The Pacific Coast Highway and San Francisco

Ever since we knew we were moving to southern California, I knew I wanted to drive the coast up to San Francisco and see a few sites up there.  I wasn't really interested in spending a lot of time up there, which meant we were able to turn this in to a 3 day weekend trip.  On Friday we woke up and got on the road relatively early as it takes 3 hours just to get to San Luis Obispo, the almost half way point to San Fran for us, the start of the PCH drive for us, and a town we have wanted to see for a few months.  Luckily, this drive would take us near Solvang, a town we visited last year.  So of course we drove just a little out of our way for Danish Waffles!

We got to SLO (the commonly used abbreviation for San Luis Obispo) and headed straight to the Mission.  This looked very similar to the Mission in Solvang, which makes sense as they were built around the same time by the same people.  We then walked around the downtown area for a few minutes, looking for a place to grab a little food.  After checking online and looking at some menus, Kacey chose Sal's.  The food was decent, but as they were brand new, they had no fryer, so the fries and onion rings were not edible (they did give a refund, though).

We got on the road for the short trip to Morro Bay, home of the iconic Morro Rock.  I really didn't know what to expect here.  There is a few restaurants on the water, but not a super beautiful view.  You can drive out to the rock and park there, which we did.  We got some views of the Sea Otters playing, and we watched the surfers freeze in the ocean.  After finishing our lunches here, we got on the road.

The next thing along the PCH was Hearst Castle.  According to their website, you need reservations weeks in advance, and the costs can get astronomical.  So our idea was to stop in, see what we could see for free (or quickly), and move on.  I guess people plan pretty elaborate trips just to see the castle and spend lots of money for a big romantic dinner up on the mountain.  Anyway, there is nothing to see at the visitor's center as the castle is up on a mountain.  So we used the restrooms and got information about another site close by, the elephant seals.

I wasn't expecting much at the elephant seals (approximately 4 miles north of Hearst Castle), which made the shock of what we saw awesome.  I will let the picture explain this unexpected scene...

Elephant Seals as far as the eye can see!

So next up was the Big Sur area.  This is miles of winding cliff roads with vista views.  Now it was a little overcast for us, but occasionally it would open up for a view.  We stopped at overlooks and enjoyed (mostly) just making the drive.  This reminded me some of The Great Ocean Road, with less things to see.  Even though it was cold and overcast, the surfers were still out.  I did a quick hike at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park out to the ocean to see a big waterfall and bright blue water.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

After Big Sur we were looking for a Sea Otter Refuge, but never saw it.  So we entered the Carmel/Monterey area and stopped at the Carmel State Beach.  Kacey took some time to walk around on the beach and stretch her legs while I looked for a place to eat dinner in Monterey.  Kacey then found a place called Il Vecchio (the old).  What a great restaurant!  The owner spoke fluent Italian and visits frequently to revise the menu.  The staff was nice and the pricing was reasonable (considering where we were).  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and still had time to check out the view from the coastline there.

The next morning we got up early (after a free hotel night near the airport) and got to Muir Woods National Monument.  This is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time, and I read that the crowds on a Saturday and Sunday get quite bad, so we got to the park by 10 or so.  Unfortunately as I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, the entire bay area was covered in a thick marine layer, so we couldn't see anything.  But, we made it to the park with basically no traffic.  We stuck mostly to the paved trails and Nolan and I enjoyed seeing the Redwood Trees.  I was quite frustrated by the inconsideration of the other guests, though.  This was treated mostly like a city park where there are no noise and other rules.  Even areas marked with several signs to be quiet, people were yelling and using their cell phones in excess.  This, combined with the commercialized junk store, made me realize that John Muir would either be happy that many people had easy access to a park or would be spinning in his grave at what the park had become.  A park ranger I spoke with for a while agreed and had similar thoughts, and informed me that the lease for the junk store was almost up and it was getting kicked out.  They are also considering limiting the number of people in to the park by maybe using a reservation system.  I informed him, though, that a system like this would have prevented me, a non-native, huge fan of the national park system, from being able to see the park (we only knew a few days in advance we would be in the area).  He said they had considered situations like this, but it is a tough problem to solve.  I think denying buses, tour groups, cell phones, and requiring ranger hikes on the paved trails, could go a long way.

Anyway, on our way back to San Francisco, I see what the park web site meant by "busy".  Traffic was backed up all the way on the 101.  I made this to attempt to show how ridiculous this was.  (traffic link)  So as we made our way across the Golden Gate, the fog had lifted and I could see San Francisco, the bridge, and Alcatraz, all for the first time.  Pretty cool!

We decided we would stop at the Golden Gate Park, relax, and take in the sites a little.  Well, the exit we needed didn't look like an exit, but it was.  So we drove for an extra 10 minutes or so to get back to the park.  But once there, we took turns viewing the bridge as 1) parking was crazy and 2) Nolan was asleep.  The bridge top was still covered in fog, so no amazing pictures, but I got the idea.

Next we were going to head toward our hotel in Union Square, making a couple detours along the way.  The first detour was driving down infamous Lombard Street.  This was crazy, as was the view from the top!  Additionally, the view made us realize there is something else to go see, something we weren't even sure what it was; Coit Tower.

So, we added a Waypoint to the GPS and headed up to Coit Tower.  And since we had driven up there and found a spot so fast, we decided to go up.  We also got lucky that the line was relatively short for us (but was longer coming back down).  The views were nice and unobstructed, even the marine layer was finally burning off.  Due to the window configuration and age, it was impossible to get really nice pictures, but I still enjoyed seeing San Francisco from this vantage point.

As it was starting to get late, we headed for our hotel.  There was a public parking garage next to the Hotel Mark Twain that was a little cheaper than valet, and meant I could get back in to my car if we forgot something (which we did).  After sitting for a few minutes, we started looking for food options.  We were both craving some good pizza and found Tony's Pizza Napoletana.  The menu is huge and reminded us of a few things we saw in Naples.  While contemplating delivery, we decided to walk through Union Square, and then take a bus through China town to the restaurant.

The Taiwanese American Cultural Festival was taking place and Nolan took in a puppet show for a few minutes.  Once the activities started shutting down, we headed to our bus for dinner.  Dinner was good and we were lucky in that there was one more table outside, instead of waiting an hour for an inside table.  On our way home, we decided to walk so Kacey could find some pastries from the numerous Chinese bakeries.  Even though most of the markets had closed, a few bakeries were still open, so we got some tasty treats!

