar cane factories. There were not many safety measures in place back in the day, so a lot of the workers ended up losing their fingers while on the job. Typically, it started with their middle finger, then ended up taking their ring and pointer finger as well. Therefore, when they would wave, they only had their pinkie and thumb to wave to each other with. It ended up catching on, and now everyone in Hawaii throws up the Shaka as a sign of peace. How interesting! After diving deeper into the history of Maui, one of the outfitters pulled up a dark red sea urchin for everyone to pass around and hold. Once we had explored the cove on our paddle boards, we headed back to shore and loaded into the van. We drove up to Slaughterhouse beach, a beach in Maui that only the locals know about. The boys climbed on all of the rocks while the girls explored the coral reefs through the snorkels. Once everyone was back on shore, we were greeted with the sight of a ginormous turtle!! Everyone in the beach was in awe of the magnificent creature, including everyone in our group. Once we took a bunch of pictures and videos of the turtle and soaked up our last few rays, we got back on the road to head to Maui Prep for Olympics! During the Olympics activity, we meet up with the B and C Maui groups to go head to head in multiple games to see who will come out on top. We stopped and dressed up in white tee shirts and covered our bodies in white paint to represent our 3A team. Once we were ready, we drove over to Prep and made a grand entrance to “Took Her to the O” by King Von, a song that the boys taught the girls all the words to. After our entrance, we knew that we were ready to compete against the other teams. We started with Birdie on a Perch, where everyone teamed up with a partner on their team. During this game, everyone has to quickly find their partner and jump on them as quickly as possible. The last pair to have their birdie off the ground loses. It was a tight race, and the final round had two pairs from the C group and one pair from our group. In this final matchup, Thomas and William came out on top when both of the pairs from the C group fell to the ground simultaneously! We immediately celebrated, feeling ready to take on the next challenge. Next, we had a 4-3-2-1 relay race, where each number aligned with how many feet on the ground the racer was allowed (4 = bear crawl, 3 = three legged race, 2 = sprint, 1 = hop). Again, our team was victorious and by this point we had established a solid lead against the other two teams. We then went on to lose to the C team in the gummy bear eating contest and the water balloon toss (although their win in the water balloon toss is still up for debate). It all came down to a relay race where we chose two boys and two girls from each group to compete. The C team ended up winning, but it did not bog down the spirits of our team! Everyone was just excited to play, knowing that we won two out of three events. We ended the night with a hot dog cookout and some fresh cut pineapple before heading back to our home at Pono Grown Farms. Back at camp, we had a quick Moonup before saying goodnight. Everyone was tired out from the activities of the day, and we had an early morning to come.
Day 12: Today we woke up and the sun was still not up, but everyone was excited to go snorkeling with Redline Rafting! This has been me, Lucy, and William’s favorite activity every session, and we were so excited that we got to end this session with it! We loaded into the van and watched the sunrise as we headed out to the dock. We met up with our outfitters, then hopped on the boat to drive out to the Molokini Crater. This is a popular snorkel destination in Maui due to its vibrant wildlife and interesting history. Everyone was excited to hop into the water and see it with their own eyes. Right off the bat, we got to see a Moray Eel swimming into a reef crevice and an octopus change colors to blend in with the coral! What an amazing start to this day. After taking in every ounce of beauty, we climbed back into the boat to head out to the elevator. In between this specific rock formation on the backside of the crater, the waves crash up the rock, rather than into it. This leads how it got its name as the “elevator.” Everyone was encouraged to get as close to the crater as they could, knowing the waves would just push us up and down, rather than into the rock. It was an adventure in itself, and it’s hard to believe that we still had two more snorkel spots afterwards! Next, we went out to the Pinnacle, a coral reef formation that extends far beyond the shore line. One of our boat guides decided to hop into the water with us, and he swam deep down into the water and through a hole in the coral reef! Soon enough, everyone else wanted to try. A few daredevils were able to make it through, encouraging everyone else to try. Once everyone has attempted at least once, we hopped back onto the boat for our final snorkel destination: Turtle Town. This is always a fan favorite, as the turtles are so comfortable with humans that they will swim right up to you! It was amazing to watch the students experience this firsthand, and we were able to grab some sick shots of them with the turtles. We can’t wait to see how those turn out! Once we finished up our snorkel session, we had sandwiches on the boat and thought we were headed back to shore. Instead, the guides took us on a bumpy ride, where no one was safe from getting splashed. The more daring students sat on the bouncy edge of the boat, and we caught such a big wave that Marissa almost flew off! Luckily, she listened to the outfitters and maintained three points of contact on the boat. Eventually, we were all singing along to Another One Bites the Dust, and crying laughing at everyone getting splashed. We finally had to head back to land, and everyone was raving about how much fun they had on the boat. We rinsed off in the showers then headed to Big Beach to catch some final rays before leaving the island. Everyone was super tired and parched from our long morning, so on the way home from the beach we stopped at a gas station to get some slurpees and snacks. We went back to camp to quickly change before driving over to Goodwill to find some spunky outfits for our banquet dinner. Everyone’s unique picks had us laughing, and we made sure to grab a bunch of pictures of everyone in their costumes. We went to My Thai, a hole in the wall Thai food place for dinner. We spent our time there recapping our trip and singing songs, per usual 3A fashion. Afterwards, we stopped to grab some gelato in Paia, then went back to camp for our final Moonup. We spent time to recap some of our favorite memories and hardest laughs of the trip, and went around the circle appreciating everyone in our group. It was truly a great moment to see as a leader. We said goodnight, and the kids cowboy camped under the stars to appreciate Maui for one final moment. While they prolonged going to bed for as long as possible, eventually the inevitable happened and they all fell asleep together in the grass.
