Hawaii "Babymoon"

BYU may not give you a spring break, but that doesn't mean you don't take one! We decided back in December that we wanted to take a fun trip before baby got here (ie-"babymoon"). It was absolutely wonderful because Zach's cousin & her husband happen to live in Hawaii! So we got to stay with them for a week and explore the island. Mostly, it was just nice to get away from school & work for a while and not have to worry about anything except for sunshine, pineapple, & beach.

Here are some highlights from our trip:

First day at North Shore:

First stop we made was at a local fruit stand, where we found the BEST pineapple we've ever had. Do you know how to tell if a pineapple is good? You smell it! The sweeter the smell, the better the pineapple! YUM.

Best food we had in Hawaii:Kahuku's Grill! I had the famous Coconut Shrimp, and Zach got a burger. Both were SO good. Plus the staff were so friendly. 

 We also went to Polynesian Cultural Center for a day while in North Shore. In my opinion, it was really cool, but if I had to do it again I'd just go for the show at the end of the night. The show was amazing!

 Snorkeling at Shark's Cove & Hanauma Bay:

 Snorkeling was definitely my favorite part of Hawaii! It got difficult when we were in shallow areas, because I kept scraping my belly on the coral! Haha! You forget how big you are and how far down your belly really goes when you're pregnant...

Hanauma Bay. Soo pretty. Fun fact: the day after we left here, 2 people drowned to death. 

 Zach & I were masters of the "selfie" by the end of this trip, thanks to our new GoPro.

Manoa Falls:

This hike was absolutely gorgeous. Luckily, at the beginning of the hike one of the trail guides warned me that there was leptospirosis in the water, which is a bad bacterial diseases for most people, but it's REALLY bad news if you're pregnant. So we didn't go in the water. But nevertheless, the views were amazing.

Fun with Sam & Paige:

Hawaii is really pretty & fun, but honestly the best part of this vacation was getting to know Sam & Paige better! They were the sweetest, most fun hosts we could have ever asked for. They picked us up from the airport, welcomed us with real leis, gave us chocolate and bought us pie & a special Hawaiian drink, and let us use their car while we were there! Makes me sad that we didn't take more pictures with them, but we sure had fun!

best shave ice ever!

Not pictured: Zach's shave ice. With horchata, ice cream, coconut milk, AND sweetened condensed milk, it tasted like frozen diabetes in a cup.

On our last day, we went to Pearl Harbor with Sam & Paige. I was really surprised how much I liked it! 

Random things during our trip:
-Everyone in Hawaii LOVED to guess what my baby's gender is! Strangers would just walk up to me out of nowhere and say "It's a boy. I can tell because you carry in the front! Am I right?" And I'd say "Thanks, but I actually don't know what it is!" Haha. I loved it. People were so friendly. And for the record, almost EVERYONE guessed our baby is a boy. So let that be on record.

-People were SO concerned about me being pregnant, they thought I couldn't do ANYTHING! I would get comments from random strangers, like "Are you sure you can go snorkeling?" and when we were starting our hike up Manoa Falls, one of the park rangers asked if I was going to be able to do this... you guys, this hike was like 3 miles long. And I call it a 'hike' loosely, it was really more like a walk. But the worst was when we went to rent a kayak. They would NOT rent it to me! She looked at me nervously, and said, "Uhh...how far along are you? I don't think you can kayak." I reassured her that yes, I could kayak, because there wasn't even any waves on the beach. But they wouldn't let us rent it. Booooo!

-Traffic was HORRIBLE. Paige had warned us, but I had no idea it would turn a 30 minute drive into a 3 hour drive. Yikes!

-People were so incredibly nice. One day, Zach and I had been walking around for what felt like hours because we just could not find somewhere decent to eat. Finally, it was getting really cold and windy, and we just said "Ok, next restaurant we see, we eat at." And we found a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant that looked more like a strip bar. Then a random old man bought us dessert because he saw I was pregnant, and the waitress gave us free drinks!

Hawaii was so much fun, and we'd go back in a heartbeat. But above all, it was just nice to have some time together on vacation before we have our baby,  Zach starts med school, and I take my NCLEX & start working as a nurse. Back to real life!