Oahu

We just got back from a great family vacation! 

We were initially meant to visit Key West, but Hurricane Irma foiled that trip. At the last minute (seriously, 3 days before departing) we planned this vacation to Oahu with my parents. 

We spent one week on Oahu. We stayed in Waikiki at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort. It was nice, clean, kid-friendly, and a great location - highly recommend and would definitely go back. We had a good mix of activities and relaxation. 

We rented a car to visit North Shore one day. I wish we could have had more time at the North Shore. The beach was beautiful, the shopping and food trucks were 👌 We also did a couple dives while my mom watched Evie. We got to swim with so many turtles. It was great! We also saw a baby octopus and it inked 🐙 dream come true. 

Beautiful North Shore

Rescue boards

My favorite beach

My favorite girl

Suns out, buns out 

 Best way to start the day!

Leaving the marina

 Our "ready to dive" looks

 Under the sea

  Turtle!

 Wreck dive

 Stunning

 Going up

  Probably the best photo I've ever taken

 Checking depth

  Posing lol

That's a baby octopus wrapped around our dive guide's arm! 

 Hi babe!

We spent half a day at Pearl Harbor. I love WWII history and I learned so much during this tour. We walked through the museums, watched a couple documentaries and visited the USS Arizona Memorial.

 Ferry out to the USS Arizona

 View from the memorial

 Evie enjoyed it

 Oil still bubbling up

The rest of our trip was spent in the water or walking through Waikiki. Evie loved the pool and the ocean. We brought a baby float with us and she had blast! She also enjoyed digging in the sand and making a huge mess😜 

 Harbor walk

 Nana and Bompa cuddles at sunset...

...and all day!

 Super cute

 Waikiki with my girl

Forget the stroller

Downtown Waikiki beach

 She loooved the water

 My happy girl

 Sunbathing with Nana

 Ocean swim

 She loves a good brewery

Back in the ocean

We ate so much good food on this trip! Brunch is our favorite meal so our priority was finding the best brunch spots. We found a few gems... Heavenly, Cinnamon's, and Bills were amazing. We also had the best tapas at Goofy Cafe and ahi poke bowls at Ono Seafood. 

 Bills pancakes and baby hands

 Ahi poke bowls!

 These frozen coffees are the best! We loved them in Maui last year too

 Heavenly

 Tapas

 Bloody Mary's

 Sweet for Brady and savory for me

Teething on EVERYTHING

 Food trucks at North Shore

Acai bowl and ahi poke bowl 

Weekend Update

I'm sorry this blog has been neglected lately. Life has been a little stressful. The three of us have been passing a cold around - I just got over it yesterday. Evie's top teeth are so slow to come in😩 She has one corner broken through (on both top teeth), but her gums are still really swollen. Plus, we had to cancel our Key West vacation and plan a last-minute trip to Oahu instead.

We didn't do much this weekend. We pretty much only left the house for errands, walks, and a quick trip to the Washington State Fair. Brady has been to a state fair every year he's been alive. He won't break this tradition and now Evie has started the tradition. Poor girl. The weather was awful - cold, windy, rainy. We only stayed for an hour. Just long enough for a corndog and scones!

 First stop!

 I was trying to get a photo of the horses lol

 Stocking up on scones

 Evie's first fair was spent napping

 Cheeky monkey

 Walk break to pick up the paci

I did my first post-op run! I'm only allowed to run on turf, but I'll take what I can get

Friday

Here's how I've spent the past week...

Reading Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - I'm over halfway through and I really like it. I always plan for 30 minutes of reading before bed, but it's been 45-60 minutes this week because I can't put this book down. I find myself thinking about the characters throughout the day - that's how you know it's a good one. 

Listening to Apple Music and discovering lots of new (and old) songs. I've been playing a lot of Elton John - "Tiny Dancer" (always reminds me of Almost Famous) and "Rocket Man"🙌 I've also had "Sunroof" by courtship, "This Song" by RAC, and "Hold Me Down" by Daniel Caesar on repeat. 

Eating my favorite sweet treat of chocolate peanut butter oats - I melt 10 dark chocolate chips with one tbsp of peanut butter in the microwave for one minute. I mix it together with oats and it is delicious. I started making this during maternity leave when I was trying to lose weight, but desperate for something sweet. Four months later I'm still loving it. 

Wearing these GAP pajama pants non-stop since Brie and I bought matching pairs two weeks ago😊 I thought they would shrink after washing (and drying) them because they're 100% cotton, but they haven't. They're lightweight and comfortable and cute! Brie and I only had two weeks together and we managed we buy matching clothes... feels like the old days.

Obsessing over Hurricane Irma. We are supposed to leave for a family vacation to Key West next weekend, but that is not happening. I've been binge watching the news and it's so sad to see the devastation. These disasters really make you reflect on what's important and realize we are small compare to Mother Nature.

Weekend Update

We had a pretty great LDW... It was our last weekend with Brie, but at least it was long!

We fueled up on burgers, fries and milkshakes🙈 at Shake Shake Shake before taking Evie for a long walk on Friday evening. I must have been ravenous because I forgot to take any photos. 

Brady watched Evie on Saturday while Brie and I went patio-hopping in Seattle. We started at Westward, which is my all-time favorite patio. Brady and I went last summer and loved it (post here). Everything's good - the food, the drinks, the view, the atmosphere👌

Sister time

 Avocado toast and fish salad

 Next, we went to 100 Pound Clam. This was a new place for me and it did not disappoint. We had drinks and apps - both equally delicious. A much more casual spot than Westward. We ended the day at Captain Blacks. They have two large patios, but nothing special. We got a couple ciders before heading home. 

 Another killer view

 Last stop

Sunday was a rough day for Evie. She's getting her top two teeth and she has been extra fussy and not sleeping well. Brie and I took her for a walk and grabbed some coffee. Then, we went for manis/pedis💅. We came home to continue our Catastrophe binge. Brady and I have seen the entire series at least four times. We always try to get our visitors hooked!

Brie left Monday morning and we spent the day trying to comfort the teething babe.

Aunt Brie Brie and Ev

Cuddles for my baby