oahu, 2022.

better (wayyyy) late than never - photos from our special cousins trip to oahu back in february!

i was 7 months pregnant at the time, digging big holes in the sand to be able to lay on my belly, guzzling all the most refreshing n.a. hawaiian beverages, and enjoying some time with peter just the two of us before our bambino would come into the world in early may.

pete’s cousins and aunt coordinated this trip probably 3 years ago…. and we finally got to take it this last february!

as it SNOWS out my windows today for the first time this fall (?!), on november 7th (!!!), i’m loving remembering all the hawaiian warmth, smells, beach time, tasty eats and sitting my pregnant lady arse in the surf while exfoliating my skin with sand. 😆

first stop: L & L BBQ for a huge pile of katsu plate lunch. i remember being super happy & content eating this while we drove in our rental mini van with pete & his siblings and looking out at HAWAII. 🌺

and then to the grocery store for all the hawaiian candies and tropically flavored bevvies for our stay.

pete’s cousins had their kiddos on the trip, too! sooo much fun to see them hang all together being adorable. so happy that our baby abe has a handful of “cousins” close in age!!!

mokulua islands.

baby’s first sunrise hike -pillbox hike in lanikai!

stunning, eh?

i’m weirdly obsessed with this peanut butter chocolate smoothie bowl from lanikai juice…and think about it multiple times per year (per week?).

that’s my cute sister in law!

pete and his brothers and cousins came to lanikai/kailua growing up when their grandparents had a place there…so these beaches are super special and bring back tons of memories for all of them. it’s so great that all the spouses and offspring can experience this special part of the island is when we travel here.

recreating cousin photos from their childhoods. 😊

i cannot find the original, but just imagine these people in a human pyramid but 20+ years younger. 😂

pete’s cousins hired a musician, jeff peterson, to come play for us at one of the big houses that our group rented. he was so awesome and had a lot of good history to tell us about about his hawaiian tunes and slack key. and it was a really nice way to honor their aunt pam who lived in hawaii for quite a while and who had taken all these kids on so many trips throughout their lives. ❤️

catching sunrises almost every morning after a visit to our fave kalapawai market for coffee & pastries.

a neighborhood market like this inspires me to have my own coffee/pastry/cheese/wine/beer/sandwich/ice cream/paper goods/fun trinket market one dayyyyyyy. 💫

whatever this refreshing beverage was was insanely delicious. they accidentally gave us 2 of them, and i was not mad about it!

lots of oceanside lunching pit stops!

hawaiian farmer’s market is a pregnant person’s dream scenario. i ate all the things.

amazing sunrises at kailua beach park.

it was nice to have 2 preggos in hawaii! cousin jenna was 8 months pregnant here. her son was born end of march, and ours beginning of may!

^ most perfect beach snack.

thanks, hawaii, you lovely magical wonderland!!!

qp

our dog, winnie.

the world’s sweetest puppy came into our lives this past december, and she’s been the greatest winter morale booster, best buddy, and total dream dog addition to our little growing family.

additional spoiler alert: i am now just about 39 weeks pregnant and expecting our first baby any day now.

winnie deserves her own spotlight before our bebé arrives, though. she’s so special to us and we couldn’t love her more.

^ just can’t deny those big brown winnie cooper eyes.

little did we know in these very moments when peter & winnie met for the first time that they would soon become inseparable best friends and soulmates.

winnie came to us at 3 months old, totally out of the blue from a friend on lopez. we weren’t exactly looking to get a dog right then, but had also never had such a great dog offered right to our faces!

she was super well behaved, soo unbelievably chill & calm, pretty well poop, pee & sleep trained, and excellent on the road. so, the perfect doggy for us.

she is half corgi (cowboy corgi) and mixed jack russell terrier & border collie. we love her tri coloration and super soft fur! normally corgi tails get chopped early on, but she’s got a very long tail and is a unique looking corgi babe!

her corgi ears are simply amazing. 😍

best christmas & birthday present for both of us.

^ this was her first time experiencing the vaccuum cleaner, which she despises. she nestled herself right into this little pillow cave and it made me laugh.

we lived in pete’s dad’s 130 year old (!) cabin this fall and most of winter. that factor, combined with separate buildings on our property for kitchen use, sleeping use, bathroom use, and daytime use….combined with my first pregnancy…..made for quite the iNtErEsTiNg first lopez island full winter living experience. 🤪

but…..our winnie girl was truly a bright spot in all the funkiness of our living situation transition, and i cherish all of these photo memories already.

i’ll never forget the first night we had her, she crawled up to me in the middle of the night and tucked her little nosey into my neck to sleep (just like this pic), and i melted into a puddle.

best pregnancy nap buddy on winter days and in countless ferry lines.

i cannot with this face.

white christmas in port townsend!

winter princess enjoying the loveliest white christmas at grandma sarah’s house.

cute early birthday brekky surprise from pete’s mum :)

my 34th birthday with my lovies.

big snow days on lopez.

pete will be (and already is) the best dad! ❤️❤️❤️

^ sweetest stork ornament from my friend piper :)

^ lopez island corgi corral!!!

experiencing the springtime emerging on lopez after a LONG, dark, cold fall & winter has been so magical. and so. so. welcome.

my sweet babies!

spring is here, and now we await the arrival of our human baby toward the end of april! 💐

i love my little family and could not have survived this past winter without my amazing pete, winnie girl, and the little baby growing inside of me who has been the mental sunshine on our horizon. 🌅

xoxo

qpz