ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

I went up to Seattle for a couple of days for a work event. It was really enjoyable, the first day the sun was out and it was glorious. A lot different to the Seattle I remember since the last time we were there the weather wasn't so great. The second and third day the weather was what I expected, which was also what I wanted, as I've missed the rain! I got to go out in a canoe for a photo, and also slept in the office on my second night. I was lying on a couch in this bar area when at about midnight the security guard told me that the cleaner wanted to come in, and i should go behind the bookshelf. I had no idea what he was talking about, so he took me to this library looking room and pulled the bookshelf back, revealing three little sleeping rims with these couch bed things, complete with blanket and pulled and everything. It was so awesome. The only problem was that I was so excited to see it that it made it hard to fall asleep!

While the cats away, the mouse can play! Lain went off to Utah and Idaho to visit our new nephew and I took the opportunity to climb half dome with Kip. Actually, the day before I went to Tahoe with Logan and Veronica, which was fun. I spent the night sleeping under the stars at the side of the road close to Chinese Camp on the way to Yosemite. My phone didn't work out there but before I arrived I send the coordinates to Kip, who met me out there at 2 or 3 in the morning after going to a concert in the bay area. The hike was quite long, I think 17 miles, but it was a lot of fun. At the summit you have to climb up a really steep section, where you hold on to metal cables and navigate up as people are coming down the same route. It gets really congested there, and I didn't have gloves so after hanging on for so long, I could barely feel my fingers. I decided to go on the outside of the cables instead of up the middle so I could get up faster before my fingers fell ...

It's always a good time when family is around! Chris, Naty, and Athena decided to come visit us on their Trinity Trip. They went on a long road trip to California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, calling it the Trinity Trip. They stayed with us after visiting my parents in Modesto, so we wanted to show them a good time. They had only about 24 hours with us, so we wanted to fill as much fun as possible. They arrived late afternoon, so we didn't have much time to head to the beach, especially with traffic. So we went to... Google! We showed them around the different offices, road bikes, and made some Italian sodas. They had a fun time riding around and I had fun holding little Athena. She's always so smiley, which Emre was not as a baby! We headed back home and ordered some pizza, pasta, and mozzarella sticks from our favorite place. Also, some smoothies from our favorite smoothie place. The next day, we went to San Fancisco. They only had a couple hours, so we wal...

Moving back to California meant going back to all my favorite spots. I had been telling Alastair for a while about Fort Bragg, so we jumped on the opportunity to go! We had also recently bought a new tent and we wanted to try it out. We drove along the coast, which was pretty, but I was getting major car sickness. I haven't experienced that in a while, so I was feeling pretty terrible. We eventually got off and drove on the freeway, much better! Our first stop was at sea glass beach. Alastair was a little let down because he googled prior to our trip, expecting the place to be covered with beautiful sea glass, but it was over picked. Emre loved playing in the water, even though it was extremely cold. He had a grand old time throwing the sea glass back into the water. We reserved a spot to camp, but soon realized it was a terrible place. We drove into a mobile home park that had a small section for camping. We drive to our spot, and the campers next to us had pit bulls,...

Since Alastair just started his job and was rather busy, Emre and I joined my parents to head up to Idaho and Utah for some family time. Our newest nephew, Logan, was born, so I wanted to see him! I also thought it would be nice to see his cousins. Lucy and Athena were born the same year and Landon is only 18 months older. The drive wasn't too bad. I was a little nervous with how much fuss he would give, but he only fussed once, but fell asleep soon after. It was a 12 hour drive to Utah, which wasn't too bad with the stops along the way. It was one of the quietest road trips I've ever been on, due to my mom watching her K drama. Ha! Since Marcus' house was filled with my parents and a new baby, we stayed with my in-laws. They had just visited a few days before, so Emre was happy to be around them and to play with all their fun toys, especially their farm! Emre was big into farm animals, so playing with cows and pigs was the best for him. It was also nice to...

