Big Girl and Old Woman

Lets start off  mid week attending our Small Group Christmas gathering. Our friends disappeared to the hospital during prayer, due to premature labor. Thankfully, it looks as if baby is going to wait until due date. They were released 5 hours later. Mommy and baby are doing fine.

On Friday, Ailish became a big girl and ate rice cereal. She is a pro! She loves to feed herself and to use the rest for a facial mask. The suction cup bowls are no match for this girl. The best part is when she opens her mouth wide and leans forward in the high chair. Our little "sharky" is back.

Sunday, I thought was going to be our day of rest. However, we agreed to go hiking with our friends. I am so glad we did! A mostly sunny day, ice cleats, and Ailish in tow we were off. It only took about ten steps before Ailish was fast asleep. We hiked around gigantic trees that had fallen, through streams, snow drifts, and ice until we summit Old Woman. It wasn't without some fun unexpected falls in the snow along with a face plant. I really thought Will had stepped in another snow drift and was playing it up by going face forward into the snow, but I was wrong. Poor Will, I just stood there and laughed while taking pictures. What else was I suppose to do? O, yes, help him up. After all he had Ailish on his back. She slept through it all; from the beautiful view at the top all the way until we reached our vehicles and took her out of the carrier. My favorite part was sliding down the snowy path as if I had a sled beneath me. I felt like a kid again!

The Eventful Weekend

Friday afternoon was a dream. My handsome husband wisked me off to my birthday heated stone massage appoitment. It was awesome! Mean while Ailish had Daddy time picking out presents and our Christmas Tree. Its a Palm Tree with lights! I have a feeling what most of you are thinking. "What? No, real tree! You live in Alaska." We know, but what one may not know is how fast these lovely pines loose there needles. We then talked about a traditional fake tree, but they were sold out of the affordable ones that would actually fit in our place. I am so glad my loves purchased this beautiful fake palm just in time. It was the last one, the display model! Our Palm Tree looks awesome! Here is too a beach Christmas in Alaska! Okay, back to Friday afternoon. Will and Ailish picked me up from my massage. Almost literally, because of how relaxed I was, if it were not for the Bob Marley Latte Will had in hand for me.

I will now mention that it was 4pm as we left town to head home and the air station Christmas party we were attending that evening started at 5:30pm. We had not showered, my high heels were somewhere in storage (that I noticed earlier was beginning to flood), and Ailish needed to be fed. Need I say more? Thank God for coffee! We were ready right before the babysitters arrived at 5:45pm. Christmas party here we come and we have free hands!  Shortly, after returning from the long line at the buffet, Will got back up to get our drinks and of course that is when the eventful night began. Will's friend, who was sitting next to me, begins to choke. Seriously, choke! Thankfully, his wife was able to translate and another guy at our table was able to give him the Heimlich. I really thought I was going to have left overs.We didn't win any prizes, but it was fabulous to get dressed up and hangout with my man! Even if it was shared with a group of people I hardly knew. So, now the big story around base is Jeff almost died and Nate saved his life.

We came home and it was quiet! Ailish was a good girl while we were gone. Thank you Lord! However, we came home to a cold house. Apparently, are heater was broken. So, that is why there was a puddle in storage and leakage in the common laundry area. We are so thankful, that KSS had someone out here ASAP this morning or I would have gone through a whole box of tissues.

All of a sudden I hear sirens continue to go off. First, I thought someones house was on fire. Second, I thought it was the Tsunami warning. Neither was it. It was Santa and his Elves. Thank you Santa and Elves for waking up my darling baby from her morning nap. I will now have to agree with Will on his thoughts about Santa. I am sure all College and Career friends from Christ Fellowship remember this conversation last year. If you are wondering, just readjust the last three letters of Santa to spell another name. Anyhow...

Will is on duty, yet again. He was able to come home for dinner and asked prior if we could have Jeff and his wife over for dinner. I so badly wanted to say, "Only if Jeff promises not to choke."

Well, there you have it, our exciting weekend and Saturday is not even over.

Quiet

Will is on duty. Ailish is asleep. Honey Bear has been walked and all you here is the clock. Yes, now there is a moment to enjoy the quiet and update everyone on our adventures.