The next day, we were only planning to visit Pier 39 and then get on the road.  Kacey had been here as well, and I wasn't too sure what to expect.  The cruise traffic was insane, but we finally made it to our parking garage.  We got some more nice views of Alcatraz, walked through lots of food options, and saw the Pier 39 Sea Lions.  Right before leaving, we bought some Sourdough bread from Boudins.  Then started our 6ish hour drive south on the 101, back home.

Here is a link to our pictures!

A Couple Recent Trips

Last week and this weekend I/we went on a few trips around and near Southern California.  Last week Nolan, Maggie and I drove to Joshua Tree National Park.  It was on my list of parks I really wanted to see.  It was about a 3 hour drive from here and with HOV lanes through the busiest parts, the drive wasn't too bad.  It rained most of the way out, but on the way back the view of Mount San Jacinto was really nice.  There was more to Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms than I was expecting.  There is plenty of food and gas, and the gas was actually cheaper than LA!

Joshua Tree National Park
I have to admit I didn't really know much about Joshua Trees, or even what they look like.  This park has more to offer than just some Joshua Trees.  It was great views of the Pinto Basin, lots of rock formations to climb on, and a great view of the San Andreas Fault.  We first visited the visitor's center in Twentynine Palms and stamped Nolan's National Park Passport book.  They had some nice information about the area to.  From there we drove down to Cholla Cactus Garden.  On this drive there are nice views of the Pinto Basin.  The cactus garden was a nice little walk and some of the cactus were in bloom.  Next on our drive back north, we stopped at White Tank, which is a campground along with some rocks to climb on and a trail to an arch rock.

Next we started the drive west to Keys View, which is an overlook of the San Andreas Fault.  On the way, drove through some valleys full of Joshua Trees.  It was a nice little drive and it was interesting to see how quickly the landscape changes through this park.  Keys View was pretty with many sites within view.

Panoramic View from Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park

Pictures from Joshua Tree National Park
 
Death Valley National Park
Last weekend we decided to meet Maggie in Las Vegas for a day and a half.  I had always said that my first driving trip to Las Vegas, I wanted to drive there via Death Valley.  It is a little out of the way, but Death Valley is out of the way from everywhere, so it kinda makes sense.  The day we were there, it was cold (50-60), windy, and rainy.  So this meant that it wasn't unbearable heat and that the mountains were a little different color.  We started from the west end of the park and drove to Furnace Creek.  This is where the main visitor's center and hotel are located.  On the way there, there are some nice views and windy roads.

We got our maps and our stops picked so we started driving toward Badwater Basin.  This is the lowest point in the United States.  Along we way we stopped at Devils Golf Course.  This landscape looked like plowed land, but it was all salt blocks.  On the way back out of Badwater Basin we took Artist's Drive to see Artist's Palette.  This little road was carved out of rock and leads to a beautifully colored rock.  As we were leaving the park, we stopped at Zabriskie Point for one last look at a colorful landscape.

We finished the drive to Las Vegas and found a room at the Stratosphere for cheap (where you get unlimited trips up and down the tower for views of Vegas).  We found some yummy pizza at Albo Pizza and then decided to go up the tower, even though it was late.  It was neat to have that view of the Strip at night!

Pictures from Death Valley

Valley of Fire
The next day we went up the tower again, and then drove out to Valley of Fire State Park.  Maggie had been here a few days prior, but didn't get to spend much time.  This is a really nice state park with lots to see.  The colors and formations are great, and from there we took the scenic route back to Henderson via Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Valley of Fire State Park

The next day was Hoover Dam day.  Both Maggie and I had been there when we were young, but Kacey had not yet been there.  It was much more developed than I remember as a kid.  The elevators were down that day, so there were no tours.  But we still went through the Visitor's Center and walked across the Dam.  After that, it was just a quick 6 hour drive back to LA!

Pictures from Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam

We're Doing It Again

Yet again, our lives are changing and we are starting a new chapter.

As we decided to move to California, we assumed it was time for me to return to work.  I had spent the two prior years home with Nolan, but figured we needed to rebuild some savings and assumed I should go back to work.  Well, I did that, and learned a few things along the way.  I learned that some combination of circumstances of me returning to work made it to be the wrong thing for our family.

So, two weeks ago was my last day back in the corporate world for a while.  Yes, I resigned.

I didn't like the environment or the attitude and motivation of a lot of the people there.  I missed Nolan.  Our family life was not going as smoothly as we imagined (e.g. the house is always a mess).  We just weren't enjoying our time away from work.  We probably weren't going to be here long anyway.  And all-in-all, we are blessed that we don't have to stay unhappy.

So, I am back to being a stay at home dad for the time being.  Who knows where life will take us, but we are blessed and thank God for being faithful to us!

Yummy Espresso

For Christmas, Kacey got me (us) a De'Longhi - EC-155 espresso maker.  Amazon had it for a good price, and it had a rebate too.  While living abroad, Kacey developed a taste for good coffee, and I have been thinking about getting one of these for about a year.  I honestly was expecting to have to spend more money, and so far we have been pleased with this model.

I am by no means a coffee expert, but I am a little snobby.  For Christmas, Eric got me a couple tins of Illy espresso.  It has been great!  Every time I have a cup, I imagine sitting at our villa in Tuscany, drinking my one, sometimes two, espressos each morning.

Each of these tins is around $15 on Amazon, and if you drink a double nearly every day, a tin lasts about a month.  And actually, it doesn't take very long to make a drink in the morning.  In fact, it is probably the same amount of time you already invest in coffee in the morning (and less expensive than Starbucks).

Am I trying to convince people to try new things... Yes!  Especially if you have been thinking about or considering better, cheaper alternatives to buying coffee from someone every day.

Prior to a De'Longhi, I was using a Melitta cone coffee brewer, a hotshot, and grinding my beans every morning.  This was good, but I enjoy what I now have.

A Quick Visit to Napa

Last week, I had to travel to Central Coast, CA for work for 2 days, and the day I was leaving I realized I was going to be 15 minutes from Napa.  And since there was nothing around where I was staying, I was determined to go to Napa for dinner both nights.  This post simply serves as a record of the yummy food I had while I was there.

Though I got in late the first night, I drove to Morimoto Napa.  I started off with two pieces of sushi.  While it was good, it was overpriced due to 1) location and 2) the name of the restaurant.  If you are visiting here for fun and on a budget, you can skip sushi.  I ordered the Duck Duck Goose.  It is duck confit fried rice and frozen foie gras.  I don't think I have had either before, and it was nice new flavors.  This also came with a duck leg and a duck meatball in a small soup.  I also ordered the salted fingerling potatoes as I was pretty hungry.  The serving of potatoes was larger than I was expecting, which was nice.  I finished the evening off with kabocha squash sticky toffee cake, which is  served with buttermilk ice cream and caramelized asian pear.  The cake was delicious.

