Kauai!

June was a good, good month. Once we got home from Seattle, we only had a couple days until one of the highlights of the year - spending a week in Kauai with my family and grandparents.

Selfies, kalua pork, and Aloha Maid (Ryan got super excited about those last two things) 

during our stopover in the Honolulu airport. 

It was everything good shoved into seven days. Good food, good weather, good places, good people. 

Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa for an incredible trip!

^^ My baby daddy. ;) I was so excited to come here with Ryan! With him living here for so much of his childhood I couldn't wait to see everything he loved about these places.

I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling at four-ish months pregnant, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do all the things I'd normally want to do in Hawaii! Hiking, running, swimming, boogie boarding... I was so thankful to be able to do all those things (relatively) unimpeded! Thanks, baby Gray.

The Marriott Waiohai beachfront wins everything. Loved walking down here in the evenings!

THINGS WE DID:

Napali Coast excursion

The first stages of showing are so awkward. Like, did that girl just eat too many Chipotle burritos or...?

 Curse wide-angle lenses.

 We snorkeled, we watched dolphins play, we went through cliff tunnels, and it was all awesome until Ryan got randomly soo seasick for the last half hour of the trip. It was so sad!

Hung out with some awesome birds at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge

All those white specs across the cove are birds! There were so many. 

We saw all sorts of seabirds this day and it was soo cool.

 It was insanely hot that day so shady grass was welcomed. ;)

Had the best fish I've ever tasted thanks to Keoki's

 Lydia to Ryan: "Now smooch her."

I love me a good outdoor-but-still-indoor restaurant. *heart eyes*

Ate so. much. shave ice

I've never really been one to seek out shave ice but Ryan convinced me and 

dang - when it's done right it is heaven! That ice cream at the bottom... oh mannn.

Spent an evening chasin' waterfalls in Waimea Canyon

 I love the forests in Hawaii. They are so unique! And when you can get above it all, seeing
the rolling "hills" of treetops stretching out in front of you is unreal!

 Waimea Canyon looks like a different planet. It is definitely one of the reasons that Kauai is my fave island.

 The coolest flowers!

Can I put into words how ecstatic we were to have Merritt back with us?! 

It was like a dream we were all afraid to wake up from!

My people.

We announced Baby Gray to le Facebook world

 Teehee! So thankful for all the love and happy wishes sent our way!

Enjoyed the bliss of doing nothing at the hotel

 Does anything in the world smell as good as plumerias?! Nope.

I love this Grammie of mine.

Grammie & Grandpa cuddlin on the balcony. :) Lovebirds.

 Mr. Seal knows how to r e l a x.

 We did hit the pool, find that some of the best snorkeling of the trip was actually right out
front of the hotel, and had a blast doing some boogie boarding at the beach as well.

Our room's view was postcard material. Minus those three downward-dog-bums down there.

 The beach where Ryan walked right into the Pacific with his phone still in his pocket. RIP.
We had to go buy a new one in town. Haha! ):

We went to church in Kapaa!

We love the ward (and the adorable chapel) in Kapaa and it was so fun to be back. My favorite memory from the meeting was when the ward choir performed a musical number during sacrament meeting and I'm not kidding, roughly 80% of the ward were members of the choir, haha! They crammed into the front of the room and sang with so much power - it was unforgettable! Hawaiians can SING.

We walked around Hanalei

Bubba Burgers... sooo good. And my mom bought Baby Gray a cute little onesie there too. :]

The view from the trunk where Sarah and I were sitting. Hi.

Went on some epic beach runs

And let's be honest, with the food we ate on this trip (namely that one meal of steaks, pasta, sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, and pinapple that we made together and that was PURE heaven) I was thankful for running buddies and the gorgeous gym at the hotel.

 (Crab tracks^^) As we'd run down the beach we'd startle dozens of these little crabs and 

send them skittering across the sand toward the water. They were so cute! 

 Found one ;)

 We ran out onto so many gorgeous, towering cliffs and watched the waves pound underneath us - it was so cool! Especially when there were little holes in the lava rock around us and a wave would make mist come shooting out in a WHOOSH right next to us. The best one scared THE PANTS off Lydia, almost literally.

 And I will admit this is the last time I went on an actual run while pregnant (when I say actual I mean non-treadmill). Round ligament pain is no joke, dudes. No joke. But it was a pretty dang good way to go out!

 Went snorkeling at Tunnels Beach

As you can see, THIS BEACH IS BOMB and the snorkeling is unreal to boot. It's always been one of our favorites. The underwater scenery is stunning and we've seen turtles there every time we've gone.

My family went home & Ryan and I spent two days in Oahu

 Getting ready to fly out!

 Mililani! I was so excited to go back to Ryan's old hometown with him.

A classic Hawaiian plate lunch from Loco Moco. Ryan didn't know I was taking his picture and literally this was the most flattering choice out of like four quite unflattering chewing pictures. So. :] 

Ahh I just had a random memory pop into my head about food in Mililani... Ryan's family would always always reminisce about Zippy's Chili when the subject of their years in Hawaii came up, so obviously I had to try it while we were there. And uhh yeah, IT WAS NASTY. I'm sure part of it can be owed to the fact that I was pregnant, but woah. It's been awhile since I've felt that sick after eating something. Haha! Thanks for nothing, Zippy! ;)

 Ryan actually thought this place had gone out of business so when we unexpectedly walked past it, he was so giddy. We went inside and I heard some fun stories from when he was a kid hanging out here with his friends. It was pretty cute.

K. We had originally rented your basic economy car from the rental agency but when we got there, they didn't have any ready for us. We really wanted to get going soo they gave us a Mustang for no extra charge, haha. Not going to lie, though we felt like douchey tourists, it was pretty fun to drive around the island in it!

 We stopped by Ryan's old church building! It was super unique inside and I loved 

following him around while he told me about memories.

 Next was Ryan's childhood home. I loved it! We ended up knocking on the door and talking to the current owners. They actually remembered Ryan's family from when they bought the place from them way back when, and they let us come in and look around! Not pictured: the play ground where Ryan broke his arm, and a drive-by of Ryan's elementary school. 

Dole Plantation! And for us that just meant two words: DOLE WHIPS. The crowds were 

no joke, shoulder to shoulder inside but it was worth it for that yellow deliciousness.

 Stopped by Waimea Valley for a hike, but with the rain that had been falling on and off we decided against it. Instead I just took pictures of this INSANE tree that blew my mind. Like seriously, I was so impressed by it. Here you go.

It was like a giant umbrella - so, so wide in every direction! Hashtag pics don't do it justice.

And Waimea Beach Park, where Ryan used to jump off the rocks as a kid. (I don't know why I was so obsessed with hearing every single detail about Ryan's childhood but maybe that's just what being in love does to you? Teehee.)

Thanks to the cute family from Texas who took our picture for us.

 Next was the Laie Temple! Ahh this was definitely one of my favorite stops on our trip. The visitor center is lovely, the sister missionaries there were so cute, and of course the temple and grounds are just heaven on earth. What a special place. I loved how once we were within sight of the temple we could just feel the peace that only these beautiful, sacred buildings can bring!

Then it was dinner in Waikiki (unfortunately meh Italian food, but cool ambiance) and back to our Airbnb in Honolulu (which in itself was an adventure, since it turned out to pretty much be a open-air garage converted into an apartment). Haha! And we will never forget our host who was so nice, so chill, so hilariously hippy, and was also so clearly not wearing a bra. But we were thankful for a cheap place to stay for a night before flying out at 6am. :] Hawaii, you were good to us. Until next time! 

Welcome home, Elder Krop

 Two years ago, I dropped my little brother off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT and cried my eyes out for the next few days. In June, HE FINALLY CAME HOME. Ryan and I took off a day of work so we could fly up to Seattle and be there (I think it was for like, less than 24 hours!) and it was the best. day. ever.