Day 13: We started our last morning with a slow wake up, allowing the students to sleep in as late as they could. Once everyone was awake, we started packing up our home and putting away the memories we made into our Uhaul. We cleaned up camp, and eventually we had to say bye to Pono Farms. What started as a place we were camping has truly begun to felt like home. It will be weird not waking up all together with the chickens in our kitchen trying to eat all of our food. As we drove away from camp for one last time, we played some of our favorite songs to reminisce on the trip. We headed to the airport with heavy hearts, knowing it would be the last time we would all be able to jam out in the van together. Once at the airport, we knew that the time had finally come to say goodbye. As we said goodbye to your kids, who we have grown to know as friends, there was not a dry eye in the group. Through this, we could see the impact they had on each other, and the way they have grown from this trip. I truly think they have all learned lessons from being out here in Maui, and I can’t wait for them to go home and implement them into their daily lives. The past two weeks felt two days long, and it showed us that time really does fly when you’re having fun. And we had a blast. We are so thankful for our 3A Ohana, and we know that someday we will meet again.
For one last time, Aloha and Mahalo Nui,
Caitlyn, Lucy, and William
All is well in Maui!
July 20, 2023
We are back again to update you on the amazing happenings of Maui 3A! Everyday here is a surprise and has been so much fun. We have reached the halfway point on the trip, and it has been amazing to see everyone grow closer to each other and get to know each other better!
Day 7: Today began with a group surprise: town day! We had a slow morning then quickly told them we were leaving in 30 minutes. Everyone was quick on their toes to guess what our activity was, and MC was quick on her toes and figured it out first, without any hints! We drove about an hour to Lahaina, our favorite town to shop in here in Maui. Our first stop was the sock store where Thomas found some cool Beavis and Butthead socks and immediately knew he had to buy them. Definitely a steal! We moved on to the vintage tee shirt store where almost everyone found a really cool shirt to take home. Each shirt has a story behind the design on it based on the history of Maui. Marissa found a cute one with a rainbow on it. How reminiscent of all of the beautiful rainbows we have seen here! After everyone found something to take home and show their loved ones, we had another surprise in store… our local food stop! We took them to another one of our favorites: Paia Fish Market. Emma Grace was eager to try the fish here in Maui and got the fish tacos. She said they were amazing! Over the course of lunch we talked about some of our recurring dreams and relating about them. It seemed as if everyone has had a falling dream on an airplane, and we all agreed that it is always embarrassing when we jolt awake next to random people. Afterwards, some people stopped to grab some gelato to cure their sweet tooth. We drove home to stop and play a quick round of cards before heading over to our cooking class! We started off with a tour of the garden, where Fitz courageously climbed into an avocado tree and even found one to bring back to camp! Afterwards, we headed up to the cooking class where we started with making all of our sauces to pair with our dinner. We made a chili sauce, peanut butter sauce, and Teriyaki sauce! Once we finished up making the sauces, we started making our own summer rolls. These were a hit with George who loves raw vegetables! He loaded his up with crunchy carrots and said it was delicious. After making and eating our summer rolls, we started making our bao buns. Anna had the great idea to make a dessert bao bun, and everyone else had to make one too. Ella was very confident in hers, and made it into a log shape to make sure it stood out. It sure did! We ate our sweet and savory bao buns for dinner, then finished it off with some homemade coconut pudding. It’s safe to say the food was a hit with the whole group, and a lot of them got to expand their food comfort zone which we loved to see! As we headed back, we saw the beginnings of Hurricane Calvin moving in, which also brought a double rainbow! Everyone was admiring it the whole ride home. Back at camp, we prepared of the storm by making a tent village under our big tent, and I think it’s safe to say the tent village will stay for the rest of the trip. This just shows how close our group has grown and we love seeing how much they love each other! Due to the rain, we had moonup next to tent village and headed into the tents for an early night.
Day 8: Due to the hurricane, we were unable to go kayaking with Griff this morning. However, this didn’t bog anyone down and we still got to see Griff as he stopped by to hangout with us! Everyone slept in super late then woke up to play some cards. Griff brought over some pumpkin seed sourdough and the loaf was gone within seconds. Our slow morning turned fast quickly with a heated game of BS. The kids played with two card decks at once, so slowly but surely, everyone was racking up cards. It was hilarious to watch everyone call each other out on their lies and see who could get away with it. After finishing up our card games and saying bye to Griff, we went to Costco to get some groceries for the rest of the trip and grab some lunch. Everyone was excited to grab some snacks for themselves and try out all of the samples they had. The dark chocolate Milano cookies were such a hit with the group we had to buy a pack! After we finished up our hot dog and pizza lunch, we went back to camp for our afternoon activity with Pono Grown Farms! Everyone loved that it was in our own backyard. Evan, the owner of the farm, brought us down to the greenhouse where we grabbed boxes of collared greens and kale to plant! Miller was a huge help in bringing out the plants and making sure they were all getting planted correctly. He also made sure to have fun while doing it! Everyone skipped out on the gloves, because Evan told us that there is bacteria in the soil that sends serotonin to our brains! After skillfully planting two whole rows of seedlings, we headed up to the chicken coop to see the chickens and even try to catch some! Emma Grace was especially determined to catch one, and she was the last one in the coop. She eventually caught one and we were able to catch it on video. How awesome! After all of our hard work, we got to cool off in the water slide Evan made just for the Moondance groups that come help out! Everyone was flying down the slide in a million different ways, and the girls started making trains. Julia was brave enough to go on her stomach, and she was flying down the slide! After seeing how fast she went, many others started going on their stomach. After landing in the pool, the boys decided to have fun seeing how many ways they could jump into the pool. Jack was showing off his front flips to the group, and everyone was impressed. We then headed back into the black tent to take a marvelous sink shower! Everyone needed a refresh after the rain and it was so fun singing along to music while we switched off washing each others hair in the sink. After our shower, we hung out, sung songs, and played cards and braided each others hair. The girls were excited that the boys let them braid their hair, and they were all sporting spunky braids at dinner. Our cook crew whipped up a delicious pesto chicken pasta that received many nugs at moonup! We closed our moonup in 3A fashion by running around in a bear crawl circle, which eventually had everyone laughing. After a makeshift, yet wholesome day, we headed off to bed for another day in the sun. We can’t wait to soak up these last few moments with your amazing kids, and we have had so much fun on this trip so far.
Aloha,
Caitlyn, Lucy, and William
Zipping through the jungle!
July 19, 2023
Aloha again! We have been having a great time on Maui and can’t wait to update you with our latest adventures.
Day 5:
We woke up to a beautiful morning to go zip lining! Everyone was excited to explore the jungle in the mountains, and many were ready to conquer their fear of heights. After going over a quick safety briefing and lesson on how to go down the zip line, we were ready to go. We started with a practice “bunny” line, then rode an ATV up the mountain to the bigger lines. The first one stood at a whopping 2,300 feet long! That’s almost half a mile! Everyone quickly zipped down the line. We eventually got to the line where we had the opportunity to hold hands with the other person going down with us. Fitz and Jack held hands almost the whole way down, and even got an “Aww” on the walkie talkie from the outfitter.
We then went on the Golden Gate Bridge of Maui, and everyone had the same idea to ‘griddy’ off of it. The seventh and last line is known for making people scream, so obviously we had to see who could be the loudest. The winner is still up for debate, going between William and Thomas vs Ella and Marissa. After zip lining, we stopped for a quick lunch at the market next door. Julia took my advice and got the chicken tacos. It wasn’t long before many others followed her lead.