The second night I drove to Yountville to dine at Michael Chiarello's restaurant, Bottega.  I started off with the Butternut Squash Caramelle, served with Bosc pear, Pecorino, crispy sage, brown butter emulsion & Amaretti - poppy seed gremolata.  This was delicious and I ate slowly and enjoyed it.  The crispy sage was nice and we need to try to recreate it at home.  My secondi was a Wood Grilled Loin of Grass-Fed Lamb with saffron braised potatoes, green onions, pistachio pesto & rosemary scented lamb jus.  I liked the unique pistachio pesto and the way all the flavors infused in to the pototoes.  It was very hard to pick my dessert, but I decided on Panna Cotta Vaniglia; Eggless vanilla custard parfait, Caramelized pineapple gelatini, Forno roasted strawberry.  It was ok, but I think I would try something else next time as I didn't quite like the pineapple flavor.  This is no problem, though, as there were many tempting options.

2012 - Another New and Potentially Exciting Year

I know I haven't written much lately, but the things that have been on my mind I can't really discuss openly... yet.

2011 was a pretty interesting year.  Kacey graduated from MIT, we moved to the west coast, Nolan started school and I went back to a corporate job.  Nolan is growing up so fast now, and still cracks us up all the time with the things he thinks up!

2012 should also shape up to be an interesting year.  We have some plans, may take on some new challenges, and expect some more big changes.

So while we figure some things out here, I probably won't be back on the blogosphere much.  Sorry, but there are things we can't talk about openly at this time.

Arrivederci Monterosso

This week, we learned of the terrible news of one of the most beautiful places in the world. Cinque Terre, Italy, was destroyed in some areas from flash flooding from the hills.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8850032/Villages-all-but-wiped-out-as-storms-batter-Italys-Cinque-Terre.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-27/floods-hit-italy/3602764

Here is a picture we took last year (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Cinque-Terre/15072789_5TmPQs#1553956292_zJvZQ2V) and here is a picture of the same place now (http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/3603218-3x2-940x627.jpg)

Here is a link to all our pictures from our Cinque Terre visit in 2010 (www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Cinque-Terre/) and our pictures from 2006 (www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy2006/CinqueTerre/).

Monterosso in June 2010

Monterosso in October 2011

Solvang and Santa Barbara

We searched around for a place to visit during the Labor Day three day weekend; a place that wouldn't have too many people visiting for the extended weekend.  A couple people had suggested Solvang, as it is a small, Danish town that might not attract too many people, and might appeal to our liking.  So Sunday morning, we got in the car and drove about 90 minutes to Solvang, CA!

Along the way, we drove through Los Padres National Forest.  This was a fun little mountain drive with a Vista lookout on the way back down.  It wasn't too great, but we were only 20 minutes from our hotel at that point.  We arrived in town right before lunch, so we parked the car at our hotel, the Royal Copenhagen Inn, and started walking around.  We walked by Olsen's Danish Village Bakery, which I had read was probably the best in town.  I saw a lot of tasty looking things, but I decided on something that looked unique and delicious called a Danish Waffle.  It was two long and narrow fried puff pastries made to look like a sandwich, with butter cream and raspberry filing.  It was awesome!  We walked around a few more minutes and since we weren't quite close enough to all the Danish restaurants, we ate lunch at a place called Succulent Cafe.  It had only been open a week, but the fare was pretty unique and good.  I got BBQ meatloaf, served as an open-face sandwich on a piece of cornbread, topped with thick bacon and melted cheese.  It also came with a side of olives, YUM!

After lunch we checked in our hotel, got the stroller, and started walking around town.  It is a cute, little Danish-inspired town, settled by Danes about 100 years ago.  We stopped in a fair amount of shops and bakeries.  We had some famous Aebleskivers, which were yummy.  I had interest in visiting the local museum, following Danish history.  I learned at 3pm that it would close at 4, so we headed down to the Elverhøj Museum.  It is suggested donation to enter, and a few ladies there giving out tidbits about the museum and the history of the town.  It was easy to see in 20-30 minutes, and had a lot of neat information.

After visiting the museum, we decided to walk to the hotel, ditch the stroller, and head to Hans Christian Anderson Park.  Along the way was the old church, so we stopped in to take a look.  The park was not quite as we imagined; we should have driven because it is rather large and not much close to the entrance we were near.  There was, though, a skate park and a small playground area, so Nolan played a little while we watched the skaters.  It was getting hot and we were starting to get hungry, so we headed to the hotel to clean up and figure out dinner.

I really wanted something Danish, but Kacey really didn’t care, as long as there was something she would like.  We were trying to decide between the Little Mermaid (we had heard good things) and Bit O’Denmark.  Since the later was one of the oldest things in town, we figured we would try that; and they had a fairly diverse menu.  I ordered the Combo plate with Frikadeller and Medisterpolse, with red cabbage and potatoes on the side.  Kacey got a large cheese plate and Nolan got pasta.  Nolan was starting to act up, probably because he was tired, so we paid up and headed back out to cruise the main street and head to our hotel.

By 8pm, the main street was dead.  Only a couple shops were left open, and while Kacey checked out a few, I took some pictures of the buildings lit up at night and found a place for Nolan to go potty (not easy).  On our way back, we walked by a fountain we had seen earlier that day.  I had previously seen that there were little lights all over it so during the day, I told Nolan we would come visit it again at night and it would have lights.  Sure enough, it did!  I took a few pictures of Nolan checking out the lit up fountain and by then, it was cold out so we headed across the street to our hotel.  We were pretty tired!

The next day we woke up ready to enjoy our Danish continental breakfast at the next door Mortensen’s Danish Bakery.  We were treated with a drink and a pastry.  I got a blueberry Danish, Nolan got a raspberry boat Danish, and Kacey got an apple turnover.  They were pretty tasty, but I was still hungry so I ordered a Danish Waffle from this place as well.  I think Olsen’s was better, but they were both very yummy.

Our itinerary for the day was to check out a yarn store and visit the Old Mission Santa Ines before getting on the road to visit Santa Barbara.  The Old Mission wasn’t that interesting, but it had a nice little tour, some old art from the region, and the church to walk through.  There was also a nice garden that Nolan ran around in for a while.  When leaving, there was a nice view overlooking a valley that kind of reminded me of what it looked like exiting a church in Tuscany.  We headed back to our hotel to retrieve the car, but not before Kacey stopped at the Olive Oil store to check it out.

