Farewell from Maui
June 22, 2024
Hello again, family and friends! We are writing our final trip update with a heavy heart, now that our group is separated after 2 amazing weeks. Instead of being sad, let’s go over all the fun we had during our final days!
We last left off at windsurfing, where the girls were super excited to be reunited with their favorite- Mark! They chatted with him throughout the morning, until he would send them off into the ocean on their boards to windsurf. During this windsurfing time, Lucy tried to get halfway back to the mainland by sailing away! One of our guides had to sail out and go save her! Halfway through the activity, the boys decided they had mastered the art of windsurfing already, and decided to play some football on the beach instead. After a tiring morning, we went back to camp and everyone got to make their own personal pizzas for lunch! After pizza, it was time for the beach!!!! We went back to Baldwin Beach, where the boys had a particularly intense hacky sack session while the girls played in the waves. When the sun started to set, we all played birdie on a perch, where Graham and Coco had to veggie off to decide the winner! We worked up an appetite and had tacos for dinner, which Teddy couldn’t fully enjoy bc he kept putting too much hot sauce on his food! That night, Lois and Teddy led us in an amazing Moonup where we shared about inspirational people in our lives!
We were up the next morning bright and early for SURFING!!!!! Everyone was so excited to finally get to try out a board and ride the waves in beautiful Maui! Immediately, Zoe and Charlie nailed surfing and looked like pros. After getting out of the water, we found out that Teddy didn’t have a fin on his board, but he still showed the rest of us up with the most consecutive lead foot changes! While walking back to the van from surfing, we saw a beach volleyball court and decided to have an impromptu boys v girls game! While the score wasn’t officially kept, it was still a very intense game! After surfing and lunch, we went to Pono Farms to learn about growing and cultivating a farm in Maui! We learned more about what Evan, the owner, does on the farm and Kate enthusiastically answered and asked any questions! After, we split into groups of to pick weeds, pick carrots, and wash carrots. Shep was our master carrot puller and got deep into the dirt to get every last one! MB and Nora’s favorite part of the whole Pono experience was spraying each other with the hose! After all of the hard work was done, it was time to play! Evan and his family had a waterslide on the property that we all got to go down! Lois was the first brave soul to go, showing us all how it’s done! On one of the last slides of the day, Gabe got a running start and definitely slid down the fastest! After a long day, we went back to camp, ate dinner, and went to bed!
The next day, we had another bright and early morning of surfing! While the water and the waves were slow, we all made the most of it and caught whatever waves we could. Teddy, Charlie, Gabe, and Shep even began to catch their own waves without any help from our guides. After surfing, we went back to camp and ate a big grilled cheese lunch so we could fuel up for the Maui Olympics!!! If you don’t know, the Maui Olympics is when all 3 Maui groups come together and compete against each other for bragging rights (or to pie their leaders)! Our team was the blue team, so we tie-dyed tank tops a couple of days beforehand so we could all match! The girls got super into our shirts, cutting them up into new fashion statements that they could rock! Lois set a new trend for the shirts that MB and Lizzy loved and did to theirs too!
While the girls were cutting up their shirts, the boys made sure that no scraps went to waste, using them to make head and armbands!
After jamming out and getting hype, we set off to meet the other 2 groups! Right away, we set
our dominance with Lois and Lizzy playing birdie on a perch, leading to a veggie off of
“Masculine Mango” which they won by flexing their muscles!! We continued our dominance by winning the relay thanks to Nora being so fast at bear crawling and Kate flying on sprints. Because 2 victories aren’t enough, Charlie impressed all of us by kicking a home run in kickball that secured that win too!! Moving onto spike-ball, we also secured 2 more wins there with the team of Shep and Gabe winning the boys round robin and Nora and Kate winning the girls round robin. Next was a watermelon eating contest in which Teddy and Charlie participated. While we might not have won that contest, it was still hilarious to see them try and shove as much watermelon in their mouths as they could! We took a break from all the competition by eating burgers and chips for dinner with the 2 other groups! After dinner, we went straight into more games with a cheese ball chubby bunny challenge. We also did not win this contest, but Nora tried her hardest by fitting 46 cheeseballs in her mouth. The next contest was a gummy bear search, and Graham went all in, shoving his face into the whipped cream on the hunt! Unfortunately for him, we learned after that the other teams sabotaged us and didn’t put any gummy bears on his plate! After a Maui-wide dance party, the leaders announced that we all had tied!!!! Luckily for the kids, that meant that they still got to pie their 3 leaders! After a group-wide nug jug, we went back to camp to finish up Moonup and go to bed.
