Each flight West after our departure from my home state of Maine resulted in the slow loosening of Astrid's beautiful humidity curls. A sure sign of the ending of another trip...our whirlwind coast to coast adventure.
Making the trip (without your husband) across the country via airplane with your toddler on your lap is much like giving birth. I've given this phenomenon some thought...
...While in the throngs of the process it seems so SO SO incredibly HARD. Exhaustingly hard. So hard to keep it all together at times. There are tears during the process (shed by both of us!) the desire to scream (at somebody, and nobody, at the process, the waiting), the dripping with a flash sweat from trying to wrangle my daughter to stay seated on your lap during takeoff, the headaches, the delays, the unhappy/unhelpful/unfriendly airline clerks. Funny thing is... shortly after arrival at my destination I forget how difficult it was (I actually struggle to remember ~ "what, exactly was so bad about it?" I think to myself) and I'm always crazy enough to get back on that bull and ride again. So strange how that works. I would do that trip a million times over to see my family & friends in Maine.
This trip we had an extra added bonus of seeing some of Jeff's side of the family and a couple friends in California.
Astrid and I left on May 8th and got back Tuesday night at about 9:30pm. Daddy joined us in Maine last week so the trip back to home to Missoula was a breeze.
There are too many highlights of the trip to tell you about - so, click here for a SLIDESHOW of some of the images.
Here are some of my favorites:
(Auntie Ann with "Blue" the Friendly Dragon). We spent Mother's Day weekend with Ann and Lance in Topanga.
(Auntie Kelli and my nephew Drew in San Clemente)
(Uncle Ricky and Astrid on a Beach in Laguna)
(Dancin' with Grammy Astrid in Houlton, Maine!)
(spending time with my Grammy Folsom....this was just after making our sushi dinner at her house)
(I think you know why this is one of my favorites. Don't you just love Mom's bathroom?)
(We were lucky enough to spend an entire whole day with Grammy Folsom. Including going to the Hodgdon Dairy Bar for lunch - or as they say in the County "dinner". I brought the pack n' play to Gram's house and Astrid took a two hour nap so we could continue our "catching up")
(When "Uncle" Jeff arrived in Maine the nieces and nephews were all over him!)
(Uncle Jeff found a snake and the kids were captivated)
(hanging out on Aunt Katie and Uncle Frank's porch.)
(Uncle Frank showing Astrid the fresh eggs from their chickens!)
(My niece Anna showing us one of her chickens)
(My niece Ella taking a break on the steps)
(Nephew Jacky working the camera with his big beautiful eyes.)
(The people I lived the first half my life with. Celebrating Mom's 60th birthday together! I know that I bring this up all the time on my blog - but I do feel so fortunate to have been born into this family I have. Mom, Ebeth, David, Frank, Genevieve)
(The night of Mom's 60th birthday dinner the five of us (The boys were a little mortified about the pinky promise, at first) made a pact to get together (whenever possible) once a year for a dinner or coffee just to touch base as a family unit.)
(Ella Bella, Astrid and Dad at the Beach in Maine! Funny we had to go to the East Coast to pull out the swimsuit and dip in the ocean! California was too cold!)
(Auntie Katie and her kids finding treasures)
(My nephew Addison trying to find the perfect skipping rock for our skipping competition. This day at the beach I could have gone without the pounding headache that I developed...that lasted 5 days. Darn it.)
(My nephew Samuel just home from school.)
(My nephew William playing in the backyard)
(Uncle David holding a dirty-footed Astralita at the wedding reception)
(My cousin Patrick and Auntie Carlene - the Mother-Son Dance)
(Mom and her sisters sharing a moment together at the reception.)
(The Smith crew)
(The Smith kids)
(Dad and Astrid)
(Seeing an old friend Heather was a treat! I also got to see two other friends from high school, too! Karen and Darcy!!!!)
(We ended our trip with Auntie Linda and Uncle David!)
Here are some of my favorites:
(Auntie Ann with "Blue" the Friendly Dragon). We spent Mother's Day weekend with Ann and Lance in Topanga.
(Auntie Kelli and my nephew Drew in San Clemente)
(Uncle Ricky and Astrid on a Beach in Laguna)
(Dancin' with Grammy Astrid in Houlton, Maine!)
(spending time with my Grammy Folsom....this was just after making our sushi dinner at her house)
(I think you know why this is one of my favorites. Don't you just love Mom's bathroom?)
(We were lucky enough to spend an entire whole day with Grammy Folsom. Including going to the Hodgdon Dairy Bar for lunch - or as they say in the County "dinner". I brought the pack n' play to Gram's house and Astrid took a two hour nap so we could continue our "catching up")
(When "Uncle" Jeff arrived in Maine the nieces and nephews were all over him!)
(Uncle Jeff found a snake and the kids were captivated)
(hanging out on Aunt Katie and Uncle Frank's porch.)
(Uncle Frank showing Astrid the fresh eggs from their chickens!)
(My niece Anna showing us one of her chickens)
(My niece Ella taking a break on the steps)
(Nephew Jacky working the camera with his big beautiful eyes.)
(The people I lived the first half my life with. Celebrating Mom's 60th birthday together! I know that I bring this up all the time on my blog - but I do feel so fortunate to have been born into this family I have. Mom, Ebeth, David, Frank, Genevieve)
(The night of Mom's 60th birthday dinner the five of us (The boys were a little mortified about the pinky promise, at first) made a pact to get together (whenever possible) once a year for a dinner or coffee just to touch base as a family unit.)
(Ella Bella, Astrid and Dad at the Beach in Maine! Funny we had to go to the East Coast to pull out the swimsuit and dip in the ocean! California was too cold!)
(Auntie Katie and her kids finding treasures)
(My nephew Addison trying to find the perfect skipping rock for our skipping competition. This day at the beach I could have gone without the pounding headache that I developed...that lasted 5 days. Darn it.)
(My nephew Samuel just home from school.)
(My nephew William playing in the backyard)
(Uncle David holding a dirty-footed Astralita at the wedding reception)
(My cousin Patrick and Auntie Carlene - the Mother-Son Dance)
(Mom and her sisters sharing a moment together at the reception.)
(The Smith crew)
(The Smith kids)
(Dad and Astrid)
(Seeing an old friend Heather was a treat! I also got to see two other friends from high school, too! Karen and Darcy!!!!)
(We ended our trip with Auntie Linda and Uncle David!)
1 comment:
Such a special family you have.
Beautiful pictures, they were a treat to look at.
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