Yesterday, we took a winter wonderland walk to the beach. I say winter wonderland because of the snow on the ground (1-12in.). Honey Bear ran about freely and would stop look back at us, wait, and keep running. We had a great time watching her and listening to the quiet. Ailish was so relaxed, she fell asleep. Once we reached the water is was quite peaceful to listen to the water go back and forth against the pebble shore. We didn't stay long, for it was getting a bit nippy and my fingers were numb. Thanks to my wonderful husband, my fingers didn't freeze for long with his gloves. On our short ride home and I do mean short (1/4) ride home, deer ran out in front of us. Thankfully, we were able to stop in time. I manage to snap a picture of one of them. However, whoever was behind us was none to happy that we had stopped to let the deer cross. So much so that they felt the need to flick us off as we turned on to base. I really hope their day got better since they felt the need to try to upset someone else. They didn't succeed. Will and I just laughed.

Another adventure a couple or few weeks ago was to hike Old Women. We made it 3/4 of the way up when we had to turn away because of the ice. If it was just Will and I we would have went on, but with precious Ailish it was time to turn around. So, we shall finish that small summit another day.

Ailish has officially rolled over for the first time this week from her tummy to her back! I practically had it on camera. I have a picture of her right after the fact. It was a joyous moment. She is also enjoying everything she can touch and hold and put in her mouth. She even reached out to a 7mo. old boy and held his hand at a dinner party. She was all smiles until I made a big deal out of it by going "Awe! Will look!" Then she started to cry. Once reassuring her that everything was ok, she was smiles again. Her knew facial expression the "stink face" is heart wrenching. She shrinks her nose and raises ones eyebrow while squinting. Will and I feel as if we did something wrong when she gives that face. Silly girl. She loves to grab Will's face and eat his nose. As well as give him tons of smiles when he walks in the door. Honey Bear is her favorite. She practically runs to Honey Bear when we assist her. All the while giggling.

I am sure there is more that has happened. However, I do not recall anymore at the moment to write. Therefore I will call it a night.

Stars and Giggles

Stars! I finally viewed the shining stars. It was beautiful and it was only 7:30ish in the morning!

Ailish and Honey Bear are becoming inseparable. Ailish spotted Honey Bear from her floor mat in her room and used my hands to get herself up. She then progressed making her way one wobbly step at a time to Honey Bear who had thrown her ball into Ailish's room. Meanwhile, Honey Bear is making her way into Ailish's room to retrieve her ball (thinking the baby is going to still her ball) and Ailish is all smiles and dimples. I tell Honey Bear to stay and she lays down which causes Ailish to giggle and drool. This is repeated several times until Ailish makes it close enough to pet Honey Bear who then gives Ailish kisses on the hands and feet. Somewhere in all the excitement Ailish spits up on herself and the floor. I didn't have the heart to take her away to clean her off or the floor because of how happy she was to be closer to Honey Bear. Thankfully, Honey Bear cleaned up Ailish's spit up. It was a fair trade considering I cleaned up Honey Bear's vomit earlier that morning. If I only had a second set of hands to video tape all this minus the vomit and spit up of course. It was definitely, priceless and a memory to cherish.

In other news, my PC has crashed and we are down to one PC. So, hopefully, this PC will last until we are able to save up for a reliable desk top. If not, back to old school mailing letters and actually calling instead of texts. I must confess I do miss the excitement of receiving a letter in the mail and a friendly voice on the other end of the phone.

No place like home.

There is no place like home. There is no place like home. There is no place like home. Boo! It didn’t work. I guess this is home! Not quite how I thought it would be, but I suppose that is just life. Life is full of the unexpected and it is never boring. Things like friends take time. Feeling settled is overrated and wanting things to be perfect is absurd. Imperfections are part of the beauty of a rare jewel. The roughness of a seashell is smoothed and perfected over time in turbulent surf. The same goes for us. We at times need to be taken from our comfort zones in order to grow. How we grow is up to us. We can wait for something to change which could take forever or we can face what is in front of us by moving forward, one day at a time, one lesson at a time, and one prayer at a time. Prayer is essential and is always answered in His time.

The other day, Will was asked to reenact his job by the Weather channel. He said it was hard to reenact with a straight face. I can only imagine. I can’t wait to see if they insert it in one of the episodes. The Weather channel is doing a short series on the Coast Guard and will be viewing November 9^th. So, stay tuned, you may see Will on your television.

We had lots of fun making gluten free cinnamon sugar cookies that evening while Ailish took a nap. Christmas is a couple months away, but we couldn’t resist playing Christmas music as we devoured the cookies we had made. There is nothing like being together to make anywhere feel like home.