For our last morning of activities, we had a late start and then a daunting drive on the road to Hana. The drive went well with spectacular views, and then we finally arrived at the waterfall rappelling. On the way to get geared up, we saw baby ducklings so we stopped to play. Once we had all of our gear on, Lizzy was so brave and was our first person to rappel down all 3 of them! Everyone did awesome and looked like a natural coming down the waterfalls. It was so fun getting to explore the water and rocks around them too! On our last rappel, Charlie did a little slip coming down and “ate rocks,” which the group loved to tease him about after! After, everyone loaded up the van and as we tried to shut the door, peacocks kept getting in the way and trying to climb in! After the leaders finally chased them off, we were set to leave to our next destination – Goodwill!
We switched up names so when we got to Goodwill, everyone was buying a banquet outfit for someone else in the group! We spent some time running around the store crafting the best outfits for each person. When we got back to camp and got dressed, we could not be serious about anything because everyone looked so funny! Shep looked like Justin Bieber, Kate looked like Hannah Montana, and the rest of us just looked ridiculous! For banquet, we picked up food from the local food trucks and watched the sunset from part of Haleakalā. It was such a special moment with our group jsut taking in all the views. Of course we couldn’t sit still, so we all took turns rolling down the hill. After the sunset was over, we went back to camp for an extra special moonup where we reflected on our trip led by our LODs Graham and Lucy.
This leads us to our airport day and our bittersweet goodbyes. Kate was our first to leave, and everyone got up early to wish her goodbye. After a surprise breakfast of sausage, chocolate chip pancakes, and Krispy Kreme, we set off to the airport. We are so sad to see everyone go, but we are so thankful for the times that we all got to share! MAU 1C, we miss you already!!!!!!
Love,
Coco, Helen, Nelson
HELLOOOOOOOO MAUI 1C HERE!!!!!
June 18, 2024
Welcome back fam and friends, we’re so excited to update y’all on what the fab 15 have been up to over the past couple days!
Last time we chatted, we were on the way to zip line, which was AWESOME!!! We ended up having to split into two groups: Nelson with the girls and Helen and Coco with the boys! Both groups conquered any fears they might have had and went down all the lines! Gabe and Shep spent their time on the lines racing each other and keeping track of who reached the bottom first. Our guides were awesome, with the boys taking a special liking to Joe during the 3 hours we spent with him. Ziplining really worked up an appetite for us, so everyone got a snack from the store right next to the course. While most people got a bag of chips or candy, Nora made the best choice and got chicken tenders that everyone was jealous of. After an early and busy morning, we came back to camp and hung out, deciding to play a couple of rounds of Family. Lois and Lucy had everyone cracking up when they accidentally misspelled Harry Potter and we couldn’t figure out what they were trying to say. After an amazing Moonup led by our LODs, Teddy and Lizzy, we hit the hay!
The next day, our activity was stand-up paddling. With our group, there honestly was not much standing up! Charlie, Teddy, and Shep spent most of the time trying to flip people off of their board, successfully flipping all of the leaders! Gabe spent most of the time trying to focus on balancing while being rocked by the waves and the other boys, but ultimately fell in a couple times. MB and Nora also spent most of their time just swimming around in the water and taking in the sun. While paddling, a curious seal came up to us and we all got a good look at it! Our guide told us that he’s never had that happen before and it’s lucky, so we took it as a good omen for the rest of the trip. While fighting rough waves on the way back to shore, Lois dropped her GoPro in the water. We all thought it was gone forever until a kind snorkeler dove back in and found it! It was such an exciting moment!!! After another early and busy morning, we hung out at camp and ate a lunch of quesadillas. We also played another round of family where Zoe dominated everyone with her guessing skills. Later, everyone had a sweet tooth so we went to the legendary Tobi’s in Paia for shaved ice, which everyone loved! Unfortunately after a couple of bites, Gabe dropped his on the street. We wrapped up the night early since we had our earliest morning of the whole trip the next day.
After a 5:30am wake-up, our LODs, Lucy and Graham did a great job rallying up the troops and getting everyone excited for our Redline Rafting snorkel tour. We got on the boat around 7am for our five hour tour. All the kids sat in the front of the boat to get to experience the bumpy ride, and our guide, Allie’s music was easily a crowd favorite. During one of the four snorkel spots, we got up close and personal with some turtles! The girls, especially Nora and MB, loved this experience, taking the chance to capture some awesome pics on the GoPro. Redline provided us a delish lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies, but Lois and Lizzy were most excited about the Diet Cokes that were provided. After lunch, we swam around and all took turns jumping into the water before heading back to land. After some long hours on the boat and in the sun, Teddy and Charlie fell asleep on each other in the van. After chilling at camp for a little, we decided to take a little excursion to Hookipa Beach, where we saw a ton of turtles laying out, taking in the sun. While at the beach, Gabe, MB, and Kate sat in a tide pool and chatted, while the Lois and Lucy took the “best nap ever.” Everyone else spent the time considering what their B+ superpowers would be, with Charlie having the best answer and Shep not being able to think of one. After leaving the beach, we came back to camp where Charlie instructed the group on how to use the Coleman grill, and we cooked dinner, had Moonup, and went to bed early.
