Avalon Scenic Bus Tour!
Here we are about to embark on the hour long bus tour of the town. It was very informative and we found out a lot about the history of the town. There is a 15 year waiting list to get your car over to the island. That is why most people just drive the golf carts.

Saturday in Catalina...I liked this street because it had all the golf carts lined up. We woke up Saturday to a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny and the town was full of people in for the holiday weekend. We began our day with a driving tour of the town of Avalon.

Our first night in Catalina...
After we got off the boat and walked to our hotel (there are very few cars on the island and most people get around on golf carts or on foot), we went out for a nice dinner at Luau Larry's, this little bar/restaurant near our hotel. We walked around for a bit, it was a little chilly, but a nice night to be out...We also stopped for some ice cream at a place called "Big Olaf's"! The thing we noticed right away was the lack of any Starbucks or McDonald's anywhere on the island. The only big commercial names we recognized were a Best Western and Coldstone Creamery. It was very clear that the locals like to keep the town very quaint.

Arriving in Catalina...

After a choppy boat ride, we spied the island of Catalina. It is about 30 miles off the coast of L.A. and is a part of a series of islands out there called the Channel Islands. It is the biggest of the islands and has two towns, a bigger one called Avalon and a smaller town called Two harbors. From what I can gather, Catalina was made famous back in the 20s when the Wrigley family (as in Wrigley gum and Wrigley field in Chicago) sort of bought half the island. Mr. Wrigley built a huge mansion, a country club where the Cubs had spring training for awhile and the most famous structure, the Casino. That is the round building in the picture. He wanted a place for people to come out to the island and go dancing. We took a tour of the casino and found out that it is not a gambling casino like many people think. The word casino is actually Italian for a social gathering place. So, Mr. Wrigley had this built in 1929. On the upper level is the largest circular dance floor that can hold like 6000 people. And on the lower level is a large movie theater that originally showed silent films with a "page organ" to accompany the movies. Then it became one of the first theaters to be able to show sound movies. Catalina remains a destination for the rich, as evident with the HUGE yachts in the harbor and the large houses built into the mountainside around Avalon. But, it is also a big hiker/camper destination as most of the island is uninhabited and full of hiking trails. We were not doing any camping however this weekend...we stayed in a beautiful hotel right in Avalon.

the Queen Mary
Friday, May 26--This was the kickoff to our Memorial Day weekend in Catalina Island! Erik planned this weekend as sort of our last hurrah before the babies are born...We had been talking about going to Catalina for awhile so we finally did it! We left Lemoore and drove down to Long Beach on Friday afternoon and caught the "Catalina Express" boat out to the island. As we were leaving the harbor I noticed this huge ship. It is the Queen Mary--an old cruise ship that used to travel between England and NYC. It is now permanently docked in Long Beach harbor and is open for people to visit. It was an incredible sight to see and it reminded me of "Titanic." A good start to our weekend...

Erik flies again!

Last Thursday, I was able to go watch Erik fly and land again on the runway. His class is almost ready to go land on the boat in a week! I can't believe he is almost done with his training here! This just means we will find out where we are going to be moving soon--THANK GOODNESS!!!

I can Knit!!
Erik canught me in the act!! I have been knitting this "blanket" since my mom and dad were here back in April...I had my mom refresh my memory after all these years on how to knit and this is what I have been making...I am almost done and then I have to start another one for my other little girl!!! Hehhehhee...I say refresh my memory because my aunt Ann from S.C. taught all of us cousins years ago how to knit one rainy summer in Salvo, N.C. when we were bored to tears...Even Andres got in on the knitting! All any of us really learned how to do was make really long scarves! But we had so much fun doing it! I think what I am making is going to turn out to be a modified "really long scarf" but I am committed to learn more and hopefully make something like a hat? or booties?? Although my "Girlfriend's Guide to Baby Gear" tells me not to bother with the pretty looking booties because they never stay on and you end up losing them! Oh well, I am determined to make something! I even went to a knitting class at Michael's and I think I am going to go back!! And, just in case you think I have turned into a grandma with this knitting thing, I'll have you know that I am right in style according to my latest "Life and Style" magazine....EVERYONE is knitting in Hollywood!! Ha!

