Hey y'all! The Aviator and I just got home from an amazing trip visiting family and taking care of stuff for the work. We started our adventure in Phoenix, AZ where the Aviator hadn't been in over 2 years. It was great to catch up with the fam there. The Shmoo has a little girl cousin just a few days younger than him and it was a hoot watching them play together!
 |
This was an outfit that the Aviator wore when he was a
little guy. Shmoo wasn't thrilled... |
 |
| Cousins in their yukatas |
While in Arizona, we'd planned on driving up to Canyon de Chelly in the Northern part of the state, but our little guy came down with a combo of Impetigo and Hand Foot Mouth Disease! We'd made it 14 whole months before ever having a dose of antibiotics. :0) Anyway, he handled it like a champ. Then the Aviator woke up throwing up and feverish. This lasted about 24 hours but it definitely took closer to two days before he was feeling even 90%. So we didn't make it up to the Canyon. NEXT TIME!
 |
| Enjoying the pool. |
After Arizona, we took off and headed to Tacoma for work. But it was a long weekend for us so we took the opportunity to drive down to Astoria, OR otherwise known as Lewis & Clark country. It was gorgeous! We drove around and visited lots of neat sites like Cape Disappointment for example. We also took a drive even further South to see Haystack rock. It's neat to know that the locals say Haystack Rock is the third largest 'intertidal', meaning it can be reached by land, structure in the world. There were sand dollars everywhere!
 |
| Gigantic slugs near Cape Disappointment |
 |
| Cape Disappointment |
 |
| Best Fish n Chips I've ever had, besides the ones that my sister Juicy makes... :0) Astoria,OR |
 |
| Cannon Beach, OR |
 |
| Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, OR |
After our adventures in the Northwest, we trekked on down to Southern California. We got to see all of my sisters and their kiddos, celebrate Hannah graduating High School, Jessica graduating from the USCG Basic training, and celebrate Titi Miche's newest addition, expected in August! It was so fun to see Miles with all of his cousins! It is also really fun seeing my sisters as Moms! Yia Yia had a great time reconnecting with her grand babies. I think Miles' favorite part of the trip was getting to play with Moto, Varro, Porter, Sampson, and Marley! The kid LOVES dogs!
 |
| Kickin' it with Hunter! |
 |
| Titi Tats with the boys |
 |
| Titi Juicy |
 |
| Sisters and the Birdy :0) |
 |
| Sweet girl! |
 |
| Blueberry picking at Underwood Family Farms |
We went berry picking on the weekend. It was a perfect So Cal Summer day. The berries were absolutely delicious!
 |
| I'm pretty sure I ate most of this pound of berries. |
 |
| Relaxing Shmoo-style at a mexican restaurant... Yes, his feet are on the table... |
 |
| Checking out this awesome fountain with Titi Hannah |
We are really looking forward to the next time we all get together again. It'll probably be a year or two before that happens, unfortunately.
Getting back to Japan has been great! I couldn't wait to stop in at my favorite Udon place and chow down. Miles was excited too! The Aviator hit the ground running with work and won't be home again for a week or so. My garden is really going wild too! Last year I had a battle with Green Horned Tomato worms. This year I'm winning. Last year, they definitely were the victors. :0) We have watermelon, Green beans, grape tomatoes, regular tomatoes, potatoes, corn, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, and all sorts of bell peppers.
I'll post pictures soon!
TTFN!