Ailish is sure to be a coffee connoisseur or at least be a lover of coffee. She has had her eye on my thermos and has made strides to get to it. Mommy enabling her of course, but none the less she is fascinated by it. Precious!

Bear!

We were on our way to the beach talking about how cool it would be to see a bear when we spotted one on the shore of a creek. Surprisingly, the bear was not interested in all the seagulls that were surrounding him, but on the tasty meal of salmon in front of him. It gave great photo opportunities without feeling endangered. Ailish was safely fastened in her car seat with doors closed. Just in case any other bear was lurking. The bear was just across the creek. We agreed if the bear got into the creek we would take that clue and run back into the jeep. It definitely gave us an adrenaline rush and woke us from our lethargic state.

After driving along the road further we stopped at a park by the water and spotted sea lions. They were like cute puppies! The sea lions were so curious, yet so sneaky. We then made it to the beach. The waves were glassy and perfect condition for us to begin surfing. However, we lacked the equipment to do so. The walk on the beach was relaxing and most enjoyable for Ailish. The scenery was beautiful with mountains, rock cliff, pebbles, drift wood, and black sand. We are looking forward to making a day of it.

Ailish is growing right before our very eyes! This little girl is now staying awake for 2 hours and then sleeping for 1-2 hours at a time. She is so much fun! She loves to be read to. She will sit in our lap and look at the pictures as we read. This girl wants to stand and walk too. She will hold on to things so she can stand and when we hold her up she walks. This girly is strong. Will was just holding her hands and she used her strength to push herself up from sitting to standing!

About to boil

Yes, there are times when I about loose it and yesterday was one of them. Will came home and informed me that he had to get another flu shot. What?! He had just gotten one right before we had left for Alaska. Apparently, they keep records but don’t check them. He could have fought it, but that could have put him on the “list” which one does not want to be on. The truth is I was about to boil over and punch someone out. Err! After taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, I let self-control rule.

Another time I was about to boil over is a couple weeks ago when we found out there was a lien on our account for property tax in a county I have not lived in for over 2 years. So, they did all the research to take money from our account, but not enough research to see that my vehicle had been registered in Alabama and that I did not owe them money. Genius. Yes, and now I am the lucky one who has to do all the leg work to prove my innocents and have our money returned to our account. Not to mention we never received a notice. They said they sent it (it was an old AL address we had). Um, wouldn’t the AL address been a first clue that something was fishy?

Ok, enough frustrating thoughts for this post. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” -Matthew 6:34

Now for our dear little Ailish to stop fighting sleep and rest.

A Monday on a Friday

This past Tuesday we moved into our apartment for the next three years. We are sad that there is no yard for Honey Bear, but we are so happy for all the storage. The kitchen is the biggest we have ever had and it even has a pantry! All our stuff was accounted for and only one thing was broken.

Wednesday Will put together Ailish’s dresser and crib. It was the sweetest scene to watch. I was so caught up in every free moment to put stuff away that I forgot to take pictures! Will also put together her highchair, by the end of the day her nursery was finished (minus painting and pictures hung). It feels like home now. The rest of the day we ran errands for a few items and ended up with a flat screen TV. I laugh at this because I thought the bigger TV would be better and Will didn’t want to ask for the bigger one. So we purchased the smaller one, left the store and discovered what each other was thinking. Which brings me to Thursday; Will returned the TV and purchased the bigger one (this was after three trips into town).

Ailish slept in her crib like a pro, now only if she would take her naps in it. The morning of her first night in the crib we walked in on her holding her toes. It was so cute! All smiles too!

