Maui was amazing yet again.

But it all started with another hear-attack landing!

This time it was severe tail winds that led to our plane over-shooting the runway and the pilot performing a touch-and-go. Up and around for a second try, and we set down so hard I felt it in my feet.

Nothing gets a vacation started like a brush with death, no matter how minimal. Feeling really glad to be alive, then realizing you just started your vacation is a great 1-2 combo. Or so I told everyone.

Our pals Mick, Genevieve, Niles, and Kim flew out with us and stayed up in Napili, just a few miles north.

We got to hang with them, and the kids got to play together which was awesome. Elliot and Lia usually don't have friends with them there, so having Olivienne around was perfect!

-Rob and Nicole

Special Section

What if we went to Maui in 1971? Nicole downloaded a sweet iPhone app called "Hipstamatic". It instantly converts your iPhone pics into vintage snapshots, complete with a cloth-looking border. It's insanely-cool. Here's a few samples!

Elliot's shot of the view at breakfast

After our heart-attack landing, we beat a path straight to the turquoise waters of Kaanapali Beach. After another year of swim classes, Elliot feels much more at home in the waves.

"Grandma, something just brushed past my legs!"

"Whaddaya mean 'something'!?!?"

The family gazes out at the setting sun, pondering all the wonderful days ahead on the island.

Nicole performs a quick pose at Black Rock beach in Kaanapali.

After a few years, we return to Hot Island Glass in Makawao town.

Glass "sand" waiting to be mixed into new artworks.

Lia and Nicole watch the oven door hiss open and closed, from a safe distance!

"Take a picture of this, Dad!"

Another happy passenger...

Elliot gazes from the Sugar Cane Train window at the mountains of Maui, assessing the weather or something. Whatever he's thinking about, I love that expression.

Lia takes a break from sand-castle construction to kiss Dad.

Mick and Olivienne splash around at Black Rock beach in Kaanapali.

Haha! Such tiny waves do nothing to us!

Olivienne waters some sand for Elliot during a beach day at Napili.

Rob, Mick and Niles man up before a sunset swim out in Napili Bay.

Elliot slips down the tiles at the Sheraton Pool. We uhh, umm, took a self-guided tour of the facilities to see if we'd like to stay there next year.

"I love it here! When do we move?"

Lia and Grandpa play in the pool at the Maui Eldorado.

Mom gets a few kisses from her baby boy.

I decided to buy the latest technical wonder-toy, the GoPro HD Hero cam. It's a minuature high-def video and still camera that records to a flash card, and the housing is waterproof to 180 feet.

Chris and Ross watch the sun set, while discussing what drinks to mix upon their return to the condo.

Elliot snapped this awesome pic of Mom and Dad!

Elliot and Mom play a game of "reflex" on the plane, one of many games to keep a 4 year-old occupied on a 5 and a half hour flight.

"That last wave just sucked my shorts off, Elliot!"

"Whoa! I hope my toenails were dry..."

Lia, Grandma, and Elliot stroll down the beach at the north side of Black Rock in Kaanapali.

Smiles and sunsets go together like chocolate and...

Chris Lowry, one of the glass-masters, spins a huge wad of molten art in the oven.

I have no idea what this does, but it's beautiful in a kind of steampunk way..

Elliot ponders the molten glass again.

Here's a picture of him watching the exact same thing in 2008, when he was less than a year old.

Chris and Lia in Makawao town.

During the Sugar Cane Train ride, Elliot and Mom finish off a coconut.

I steal another smile from Nicole, one of many on this trip.

"You can't bury me! How could you bury something this cute, huh?"

Nicole and Genevieve at Black Rock beach in Kaanapali.

Genevieve goes after her runaway seal.

Mom and her lil' dude.

Lia sports her new wet suit.

Dad and Lia play in the waves by Black Rock.

Back at the condo, Lia cuddles with Mom before heading over to Grandpa.

Grandpa reads her a nice story before afternoon nap.

Lia-kisses never get old.

"Don't even think about kissing me, dude."

The closest we'll ever come to looking like Hawaiians.

Mom and her boy in front of Black Rock, after another awesome day of sunshine.

The family at the beach again.