We played a quick game of cards and the boys talked to some locals before heading off to the Nakalele Blowhole! We all admired the ocean views as we climbed down to the blowhole. The ocean was extra choppy today, so the views were so beautiful. Every time the blowhole would blow, we got to see a rainbow! This made for some pretty cool pictures. George was the star of the show, making sure to be in every picture he could be in.
After checking out the blowhole, everyone wanted to climb around the rock formations. We ended up on the other side of the van and had to take a hidden path to get back to it. It turned out to have beautiful views and was so worth getting lost! We then went back to camp for a delicious barbecue dinner. The cooks were getting complements on top of complements. Afterwards, we had an amazing moonup and multiple people were lucky enough to see some shooting stars! The kids even saw some stars moving in a way that could have been aliens. We later found out that it was one of Elon Musk’s space expedition tests. So interesting!
Day 6:
We had a later morning, so William made bacon for everyone while we played many different card games. Cards seem to be the go-to game around here, and we have had fun learning everyone’s different games. Anna has proven to be a threat in almost every game, nearly always coming out on top. After playing shot head and Dutch cup a million times, we headed onto the Road to Hana to go rappelling! Everyone was admiring the views as we drove, checking out the waterfalls and the lush flora. We finally got there, and immediately saw two peacocks! Emma Grace made friends with the baby peacocks and made sure they all got a bit of bread to eat. We walked down into the jungle towards the waterfalls to start rappelling! We started with a practice rappel down a hill so everyone could get the technique down before we went down the waterfalls.
Once we got to the waterfalls, everyone was amazed! The first one stood at a whopping 50 feet tall! Everyone was excited to jump in the water and cool off and explore the waterfall close up. Miller was jumping back and forth on the waterfall like Spider-Man! While we waited for everyone to finish up rappelling, we all played in the pool below the waterfall. There was a cave we found that we could climb up and jump off of. It was so cool! The next waterfall was a little shorter, but still beautiful. It was 30 feet tall. MC was one of the first to go down, eager to show off her skills. Everyone was amazed! After everyone successfully made it down the waterfall, we hiked back up to our lunch spot and ate alongside the peacocks. Everyone was super tired, so we surprised them with shaved ice!! We went to Ululanis, a famous spot here in Maui. In fact, if you search up world’s best shaved ice, Ululanis is the first result! Everyone chowed down on their dessert as we headed back to camp to meet Griff. Griff is our kayaking outfitter, and he used to be an old Moondance leader! He gave all the kids hats and he explained how he came to be a Moondance leader and how he made the Maui trip! We are so thankful to have him here on the island with us. After he left, we had a pizza dinner and then Moonup under the stars. We said goodnight and everyone went to bed early after a long, but amazing day.
Aloha and here are some shoutouts from your kids!
Caitlyn, Lucy, and William
Anna: Hey mom and dad. I miss you guys and am having so much fun! I have met so many new friends. Tell Parker I said hi and happy bday dad!
MC: hey y’all! Miss and love you. Maui is so fun and I’m having a great time. Thank you !
Julia: hi you guys! I miss and love you so much. I’m having the best time here but I can’t wait to see you. I’m so excited to tell you all about the trip! I’ve met the best people and it’s beautiful here. I’ll see you all soon I love you!!
Ella: Hey mom, dad, Thomas, Char, and pooch. I miss you guys sososo much! I’m having do much fun in Maui and am so excited to tell y’all about what I’ve done. I have so many friends and am so happy. love you!
Marissa: hey mom, dad, and Peyton I love and miss you so much! I’m having so much fun in Maui and have met so many new friends!
Emma Grace: hey mom and dad! I love and miss yall so much! I’m having so much fun and I’ve met so many new friends! Maui is gorgeous and I love it!
Fitz: dear mother, father, and two sisters I hope that you guys are having the best time in NC! Maui is really fun and all of the people we really fun! Love you!
George: dear mom, dad, and brother, I hope you are having a great time in North Carolina. We have done a lot of things so far and still have many things left. Love you!
Thomas: dear mom and dad I love you so much and I miss y’all I am having so much fun while sending this I just bought bevis and butthead socks. I hope you have having a good time love y’all!!
Miller: Wassup guys. Having a super fun time. Maui is so sick. Love y’all!
Jack: Yooooooo you guy are amazing for sending me to Maui thanks so much and I love y’all.
Surfs up!!!
July 17, 2023
Aloha!