Today, Friday, has not gone so smoothly. I am questioning if it is really Monday? The morning started off great. Will left me coffee. I had my much needed quiet time. I had a lovely chat with my brother’ wife and right in the middle of feeding Ailish there were knocks on the door. The fire inspectors were here. Seriously, I thought they were coming at eleven! O, well. So, I left to go pick up Honey Bear from the kennel, but the fire inspector stopped me. So, I had to re-park, unload Ailish, and wait until they were done. I was then off to pick up Honey Bear, but I made a wrong turn and got delayed. Finally, with dog in tow heading toward town I smell pooh. This was not baby pooh either. Honey Bear starts whining and I kept reminding her to stay all the while we are stuck behind a very slow truck. We made it without any other accident to the dog groomer place, dropped her off, cleaned pooh off her bed, and headed to a couple stores looking for a new dog bed. I am about to pull out of one store when this lady with her full cart walks behind our vehicle and parks her cart right behind our vehicle! She then begins to unload her bags into her car. What?! When she was done I, thankfully, noticed the six foot drop off before exiting the parking lot (I thought there was an exit that way). So I turned around just in time to see the lady who parked her cart behind my vehicle just smiling as she got in front of me at the correct exit. Needless to say, it was time to grab my favorite latte’ at Harborside, the” Bob Marley,” Conveniently, located next store to the dog grooming place. By the time I parked to pick up the dog, Ailish is crying because she is hungry, and Honey Bear has to pooh again. We finally leave the dog grooming place after feeding Ailish and placing her disposable diaper changing pad over the dog’s bed (Honey Bear was digging into her bed because of the plastic bag over the pooh and a towel on top). On the way back to the kennels to pay them; Will calls from work to ask, “How was your day?”

Monday

Today is the day that the movers deliver our stuff or so they say. The question is will it all be there? Will it all be in one piece? Good thing we have pictures, receipts, and a list. Now the other question is will we be able to stay there? Why? One may ask. Well, after residing in our empty apartment for an hour I started coughing and my eyes became dry and hurting. I am grateful Will went over there and cracked the windows. We are hoping that will take care of it. The good thing is Ailish didn't seem to be bothered it.

Yesterday, we missed the 4 point something earthquake. Crazy? Like who misses that? Maybe we were driving at the time? Who knows.

I can speak for Ailish on this. She will be glad to be in our new place. The little kids staying here love her and don't understand what leave her alone means. I have to be a hawk! However, she will miss the nice older lady at the front desk. She just smiled at her this morning.

Exciting

Is it really going to be October tomorrow? Seriously, where has the time gone? Anyways, a lot of exciting things are happening here. The weather channel is doing a series on the Coast Guard more specifically in Will’s shop and will begin airing November 1^st at 9 pm.  We received a call earlier this week to let us know that our stuff has arrived on the island and will be in storage. Today housing called to say they had a place for us. Our new place is not what we were expecting (it’s a fourplex), but is has tons of storage and plenty of cabinets/counter space. The movers will be delivering either Monday or Tuesday. The best part is I can paint! Well, I would have to submit a form first and paint it back to white before we moved out, but exciting none the less.

If I haven’t mentioned this already, I am going to now. Ailish does 180’s in her sleep! For real, we put her down at the 12 o’clock position and when she wakes she is at the 6 o’clock position.  She also bangs her feet continuously for about half an hour before falling asleep. The mornings are fun with her smiling a way (that is the best).

O and today was the first day of average AK weather (cloudy, rainy, and cold). I was just getting use to all the sunshine too. Pooh!

Gluten Free

I can’t believe it has already been a week! It has felt like two. We are still in the hotel and it will probably be at least another month before we have housing.

Ailish is growing so much! She is holding her hands, grabbing her knees, cooing/chatting up a storm, smiling/laughing/giggling at appropriate times, holding her head up, and wanting to sit up and stand. Such a little person, where is our baby?

Gluten Free! Yes! I love all the gluten free options here on base and off. There is actually more to choose from here then at our local health food store in AL. Our favorite new place to eat is Java Flats. They have the most delicious sandwiches loaded with all the good stuff such as spinach, cucumbers, lettuce, gourmet spreads, meat, and cheese (depending on the sandwich) and it is all fresh too! They are not skimpy on their servings either. The sides are just as yummy with a choice of fruit, soup of the day, or chips and salsa. The best part is they have Gluten Free bread! Of course you could also choose from the array of bagels, organic bread, or croissant. The coffee is not too bad either. I am looking forward to trying their caramel apple cider. Be prepared to wait because the place is hopping.

Will celebrated his 28^th birthday this past weekend. We indulged in Oreo Cheesecake, college football (go GT!), and toured more of the island (while there was blue skies and sunshine). We also checked out a church on Sunday. It was good and the people were really friendly. There is one more church we would like to check out before prayerfully deciding which one to attend.

Today is another beautiful day with blue skies.

What to do?

I really don't mind staying in the Guest House that provides free coffee, flavored creamer, Internet access and cable TV. However, I hit my max for indoor confinement. I actually thought about going hiking with Ailish. Weird, I know. Brave thought for sure, considering how many bears that are probably lurking. So, we settled for a walk around base. The sunshine and fresh Alaskan air was great! Sadly, I still find myself asking, "What to do?" So, here I am blogging about it.

