3/28/15
Yup, we have the 4th tank set-up now and there are ghost shrimp taking residence in it right now. Jes also threw in Jack and Jill in there with the new rocks and plants he acquired.
Here are the shrimp up-close. They’re clear and you can see all their guts and eggs inside. I think they’re kinda gross-looking. One shrimp actually released her spawn but they’re so small and clear that we don’t know how many are still alive.
I’m just finishing up the 5th month of my pregnancy this weekend and thought I’d post of pictures of “the bump”. On 3/19/15 (almost 21 weeks), I took this photo at work while I was waiting for the elevator. It was the end of the day and I wasn’t in the mood to walk up to the 5th floor again. These stripes really emphasize the roundness of my tummy.
On Friday, KK was trying to hear her baby brother with a stethoscope.
As embarrassing as it is, I took a picture today along The Embarcadero. I look HUGE already at 22 weeks. I heard that the second pregnancy shows sooner but this is ridiculous. The cool thing lately is that I’m really feeling the kicks from inside and Jesse could finally feel them from the outside too!
Ever since last November, Jes has been back on the fish train. I haven’t seen him this obsessed over aquatic stuff since college and it’s very nostalgic for me to be taking frequent trips to different fish stores with him again. The only difference now is that we have an almost-3-year-old in tow too. Luckily, she likes fish and enjoys helping her dad feed them every day. What’s also different is the fact that the internet now exists along with Amazon Prime, which makes researching and buying stuff a lot easier and more convenient. I remember when we used to spend hours in a fish store talking to the guys that work there to get more information on how to do stuff and take care of certain fish and plants. We don’t have that kind of time and freedom anymore so we’re lucky that technology has advanced to a point where we can be in and out of a store in just 30 minutes.
So here’s an update. My last update was in December 2014 and we had two tanks, two adult platys, and about 20 baby fish. Well, now we have three tanks with another that just arrived in the mail this evening. We also have the two original platys that starting this whole thing and only 2 of the baby fish.
Some had died and we gave back about 6 to Petco a few weeks ago. Here they are in one of the tanks in the store just kickin’ it and waiting for someone to buy them.
Our original 2.5-gallon tank currently has no light (the bulb just burned out) and houses some live plants and two ghost shrimp that have eggs in their bellies just ready to hatch any day now. They’re see-through and pretty gross to me. Jes is hoping to have a whole army of shrimp soon. I don’t have a photo of this tank at the moment. It also sits in our bedroom now.
3/15/15
Here is our 2nd tank, a 12-gallon. It’s the biggest one so far and sits in our entry-way. It now has more live plants, a new light, landscaping anchored by a driftwood, a posse of 8 dwarf corydoras, 2 amano shrimps, 2 snails, 2 of the remaining baby platys, and a blue baby betta. I have to date the photos because the tanks seem to change just about every other day.
3/15/15
The 3rd tank is a 5-gallon narrow tank that now houses the two adult platys, a snail, and 3 red cherry shrimp. It’s anchored by a fancy rock that we bought in Japantown. Jes is growing some live grass in there too but waiting on a brighter light that won’t be shipped until May.
Our 4th tank was shipped today and it’s 7-gallon cube that will have a dwarf puffer that we ordered. It’s supposed to arrive on Thursday at Petco if the girl got around to ordering it for us. Other than that, I don’t really know what the plan is for that one. It’s still empty on the floor of the foyer in a box.
3/21/15
Lately, instead of seeing Jes in front of the computer playing video games, he’s sitting in front of one of the tanks staring, searching for snails and shrimp, or on his iPad reading up on what to do next. KK also looks forward to feeding the fish every night and when Jes comes home from work she runs up to him and asks “can we feed the fish now?” It’s very cute to watch their daily routine of picking out which food their going to feed them and then watching the fish eat.
One day, one of his tanks will look somewhat like this one that we saw at an exhibit. It takes lots of time, lots of patience, and a modest fish budget to get it right but it will be worth all the effort if/when it’s done.
Day Six: 3/10/15
On our last day in Hawaii, we really tried to take advantage of having an afternoon flight home. During breakfast, Yoon stopped by to drop off some cookies.
Then before we finished packing, we took KK out to the beach one last time where she really made the most of it. 
I love this time of day (~9am) on Waikiki Beach because it’s warm and super empty.
This kid loved splashing around in the water and was such a joy to watch.
After washing up and getting our bags packed, we all met up at the bar for a last drink.
We got a family photo and no one had their eyes closed!! Amazing.
We all said our early goodbyes before hopping in the cars to get to the airport.
I knew it would be a little rushed once we got to the airport so this was nice.
Here’s one last view of the island as we took off. 
The flight was super short (3.5 hours) but really bumpy in the end. KK did great the whole trip but then nearly lost it once we landed. We were so far back in the plane and wanted to just get in the stroller to go to sleep. That was the probably the worst 15 minutes of our entire trip.
Can’t wait for our next trip. I think I should start planning it now so I have something to look forward to.
Day Five: 3/9/15
On Monday morning, we had brunch at the Moana Surfrider. It was like a mini celebration of Johnny and Joy’s Anniversary that was on Friday. This is where they got married and had their morning reception.
I also took a photo of them in front of the Mahalo sign with the addition of Alice. They took a wedding photo with this sign 6 years ago.
My mom and I enjoyed the rocking chairs for a bit. I love this hotel. It’s too bad we’ve outgrown it. Jes and I will have to return later when the kids are older and don’t have to come to Hawaii with us. 🙂
After brunch, we went to the aquarium. KK always takes a picture in front of this sign and we added Alice to it this time.
In the afternoon, we went back to the pool and got a cabana for the family. We convince my mom to get in the pool and got a photo of the grandparents with their grandkids. So sweet.
This kid started out really scared of the kiddie pool but by the end of the day, she didn’t want to leave. The lips were practically blue by the time we convinced her to come out. This always happens by the last day of our trip.
For lunch, Brother and I drove to Rainbow to pick up some food for everyone. I couldn’t resist getting the fruit punch there. Don’t care how artificial it is…it’s just so good.
After the pool, we hung out in the hotel room to rest. I had a pounding headache and KK had missed her nap. We skipped dinner at Side Street Inn and KK fell asleep super early and was down for the rest of the night.
Once I was feeling better, the family had made it to Side Street Inn and brought back kimchee fried rice for us. In the meantime, Jes and I pushed KK in the stroller down to the bar to enjoy the last sunset of the trip.
I had a virgin pina colada, which was much more satisfying than the lava flow I had the day before.
We also ordered poke. I cheated and had a few cubes. It was SO good. Man, I really miss this stuff.
Here is our dinner. Kimchee fried rice and Hawaiian Sun. Perfect. Thanks for picking up dinner for us, Brother.
Day Four: 3/8/15
Our 4th day in Hawaii started out with a walk down to Eggs ‘n Things for my favorite coconut waffle. 
We managed to get a table for the whole family and we were all stuffed when we were all done.
After a failed attempt at taking the kids to the zoo (they both fell asleep), we ended up at the Moana beach bar where I got a virgin lava flow that had banana flavor in it. Yuk. The real kind doesn’t usually have it but mine did.
For lunch, we went to Marukame Udon and I got the udon with a soft egg on top with a few sides to take back to the hotel.
After lunch, we all went to the beach and it was warm enough to go for a little dip in the ocean.
https://youtu.be/LgQo-X772G0
I took the GoPro out there and caught Jes floating – his favorite thing to do in the ocean.
This was Jes’ attempt at dunking me. Luckily the water was super shallow all the way out there and I managed to escape.
Of course there was time in the sand and Brother dug a moat for KK. Too bad the tide was coming in fast and flooded every time they were making progress.
Before heading back to the hotel room, we took the kids to the pool and they hung out in the shallow area together.
After a little break in the hotel room, we went downstairs to watch the Honolulu Festival Parade. 
This was our favorite performance – it was about 230 Japanese students all dancing their hearts out with high energy and big smiles. They looked exhausted but also looked like they were having the time of their lives.
The night was finished off with a really good fireworks show over Waikiki Beach. We got a really nice view from our hotel pool area.
https://youtu.be/kcrFperfS58
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