36 weeks down, 4 to go. That means I’m in my last month of being preggo and it’s our last month of being a family of 2. I’m definitely in countdown mode.

Over the weekend we took our last trip before we become parents too. We know it’s not the last trip we’ll take alone, but the last one that we won’t have kids to worry about back home. With three things to celebrate in the span of 4 days, (V-day, B-day, Pres.-Day) we figured we had a great excuse to head out of town.

First thing to celebrate: Valentine’s Day. We’d talked about it being low key, so for the first time I didn’t plan anything special. Well, I did make little hearts and wrote things that I love about Mark on them. I hid them around the house in places I knew he’d find them as he got ready for work. That was fun. He said he had fun finding them. But, that’s all I did. He came home with dinner, dessert and flowers that he’d chosen himself and put in a vase for me. I thought they’d all come together. It looked really good and absolutely beautiful. He cooked all the food, and cleaned up all the dishes! It was seriously a great gift.

Friday friends came and celebrated Mark’s birthday early with some cake, ice cream and guitar hero. When I asked what kind of cake he wanted, I expected him to say chocolate, or yellow or whatever. No. My husband wanted a “gourmet” flavored cake. There is a bakery here in LA that’s famous for amazing cakes and they have their flavors online.  He decided he wanted me to make Lemon Raspberry. Well, I really hate lemon cake and he’d also mentioned the White Chocolate Raspberry too, so he agreed that would be just as good. So, I found a recipe online and made his White Chocolate Raspberry cake. I must admit, it was really good!

Early Saturday morning we began our last adventure =) We took the most direct route since we didn’t want to get to Monterey too late. We passed by a lot of empty fields, vineyards and also fields with giant cutouts of people promoting the produce grown there. The drive took longer than we thought, so we didn’t make it till 3–too late to go to the Aquarium that day. Since it was his birthday, Mark got to choose what we did and what we ate.

First stop–Cannery Row. Apparently it was made famous by Steinbeck in a book by the same title. We wandered down the street looking into shops here and there. There is a little speck of beach that was pretty crowded with people looking at the water and taking pictures. Being pregnant makes everyone talk to you and ask when you’re due, if you know what you’re having, tell you it’s exciting etc. One woman even offered to take our picture together.

After sitting for so long, you’d think I would have loved walking a lot, but at 8 months pregnant, it isn’t fun long. Mark chose a popular seafood place on a little “pier” called the Fish Hopper for dinner. We had a bit of a wait, but the menu sounded good. We had a view of the water, and the food was really good too. I told them it was Mark’s birthday and we got some cheesecake too.

We may never try going to church on vacation again. We like to because it’s fun to see other people in other places, and of course, we should. But Stake Conference thwarted our efforts once again! It happened the first time in Hawaii. Now here. What’ worse, is that the meeting was at 9 am, and since our hotel didn’t have breakfast we had to do a super quick McDonald’s trip. (Though, my pancakes and bacon were pretty good.) When we arrived at the chapel, there was a YSA conference meeting going on. And hardly anyone there. Yeah, the general meeting wasn’t until 10.  We were laughing so hard when we left.  Seriously! Twice in a row!

So, we began our adventure of the day a little earlier than planned.  Mark’s co-worker suggested a stop in a cute little beach town called Capitola. It was a major attraction in the mid-1800s and early 20th Century. We wandered through eclectic boutiques, down by the beach and watched surfers. We even caught the end of a performance by the “Uke Band.” Yes, they play ukeleles and guitars. One little girl was so cute. She was about 3-4. When she saw me coming she leaned over to her dad and in a kid whisper said “Dad, that lady has a baby in her tummy.” I smiled and told her she was right. It was quite cute.  As we walked on the pier, a woman with her two daughters asked if I was trying to walk the baby out. People’s comments are so funny!

After some really good pizza at “Pizza My Heart” we drove up to San Francisco.  Mark just really wanted to go there. We had no plans or maps. That proved somewhat fateful later. It was a nice drive, and we realized that if Mark got a job with Apple or Google that are based about 30 minutes outside the city it wouldn’t be so bad.

The city itself was crazy. There was so much traffic. We ended up on 19th Street that supposedly goes to the Golden Gate Bridge. For some reason we stayed on it for about 30 minutes and made it about 10 blocks. We did 1 block per light cycle, if that. Just as soon as it was clearing up–Mark turned off the street onto another one! Neither of us had any idea where we were or where we were going. Finally he saw something he recognized–a shopping mall place–but it turned out not to be as cool as he thought it’d be. So, we went toward China Town. I figured we’d get out, but there were so many people and we never found parking. Since we’re not really trinket shoppers and didn’t want anything anyway, we took it all in from the car.

Next, getting to Fisherman’s Wharf was a task too. With no turns allowed on some streets it takes forever to get where you want to go. We couldn’t believe the was so much traffic on a Sunday afternoon!  FINALLY we parked in a garage for Cost Plus and Borders. We had to make a $10 purchase, but we needed some pillows for the house anyway, so I figured it was worth it. We wanted to ride the trolley, but it was $5 one way! So, we looked at a submarine and got some sourdough bread instead.

These turtles were so cute, we had to get them. The store also had bears, crocodiles, crabs, lobster and regular loaves. We wanted 1 big one, but they didn’t have any, so the little ones worked too. They were also SUPER yummy!

Mark’s co-worker also suggested we eat at House of Nanking. Of all the places in China Town, we happened on it by chance. The service kind of sucks, and there is no atmosphere, but the food was really good. Seriously, they get people in and out as fast as possible since there is a line waiting outside to get in!

It was fun going back to S.F. I hadn’t been there since junior high! Even though we had a lot of time in the car dealing with traffic (so much worse than LA) we had a good time just hanging out together and having the adventure.

On Monday morning we finally got to the Aquarium. There were a lot of people, but they had really great things to see. One of the volunteers told us there was even a wild otter with a 1-day-old pup in the tide pool area.

Mark took so many great photos that I can’t decide. You’ll have to check them out at our photo site.

Since I’ve never driven down Highway 1 and thought it’d be cool, we took it from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. It took 4.5 hours. That’s longer than our entire trip up. But, we did see some beautiful country. Big Sur, a dot of a “town” called Lucia that has the greatest Root Beer cookies, and unbelievable coastline were amazing and something we wouldn’t want to do with little kids in the car, so we’re glad we did it now!

My 36 week appointment was on Wednesday and the doctor said my stomach is measuring a little small again (unbelievable to me) and said it’s probably because he’s so low, but she sent us to get an ultrasound just in case. We had to wait an hour, but it was fun to see how he’s doing.

The Tech said he’s just perfect. Head and stomach are 35 weeks, thigh bone is 36 weeks (Mark pays good attention) Very healthy heart, good amount of fluid, and all looks normal. Over the weekend with all of the walking I was getting Braxton Hick’s more, but nothing else is happening.

He is about 5.75 pounds now. Tech said if the measurements are right on and he comes when he’s due, he’ll be 7 to 7.5 pounds. I’m hoping for 7. All the doctors said there isn’t really any more room for him, so I’m thinking he’ll get tired of being squished in a couple of weeks and decide to get spread out on the outside.