On to other things. We all took a lovely stroll yesterday evening since the sun was shining and had a delightful dinner of arugula salad with peas and carrots topped with champagne vinaigrette and crab legs (pretty sure they were imitation, but we will be eating some real crab legs soon).

The evening before that (Monday) we thought it would be a nice quiet time to fix dinner and play scrabble. Right. The fishermen were out telling fish tales and carrying on. It was a lot of stimulation for Ailish. However, the fishermen were really nice and offered us some of their fresh caught Salmon. Yummy! As well as offering Will some pointers on fishing. Will even got an invite to go fishing with them on Saturday. We shall see. Its pretty funny because I think one of these fishermen/previous servicemen is the one we hear snoring every night.

Fun fact about Kodiak: It is the second largest island in the United States.

In Alaska

We have arrived in AK, our home for the next three years!  We were so excited to get off the ferry we forgot to look for our welcoming committee, but we also didn’t think they would be there because our ferry arrived a day early. Honey Bear was promptly dropped off at a Coast Guard family owned kennel. It just so happen that they used to live on the Outer Banks. “It’s a small world after all…” Honey Bear felt so at home playing in their yard she didn’t even see us leave. After a couple hours on land we checked in at our temporary home (an on base hotel) until they have housing for us. The hotel is the cleanest we’ve stayed in yet. The staff is very friendly and there is even a full kitchen and laundry room for all guess to use. However, the hard bed, flat pillows, and paper thin walls (and I do mean paper thing walls. We can hear the conversation of the room next store and their snoring) have only enhanced our lack of sleep. Not to mention each night Ailish sleeps less. We got up with her three times last night! I pray that was the end of that. There is only one stop light in town. Unfortunately, it is not at the five section intersection. Can we say scary? At most stop signs you usually look for other vehicles or pedestrians. Here we stop and look for aircraft. As far as prices our concern, gas is about $4.43/gal and the food is anywhere from 1-3x the amount you would pay mainland. The only food that is cheaper is the seafood. Yummy!  The weather has been surprisingly mostly sunny from the time we arrived until this morning, which has been overcast, rainy, windy, and cold.

Today’s goal is to work on getting Ailish back on a routine. Poor thing has had no structure for the last month. I know it is going to take more than today to get her back on a schedule, but persevere I will do. She is currently taking her third nap today. I just pray she and us sleep through the night tonight.

The 6 Day Ferry

September 11, 2011

Today started off great at The Woods Coffee. I about jumped for joy when I saw a gluten free breakfast sandwich. It was delicious along with my Blackberry White Chocolate Mocha Latte’. Yummy!  The small town charm of friendly people and quaint settings made it our favorite stop yet.

While we waited in line to board the ferry Will met 3 other Coast Guard peeps headed for Kodiak. However, they were all boat people. One of which left his family behind until their housing is available.  I pray they get housing soon too.

We have just set sail from Fairhaven, Washington, a small town just south of Bellingham. Ailish enjoyed the view off the deck and the wind in her hair. She is going to be one adventurous young lady someday.

September 12, 2011

Today is our first full day at sea. The activities have included sleep, eat, walk, sleep, eat, and sleep some more. Will has a valid reason for all the sleeping because of all the driving and unloading and loading the vehicle. Not to mention a slight cold that he has. Ailish, well she is a baby and is actually taking her naps! The bouncer is the perfect size for our cabin and the vibration and rocking of the ferry saves on batteries. I am not sure why I am sleeping so much. Maybe I am catching up on sleep too or the motions of the ferry are coaxing me. Either way I think it’s a good thing.

The view outside our cabin window is lovely right now with the most beautiful blue rolling swells. In the distance they are crashing on rocky shores that are covered by pines that lead up to mountain tops.

The rest of the day included an Orca Whale spotting (Ailish and I missed it) and a rousing game of scrabble.  Topping it off with watching the Guardian to get Will pumped up for the task ahead of him. I on the other hand will not be watching that movie anymore until we leave Alaska. During intermission I was able to capture an awesome moonlit landscape/seascape on my camera. We are looking forward to posting pictures soon. Last but not least Honey Bear finally relieved herself after 30 hours. She didn’t understand the concept of relieving herself on the hard boat floor and we suppose that the other 8 dogs or so were a bit distracting (it is a designated area near where the vehicles are parked). 