It didn’t take too long to reach Santa Barbara.  We found a parking spot on the street, next to the beach, and next to the Santa Barbara Fish House.  Kacey was ready to eat, and it looked good, so we headed in.  Our food was pretty good, and reasonably priced, so it was a good decision.  We walked across the street to the beach area and walked around for a couple minutes.  There was a bike path with surreys, so we decided to get one for 30 minutes and ride up and down the beach.  It was a nice little ride, but we were tired and ready to fight the traffic to get home.

Pictures from Solvang

Pictures from Santa Barbara

My Nikon 18-200 VR Lens Experience

In case someone else out there is searching the web, as I did, trying to figure out why their front lens element is falling off their 18-200 VR lens from Nikon, I will share my experiences with this. I baby my lens, especially compared to my bro-in-law; I keep it dry, I don't throw it ever, things like that. But, I do use my light hood a lot when outside; and since my camera and lens will not fit in my bag with the light hood on, I frequently reverse it back on the lens to store it.

A few months ago, the lens stopped auto-focusing to infinity at 200mm. Eric was around when this happened, so we swapped lenses and learned that it was my lens, not my camera. I learned that I could still focus manually, so I sadly shrugged it off. Then, just about a month ago when hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, I noticed that I could not even manually focus to infinity at 200mm, and this really frustrated me. I also noticed that the front element felt a little loose. When I got home I inspected and saw that it was very loose!

I got online and started searching. I found a few threads around that indicated that their front element was coming loose and preventing focusing as mentioned above. Some people did not have the extended warranty I got for free, so they were fixing it themselves. I was still under warranty, so back to Nikon it went.

This was the best thread I found on this issue:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/72604026@N00/discuss/72157604812437107/

If this happened to you, good luck!

The Big Thank You!

For a couple years now, I have often thought about all the people I need to thank; you see, the past couple years, many people have done us many favors during our life journey. Some did it out of love, or their belief in our dreams, or just a small favor that maybe they didn't realize how much we appreciated it.

Last week we visited a new church. While getting ready for church, I thought again about the big thank you I wanted to write. It was definitely timing prompted by the Holy Spirit as the sermon that day had to do with thanking people for the impact they have in our lives. I actually got to talk to the pastor about this! He said "Let me know what else you intend to blog about so I know what sermon to present next".

So... let's begin. These won't be in any order, which means keep reading :)

Nancy & Karl Hans - Kacey's aunt and uncle adopted our two kitties while we lived in Italy. This was actually one of the planning items I was most anxious about as we couldn't just stick them in storage with everything else. When Nancy heard about our anxiety, she said "Tell them not to worry about it, we can make it work". I was so relieved when I heard this! I know this was not an easy thing for them to do either; their two cats were known for being moody anyway. We are so blessed and thankful that the Hans watched our kitties for us and believed in our journey the way they did.

Noramay Cadena - Noramay, one of Kacey's classmates, did a couple things for us that really mattered. While we were getting ready to move to Italy, we needed to store 4 large suitcases and a stroller in Boston, but had no apartment. Even though Noramay was also getting ready to move across the country with her daughter, she gladly took our things AND even drove me and all our stuff back to our hotel before our flight to Europe. She went out of her way and it made our lives a lot easier, so thank you!

Eric Fetcho - Eric did many things. He helped us move out of our house AND took many of our belongings to store in his house for 2 years. He gave us a place to stay many, many times, even when he had things going on or maybe we wouldn't even get to really spend time with us. As we were preparing to leave for Italy, he drove to Indy to get us (after we stored our car) and brought us up to Ft. Wayne. Thanks for all your support, Eric!

Karen Phillips - Mom helped us several times while we were home from getting people together for get-togethers and spending time with Nolan. She helped try to make our trips to Indiana a little more comfortable. She also helped us with getting ready to leave Indiana, including car-sitting for us for a few months.

Todd Waldron, Chris Hopkins, and Cynthia Wilson - Three of Kacey's classmates who helped us move all our stuff twice! We had a lot of stuff in Boston, but they were willing and able to help us move it all to storage (when they all also had to do the same), and helped us move it all out of storage again upon returning to Boston (which they also had to do). Without their help, I really don't know how I would have done all that. Thanks guys!

Adam and Amanda Phillips - My brother and sis-in-law gave us a bed many times, even when they had plenty of other things going on in their lives. I know it wasn't easy to have us stay with them, but it really made our lives a lot easier! Adam also drove with me to Boston when we first moved there, and helped us unload the truck. Thank you Adam!

Mike and Maggie Fetcho - This one might be long, but they really supported us a lot! They helped us pack up our house, and took many, many things to store in their basement for 2 years! They gave us a home several times along the way, sometimes for a couple days, and once for almost 4 months! This couldn't have been easy on them and even though we tried to make it easier for them, they were just great along the way. Their support and belief of our journey made a lot of our lives a lot easier. Thanks memaw and papaw! Oh, and Mike drove with Kacey out to Boston when we first moved there, and helped Adam and I unload the truck!

Here is a list of folks I remember helping us load our moving truck in Greenwood in May 2009: Our CGPC family, all my Pike buddies (I will never forget your engineering efforts with my TV and treadmill, impressive), including Haycox who drove down from Chicago!, Adam and Sarah, my brothers and mom, Kacey's brother and parents, and I am sure I forgot someone. Thanks everyone!

My grandma and grandpa VanHook - When we needed to fly back to Indiana for a wedding in Ft. Wayne, they loaned us one of their vehicles for the weekend. This was very useful! They also let us stay at their house twice while they weren't there, once for 2 weeks while Kacey was away. This was a hard time on us, so it was nice being in a friendly location during that time.

Here is a list of folks that watched Nolan at some point, letting Kacey and I have time to ourselves once in a while: Chas (watched Nolan while I went for an interview), Christie, Karla, Cynthia, my mom, Maggie (so we could go to MBA Prom), Todd, and my mom and sis-in-law Amanda (so I could go to a Colts game with Adam).

Cynthia Wilson - Not only did Cynthia watch Nolan a couple times, and help us move, but she brought back some of our abandoned clothes from Italy. What a great friend, thanks!

Sharon and Vince Cullers - They gave us a place to stay for 5 days when we were visiting Indy before leaving for Italy. They opened their house and made us feel very welcome, even though we would be running in and out during that time.

I forgot one! Jack and Deb Snyder - They watched our cats for a month while we were between school and moving to California. Thanks!!!

I forgot two more!!
Carlos McGowan - Gave us a place to crash in Indy one weekend so we could visit family. Thanks bra!

Kendra and Kristen - Gave us a place to crash in Indy another weekend. Thanks Schmathas!

I have probably forgotten someone, which I said I wouldn't do.

Finding the Right Home

When we lived in Greenwood, we had a great small group at a wonderful church. But the time we were in Cambridge, we never found this. I know and can see the effect it had on my life. So moving to California, one of our main goals is searching for our church home. I know this will take time; visiting churches, then dating churches (Thanks Pastor Steve O!)... and you really only see one church a week. And, what if that church had several families on vacation that week? (We think we have experienced that some)

Luckily, we have a great guide. The Holy Spirit!

But it still takes effort on our part. And patience. And prayer. And research. And an open heart. We have some criteria we have in our minds we are looking for in this home, but realize we have to be open to each place we happen to visit. And all of this time leads to impatience as I really want to find a place soon, but I also know as long as we keep the right attitude and willingness to look and listen, it will happen in the correct time.

Years ago, Pastor Steve gave a great sermon (of which I still have the mp3 and notes) about dating churches. But, before we can really date a church, we have to find ones to visit. Does anyone know of any good tools or ideas for learning about a church before we show up? I mean, if there are no other 3 year olds at a particular church, I doubt it will become our home (as I feel our home has to really be right for Nolan).

So far we have visited 4 churches out here (we didn't plan ahead enough one week), and have a few more we want to visit. We connected really well with the pastor's son and wife at one church, so hopefully they don't feel bad that we are still visiting other churches.

Please pray for us in our search!

Big Transition Time

Life the past two years has been exciting and unpredictable. But tomorrow, I start a new chapter. Now that we have moved to Westlake Village, CA, I will be starting work at Amgen tomorrow morning. I haven't worked in a corporate job in over two years; staying home with Nolan has been my job. It will be similar to work I performed at Lilly, but a new culture, slightly new job, new patients, new medicines, and new coworkers. But, it won't be with my little boy and that makes me sad. But, it is time for both of us to start our new life chapter.

Nolan Is 3!

Had lots of fun with my boy this year! Here is a post Kacey wrote about Nolan.

http://kaco1.tumblr.com/post/7522260405/nolanthird

And, most birthday pictures are posted here. http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Nolan/July-2011/

Jamaica, Mon!

This past week Kacey and I took a little vacation, sans Nolan, to the Iberostar Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We almost went to Jamaica, with Nolan, over spring break this year but didn't ever get it worked out. Also, we have never been to an all-inclusive resort as we normally don't like to sit in one place for a long period of time on vacation, and we really enjoy eating at different restaurants in new places. But, we decided to pull the trigger to go relax for a few days somewhere warm before work.

And let me just say, it is great flying on your status airline for vacation... US Airways is my favorite airline to be status on. First class both ways! (And their upgrade process is better than United and American in my opinion) I think flying to a vacation spot helps as there are less business people getting upgrades on these flights.

So on Sunday night, we drove up to Detroit to stay at an airport hotel (and to leave the car there) as our flight left at 6:30am. I was quite pleased with the Quality Inn there and they have a cheap stay and park rate with 24 hour shuttle.

Monday morning at DTW we had to get there early due to our shuttle, so we checked out the Lufthansa Business Lounge. We had enough time to eat a little food and head back across the terminal to our flight. We had a short flight to Charlotte so we just relaxed and ate a few snacks. Once in Charlotte, we thought we would hand out in the lounge. To our surprise (and a little embarrassment), our first-class ticket to Montego Bay did not quality for the lounge. Oh well, we went to the gate and used the free internet for a few minutes before boarding.

Once we arrived in Montego Bay, we had to look for Desk #21 to coordinate our hotel transfer. We had pre-booked a bus ride and in the back of my mind I knew we would have to wait some. Unfortunately, we were the first on a big bus and we had to wait almost an hour for ~15 more people to join us. Then, we were the last drop-off hotel so we spent another 30 minutes on the bus. AND at one stop, some other guy tried to take our bag! So if you can afford to get a private ride or dare a taxi, DO IT!

Once we arrived, we were just happy to be there, but missing our boy. We weren't quite able to get in our room yet, but we put our wristbands on and went down for lunch at the buffet. We were pleasantly surprised! The selection was pretty good and while a few of the items weren't great, many were pretty good and creative. After lunch we got in our room and then headed to the pool for some relaxing.

View from our balcony

During the rest of the week, we did some snorkeling, ocean kayaking, sailing, sand volleyball, beach aerobics, lots of lounging, archery, and a couple fancy dinners.

We went to the cajun place called Jambalaya one night (not great) and the Japanese place another night (not great). We enjoyed the consistency and variety of the buffet. We also rented a car and ventured to Ocho Rios to see Dunn's River Falls. It was WAY more touristy than I ever imagined and there was no hiking.

We had a good time at this resort. Our expectations weren't super high, but the folks that worked there were nice and inviting. The only people that ever asked for a tip were at the snorkeling/scuba area (they had a tip jar). I felt our service was never really based on tips. It was nice not carrying money or wallets around the resort. We also got to enjoy lots of local fruits at the buffet; naseberry being my favorite local fruit (it was like a mix of cinnamon, pear, and fig). They also made a fried plantain salad that I thought was delicious! And of course, they had jerk chicken twice a day.

We took our new Sony Cyber-shot WX9, not the Nikon, so these pictures were took with it. It has a neat panoramic photo setting that we liked playing with. Check out all our pictures here!
http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Jamaica/

Toronto

Last week we visited Toronto. Maggie had been wanting to visit, and we had the time, so we all drove from Toledo for a short visit. On the way there, we took the Ambassador Bridge, which was pretty quick. The drive is pretty easy to Toronto. We arrived at the Ramada Plaza downtown around 2 and by 3:30, we were at the St. Lawrence Market. On Saturdays the north side opens up for a farmers market, but the south side is open every day. It is full of meat, cheese, fruit, fish, and other foods. This would be a nice place to live close to!

Next we walked toward the CN Tower. It was extremely foggy, so going up was out of the question for the first day. But, we wanted to see the area and let Nolan run around the park a little. We saw some display trains across the street so we walked over there for Nolan to check out; it was the old roundhouse. And the roundhouse has been converted to a furniture store and a brewery. We walked in the Steam Whistle Brewery to just check it out, and they were offering free samples, so I had a couple. While we were leaving, some guy/street entertainer approached us to make a balloon animal for Nolan. He was nice and funny. We started walking toward the hotel looking for food. We didn't find much and Kacey remembered passing two Thai places close to the hotel. We ate dinner at the Buppha Thai Restaurant. It was very good! That night, I took Nolan to the hotel pool for a few minutes for some fun.

On Thursday we slept in a little and first headed to Casa Loma. This castle wasn't quite as big or reasonably priced as a few things we have seen in Europe, but it did have a nice looking outside, large garden, and view of the city. We took the subway down to Union Station to walk along the waterfront. We ate lunch at Williams Cafe; the food was good, but it left me a little hungry. It was starting to rain so we headed for the PATH, the large underground mall. Our plan was to use this to make our way north toward the City Hall. By time we made it north, the rain had calmed. There was a mini car show going on inside the mall, and there was both a Chevy Volt and also a Tesla Roadster in attendance! I took a few pictures, of course.

I was hoping to find the Church of the Holy Trinity near the City Hall, but all we found was the Old City Hall. This is now just courtrooms. We walked to City Hall for a break for a few minutes. After this, we started walking to Chinatown to check it out. Kacey and Maggie hit up a few places and we ended up sitting in the Ding Dong Cafe for a few minutes to eat a little snack and wait out a little more rain. We then decided to walk to Little Italy to find some dinner.

The guide book we had only listed a couple Italian restaurants in Little Italy, but one review looked very good. Also, this place wasn't on our big city map, so we had to rely on the guide book map, which was to a much different scale. It took quite a while to walk to Pizzeria Libretto, but when we finally made it, it seemed we had made a good decision. This place was packed on a Thursday night. Luckily we only had to wait 5-10 minutes. The pizzas were pretty good, but not great. On our way back up the street car, we stopped at Crème for some gelato. This was the perfect end to lots of walking (~4 miles) and pizza.

The next day I woke up early and decided to walk back to the Church of the Holy Trinity. While it didn't open until 11am, I did get to see the outside of the little church, as well as the Eaton Centre. This church was smaller than I was expecting and has been pretty much surrounded by newer hotels and parking garages. To get back to the hotel by my 8:30am curfew, I decided to rent a bike. This was very easy to do and with tons of pickup and drop-off points, very convenient. While geared more for one day on/off, it worked just fine for a 10 minute one-way.

On our way out of town, we decided to get some food, and Kacey and I had been craving crepes. We found a place called Crêpes À GoGo. This was a small little bistro where French seemed to be the preferred language. They were very good! We also got a Nutella crepe to wrap up our meal and it was very tasty! But before we left town, we had to stop back in at the St. Lawrence market. After picking up a few more things, we hit the road for our trip back home.

Honestly, Canada seems a lot like America. The people aren't outstanding as being extremely nice and seem to be mostly in a hurry (especially when driving!). Toronto won't go down as one of my favorite places but it was good to visit.

Our pictures from Toronto can be found here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Toronto/)

It's A Little Busy

Things are going well getting ready to move, but very busy. Once we settle in a new home, I look forward to sharing our adventures and our new home!

Boston Bucket List

I created a list in my mind a while back to try to complete. We checked off the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, including the Chihuly exhibit, so I thought I would share the pictures.







Check out the rest here! (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Boston/Museum-of-Fine-Arts/)

Items Recently Checked Off the List
Mr. Bartley's - This is a famous burger place at Harvard. I was waiting for Eric to come to town to enjoy, so we went last weekend. The burgers were decent, sweet potato fries were ok (needed to be left in the fryer more), onion rings needed a little salt (but after that good) and the atmosphere was lively and enjoyable.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - This museum is more famous for what it doesn't have; it was the victim of one of the biggest unsolved art robberies in the world. Going on one of the free tours here was great. We were shown many things and learned information that we would have never received had we wandered on our own. This is definitely a place to visit (combine for a full day with the Boston MFA, it is next door and you get a discount for both).

Upcoming Items
Prudential Skywalk - Part of the MIT Sloan graduation takes place here, and we are obviously going!

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation - Due to timing and limited seasons, we have not yet seen this. I am hoping to do this around graduation with the in-laws.

Trinity Church - While I have technically been in here, it was on Palm Sunday, so I took no pictures and did not do the tour.

Nolan and the Potty

FYI, if you don't want to read about pee and poop, stop reading now.

About the past 4-6 weeks, Nolan was been regularly pooping on the potty. This is mostly because he is predictable and I take him to the potty every morning and afternoon. It is nice not changing dirty diapers! Sometimes he will ask to go before I take him in, so he is learning.

Now pee has been a different story. We tried underpants for a day back in February and also a few weeks ago, but both times there were accidents. But after talking to a few daycare facilities where he might attend, most want kids potty trained at his age. So I decided to work with Nolan some more. I bought some more underpants the other day and yesterday we put some on. After a couple hours there was an accident, but I cleaned him up and put on new pants. He then had another accident a few hours later, but it was close to bedtime so he got a diaper.

Today has been different, and better. I put his underpants on after lunch and talked more to him about how kids at school have to pee in the potty. Three or four times already today, he has walked to the potty by himself, pulled down his pants, and went pee on the potty! So today has been a great day for Nolan! There will be more accidents, but we are definitely headed toward a diaper free Nolan.

Nolanisms

Just a few funny things recently

Mommy or daddy: "Whats that noise" or "Ugh, you're too heavy stop jumping on me" or "Who is jumping on the bed"
Nolan: "It's just Nolan!"

Mommy or daddy: "Time for bed, good night" as we leave his room.
Nolan: "I have a question. What's hot lava?"

In reference to many things mommy or daddy says or something Nolan sees: "How's that work" or "What's that do" or What's that called". (I suppose this is very typical, though)

Every morning
Daddy: "Nolan, do you want some coffee?"
Nolan: "No, its too hot."

While playing a game where I fake sleep on his bed
Nolan (melodically): "Daddy wants to hear looovely music"
(I have no idea where he picked up this lovely music phrase!)

Montreal

We took a couple trips during Spring Break this year. First we traveled to Bethlehem, PA to visit Kacey's family for a couple days and Nolan had lots of fun playing with Sophia, Kali and Brenna.

Then this past week we loaded up the car and headed towards Montreal! We found a place with an indoor pool so it would feel a little like Spring Break. On our way up on Wednesday, we stopped off at King Arthur's Flour. We bought some, you guessed it, flour, as well as lunch. And since we were there, we drove around Dartmouth for a few minutes. It was a nice stop, but we had another 3 hours of driving.

The first evening we were there we walked to the underground mall as we were pretty close. Well, a lot of it closes by 6pm and there isn't much food in the area. So after a brief walk, we decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant as we had a discount and Nolan ate free (we normally would never eat at the hotel).

Thursday we got up, got some free breakfast, and headed to the pool! It was a pretty good size heated indoor salt water pool and Nolan had lots of fun. After 30-45 minutes we headed up to change so we could head down to Old Montreal. Our first stop was Notre Dame and there was a tour right as we got there so we were able to enjoy that. This church was interesting and different than most we have seen. The colors were unique and the structure was wood with a stone facade. The wood structure allows for windows in the ceiling! We enjoyed our tour but were very hungry. We found a little Italian restaurant a couple blocks away so we ate at Da Franco Ristorante. The food was ok and the prices were reasonable (will Kacey and I ever find great Italian food again??).

Next we walked to the Centre de Céramique (ceramics gallery). Kacey looked around for a bit then we headed on our way. We walked down toward the river, walked by some shops, and headed for the Bonsecours Market. This place wasn't that lively, probably due to the time of year. We found some real maple syrup here to bring back home. Next we decided to just walk around more of Old Montreal to find a place to eat for dinner. Kacey spotted a store called Canadian Maple Delights, so we went in. I wanted to eat some maple stuff, so while I sampled a couple of their ice creams, I saw the ultimate dessert. It is called the Da Vinci. Two shots of espresso, two scoops of maple ice cream with maple chunks and whip cream on top. Nolan was asleep so I ventured downstairs to check out their Maple Museum. It was some interesting reading. We weren't super hungry but it was time to eat a little something. We spotted a Tapas place called Santos. The food was really good and it was good we weren't too hungry; it was expensive! After eating we headed back to the hotel to find some food for Nolan to eat and so we could rest for the night.

The next day we figured we would get in a little pool time before heading back to Old Montreal. Our goal was to go to the Centre d'histoire de Montréal. We walked to Old Montreal and found the museum pretty quick. It had a lot of great information on the history of Montreal and we enjoyed our visit. But, it was now time for lunch and it was time for crêpes! We found a place that wasn't too expensive called the Marché de la Villette. The food was really good; I got a crepe with ham and cheese and a little salad and Kacey got a three cheese crepe. Nolan even got a little one, but he didn't really eat it (so I did). Then the nice manager brought Nolan out a piece of Belgian waffle. But it was time for our next endeavor, Mount Royal. Parc du Mont-Royal is a large park on a hill (not a mountain) that overlooks Montreal. We drove up and parked near the Smith House so we could walk out to the scenic overlook at the Chalet. It wasn't too far of a hike, but with the bitter wind and slushy/icy walkway, it wasn't the nicest hike. The view from the lookout is not quite as grand as I expected, but it was still nice. The view is blocked by trees to the sides and in the middle the skyline is filled with the large buildings of Montreal (and you can only barely see the river). I can see how in the summer this park would be a great hangout for hiker, bikers, runners, and families.


Panoramic view from the Chalet atop Mont Royal.

On our way down we stopped at the other overlook but this view isn't as great and looks toward a different part of Montreal. From here, though, you can see the Olympic Stadium.


Panoramic view looking east toward Olympic Stadium.

The last thing to do for the day was find some dinner. While driving to the park we noticed a few restaurants in another direction than we had walked from the hotel, so we checked those out on foot. Unfortunately they didn't see like great options, but we did find Caffe & Cucina. We got our hopes up with Italian in the name so we checked out the menu. We decided to give it a try. Nolan and I got pizzas and Kacey got mussels. The food was pretty good! There may be better pizza somewhere else in Montreal but if you are in this area give it a try! Since we were on vacation we decided to treat ourselves to some chocolate cake that evening, which we seldom do. It was very tasty. But it was time for rest as we had a couple more places to visit the next day before driving back to Boston.

After our last free breakfast we packed up the car and headed out to Olympic Stadium (be weary of traffic signals, they are generally not hanging over the street and often hard to spot as they appear at more intersections than expected and blend in well; we almost ran a few). I wasn't sure if we would be able to get in or not, or whether we would maybe hit the Biodome. Well, we could do neither. I thought Biodome was free, but it was like $16/person, and small, and crowded, so no. The stadium we could walk in the ticket area, but you could only go in if you had tickets to an event. Oh well. Then we were hoping to find a grassy area to walk around but there was only some back near where we parked. No wonder the locals call this place the big mistake.


Panoramic view of Olympic Stadium.

Our last stop was going to first be lunch somewhere and then a stop at St. Helen's Island on the way out of Montreal. We found a little diner called Miami Deli. This looked like a local favorite type place. I got another smoked meat sandwich (very similar to corned beef) and Kacey got fish n chips (looked so-so). We headed out to St. Helen's Island to drive around the Parc Jean-Drapeau. We didn't have a ton of time, but there also isn't much to do here other than walk around, and it was cold and snow covered. We drove to a parking lot near the water and got some nice pictures of Montreal. We found the Biosphere (this is what was free) but it didn't look that enticing. So we headed out on our journey back to Boston.


Panoramic view of Montreal from St. Helen's Island.

On our way home, we had a stop or two we wanted to make. We wanted to stop in Burlington for a view of the town and Lake Champlain. This is a nice looking cozy little town. We stopped enough to stretch our legs and get some pictures of the lake and got back on the road (and filled up on gas as Canada is more expensive). As we were driving through Vermont Kacey found an advertisement for Ben & Jerry's; it was right off the interstate about 10 mines further down the road. So we called information and decided to stop in. While tours were done for the day and production was not up, it was still a cool little place to see and visit if only for a few minutes.

Check out our pictures here. S.V.P! (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Montreal/)

What's Nolan Doing?

I titled this after a question I get asked frequently by Nolan. Usually, he knows he is doing something peculiar when he asks me this.

So what is Nolan doing? Let me capture a few things, mostly for our benefit...

Legos
We have large and small lego blocks. The small ones were acquired from the Fetcho house a while back and we are just now playing with them. He enjoys building little trucks and adding new items to the trucks and giving them creative names. He also enjoys taking the little lego guys apart; I have used this opportunity to make some cyborgs. The bigger blocks are also used to make trucks. He recently learned how to make the big ones and little ones connect, so we will see what kinds of trucks he can make now!

Camera
For Christmas, Nolan got a VTech Kidizoom camera. We researched the few kids cameras on the market and this was the clear winner. Let me say that the reviews were correct. Not only was it cheaper, it is a good little camera. It has two games and you can edit photos right on the camera. It also has a flash! It is very easy to download pictures off the camera to your computer; no special software. See here for Nolan's pictures.

Computers
Nolan also got a VTech Kids Computer for Christmas. This toy is ok; he has done some learning and likes the toy. The screen is kinda bad, but oh well.

I say computers because lately Nolan has been loving to play with Kacey's tablet PC. His favorite site is TVOKids.com. With her touchscreen, he can select his own games and play with by himself. There are animal, science, and music games to name a few.

Cooking
Nolan loves to pretend cook food. To do this, though, he likes to use real utensils. This also means he likes to get in the utensil drawer (where knives and scissors are located) and reach around and take things out. He really likes mixing (and watching youtube videos of mixers, really) and grabbing things with tongs.