One of the major benefits of living in California is that we are so close to family, which means free babysitting! Alastair and I took advantage one weekend and dropped Emre off at my parent's place.  We had never let anyone watch Emre for longer than a few hours, so this was really going to test the waters. He did great! He woke up in the morning and went straight to having fun at Lola's house!  Alastair and I left pretty early, so we could grab some food at the store and to beat traffic. This was all done in vain because for some reason, the bank put a fraudulent hold on our card and couldn't use it until we sorted it out with the bank. Super frustrating but whatever. I drove all the way to Yosemite, which is HUGE for me because I hate driving and windy roads freaks me out! But I did it! Sweaty palms and all, I did it!  We made it the park and decided to hike a trail that lead to a lake. Alastair did his research about the destination, promising views o...

One of the benefits of living on the West coast is the proximity to family. We loved all the family time we were able to have, especially Emre! He became best pals with his Gigi and her elephant collection. It was so nice to give her a call to let her know we were on our way to hangout with her! We love our Gigi!  It was also nice to be a road trip away from Grandma and Grandad. They were able to travel to the Bay Area with Alastair's aunts, Vickie and Joyce. I've never met that side of the family, so it was nice to officially meet the McKee side!  We spent the weekend in Monterrey and Carmel. Our first stop was at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. I was so excited to take Emre there! At the time, he was so into sharks. Absolutely obsessed! I was excited to take him to see real sharks. The experience was ok, just bummed that there were soooo many people! completely crowded. I felt a bit overwhelmed and we didn't even manage to take Emre out of the baby carrier. I...

To celebrate our first weekend in the Bay Area, we drove over to the coast. We had read about a little beach that wasn't supposed to be busy called Tunitas Beach close to Half Moon Bay. It was a great drive over there, through the mountains and down Highway 1. When we got there, we had to climb down a little path, using a rope at one point to steady ourselves. It wasn't as bad as we'd read, but it was pretty difficult while carrying Emre! But once we got down, we were able to enjoy the sand and the fog! We tried out our new tent and threw the frisbee around while Emre found rocks and put sand in his hair! He loved to explore, and had a great time doing his thing on the beach. Right as we climbed back up the bluff to the car, the fog cleared! It was nice to see more scenery, but a little sad since if we'd have waited another 10 minutes or so before leaving we'd have been able to take some nice pictures and enjoy some nice sun from the beach! Ah well, gla...

  Since Lain and Emre left Michigan early, I needed a driving companion so mum flew out for the drive! After shoving much stuff as possible in the car, Tetris style, we took off! Before long we arrived et stop #1, Chicago. Ever since missing it in 2013, I've wanted to see the Bean, and so that was our destination. It was really cool, this giant mirror in the middle of millennium park. It was fun to walk around it and see our earlier reflections with the city buildings behind us. After a stop at Giordano's pizza, we got back in the car and headed towards Nauvoo. After hitting some undefined creature on the way, we pulled over and slept at a rest stop, mum in the hammock (still can't believe she did it) and me on the floor. The next day, we spent a bit of time in Nauvoo, walking around the town and chatting. Then it was on to Mt. Rushmore. We slept at a rest stop in South Dakota, this time mum in the car and me in the hammock. It was colder than before and a littl...

While Lain and Emre left early for California, I went to Point Pelee national park with the lads (Ian, Arjun, and Mitch). We rented kayaks and took a ferry out to Pelee island. We had planned to go out to Middle island, am uninhabited island not far from the southern tip of Pelee island and the most southern point of Canada, but we were talked out of it by the people in the rental shop. We rowed to the southern part of Pelee island to the nature reserve section as the sun was setting. The sky was amazing and the water was like glass. At one point I looked it and it looked like Mitch was floating in the air. You couldn't tell where the water ended and the sky began. We put up our tent in mosquito bay, which unfortunately turned out to be appropriately named. I wanted to sleep in my hammock but there was no chance of that! It was a great trip, a fantastic Michigan (Canada) send off!