September 13, 2011

Ketchikan, AK was our first stop on AK soil. Honey Bear enjoyed the many spots to sniff and relieve herself. The foggy and misty day was not too cold as we walked to a small coffee drive thru. However, wearing my Tom’s did not prove fruitful. My feet and the end of my pants were soaked. Thankfully, Ailish was all bundled up and quite happy for fresh air.

We are now underway to our next port of call, which we will reach early tomorrow morning. I think we played five games of goldfish before looking at the clock thinking it was noon. Nope, it was only 9am. Guess naps and more games and movies are to be had today. Ailish is currently snuggling with her blanket.

Whales! We all got to see two Orca whales in the distance. Watching them surface, go back down, and spray was quite the sight. The most graceful was watching their tails glide back into the sea. Then there were these birds that flew just barely touching the water and then diving under. They looked like penguins, but penguins are not found down this way. Maybe they were puffins. I would look it up but no internet yet. Just documenting on Word until there is internet access.

September 14, 2011

It has been a rocking day! I don’t think I have ever been on a boat that rocked for this long. The curtains are going back and forth; water is swishing on the deck; and our jackets and bags are swaying on the rack. I think my brains are starting to swing too. Just a little dizzy, even Ailish has been in a comatose state. Will and I have been catching our step ever so often. Thankfully, we are not sea sick and are not prone to it. In fact it has been quite fun to walk around, but I think after today, we have had our fill.

Juneau was the first stop today at around 4am-6am. Honey Bear got a quick walk, but as I have been told there was nothing around besides the docks with other ferry boats. I guess the happening part of Juneau was further along the coast from where we were.

Tonight at around 9pm we are to arrive in Yakutat. Then off to Whittier, back to finding ways not to become bored. 

The best way to describe this ferry is a cruise without all the free amenities and entertainment. Also, without excursions and port of calls that are during normal business hours. I will say that the crew is very kind and there are some nice folks on board. One of which has offered story time for the youngsters on board. Yep, that about sums it up.

September 15, 2011

Another rocky day at sea and now safely docked in Whittier. The best views thus far have been entering into Whittier with glacier sightings. As well as glacier run offs into the blue-green sea. If it wasn’t sleeting one would think they were in a tropical location viewing a waterfall.

Will took Honey Bear for a walk where they found a place for coffee (um, where’s my cup of decaf?) and discovered some interesting things about this town when Will asked about the large building. According to the coffee lady it was built by the railroad and the whole town lives there. They don’t see each other for about 100 days out of the year (summertime) and the rest of the time they get sick of each other from staying in close quarters due to the 300 inches of snow each year.  

September 16, 2011

Yeah! Land hoy! Well, not yet, but almost. We have four more hours until Kodiak. Can you tell we are counting down? It has been felt like a never ending amusement park ride for the last few days with 8-12 foot swells. At times it has felt as if we were airborne. The front of the ship was the extreme. We would see sea and then only sky. It was the cause for much laughter.

The morning hours have been past with a couple games of scrabble. I have to mention Will won his second game against me last night and even got a “scrabble”. It was incredible! This morning he won his third game against me. I must be losing my touch. All this rocking, bumping my head on the bunk, and no coffee, I’m beginning to have withdrawals.

Praise the Lord! We will be able to stay at the CG Hotel until October 7^{th (before it was only until September 23rd)}! Hopefully, we will have housing soon!

Land is in sight!

California to Washington

We have now made it to the last road destination, Bellingham, Washington. It is great to be in a nice hotel before boarding the ferry tomorrow.  The ferry was delayed a day giving us a chance to tour Seattle and arrive here at a decent hour. The long days of travel have been wearisome. Especially, for the baby and we thought Honey Bear would have trouble. Honey Bear has actually done great and has loved the metropolitan stops. What a spoiled pup! The lavish hotel in San Francisco (got a bargain on that one) asked if she needed a doggie bed sent up!

