Monday Mornings

Monday mornings around these parts aren't the prettiest. I mean yeah, it's Monday, which means John has to go back to work and I'm on my own at home with the three girls. But really, Mondays are pretty ugly.

Ya see, I tend not to do too much cleaning over the weekend. Since Hubster is home, we try to spend time doing stuff or going places together. A lot of the time, our time is spent on the couch watching TV, but it's together. No interruptions for dishes or any of that boring stuff. Dishes pile up, the dog hair piles up, Adri's pants are scattered all over the place. And it all gets left until Monday morning.

So, this morning, I'll do my usual Monday morning cleaning routine in order to get the house back in shape for the week. I contemplated sharing a photo of the kitchen, but it's bad. Instead, I'll share a few shots from our weekend.

Side note: I make pretty people (:

How was your weekend?!

Juliana's First Beach Trip

Over the weekend, Juli had her very first beach outing. Up until this point, we've avoided the beach for a couple of reasons. 

For one, I was advised not to swim for four weeks after giving birth. There was no way I was going to sit at the hot beach without a efficient way of cooling myself off. Since my littlest munchkin has been attached to me like a little suckling pig, she wasn't going without me.

There's also the fact that Juli heats up pretty quickly, and I wasn't going to dunk her in the ocean to cool her off. Even though we bought a tent to use at the beach to keep the sun off of her, it can get pretty warm in the shade. 

Juli turns two months old today, so last weekend we figured it would finally be a good time for her to experience the HI life. Her and I snuggled beneath a tent for the majority of our time at the beach, but she did get a chance to dip her tiny toes in the water for a bit. When they're this little, they're not supposed to wear sunscreen, so I also did my best to keep wrapped in a light blanket to avoid the sun's rays.

She was much better behaved than I expected her to be, which has me thinking that we'll be back to being beach bums sooner rather than later.

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The Last Weekend

It may have been nice to have a quiet time at home this past weekend, but since we anticipate being locked in a hospital next weekend, we made sure to get out of the house and enjoy last weekend on the island as a family of four. We also realize that although we aren't shy about taking our new babies out into the world, juggling three little ones will be exponentially harder than one or two, so it may be a while before we're out and about.

We visited the pool on post for the first time this Saturday. We didn't stay too long, but the girls had a nice time splashing around while we were there. Veronica spent a good chunk of her time showing everyone how she could hold her breath and put her face under water.

As we were driving to the pool, I noticed this little gem. It took me a second (and seeing the picture of Mike) to figure out what the heck a "Yard Thale" was. I chuckled quite a bit afterwards. I'm still pretty amused by it. Some creative jokesters that we have here on Schofield Barracks.

In the evening, we made a trip to Waikiki for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I love the Cheesecake Factory here, because it seems like one of the few restaurants where the prices are comparable to the prices on the mainland. In case you've never been to the Cheesecake Factory, let me break down the typical evening for you.

• MUST arrive before 5:00 pm or we'll be waiting for hours. 
• Get seated and flip through 256 menu pages. It all looks so good.
• Order drinks, avocado eggrolls, and the specialty from page 15.
• Waiter brings bread to the table. Must. Eat. All. The. Brown. Bread.
• Ask for more brown bread. 
• Entree arrives. The plate is huge. 
• Box up 3/4 of your entree for lunch tomorrow. 
• Split giant slice of cheesecake with your date.

When we left, there was a gigantic line out the door. Seriously. Get there early.

Sunday was our beach day. It was windier and the water felt colder than usual, so the grand majority of my time was spent either in our giant raft thing or laying on the sand. I managed to get some good sun, which I'm happy about, since I'll more than likely be spending my next trip to the beach under a tent nursing a tiny one.

This week will hopefully be spent making final preparations for the babe. John and I put together the bassinet yesterday. It took embarrassingly longer than it should have. I've got to put a dresser together today, so that all of the cute little baby clothes can get sorted and put away.

I also have a doctors appointment today and a long list of questions to ask. Thursday will be my final non-stress test, then Friday should hopefully be induction day. I can't believe she's almost here!

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Tourists in Our Own Town

First of all, thank you to those of you who commented on my ultrasound post last week. Prior to writing the post, I was mostly focusing on the negatives. I guess once I got that all out, I realized that things won't necessarily be so bad. A c-section is honestly the least of my worries. I just want a healthy normal baby, which is entirely possible, no matter what it looks like the ultrasound shows.

Anyway, a couple of John's fraternity brothers have been here since Wednesday night, which has helped keep my mind off of baby things. Except for the fact that I feel like I'm the size of a baby hippopotamus and I can't sit comfortably unless my legs are wide open. Those things are constantly on my mind. Along with not being able to breathe and constantly peeing myself. #sorrynotsorry

Since the guys have been here, we've gone out and done a handful of the touristy things that there are to do in Hawaii. Even though we've lived here for over six months, many of these were firsts for us also. Having visitors is quickly helping me cross off items from my Hawaiian bucket list. The guys did their research before arriving, so there hasn't been a shortage of things to do. In fact, I'm looking forward to resting and doing nothing when they leave.

Thursday started out on the other side of the island at the Spitting Caves, a place I had no idea even existed. We continued touring the windward side of the island before calling it a day just in time for the Heat game. After traveling all day the day before, the boys were exhausted.

I was the solo tour guide for Friday morning, since John had a schmooze fest social gathering at his station for all of the local police agencies. We headed out to my favorite spot near Schofield, Waimea Beach Park. This was the first time that we had been there that the water was absolutely calm and crystal clear. In the winter, I love watching the huge waves crash up on the shore, but the calm summer waters are definitely the highlight of this place. The parking situation sucks, but the fact that it's one of the closet beaches to our house makes it worth it.

Friday evening we went to a luau at Paradise Cove. I was extremely impressed with everything that they had going on. When we first got there, there were a bunch of activities for the entire family to participate in. Then there were a couple demonstrations, followed by dinner and the performances. Eventually, I'll get around to posting a full review of the entire experience. It was a long night, but there was never a dull moment.

Saturday was a boys' day. They did a hike in the morning, followed by a US soccer game, and then some more sightseeing. I was home all day with the girls. By the time they made it back, I was rather annoyed so I'm not even quite sure what they spent the day touring.

Yesterday we attempted to cram a bunch of activities into the day. After we left the house around 10 am, we didn't return until about 8 pm. The day was spent in the sun, so although I'm definitely getting closer to achieving that sweet tan that I was hoping for, this momma was exhausted. My girls were troopers the entire day, but knocked out as soon as we hit the highway on our way home.

Since today is the boys' last day here, we're going to attempt to squeeze in a few more must do's, without getting too crazy.

I will never know how tourists come all the way out here and have an enjoyable time... There is SO MUCH to do and it doesn't seem like much time to do it all in. Add to that, the fact that East Coasters are attempting to adapt to the six hour time difference. No way I could do it! As it is, it took us close to two weeks to adjust to the time difference when we moved here, and we weren't even out doing tiring activities all day.

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SUP

After the weekend, we're able to cross off a major item from my Hawaiian Bucket List. We finally got a chance to try stand up paddle boarding (SUP)!

Saturday morning we rented a board from the rec center on post, and headed to the beach. The four adults in our group stupidly assumed that we'd be up and riding the thing instantly since everyone we've ever seen doing it made it look simple. That was not the case at all. At all.

No one was able to actually stand up on the board for more than just a couple of seconds. Balancing a huge chunk of foam on the water is nowhere near as easy as it looks. For the most part, we were able to get the kneeling part down though.

Once we had given up for the day, we saw a couple that was helping each other out with the standing part. Duh. By that time we were bruised and defeated, so it was going to have to wait. Along with having no clue how physically demanding this activity was, no one knew we'd end up scraped and bumped up. I have some pretty epic injuries on my knees and feet.

Juli made it through unharmed, but a repeat will probably have to wait until after she's born. Honestly, having to pull myself up without the belly getting in the way was a bit of a pain.

We tried the whole SUP thing again yesterday. The water was pretty rough, so there was virtually no chance that any of us were going to be standing up. I will say that I felt much more comfortable on the board though.

I wish I had pictures to share, but my little buddy Adri stole one of my SD cards again and I have yet to find it. Luckily, this time I know it's somewhere in my house (or possibly the yard or car) and not randomly absent from my hotel room. Hopefully I'll be able to update with photos soon.

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Shaving Before the Beach

If you're my brother or any other male that I might know in real life, you can go ahead and stop reading now. Thank you. You're welcome. Love you. Have a nice weekend. (: Everyone else, primarily my ladies, please keep reading...

For many, Memorial Day Weekend signifies the unofficial beginning of summer. If you're lucky to live near the ocean like I do, you might be spending a good amount of time at the beach this summer. And if you're anything like me,  it's likely that you have experienced the irritation caused by salt water on freshly shaved skin. Ouch! We've made several last minute trips to the beach since moving to Hawaii, which means there has been a lot of last minute shaving on my part.

Since it's really starting to warm up, beach trips have been happening more frequently for our family. Wanna know what hasn't been happening frequently in my showers? Shaving. The baby bump gets in the way of bending over, and quite frankly, I can't even see everything, so it pretty much gets neglected. I do have some decency though, so I do attempt a quick shave before hitting the sand.

Recently I started using a trick that I learned in college to quickly shave outside of the shower. All you need is baby oil, a razor, and a sink. Apply a generous amount of baby oil to the area that needs to be shaved. Wet your razor and shave as you normally would, rinsing off the razor when needed. When you're done, wipe off with a dry towel and you're pretty much good to go.

The first time I tried this, I prepared for the sting of the ocean upon entering the water. I was pleasantly surprised when there was no sensation of acid burning through my legs and bikini area. At first I thought it might possibly be a fluke, but I've been using this trick for the past couple of beach trips, and have not been disappointed whatsoever. We' plan on doing lots of stand up paddle boarding over the weekend and I am once again looking forward to not having to deal with the horrible sting from the salt water.

If you're beach bound this weekend, be sure to give this trick a try! I'd love to know that it works for someone else, as well!

Have a lovely weekend and remember the meaning behind the holiday.

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Weekend Highlights

Annnd it's Monday again. Why does it always feel like the weekend flies by no matter how long it is? John took leave after returning from JRTC last week, so even though our "weekend" was five days long, it went by much quicker than the typical five day week. Hopefully these next five days pass by just as quickly.

While Hubster was home, we spent a good amount of time beaching. Let me tell you, we needed it! Living in Hawaii is nice, but unless you're taking advantage of the surroundings, it can be just as dull as any other military town. Three beach days in the span of five days definitely made me appreciate having the opportunity to live in paradise.

Wednesday: It was the first time that John got to go watch Veronica do gymnastics. From gymnastics, we headed straight to one of my favorite beaches on the North Shore. We spent a good amount of time catching rays and building castles, before heading into town for Thai food. My parents used to eat Thai takeout all the time and I thought it was the grossest thing. I've had it twice now in the past month or two, and I love the stuff!

Thursday: Anniversary day! I actually spent the majority of the day away from Hubster. He dropped V off at school while I had my 28 week check up. From there he went on a man-date and I went with a friend to get a pedicure and do some anniversary shopping. Oops, I suck at gifts. After school, we dropped V and Adri off at a friend's house and went on a date to Top of Waikiki, a revolving restaurant. It was such a fun experience!

Friday: Another beach day. The weather in the Schofield area was crappy, so we packed up and headed to the other side of the island. We've been wanting to check out Hanauma Bay since we got here, and finally had a chance. It's known for it's amazing snorkeling views, but unfortunately, since it was kind of cloudy I wasn't feeling the full submersion thing. I may have also been afraid of being disappointed by the reefs. We've gone on multiple snorkeling excursions on cruises and have always kind of been let down. After growing up in South Florida, and my dad always owning a boat, I've seen some remarkable reefs. Nothing else has ever compared. Hubs had a nice time snorkeling and saw a bunch of fun fish though. I'm sure we'll go back another time.

Saturday: One of Hubster's friends was heading to training for a month in California, so he threw a Tres de Mayo party. The boys drank plenty while the kids made a mess and the wives lounged around. They made this frozen lemonade + beer drink that I tried a sip of, and I can't wait to make when I'm not pregnant anymore. It was freaking delicious, and I'm sure very dangerous.

Sunday: After a crazy Saturday night, the plan was to have a nice crepe breakfast/brunch and head to the beach. I'm lazy in the morning and we didn't make it out for crepes in time for breakfast. Instead, we decided to do the beach first and then get crepes as a late lunch. Only the crepe place closed long before we were done at the beach. This was our first time going to the beach in Kailua, and we instantly fell in love. The sand was so much softer than anywhere else on the island, and the water temp and wave size were perfect. We ended up getting burgers just before heading home. At home everyone crashed for nap time, followed by a shower and bedtime shortly after. Yay for sleep!

I apologize for not visiting a single blog last week. Now that Hubs is back to work, I'll be attempting to catch up. Or I might just mark them all as read in Bloglovin' and start fresh.

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Fun-Filled Weekend

Because of my little announcement yesterday, my weekend post is coming a day late. The drab weather finally let up (for the most part), and we were able to enjoy a nice weekend out and about in Hawaii. The weather has been crappy just about every weekend lately, and staying home has gotten extremely old.

Saturday afternoon started out with a trip to a local food truck rally. The food truck thing really took off in Miami just after we moved away, which has left me intrigued by it since then. I finally had my chance to go! This group hosts monthly food truck get togethers, but they're always in Honolulu, and that seems like a far drive just for food. Luckily, this one was 10 minutes away and it was bacon themed.

I was a little let down that not everyone stuck to the bacon theme, but I was still blown away by all of the varieties of food that were available! There was a Puerto Rican inspired truck that even had bacon empanadas. Holy yum! We walked the entire venue along with some of Hubster's work boyfriends, sampling treats along the way, but since the weather decided not to cooperate, we headed out.

NOT bacon flavored ice cream

Bacon mac & cheese wontons

Waffle dog topped with bacon, cheese & possibly syrup

The rendezvous location was boyfriend #3's house not too far away. The boys drank beers outside, the girls chatted inside, and the kids played and watched TV. In the evening, there was a man-date, and the girls continued to hangout for a little longer.

Sunday was a beach day that Caesar got to tag along on. One of the boy friends live literally across the street from the ocean, and part of the beach there has a dog section. I was afraid to let Caesar off of his leash, and according to the law, you're not suppose to anyway. Plenty of other dogs were, but since my big guy hasn't interacted with anyone lately, I was afraid of him taking off, and not listening. He did well, so maybe next time. If we do a next time.

My sweet boy wasn't a huge fan of the water and definitely wasn't feeling the waves. He had no problem hanging out in the sand and digging huge holes. The other dog that we were with (with no leash) had a great time running into the ocean to fetch a toy. If only my puppy liked the water. Still had a blast though! No little dogs were mauled which made the experience even better.

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Beach Days

This week was pretty awesome. Since Hubster has been off from work, we've done a good amount of exploring and lots of beaching. It's a nice change from last week, which consisted mostly of the girls and I staring at each other in the hotel. I'm happy to say that I am slowly developing my sweet tan.

Tuesday we made our way to the Ko'Olina lagoons. We were lucky enough to score the first parking space in the lot. When I took out my camera to snap some photos, I realized I had forgotten the SD card in the computer. Boo. We came back to discover that the memory card wasn't in the computer.

Adri has this little habit of stealing the card from the computer. I'm pretty sure it's long gone by now. We checked the room, so I think it probably got lost in the sheets on the bed and housekeeping took it. I still have to double check with the front desk to see if maybe it turned up in a washing machine.

Yesterday was a North Shore beach day. Even though we went later in the morning, we were able to once again score the first space in the lot at the Waimea Bay Beach Park. It was by-far our best beach day. We were able to watch two sea turtles come up close to the beach, and a whole bunch of whales/dolphins in the distance. SO COOL!

Wednesday was a shopping day. First we made a trip around Aloha Stadium for the Swap Meet. They had a whole bunch of souvenir stuff for cheap! Lots of key chains, magnets, and jewelry. The four of us got kukui necklaces for a total of $12. I've seen them at stores around the island for that much each. I still need to go back to get this awesome Florida one.

We also did some mall-ing and outlet-ing, but unfortunately, nothing really stood out. I picked up a new pair of sandals, but that was really it.

I'm not sure what we'll be doing this weekend, but I'm sure there will be more beaching. As long as there is sun and sand, I don't ever see myself getting sick of this island. How people can hate being stationed here is beyond me. It sure beats being trapped in the snow. ;)

While you're here, be sure to check out my newest in-post sponsor! It's a great blog for other military spouses!

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