A little picnic...
We decided to enjoy the nice weather on Saturday and go up to this lake/reservoir outside of Sequoia. I had this idea of spreading out blanket out on the banks of the lake and having a nice little afternoon....Well, the snow has been melting at rapid rates so all the bodies of water are overflowing. So we drive to the place where I thought we would have our nice picnic, and it was under water! So, instead of stopping there, we just kept driving to the park and picked a place along the road for our picnic. It turned out to be a disaster! It was extremely buggy and hot and uncomfortable! We ate our lunch quickly and tried to lay on the blanket for awhile, but it got too annoying!!! We dashed back to the PT cruiser and headed back down the mountain towards home...too bad!!
Oh yea...for those of you who are wondering why in the world are we driving this PT cruiser/loser car, its the rental car Erik got after his car broke down...A few weeks ago, he took his car into the BMW dealership simply to have it hooked up for the IPOD to be able to be used...Well, we went to pick it up from Fresno and he let me drive it home to hear how the IPOD worked in the car...As I am driving, I realize something is not right...the car isn't really accelerating, it keeps flashing, "check coolant levels" and then I see a big puff of smoke in the rearview mirror...I pull over on this two-lane road right next to a goat farm, almost running over a runaway goat! I wait there with some nice people who pulled over with me for Erik to turn around and come meet us and figure out what to do. As I wait,my feet proceed to get eaten up by red/fire ants along this road!! Erik had to call a tow truck to take it back to Fresno to the dealer to find out what in the heck went wrong...It took the tow truck 3 hours to get out there, even though we were only about 30 minutes away from Fresno...Our nice friend Joe came to pick me up so I wouldn't have to stand out there on the side of the road in the hot sun with red ants crawling everywhere!!! This was about 4 weeks ago and the dealer still has the car...They had to replace the entire engine! Turns out it was all their fault! They forgot to put coolant back into the car after working on it! Good job BMW!!!

Some thank you's....
I had Erik take this pic this past weekend so I could send along some "blog thank you's" to Elfi and Corinne! Elfi sent me these beautiful flowers for Mother's Day and Corinne sent me this adorable tee-shirt also for Mother's Day! You can't really make out what the tee-shirt says, but its a pea pod with 2 peas in it with smilely faces and it reads "My pod has two peas"
So cute and thoughtful! It has become my fav tee-shirt!!! And that is all i seem to be wearing lately, nice, stretchy, comfy, cotton!! So, thank you Corinne and Elfi!!

Babies!!
Here are the latest ultrasound pictures of the Kenny twins!! We went last Wednesday to have the 20th week ultrasound done where the technician checked to see that the babies were developing normally. He was also able to tell us that we will be welcoming 2 little girls into our family! We were so excited to see that the babies were doing great and to find out what they are! They are each 1 pound 2 ounces and they were moving around like little monkeys! The technician was laughing because they were moving around so much he couldn't take the pictures he needed to. They finally cooperated and I was able to leave with these images. They are kind of hard to make out, but I stare at them and try to imagine what they will look like!

Erik gets his first pedicure!!
To top off a most perfect first Mother's Day, Erik took me to get his and hers pedicures! It was his first one and I think he liked it! I know he liked the massage chair because I looked over at him a few times and he was passed out!! I have been trying to convince him to get one for awhile now and he finally indulged me and did it! I think he might be coming back with me to the nail place soon! What a guy...(again, he will be soooooooo embarrassed to read this! Sorry sweetheart!)

Our picnic ended with some presents from Erik. Once again, he proved he is the most thoughtful husband by buying me this adorable tee-shirt AND a cute book about a mother and child for me to read to our twins when they are born. The book is about how a mother takes her son to Washington, D.C. to show him all around the city. Erik knows how much I miss home and D.C. so he thought the book was very appropriate for our babies to hear. Awwwwww, I think I will read it to them tonight.....:)

Erik set up everything! He brought the tablecloth and sprinkled it with rose petals from the roses that grow in our backyard! He brought all of my favorite foods: an egg sandwich, fruit, yogurt, and EVEN Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which I never allow myself to eat! He was such a sweetheart to me, as he always is. (He will probably be embarrassed I wrote this!!! :))

Happy Mother's Day!
This was my first "almost" Mother's Day! Erik treated me like a queen! He woke me up and whisked me off to a special Mother's Day breakfast picnic in the park! It reminded me of the Mother's Days when we would take Grandmommy on a picnic in front of University Towers! He planned everything, down to the sparking apple cider!

I took this picture of Kelly to show how close we were to the runway! We came out to the runway together, along with Joe's dad and brother and adorable little nephew to watch the guys in their planes. Ashley also came out with her parents who are in town visiting from Florida to see Matt. Unfortunately, Matt was unable to fly because his jet was leaking fuel and then Joe was able to take off in the plane and then had to land immediately after because something was wrong with his jet! Erik said, because its Friday, all thejets start breaking after a long week of work!

THE BALL!
I took a picture of the "ball" so everyone can see how Erik lands the plane on the boat. This is what "the ball" looks like on the boat. Apparently, when Erik comes in for a landing, the ball is supposed to show him where to position the plane so that he will successfully land on the boat deck. The ball is actually a light that would show up to a pilot in that center black thing. If the pilot sees the ball above those green lights he is coming in too high. If its below those green lights he is coming in too low...Now, that is all I know about that one!

Erik can fly!
On Friday, I had the opportunity to go out to the runway and watch Erik fly! Right now, he is practicing to land on the air craft carrier in June. To practice for that, they do this flying called "bouncing" where they come in for a landing and then hit the runway and take off again. They circle around the runway and do this 8 or 9 times. All the while, they are simulating what it will be like to land on the boat. There is this little shack out on the runway where one of the instructor pilots sits and sort of talks them in on the radio. He tells them if they are too high or to low, giving too much power or too little power, etc. This pilot also sits on the runway at the boat and talks them in for their landing. We got to sit out there in the "shack" and be right next to the planes as they landed and took off again. We had to wear ear plugs because they noise is really loud. I also got to talk to Erik on the radio as he was coming in for a landing. As the planes make the turn to come in for the landing, the pilot asks the guy on the ground if he is ok to fly the ball (i guess if he is all lined up?) Then the guy on the ground says if he is ok, "Roger, ball" So that is what I got to say to Erik as he came in to land the plane. I guess he liked the sound of my voice because he had a good pass that time. He told me later that he was very surprised to hear me talking to him on the radio!! It was a good time...These are pictures of Erik as he came in a few times to land...

Baby news!!
I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and we got to see the babies again! The doctor was able to take some really good pictures this time. I am going to scan them in tomorrow for you all to see. One baby was facing down and one baby was facing up! We also got to see a really good picture of one of their little faces! The doctor also measured my belly and told me the wonderful news that I have the belly of a woman who is 31 weeks pregnant! Funny, because I am only 20 weeks pregnant! AHHHHH! It is confirmed--I am HUGE!! and only going to get bigger...she told me to start taking it easy, especially with the heat. The highs are already at 90 degrees each day. Its freakin hot! Good thing we have this pool and a new float...that is where I will be everyday! I will put the baby pics on tomorrow...Oh, and next Wednesday we have the big ultrasound, where they check the anatomy of the babies and hopefully be able to tell us if they are girls or boys...

These are some pictures from Moro Rock. It is a huge rock setting on one of the mountaintops in Sequoia. We found out on our drive over to this rock, that there are 400 steps that lead up to the top of the rock. We decided not to walk up these 400 steps today, but took a picture. I think Erik read that it is 400 steps of a 300 foot vertical incline! Whoa, i don't think I will be doing that anytime soon! But the views from the top must be amazing. We will just have to come back and do this another time.

While we were walking through the Giant Forest, we asked a park ranger about the tree you could drive through. I have had many people ask me about this tree whenever I mention that we live near Sequoia National Park. The park ranger told us that they tree we are thinking of was in Yosemite but was closed to the public or it fell down in 1960-something. She then told us how to get to the Sequoia tree in this park where you can drive through the trunk. So, we made our way over to this tree, on a very narrow and wind-y road. We also found that this was the road you could take to see Moro Rock, another highlight of this park.

More pictures from our hike to General Sherman's tree and the Giant Forest. You can tell in the one pic of Erik's mom and I that there is still a little bit of snow left. But, it was all melting when we were there. The one pic shows the cross section of a Sequoia tree trunk. They are truly enormous...kind of like my tummy!!! :)

General Sherman's Tree
Its funny to think that just two weeks ago we came here with my parents and it was full of snow and ice and it was freezing. On this day, it was bright, sunny, and warm and all the snow had melted! This is the actual General Sherman's Tree, the largest living thing on earth. It was an incredible sight to see...

As we made the drive up the mountain to see the Giant Forest, we stopped along the way to take these pictures. Erik's parents kept saying how much the scenery reminded them of Bavaria in Germany. We were so happy it was clear so you could see the mountains with the snow on them. There you can see my gigantic tummy! AHHHHHHH!

On Sunday, we drove over to Sequoia to have a picnic and then drive up to see the General Sherman's tree, just like we did when my parents came. This time around it was a clear and sunny day! You can sort of see my huge belly in the top picture. There are more pictures to show just how big I am getting.

Here we are in the town of Paso Robles. It is an adorable little town with a large town square. When we arrived, we came upon this Mexican festival where they were playing really loud Tejano music! Erik decided that it sounded a lot like German umm-pah-pah music! I agreed....