We woke up bright and early for a beautiful day of surfing! Everyone was so excited to jump in the water, especially after seeing the huge waves. Fitz, Miller, George were eager to show off their surfing talents and opted in for the shorter, 9 foot boards. We were slightly unsure of their abilities when they said they were surfing pros, but they proved themselves out there today on the water. George was even trying to do backflips after catching a wave! The waves seemed to roll in quickly, and everyone ended up standing up and riding at least one in. Ella was the group videographer, and got some great videos of herself surfing that we can’t wait to look at!
The girls were getting so good, the outfitters started to try to teach them tricks! MC learned how to switch her stance while riding the wave in. Joey, one of our surfing guides, tried to get Emma Grace to jump on his board while they rode the same wave in. Jack looked like a natural on the board, and we kept confusing him with local surfers! Although it seemed like a good idea, it definitely ended in a few hilarious wipeouts! After catching some amazing waves and stoking out, we headed back to camp for some well-deserved lunch. We had some leftover pizza from last night’s dinner, prompting the question: is pizza better hot or cold? It was highly up for debate. After eating, we went to the beach to chill out for a few hours while the kids adjusted to the Hawaiian time zone.
Everyone still seemed to have a ton of energy. The boys played in the water for the entirety of our beach trip. The girls started in the water, then went to read and listen to music on the beach. They also played chicken fight in the water, where Marissa and Emma Grace were the ultimate champions. Back at camp, we played some card games and hung out before it was time to make dinner. Thomas and Julia took charge of the chicken tacos, and they were amazing! Everyone was also snacking on the ginormous watermelon we bought from the store today that was bigger than a chicken (for size reference). It was huge, and super sweet and juicy.
After dinner, we played a game called psychiatrist that might be a new group favorite. Fitz had the group cracking up with his answers. We then had Moonup led by our first LODs: Thomas and Anna! During Moonup, we typically have a funny and serious question. For the funny question, Anna asked everyone to define what animal the person to their left would be. There were definitely some interesting answers, including chimpanzee, snow leopard, parrot, chihuahua, monarch butterfly, and more. We then closed the Moonup, and headed off to bed after a great first day!
We were excited to get on the road again for another amazing day of surfing! All of the kids were excited to show off the skills they learned yesterday, and even do some tricks. We were all amazed by their ability to quickly pick up the sport. After surfing, we went back to camp to have a quick lunch. Nutella sandwiches seemed to be the go-to for almost everyone. We played a quick game of ERS, Egyptian Rat Slap, before heading off to the west Maui mountains for an afternoon hike! We headed out to the Waihee Ridge Trail. It started with an intense incline, but soon leveled out to an easier elevation gain. It was definitely challenging at times, but it was so worth it for the amazing views of the valleys. We hung out at the top of the trail for about 30 minutes admiring the view. We then quickly descended the mountain and hopped back into the van to go to Safeway for a post-hike treat. Julia and Fitz, our leaders of the day, picked out Italian ice for the group. It was a hit! After we cooled off with some dessert, we went back to camp to have a delicious stir fry dinner. Everyone was raving about it afterwards! After dinner, the guys played some trashketball among other games, while the girls played Dutch cup. Soon enough, it was time for Moonup. The sky was clear, so everyone was admiring the stars. After Moonup, we headed off to bed, tired from the long, yet amazing, day we had.
Today we got to head off to the west Maui mountains again to give back to the community through service work. We work with Maui Cultural Lands to help remove invasive species from the valley. Everyone was excited to get their hands dirty and explore the history of Maui. The boys were excited to use the pick axes, and were a force to be reckoned with! After we finished up, and were able to admire our work, we got to try some local fruits from the valley. They were all so unique and we had a lot of fun trying them. The biggest hit was the limes, because they were so sour no one could keep a straight face! We then hiked out of the valley and admired the views. After, we went to Kaanapali beach to relax after some hard work. Everyone hopped right into the clear ocean water. It was so clear we could see the coral reefs from above the water! We decided we had to go back and bring our snorkel gear to check it out later. When we discovered the hotel next door, everyone went down the water slide and even got to talk to some locals! Afterwards, we showered and headed back to camp for a delicious Italian dinner. We slurped up our spaghetti then had a great Moonup where we got to learn more about each other through great questions from our LODs! Goodnight and talk soon.
Aloha,
Caitlyn, Lucy, and William
Made it to Maui!
July 13, 2023
Hello Maui Families!
We heard from our leaders and the group has landed safely in Maui! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure.
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips but we will be posting up to three trip updates throughout the next couple of weeks! This will allow you to follow along with the trip and the students will also give a special shout out mid-way through! You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to this summer!
-Moondance HQ