The next day, we participated in service at Maui Cultural Lands. We were helping cultivate the lands and get rid of invasive plant species near Lahaina. Zoe led the group in most weeds pulled, while Graham was putting in the work with the root puller. Nora impressed everyone with her memory of the plants names, especially the Noni plant, which we then used to put on all our various bug bites. Our MCL guides told us we were the most hardworking and successful Maui group they’ve had! Later this afternoon, we ran back to camp, changed clothes, and headed to the city of Paia for a couple of hours in town! Everyone was so excited to shop and got some great souvenirs. Nora was super generous and bought some things for her friends and family back home while Lois and Kate scored some pretty Hawaiian jewelry. The boys also bought Nelson a funny pair of socks in one of the local gift shops. While doing a haul, Lizzy and Nelson found out they had bought matching sweatshirts! For dinner, we decided to drive to Makawao and go to Polli’s Mexican Place! The group was pumped to get to eat out, and Graham was especially excited to drink some ice cold water. At dinner, Lizzy played it safe and ordered the Dino nuggets while Teddy and Charlie decided to ball out and order 2 racks of ribs. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t like the ribs so they went to the Makawao general store and bought an Oreo ice cream cake to share. After dinner, we drove back to camp, had Moonup, and went to bed!
Today, we woke up to a very rainy morning, making it hard to get everyone out of their tents and enos. Luckily, the leaders had the perfect idea to play the military trumpet wake-up, which got everyone right out of bed! While our LODs Lois and Teddy were cooking breakfast burritos to fuel everyone up, a rainbow popped up right in front of camp! Right now, we’re on the way to windsurfing day 2 and can’t wait to continue the fun during our last couple days together as a group!
Thank you families and friends for sharing your super awesome kids with us! We love them and can’t imagine a better group!! Love, Maui C!!
Shoutouts —
“Hi mom and dad, I am having so much fun. Thank you for letting me come on this trip. Lovey’all!” — Lucy
“Hey! I miss y’all so much. Yesterday we went cliff jumping, I can’t wait to show you pictures andvideos. Tell LK, Sarah, and Isaiah I say hi and I miss them!” — Kate
“Hey mom and dad, I miss you guys so so much! I am having so much fun. Hope all is well,thanks for everything!!” — Lizzy
“Hey mom and dad, I am having so much fun! My favorite activity so far has been when we went on our boating day! I miss y’all so much and can’t wait to see you!” — MB
“Hey mom and dad! I miss y’all so much, but I am having so much fun! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to go on this trip. Tell Gunby, Brandt, and Ford that I love them!” — Nora
“Hi mom and dad, I miss you both so much. I loved when we went on out boating day. Tell everyone I say hi, can’t wait to see you!” — Zoe
“Hey mom and dad! I’m having so much fun and I love everything about Maui! I love y’all so much, thank you for sending me here! Please take care of my cat!” — Lois
“Thank you so much for sending me on this trip. I miss you guys but I am having and awesome time. I love you guys and I can’t wait to see y’all” — Graham
“Hi mom and dad! I am having a great time so far. I liked when we went on the boat because it was fun. I can’t wait to see y’all! Say hi to Hank and Roux.” — Shep
“Hi mom and dad. I’m having a lot of fun here. My favorite activity was our boating day, it was a lot of fun. Happy late Fathers Day! Love you guys!” — Charlie
“Hey mom and dad, this trip has been great! We went snorkeling in the crater yesterday. I can’t wait to see y’all. Tell Knox I said hey. See you soon! Love y’all” — Teddy
“Hey mom and dad. I’m having so much fun here. My favorite activity was out boating day. Can’twait to see y’all. Miss and love you guys!” — Gabe
Magic in Maui
June 13, 2024
ALOHA FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! This is your leaders, Coleman, Nelson, and Helen, checking in live from Maui!!! We have had such a great time so far and are so pumped to share what we’ve been up to!!
It all started as us leaders anxiously awaited everyone’s arrival at Maui’s airport. Mary Brooks was the first to arrive, beaming from ear to ear as she received her first Lei. MB kept us all energized for the hour we had to wait for the next kid in our group to arrive, and when they did, she welcomed them with open arms! One of the next people to arrive was Teddy, who brought our group closer with his humor and his generosity with his candy! Slowly, all of our kids began to arrive, minus three. The group was anxiously awaiting Nora, Gabe (G-Money), and Shep (Big Shep) to arrive so we could finally be complete! Once everyone arrived, we packed the van and U-Haul and went to camp where we ate pizza for dinner and had our very first Moonup as a group! It was such a special time welcoming alums back and introducing our newbies to Moonup! At the conclusion, Nora and Graham were chosen as the group’s very first LODs (Leaders of the Day)!!!
The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast of bagel sandwiches curtesy of our LODs and all the boys who accidentally deep fried our bagels. While the boys were doing that, the girls started making group friendship bracelets with the string that Lois brought. After fueling up, we set off to tackle the Wai’hee ridge hike. While the way up was steep, Lucy did an excellent job keeping everyone’s mind off the journey with her trail conversations and by making sure we all took breaks to take in the stunning views. After our hike, the group was hot and sweaty, and what better way to cool off then going to the beach! We swam and had a delish beach picnic that carried us until our next activity – a cooking class! The class started with a tour of the farm, which Gabe especially loved and asked a million questions about rejuvenate farming and the island. We also met a dog there named Basil, but Shep kept calling him “Parsley,” making the whole group crack up. During the class, Charlie put all of his “Mana” (good vibes) into our taro tortilla dough, making sure our group would be fed well. Once he kneaded the dough, him and Teddy became tortilla flipping pros – making the best ones for our tacos that night! After a long day, we headed back to camp where Zoe and Gabe led us in a Moonup with insightful questions that brought our group closer together!
We had an early next morning of sea kayaking and snorkeling, so a grab and go breakfast was in order! We then drove to meet up with Griff, our outfitter and a past Moondance leader, who helped us during this activity! He taught us all so much about sea kayaking, snorkeling, and Maui history and showed us an awesome reef to spot sea turtles and other fish. We kayaked to the spot, with Kate putting in the work to get her kayak out there first. While snorkeling, we saw a couple different turtles, and Gabe even saw an octopus! During this, Nora and MB made sure to get lots of footage of themselves diving to check out the coral. While kayaking back to the beach, Lois and Graham accidentally flipped their kayaks, getting soaking wet in the process! After that activity, we headed back to our campsite to eat lunch and chill after an early morning and a strenuous activity. The group then ventured to Walmart to get some necessities. Once at Walmart, Teddy instigated the boys getting matching tank tops while the girls settled for matching Garfield nightgowns. Before we could leave, we spent 15 minutes looking for Shep’s receipt for the worker to check, and it ended up being in Gabe’s pocket the whole time! That night for dinner, Zoe impressed us all with her dicing skills, cutting up the onions and tomatoes for our Greek pita pockets! After a long day, we had Moonup and went to sleep, most people choosing to cowboy camp in their enos!
The next day might have been our best day yet!! We had a later start, so everyone got to sleep in before we went to our activity – Windsurfing!!! This has been everyone’s favorite activity so far! The guides were great, and Lizzy + Kate loved teaching one of them about ‘aura.’ Lizzy, Nora, Kate, and MB loved dancing in the waves during the activity, but were also able to nail their turns on the board! While everyone picked up windsurfing quickly, Charlie, Zoe, and Teddy were naturals at it, becoming experts almost immediately! Shep and Gabe kept asking our guides if they could tandem windsurf, which they promised we could try next time! After an awesome windsurf sesh, we headed back to camp where we ate a late lunch of a nacho table! It was so delish and well deserved after a great but busy morning! We decided the beach was calling our name, so to the beach we went! On the way, we even saw a rainbow!!! Once at the beach, the boys bodysurfed the waves, while the girls made use of the golden hour sunshine and had a photo shoot before getting in the water. Nora and MB tuned into their inner mermaids and were in the water almost the whole time – we had to drag them out! At camp, we made burger bowls for dinner, and then had Lois and Charlie lead us in our best Moonup yet. After Moonup, everyone got all snug in their enos and had a great nights rest!
That leads us to today! We had a delish breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and hash browns to fuel us up for a big day!!! Our LODs, MB and Teddy, led us in a great morning huddle and now we’re all chatting and singing in the van on our way to ZIPLINING!!!!! We are so excited and can’t wait for another beautiful day in Maui!!! Catch up again soon!!!
With love,
Coco, Nelson, Helen, and all of Maui C
Arrival Update
June 11, 2024
Hello Maui families,
We have heard from our leaders that the group has landed safely in Maui City, and they are off to their first campsite. 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 trip updates throughout the next two weeks! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
