Sunday, May 24, 2009

Shmoozing with the Kennedys? - Cape Cod, MA

Although we are in NYC at the moment, we had a last-minute mid-trip detour up to the Cape.  The original purpose of our trip to NYC was to attend the wedding of a dear college friend of mine, AnnBradford.  After we had already purchased our tickets, there was a change of plans - no wedding.  But we're always up for a trip, not to mention using tickets we have, so we still came out here to visit New York and stay with my aunt and cousins.  On our 2nd day here, I heard from AB that she and her mom were traveling up to Cape Cod for the long weekend and we knew we had to see them!  So, Friday morning we were out the door at 6:45 for the walk / subway / train / bus / rental car 7-hour voyage to the Cape.  Neither of us had ever been any farther north than NY, so it was fun to check Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts off of our 'to visit' list.  We had a fantastic lunch at JT's before checking in to Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster.  We hung out at the beach where we met up with AB and Miss Paige, then cleaned up for a marvelous dinner at Scargo, thanks to the Sturgis's.  Jonathan and I then took AB out to a hole-in-the-wall bar that had fun live music, taking AB and me back to our old-south sorority party days.  It was a blast!  Yesterday we drove west through the Cape up to Plymouth, where we got to see the site of Plymouth Rock.  From there it was a straight shot through Providence and back down to Dollar Rent-a-Car at LaGuardia.  We ended our getaway by wolfing down a huge Colombian dinner out in Queens...yes, toting a carseat, stroller, Bjorn, diaper bag, huge backpack, and my purse.  It was a great way to wrap up our whirlwind 2-day escape from the city.  We leave NY tomorrow so I'll be posting about this part of our trip in the next few days!
One thing we noticed was the Dunkin' Donuts EVERYWHERE - what's up with that???
Dumb and Dumber is more alive to me now than ever before

A reproduction of the Mayflower - called 'Mayflower II' - so original

TJ's first toe-ing of Atlantic seaboard sand :)



Sunday, May 17, 2009

We're off!!

Hi everyone - this is just to let you all know that we are heading off on our 6-week trip all over the place. I will try to update our blog along the way, depending on what kind of wireless signals we can pick up. We drive to Seattle tomorrow to meet up with Jonathan's mom, Ginger - she'll take Charlotte back to our home while Jonathan, TJ and I fly to New York City on Tuesday! We'll be there until next Monday, when we fly back to Seattle to meet up with Charlotte. The next day we head to Oregon to visit my grandparents and then on to San Jose the following day. We'll be in the Bay Area through the 31st for Magda's wedding, then off to LA to see the Wolfs! In San Diego for the 3-4th visiting my aunt, cousins & Torrey Pines golf course :) Then it's off through Tucson, AZ to Boerne, TX, Austin, TX to check out a possible job lead, then to Houson/Galveston where we'll have a mini-family-reunion with Jonathan's family. After a few days there it's up to Colorado for 2 days, and then the long trek north to Alberta. We'll be in Banff for awhile, checking out the ice fields and Lake Louise, and then going to Jasper where we'll cozy up at the Fairmont for 2 days of golf and spa-going - it will be AMAZING! And then we'll be back here in Vancouver by June 28th. WHEW!! Please pray for safety, healty and happy kids in carseats for this almost 6,000 mile trip we're doing in 5 weeks. Hope we can keep you updated :)

Friday, May 8, 2009

Aquarium Day

The good thing about having a membership at the Aquarium is that you can go as often as you want, stay as short (or as long) as you want, and you don't feel like you have to see every little creepy crawly thing there in one trip. That's why we like to go so much! We went yesterday with Megan, Cora and Baby Hannah and enjoyed a nice 2-hour visit, about as much as 2-year-olds can handle. Every time we go, we are surprised by new things and try to watch new shows. Yesterday didn't disappoint!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

it's FOOD TIME!

So, little Thado is now becoming a big boy...eating big boy food and making big boy poops. The fun began this past week and TJ is already wolfing down rice cereal, bananas and sweet potatoes. His flailing arms and greedy hands can't help but grab for the spoon, ready to shovel the food in faster than we obviously are. I'm sure in a few weeks he'll have a steak knife raised up, ready to slice into a nice T-bone. Let the fun begin :)

Saturday, May 2, 2009

We didn't disappear...just went to CA!

After a month-long wait, I finally ventured south to California with the kiddos last week. We were healthy and well and enjoyed every moment with family and friends. The trip was a mixture of emotions for me, as it seemed that so much has changed since I moved away from the Bay Area. I did all I could to surround myself with remaining familiar things - food, parks, certain shops, etc. - and in the end, realized that all I can count on to be familiar to me are people. So, no matter where we ate, shopped or spent our nights, I could be certain that I'd be surrounded by those special people most familiar to me. And that's what truly matters the most.
First stop - Baskin Robbins :)TJ wasn't too keen...

Out to dinner with Mom and Paul!

Visiting Pete the duck at a local florist

Charlotte found a Derby hat!
TJ hanging out with Amber and Schiatzi (sp?) at Magda's house - they didn't know what to do with him!

At our friends' house - Charlotte was in heaven!

Story time with 'Ankle' Paul

Paul taking C for a ride around the backyard - way more fun than mommy doing it :)

C and my dad dancing at the grocery store before we made brunch for my Nana and Pops

At my Nana and Pops' with my dad - 4 generations of Cilkers!