So many members of our family came to the airport to welcome him home. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. It was one huge party. We waited for what seemed like six hundred hours with our posters and flags, as we kept getting updates on his slightly delayed flight and anxiously watched the elevators!

 This brother of mine. I sobbed when I got to hug him. We all did. It felt so right to all be together again.
After the airport we went straight to Chipotle and talked NON STOP about everything under the sun. We inundated him with questions and tried to catch him up on pop culture and past events. We introduced him to faceswap on Snapchat, because obviously that's crucial to his re-entry into society. 

Back at home we all sat on the back porch and threw the ball for Koda, letting Merr take it all in - being home. It was just so, so good. Oh this brother of mine. He is such a good egg. He's humble, he's kind, and every word and action from him is so thoughtful. Welcome home, brother.

Bump post: 26 weeks

How far along: 26 weeks!
Size of baby: Huge. No joke. I don't know what it was about hitting 25 weeks, but ever since, I've just felt like I'm actually pregnant! This bump really popped. Anyways, according to my app, little dude is the size of... "kale." Very helpful. ;) Thank you. Exact numbers - 14 inches long(!!), about 1.6 pounds.
Gender: Boy. Any name suggestions? I still haven't found any that I'm in love with.
Must have items: WATER. I have been peeing every half hour it feels like (TMI?), and I don't know if that's what's doing it or what, but I have hardly been able to keep up with how thirsty I am lately. Also food. Nothing new there. It's bizarre how fast my body burns through a meal. Will I ever get used to that?
Maternity clothes: Yessiree. Just got a couple nice flowy tops from Nordstrom Rack this weekend. Next step is going to be maternity pants, which I'm not looking forward to! The hair-tie trick isn't going to last me much longer! (I also got some shoes from the Rack that I fell totally in love with. Ryan was out of town so I needed retail therapy to deal with the isolation.)
Sleep: I'm still waking up frequently, but I don't feel like it's because of discomfort. I'm usually able to go right back to sleep after a few seconds. Still thankful for the pillow-between-the-knees trick! My hips don't hurt as much in the morning now. 
Cravings: Fruit smoothies! And that is literally it. In fact, these past two weeks it's been mostly just a bunch of food aversions instead of cravings. I'm turned off to pasta especially, still chocolate to the max, I'm getting a little tired of the things I normally turn to like chicken and turkey, and really nothing in the house ever sounds good! Even if I could have a miracle meal dropped right in front of me, I couldn't tell you what I'd want it to be. Appetite has taken a serious dip, but hunger hasn't let up. It's been a fun combo. Ryan can tell you how much he loves dealing with it and me at dinner time. [;
Baby movement: Lots of it! Little bumps and punches. I love it! The most fun is when it's as a reaction to something, like when I lean over the counter and it pushes into my belly a little bit. He'll do some little defensive kicks to establish his personal space and it's adorable. [: Still trying to get the stars to align where Ryan can be there and actually get to feel it! It happens mostly at work.
Belly button: Pretty much entirely filled in, and starting to stick out! I notice it the most at the gym, when I'm wearing my thin workout shirts. I catch sight of it in the mirror and I'm like... dang. That's weird looking.
Stretch marks: Maybe some light ones on my sides? It's hard to tell.
Anything new or unique during this week? I've felt some swelling in my feet lately! My work shoes, which I usually just keep tied at the perfect tightness so I can slip them on and off, were really tough to get on a couple days ago. I was so confused for a second until I realized exactly what it was. Adjusting them to the proper fit was fun... Bending over to reach my feet is not going so well recently. [; 
Challenges this week: Definitely dealing with my dang non-interest in most food. I'm usually already frustrated because of the insane hunger! And the fact that I can't find a simple fix tests my patience more than I'd care to admit. [:
Best moment of this week: Definitely girls night. Showering a friend who is expecting a little girl in October was so fun, but I especially loved how I got so much advice and encouragement from my friends who are young moms. I was so thankful! Plus it didn't hurt that it was done while chatting over cazookies from The Chocolate. [; That's one thing I can ALWAYS be in the mood for.