Halfway there

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound to see little Wellkin.  If everything continues to progress normally that was the last time we will see Wellkin until we meet in person!  There were many measurements of different body areas and we will get a collective report on growth at our OB appointment next Tuesday.  So exciting!  Now we just have to get to work on the room!

Things to celebrate

One week from today we will be heading to our 20 week ultrasound appointment!  This is the big one with the big reveal...though we won't be letting ourselves in on the secret of Wellkin's gender.  We are looking forward to seeing baby Wellkin!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating the one year anniversary of our engagement.  Time flies and we sure have managed to have a lot of happenings in the past year!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from the Wells!  (We have pretty much perfected the self/couple portrait!)

Yard work

  Our very long winter is still not behind us but things are starting to look more like spring around the house.  In the course of digging up the yard last summer and laying more dirt down we managed to split our tulip lot and now have more bounty than last year and daffodils have sprouted up in unexpected places in the back. 

We have been reminiscing about the battles we had with the sweet gums and, while definitely not on the same scale, we have another sort of battle on our hands this year.  We have one weed that has been  plaguing us through the winter and continues to be quite a bear.  The weed is basically one green leaf on a stem - that's it! It seems to be nearly impossible to get to a root and the stems continue to grow after the leaf is plucked.  Luckily these are mostly contained in two areas of the yard.  Our weed killing expert friend Jordan wasn't even sure what it was.


  Jay got to have some fun with the leaf shredder a few weeks ago after we piled up all of the yard-covering leaves that kept us from having a major mud pit this winter.  We now have a nice and neat amount of shredded leaves in our wire bin that will break down in the coming months that we can use in other areas of the yard later this year.  While we are about ready to lay down our eco-lawn seed we are first thinking about building some raised garden beds for the yard.  Jay is working on pricing out the lumber for our little project and perhaps we will soon have those in place.
  Our next big question is to shed or not to shed.  Clearing out some garage space and storing yard tools and wood stove pellets outside is so appealing!  We have been doing some research and comparisons and will keep you posted on our decision. 
  Little Wellkin is 15 weeks +1 day today!

New News!

Jay and I are going to be parents this year!  Our little Wellkin is expected on October 11th.  At 13.5 weeks everything is progressing normally and we have had no complications.  More info to follow in the coming months while we prepare!

Shiny and New!

We've been thinking for a while now that a big way to be more efficient is to replace some of our appliances.  We don't have a dishwasher, so that one is easy, but our washing machine uses a ton of water - like almost 40 gallons a load!  So we decided to take advantage of The Home Depot's recent sale and the soon-to-expire tax credits available to us and go shopping!  So many pretty machines to choose from in so many price tags.  We decide that the best fit for our usage and pocketbook was a high efficiency LG model.
After posting and selling our current washer on Craigslist in less than 24 hours we had a nice spot in the garage for the new machine.  It was delivered Saturday and that we washed our first load of laundry.  The two of us sat in front of the machine for the first 10 minutes just to see what happened.  I like it so much!  The fun little startup and shut down jingle and just how efficient it is!  So little water, so little electricity, so much fun to watch!
At some point we will replace our dryer with a high efficiency gas model, but all in due time.

Hawaii - Day 7

On our last full day in Hawaii Jay and I drove down to Volcano National Park.  It was about noon by the time we got down to the park, about 2 hours from Kona, so we had to be a little choosy about how we spent our time.  Our first stop was Kilauea Iki (mini Kilauea), a frozen lava lake from a 1959 eruption.  We hiked down across the lava lake and there are open cracks with steam pouring out of them!  It was amazing!  Due to activity in the Halema'uma'u crater there were sections of the park that were closed, but at one time you could walk right up to the rim of the crater!  There are many hiking trails with great overlooks and we went as far as we could before a myriad of signs warned us to turn back due to sulphur dioxide gas emissions. 

When we got back up from the crater we walked over to Thurston Lava Tube for a short walk through a very large tube.  The lava tube was one of the things everyone seems to do, but I think the lava tubes near Bend are much more interesting.  We then drove down the Chain of Craters Road to head down to the ocean.  The guidebook recommended stopping to see Devil's Throat, a giant rocky crater!  There were no signs leading to Devil's Throat but it was very close to the road.  It is amazing to think about how these craters formed.  

  We stopped at view points along the way down to the end of the road.  The road used to make a large loop but over the last 10 years lava flows swallowed the road, so you can only drive to a certain point.  But then you can walk past the gates and over the lava if you choose.  There were quite a few people out and about the day we were there, so rather than fight the other tourists we chose to park a little farther away and walk down to the lava cliff's edge.  Many signs warn you that these cliff's could break off and fall into the ocean at any time!!

  On our drive back up to the park we stopped at the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail for a little trek.  Hawaiians who once lived in this area would carve small holes in the lava to place the umbilical cords of their newborn children.  The would place a rock on top of the umbilical cord and if it was still there the next day the belief was that the baby would have a long life.   

  We took a detour down Hilina Pali Road.  If you don't have a good reason to drive down here, don't bother.  It's a long 9 miles to an area that would be a nice lookout on a clear day and the start of many hiking trails, but there wasn't much to see in the foggy drizzle.  

  Little did we know that the coolest sights were still ahead!  We decided to go to the Jaggar Museum and stop at the Sulphur Banks along the way - that's some hot steam!  When we go to the Jaggar Museum there was a great overlook of the Halema'uma'u Crater - sulphur dioxide gas spewing out of the giant crater and an ominous orange glow!  We walked around the museum as dusk fell so we could get a better view.  Recently the lava level in the crater had been rising - maybe it would reach the top!!??!!  

  After snapping a large number of pictures we decided it was time to find some grub.  The restaurant in the park is closed for seismic renovations, so we drove down the road and found a nice little diner.  On our drive back to Kona we could still see the orange glow from the crater under the pitch black sky.  If we had been staying closer to the park we could have driven east and then south from the diner to see the active lava flow, but that wasn't in the cards this trip.  Maybe we'll be back in a few years!  I'm sure the park will look very different by then!

  We were pretty tired when we made it back to the condo and we flew out the next day in the early afternoon.  Mahalo Hawaii!!