Family & Maternity Photos in Hanalei Bay, Kauai

Hanalei Bay is one of my favorite places. I came here with my family when I was a teenager and have the best memories of searching for shells, swimming in the calm waters, and jumping off the pier with my childhood best friend. When Nick and I were planning a vacation to Kauai, I knew a visit to Hanalei Bay was a must. Since this trip came at a special time—Will was one week away from turning two, and I was well into my second trimester with baby number two—I also thought it would be sweet to capture some family photos while we were there.

Here are some (okay, a lot) of our favorite pictures from our morning at Hanalei Bay, which began with playing around on the pier, strolling along the sand, and then changing into swimsuits and jumping in the water—plus one really big smooch.

These photos were taken by Kauai photographer Erin Gregerson, who was just lovely to work with. I highly recommend her for family photos if you're into capturing candid moments and find yourself in Kauai!

If you're interested, I wore this off-the-shoulder top with distressed denim maternity shorts, plus an off-the-shoulder maternity dress as a coverup. Will's shorts, striped t-shirt, and shark-print swim trunks are all from GAP. Nick doubts anyone cares about what he's wearing, but so as not to leave him out, he's got on Patagonia board shorts and a Lululemon t-shirt (because he loves Lululemon). And here's where we found our amazing pineapple float! 

Here are more details on our stay in Kauai's north shore and south shore.

Will's Second Birthday

We officially have a two-year-old! So far, he isn't terrible at all. Keeping with the tradition we started last year, Nick and I took off from work on Will's birthday so we could spend the entire day as a family. We went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which was perfect timing since we just got back from Kauai, where Will loved spotting fish in the "o-in" but had yet to see anything like the "big ones" at the aquarium! He continues to be absolutely obsessed with airplanes, so we had a small airplane-themed party at our home with Will's grandparents and nearby uncles. I'm all for keeping parties small and simple at this age, and our wonderful parents brought the food and desserts so Nick and I could focus on the birthday boy.

Here are a few pictures from our little celebration:

I love a fun dessert table! An airplane banner, tiny airplane forks, an adorable airplane cake topper, and color-coordinated drinks helped with our red-and-blue aviation theme. Big thanks to my mom for bringing the perfect cloudy skies cake!





We let Will sneak a little frosting before dinner....



...because you only turn two once!



Our two-year-old rocking his special birthday shirt—and some crumbs and BBQ sauce on his face.



Will covered his ears when everyone sung happy birthday, but ever since, he's been requesting that Nick and I sing it to him. We even heard him singing happy birthday to himself in his crib—adding in the names of his friends and grandparents—a few nights ago. Two is certainly off to a sweet start!

Time flies! One year ago: Will's first birthday.

Rainy Day Adventures with a Toddler

Sunny weekend forecast: Hang out in the backyard. Go to the park. Ride bikes around the neighborhood. Maybe be adventurous and go to a new park. Play it all by ear.

Rainy weekend forecast: Mid-week, Google popular indoor activities for toddlers. Make shopping list with ingredients for multiple baking projects that toddler (and pregnant mom) will enjoy. What about art and crafts? Do we even have crayons? Add crayons to list. Get warning from mom friends to avoid children's museums, aquariums and indoor play spaces unless we can get there early. We don't want to get anywhere early. Google unpopular indoor activities for toddlers.

In other words, we've found that a rainy weekend requires a game plan and some creativity—and not just for the sake of our toddler. Will is often happy to play around the house, but sometimes it's us—the parents—who need a change of scenery or a new toy (or in my case, a new muffin recipe). Considering the record rainfall we're currently having in California, we've had to come up with some rainy day adventures—fast. These have been our three favorites so far.

BAKE IN OUR PJS

Will loves all kitchen appliances—the louder, the better. Any recipe that involves an electric mixer, food processor or blender is an automatic hit. During one particularly rainy weekend, we stayed in our pajamas all day and made pancakes, muffins, banana bread and cookies (I mentioned I’m pregnant, right?). Will is eager to be involved and insists on fetching, measuring and pouring the ingredients (“Will do it!”). Unfortunately, this meant our batch of chocolate chip cookies ended up with very few chocolate chips (“Will eat poplit pips!”). Still, a day where we can all be entertained and well-fed without leaving the house or changing our clothes is a win in my book.

RIDE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Will is going through a major train phase, so one rainy Sunday, we decided to take a ride on Cal-Train, the Bay Area's commuter rail line. Where to? No particular destination. We rode the mostly empty train up a few stops, got off at a familiar spot with just enough time to grab coffee, and then rode the train back home. Will couldn't have been happier. He stared out the window, ate some snacks, and talked about how he was on a “big choo choo!” Meanwhile, Nick and I got to sit back, relax and enjoy our coffee—a luxury these days. This might be our best parenting discovery so far.

OUTSIDE TIME



Getting outside might sound like a no-brainer, but capitalizing on breaks in the rain is a challenge (ready, set, go: stop everything, locate rain gear, put rain gear on, repeat previous step after the inevitable diaper change that's required right when you're finally ready to head out the door). Still, it's worth it. During a recent dry moment on a drizzly day, we had our neighborhood park all to ourselves. We quickly learned that it's a good idea to pack a towel to wipe down the playground equipment. After Will took a wet ride down the slide, he requested that we change his pants (we also did not pack spare pants). Thankfully, he quickly recovered and moved on to exploring new parts of the park, which was fun to witness.





Will realizing the back of his pants are soaking wet...