Baby K Versus the Volcano

We’re back from our trip to Hawaii where we explored volcanoes, craters, lave tubes, waterfalls, canyons, cliffs, blow holes, and the ocean while hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and swimming our way around the Big Island and Kauai.

After 8 flights in almost as many days, a boring science conference, and a great wedding weekend (congrats Lior and Nina) we’re beat so this post is going to be short. Pictures of the trip can be seen by either clicking here.

Highlights

• Volcanoes National Park
• Driving and snorkeling around the North part of Kauai
• Eating so much Ahi I gave myself instant Mercury poisoning
• Seeing Anat give a kick-ass talk at aforementioned boring science conference
• Hiking the 23 mile Kalalau trail on the Na Pali coast in 12 hours after reading and hearing that it was impossible to do in 1 day

Also, since this is a pregnancy blog, I might as well add something to that effect. For the most part, entering the 3rd trimester (which I think Anat is planning to write more about soon) hasn’t been too rough for her. She was very energetic throughout the trip including some long sightseeing days and several short hikes including a 4 miler through the rain and lava. Swimming seems to be a good form of exercise for obvious reasons and whenever possible she was in the water. One noticeable difference is that she simply doesn’t have the room anymore for regular food portions and is trying to graze more. I’ll let her tell you the rest.

Yosemite National Park

For Anat’s last camping experience before the baby gets here, we decided to go out with a bang. Every year since we’ve moved to California, we’ve gone to the Sierras in the Fall. The tradition in some ways has its origins in a disdain for Valentine’s Day and a compromise we made in the nascent stages of our relationship coupled with our love for the outdoors. Plus, we find the parks to be much more pleasant when the crowds have all stopped coming. The past 4 years we’ve gone to Sequoia National Park but this time around we chose to explore the more Northern Sierra park.

Day 122: Gotta Travel On

Wow. I have been on a whirlwind adventure – three countries in 15 days. It was great but I am SO happy to be home. Traveling while being pregnant is different. I am used to my normal routine while in a foreign country — sleep as little as possible and take in as much as possible. It turns out that that’s not so easy right now.

My mom and I met in Paris, where we had five days to hang out. We decided to spend our time walking around – not visiting the Louvre, or the Eiffel, etc. It was truly an amazing experience. My highlights were going to cafe Angelina where I had the best hot chocolate I have ever had, sitting in the garden of the Rodin Museum in front of The Thinker and munching on a fresh baguette and yummy French cheese, and of course discovering neighborhoods in Paris where every corner is more beautiful than the last. Somewhere along the way I forgot about morning sickness and food aversions.

It was not only a great trip because of how beautiful it was, but also because I got to spend so much quality time with my mom at a time when I am contemplating motherhood. We talked a lot, about all sorts of things, including the past and the future. It was amazing to me how similar we are; how much I have grown to mimic her in so many ways.

I look back at my childhood and I realize that it was not the easiest; definitely not the hardest either. I dealt with a somewhat messy divorce and parents that were not always thinking. Through all the good and bad, I somehow still managed to grow up to be a decent person — my point — my mom didn’t read books on how to discipline me, on how to be a mom, or on how many hours I should sleep, more than that, my parents got divorced so I’m sure some statistic somewhere puts me in some category for being messed up for life. The moral of the story is that I don’t need to read all the books, or freak out if I do something that some book considers incorrect parenting. We are going to parent in the best way we know how, and I’m sure we will make mistakes along the way, but I’m also sure that they will not screw our kids up for life.

SO – we loved Paris, and definitely enjoyed it to the fullest, foie gras and all. Next we went to Germany where I had to attend a conference. We took the train to Cologne, and well it was pretty rainy and gray for a few days. Not to mention that I suddenly had to wake up at 7 a.m. to go to work. By this point I think my stomach had expanded a little and it became obvious that I was pregnant. When I would walk into a room and there were no seats, people would stand and let me sit — we are talking about scientists here — I was shocked. Overall I didn’t love Cologne, but I also didn’t have much time to give it a chance. The last night we went out for a traditional German dinner at a beer house, it was delicious — especially the apple strudel in vanilla sauce! I said goodbye to my mom and headed off to Israel for the weekend and my little sisters bat-mitzvah.

It was nice being in Israel, even if only for a few days. Everyone I saw was congratulating me and asking me lots of questions. On Sunday we went to the old city in Jerusalem. It is one of the most magical places on Earth. The history that lies in the walls of the city is immense and terrifying. It was very emotional for me to be there, I’m not exactly sure why (could be the hormones). We did a tour of the catacombs which just clinched how cool the city is.

So in the end I came home and could not be happier to be here. I had a great trip, but I was homesick and I am happy to be sleeping in my own bed and not having to think about the next 13 hour plane ride. (Though I did get a sweet seat on my flight home yesterday – thank you pregnancy.)

Day 109: MERDE!

Does Babies ‘R’ Us sell GPS devices?

Anat and her Mom have been walking around two specific blocks in Paris for anywhere from 2 – 4 hours trying to find a flat that a colleague of Anat’s is lending her for the next few days. They were given directions relative to some arc (not de Triomphe) and a code to use on the door. When they couldn’t actually find the right address they started punching in the code into every door they could find. After a few hours they realized there was another arc a block or so away and they should be in any minute now… or arrested.

ACTION UPDATE/CORRECTION FROM PARIS:

Just got a call from inside the apartment. Anat told me they’ve been all around the city exploring etc. So I asked what they did with their luggage if they’ve been around town and couldn’t find the apartment. She said, they dropped it off. I asked where did they drop it off. She said in the apartment. Huh? Apparently a friend of her colleague’s had let them in earlier. So the 3 hours they spent trying to find the apartment was after they had already once been in there. The crux of the problem was that this time… this time it was dark outside.

The Coast of California Must be Somewhere Over Here

I was wondering if this was really appropriate for the blog since it’s not technically baby-related, but in it there’s at least one funny pregnancy-related story, and also, a friend recently reminded me that having a kid and having a relationship with your spouse are not mutually exclusive. With that out of the way, here goes:

This past weekend we celebrated our 1^st wedding anniversary by driving up the Central Coast of California. We left after lunch on Friday. Our first stop was Santa Barbara where over the years we’ve developed something of an addiction for La Super Rica, a hole-in-the-wall (actually this place doesn’t really have walls) that serves the best Mexican food we’ve ever had. Those of you who’ve been, am I right or am I right? After some tamales, pasilla peppers, and chorizo quesadillas, we were back on the road.