Toes in the Water, Toes in the Sand...

We had a great time in Hawaii and got to do so many fun things! The flights were long but not near as bad as either of us thought they would be. Definately worth it! We got to fit in A LOT of beach time so our tans are looking pretty good!...too bad we had to come back to such cold weather and be so bundled up that you can't really see the tan :) Some of the other things we did were hiking, whale watching, snorkeling, people watching, a visit to the North Shore to watch the surfers, and a visit to Pearl Harbor. Our hotel was about half a block from Waikiki Beach and the main strip. One thing that suprised us was how Vegas-like this main street was--minus the casinos. The street was lined with hotels, designer stores, fun little shops, and all kinds of places to eat. I believe we walked up and down the street each evening after eating and we saw something new every night.   Here are some pictures...

This is us by a statue of Duke Kahanamoku (an Olympic Swimmer). Really, everyone was having their picture taken here too so we thought we join in the tourism and do the same.



Here are a couple pictures of our whale watching adventure. Unfortunately there were no big jumps and splashes but we did see several whales...

The picture above is of Diamond Head mountain/crater from our whale watching cruise. We had hiked to the top of Diamond Head the day before....

A pic of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor which was very cool and reverent to see. There were 1177 men that were killed. The sunken ship below the memorial is their grave.

And here are some other random pics...

We snorkeled here...you can see the coral. We saw some amazing fish and a sea turtle hiding in the coral.

Large waves and surfers at the Bonzai Pipeline at the North Shore...

The car we got stuck with. Good thing Kevin has experience with cars that resemble boats but the problem was that parking is so tight there that we only fit in about 3 spots on the entire island :)

These are "week 17" pictures. My email said that the babies were the size of the palm of a hand. We tried to find a fun comparable Hawaiian fruit, but did not come up with anything. And while pineapple would have been very applicable given our location, I am very glad they were not the size of pineapples. :) Anyway, I know the heart is a bit cheesy but since they were the size of hands AND that it was Valentine's Day, thought I would do it anyway. I'll blame it on Pinterest. :)

And here are week 18 pictures. I dont think they truly reflect how much the babies and my belly has grown the last couple of days. The babies are the size of a bell pepper this week. And I do realize that the peppers in the picture are different sizes, but I really just wanted one of each for our supper that night. One is Kevin sized and one is Amber sized right? :)

 



Aloha!

We are getting pretty excited! On Saturday morning we are leaving for Hawaii for about 8 days! Tonight my plan is to get as packed as I can...and then I am sure I will add more to my bag tomorrow :) We plan to do a lot of relaxing on the beach, see some waterfalls, Pearl Harbor, go on a whale watching cruise, visit the North Shore and check out the surfers, and more. I will be sure to post some pictures when we get back as I do not anticipate updating while we are gone.

I do have a doctor appointment tomorrow morning, which is actually the first meeting of the Centering Pregnancy group....so we will see how that goes. Here is a little idea of what is happening with the babies this week--week 16:
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
Sounds like if the babies are in store for a growth spurt, then so am I. :) Here are the pictures for this week: