traveling soul

We spent this past Saturday through Tuesday traveling up to the Pacific Northwest to attend the Campbell Family Reunion (my Grandma Ott's family) and also to visit Elliot's family in Vancouver and Vancouver Island. We were a little worried about the whirlwind nature of our trip and how that would jive with Ada but she handled it like a champ.


The trip started out very early on Saturday morning, we had a 6:30 am flight out of San Diego which meant leaving the house around 5 am. OUCH! Normally, Ada will sort of wake up, look at us like we are crazy, and then go back to sleep until we hit the terminal at the airport. Not this time, she took one look around the car and realized something was afoot and sprang awake. We should have known then that this was going to be a great trip, and it was.

Here are some highlights:

Picnic: The big inflatable slide!! Ada easily spent half of her time at the picnic on this slide. She started out cautiously (not surprising) forcing her Dad to carry her up the rope ladder and then slide down with her on his lap. However, once she convinced her Grampa Ott to take her over to the slide he convinced her to climb up the ladder herself and slide down on her own (with him close behind). It wasn't until Mom took her over that she was forced to do it all on her own. I am SO mean! Had we given Ada a choice between staying at Al's house on the slide and going on the rest of the trip with us, I'm not sure she would have selected the time with us.

Coffee with Auntie Jackie: On Sunday morning Ada's auntie Jackie let Elliot and I go for a run while she took Ada for a walk. They went to get coffee, well milk for Ada, but Jackie called it coffee and I think that made Ada think she was so much cooler. Once Ada had her morning coffee she opened right up and chatted up Jackie all the way to the park where they watched swimmers and saw ducks and pretty much entertained each other.

Great Grandma's Basement: Who wouldn't love a basement full of fun stuff to explore and jump off of. Making it extra cool was Grampa Ott and Daddy helping her discover all of the really cool things like dynamite boxes (empty of course) and a vice.

The Trampoline at Erica's house: Ada got to meet two more of her cousins on this trip: Erica and Niccolo. She has met both of them when she was younger but this time she actually interacted with them. She and Erica became fast friends on the trampoline in the backyard. They worked so hard we all burned hundreds of calories just watching them. Ada also insisted on Erica joining her in the blue plastic car so that Mommy and Daddy could give them spins around the yard.

The big hotel bed: Our hotel room in Vancouver had two beds, so we let Ada own one of the beds. You could just tell how regal Ada felt as she lounged on the big fluffy pillows and pulled the cozy comforter up around her. Of course she did not want to sleep in the bed alone so (after trying to climb into bed with Mom and Dad) she slept in her pack-n-play, but first thing she did in the morning after waking up was crawl back into her throne.

Great Grandma's muffins: When we were at my Grandma's house on our way up to Vancouver Ada ate more bran muffin than anything else, so we were sent off with a baggie full of muffins. This turned out to be a life saver as we didn't have time for breakfast the morning we headed over to the island and these muffins served that role just fine. Ada liked them so much she even ate the wrapper of the first one we gave her. Of course she insisted on eating her muffins while sitting in her throne.

Balloons: Since our trip was so close to Ada's birthday she received many gifts while we were traveling along. Her favorite was really not a gift, but it was the balloons that were on her present from her Grampa Hicks and Grandma Lynn. These balloons provided intermittent entertainment the entire time we were at their house.

The beach: Elliot's Dad lives right on the beach on Vancouver Island. Ada is not a huge fan of water but after some coaxing she did manage to make her way down to the beach. She even walked on the sand (and over rocks and shells) until the water hit her feet, where she quickly scampered up my legs and into my arms. She then INSISTED that I walk out into the water, and once we hit my depth limits she insisted that I walk up the beach - still knee deep in water. Elliot eventually came to join us and took over the job of holding Ada above the water. However, Elliot was much meaner that me - he lowered her feet into the water and pulled her through the water. And for a second Ada forgot that she has sworn off water as she let out a giggle and even managed to smile a little bit.

The hose: When we came back from the beach Grampa Hicks brought out the hose to hose the sand off our feet. Ada loved this and eventually managed to gain control of the hose and figured out how to pull the handle on the nozzle and aimed it at both her Dad and Grampa. She LOVED this.

The ferry: The ferry ride over to the island was not all that eventful. Ada did lots of exploring and dragging Elliot and I around. The ride back however we were able to get a row of two benches with seats facing each other, as well as a window sill just wide enough for Ada to sit with her back against the wall and legs up on the sill watching the water below us go by. She climbed down every so often to get some food or to wake Elliot and I up, but for the most part she was the Queen of the ferry.

Getting home: While we definitely enjoyed our trip, the look on Ada's face when she saw her own crib, and all of her own toys was one of relief and comfort. As much fun as she had traveling the coast, just like Elliot and I, she was happy to finally be home.

We really enjoyed catching up with everyone and our only wish is that we could see all of you much more often. Many thanks to all of those that took us in, fed us, entertained us, and just let us visit; and special thanks to Elliot's mom for timing her visit to coincide with ours.