So here are the highlights from the last week starting from Los Angeles, CA area. Ailish discovered Mommy’s hair and pulled two strains out along with crying all day due to possible teething or ear ache (she is better now with only minor snots). We found the hookup on AK gear for Ailish at a consignment store in Santa Clarita. Sunday morning we attended Chris Barksdale’s church in Hollywood (great message and the part that I heard really stood out to me. How we announce all the great deals or places on our statuses, but fail to proclaim what Christ has done for us. The example was the Samaritan Woman at the well in the book of John and how she went and told all the people in the town, most likely people she didn’t even know about this man, Jesus, who knew all about her and what she had done. It really hit home for me). We finished the stay with quality time with family and friends in the L.A. area. We then headed up the freeway to San Francisco. Never knew there was such diversity in landscape in CA. The Desert Mountains to flat orchards, swamps, vineyards, forests, and of course the gigantic redwoods that are indigenous to Northern CA.  We learned a couple helpful tips: 1) don’t park next to a dumpster = fly landing on Ailish’s lip and almost going inside 2) don’t park next to a giant elk (?) pile of poo = Honey Bear licking it and then once back in the truck  dropping her ball on Ailish twice; once landing on her eye. Thankfully, she didn’t even flinch. We were sad not to have time tour San Francisco, but due to the lack of street directions to the highway we were able to tour the City.  The Golden Gate Bridge was pretty sweet to cross, but of course the fog inhibited the view.  On the way to Crescent City we stopped at a cute little coffee spot called the Gold Rush. Delicious and so reminded me of Moka’s in Mobile. Even the barista reminded me of Morgan my awesome boss. Will wanted me to mention that in Eugene, OR there are a lot of hippies with dirty hair and a backpack.  Crescent City was not that great. The motel we stayed at didn’t help either. The only thing it had going for it was the heater lights in the bathroom. It was clean, but hard to feel that way with the 80’s -50’s décor. Will also wanted me to mention how disgusted I was with the place. I’m sorry but when the comforter and floor doesn’t look as if it was replaced or washed since a certain era I attend to get grossed out. Even Honey Bear was scared to be in there. We were happy to arrive at my friend Christine’s in North Bend, Oregon a little after noon. Oregon is a beautiful state along the coast with cliffs, rock protruding out of the ocean, and sand dunes.  We were definitely, surprised by all the waterways and strange people except our friends of course. Ailish and Honey Bear experienced their first mini rock climbing along the jetty. Honey Bear has a new friend, Jackson. They enjoyed the freedom run on the beach chasing balls.  It was sad to leave, but it was time to hit up Seattle. The delays included missing our route and having to take a detour due to a fire. Both gave us time to view the countryside. Today was fun doing the touristy thing at Pike’s Place (check out Market Grill-great fish sandwiches and the sound from the one string instrument of the Asian man was spectacular) and having Clover brewed coffee at Starbucks. So, I thought Will said “Need $ for a Wii” as we walked around, but when I looked over to what I thought would be a homeless guy, I saw a non-homeless guy holding up a sign that said, “Need $ for Weed.”  On that note. Goodnight.

O, MY!

So, the last couple of days have been pretty mellow. We were able to have some breakfast with some dear friends and then Coffee Bean! The best part was watching their girls play in the courtyard fountains. Squeals, smiles, laughter, and soaked little ones to carry home made for a lovely morning. The next day Ailish got to meet her Auntie, Uncle, and Cousin for the first time. It was very sweet time. The girls happily observed one another and our little niece smiled at me-priceless :) The Daddy's attempted surfing at Manhattan Beach, but 6-10 footers that crashed immediately made it less then impossible to surf. We did enjoy a lovely picnic on the beach sipping coffee and tea from Peet's Coffee watching the rough surf calm down. Ailish loved the cool beach breeze. Then it was off to an yummy dinner that Auntie Sarah made.We said goodbye and as we were crossing the street and out of no where a car came flying towards us. I held my breath looking at the car and looking at my family in front of me that was in direct hit. Thank God the car slowed just in time and Daddy and baby were able to make their way out of the way. Close call.

Earthquake

Ailish just experienced her first earthquake. Safely sleeping in Daddy's arms. Mommy's still a little shaky.

The first five days.

Well, we have officially all made it to Cali safely. There were some bumps in the road one of them actually due to leaving the emergency break on.Oops! The other ones included getting lost, driving in a parking garage where we forgot about the cargo bag on top of the jeep (just a minor tear on the outer layer), border patrol, and a over zealous lady frantically wanting to help me through security (the TSA guy rolled his eyes). The ups of the trip so far have been Ailish and Honey bear having a starring contest, Ailish smiling all the way to Texas, Ailish loving the plane ride (sleeping in the same position in my arms for 3 hours strait), Ailish loving the fish at the aquarium restaurant, playing as Ailish personal security guard from sweet little toddlers, and being reunited with Daddy after 3 days.

Stay tuned for more adventures as we make our way to Alaska.