Cats
Nolan has learned that tormenting cats is fun. We don't know what else to do to get him to stop. The cats don't really run away from him all the time and let him pick them up and sit on them. Then they get mad that they didn't run away. We are just waiting for a big scratch to teach him, but that hasn't happened yet.

Ball
We play baseball (he swings and pitches), basketball, soccer, and catch. He is getting better at catch, but needs more practice. He pitches pretty well too!

Potty
Well, sometimes. He still doesn't want to use it a lot, but sometimes will ask. He still says he likes his diaper. We tried "big-boy pants" one day and that didn't work.

We have good times. I need to soak it all in now, as my time all day with him will soon come to an end. :(

The New ChrisandKacey.com!

Back in November, I started working on setting up our new photo web site. I searched for new providers and really loved the Power User account through Smugmug.com. It allowed me unlimited photo (and video) space, custom URL integration, a very loyal user base among photographers, and great customer service. (By the way, I can send invitations if you are interested). I have already uploaded 70 GB, and haven't even done most of our videos yet.

So, www.chrisandkacey.com is now all new! Check it out, let me know what you think (especially regarding finding pictures and galleries, we have struggled with how to set up the structure). I am loving it so far!

Getting Settled In

It has been a busy few weeks! The Holidays are over and we have moved back to Cambridge. Kacey's school sessions have begun and Nolan and I are remembering what it is like to stay at home. Of course, it is different now that he is older; we have talks and he tells me what I should be doing during the day. He is also remembering all of his old toys. It is quite funny; he walks up with an old toy and says "I remember this"!

We are looking forward to getting out to play in the snow this afternoon and maybe tomorrow too. There is, after all, about 3 feet of it outside. Boston does a pretty good job of keeping streets and sidewalks clear, and it appears quite hard with this much snow around. Too bad there are no good hills nearby for sledding.

Nolan and I have been playing with Legos and tractors a lot. Nolan got a couple new tractors for Christmas and now that we are reunited with our things, I have given Nolan a large amount of my tractor collection. He also got a little barn for the tractors for Christmas. We acquired part of Eric's Lego collection and have been playing with the pieces some. There are a few half-made firetrucks in there, surprise, surprise!

This semester we are living in Central Square, one T stop west of school. We got a great deal on a place here so while we are not a 10 minute walk to school, we are about a 10 minute walk/T ride to school. We still have a few boxes to unpack, and a lot of boxes we will not even attempt to go through. We are also living without cable. We could not secure a good deal with comcast for cable (we are doing internet only) and we can receive HD OTA stations through the cable wire system, so that will serve us just fine. There are only a few cable shows we watch, and they are available online for free.

I am hoping to experiment with lunches for Nolan and I; having sandwiches or easy things each day is getting boring. So, I am on the hunt for new ideas; I don't get inspired as easily as my wife. So please send me your ideas!

Deliciousness from Italia

I thought I would post a picture of *most* of the food items we brought back from Italy (some went out as gifts already).


Back row: Monini olive oil, Benza olive oil (3), Fagolosi breadsticks, Arteliquida Toscana IGT 2007, Galassi San Giovese di Romagna DOC, Poggiotondo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2008, Coli Chianti DOCG 2007, Arancia Rossa, San Carlo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2005, Piccini Chianti DOCG 2009, Camporsino Chianti DOCG 2009, Bosca Five Stars Prosecco DOC, Prosecco di Treviso DOC, Riunite Lambrusco IGT, Santa Croce Lambrusco DOC, Brumale Sangiovese di Romagna DOC 2009, Rosso di Anita Frappato Sicilia IGT 2009.
Front: Parmigiano reggiano (2), Uva (raisins), Pici la Cerchla, Trofie (2), Aceto Balsamico di Modena (Balsamic vinegar), Fontal cheese, Tonno all'Olio Olivia (tuna in olive oil), 4 green pestos, 4 red pestos, basilico (basil), Nero chocolate, Panforte (Sienese dessert), illy espresso, Pomodori secchi (sundried tomatoes).

Not pictured is Italian Nutella, which didn't make it home, and Barilla pasta (sold in 1 kg packages).

What will we miss the most? Well, the prices maybe! Most of this is picked up relatively cheap. Most of these things can also be bought in the US in some way or another.

So what will we miss the most that we can't buy here??? Arancia Rossa! Red orange juice made from special Italian red oranges. Maybe if we keep looking hard enough, we can find someone who imports it!

Our New Temporary Life, and Nolan

The last couple months have been interesting. Not interesting because we are (supposed to be) living overseas. More interesting because of the lack of living overseas. After we realized Nolan and I would not be able to re-enter Europe, we had to quickly adjust to a new, temporary life... in Toledo. That is about as much as I want to say here. But, we are very grateful for what we have and are trying to turn it in to opportunities.

Nolan seems to soak up new things like a sponge, which is typical of this age I suppose. We knows his ABCs and can identify each letter, knows his numbers to around 15 (need to increase that), and recently learned how to spell his name. And he seems to love learning new things. He asks all the time now, "what is that". A couple things that concern me is the fact that it seems like he can't gain weight. He eats pretty well, but very little processed food. He is also super-active, so maybe that combination has something to do with it. All I know is that I am getting tired of his pants always falling down. Although he eats pretty well, I feel like he should be accepting of eating more new types of food. In my opinion the variety of food he eats is low, but I try to remember that I will eat anything and he is only 2.

And after trying to capture it on video for about a month, here he is saying his ABCs!


Nolan spelling his name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffis0UxZSO4

Isola d'Elba

In the craziness of the last few weeks, I forgot to blog about our trip to the island of Elba. On Saturday morning the 11th, we woke up thinking we would take a trip back to Cortona and maybe another city. But, Todd and Luana showed up with talk of a hotel deal and details for taking a ferry to Elba. So we quickly packed up the car and headed for Piombino to catch a ferry!

There are multiple ferry companies with different offerings, so looking online the previous week was confusing. It was almost easier to just show up and catch the next one once we realized there was plenty of room on each (if not taking a car). When we arrived the next ship leaving was Toremar, so we grabbed our tickets and got on board. The ride was decent, food not so great (as we were traveling during lunch), so we waited to grab a bite once we arrived on the island. Our plan once we arrived was to grab a cheap rental car (or two), grab a sandwich, and start driving to the park on the west side of the island.

We started the drive in our mighty Fiat Pandas. The road was winding, up and down the mountain side, along the north coast from Portoferraio to Procchio. There were a few lookouts and we were able to stop a couple times, but the views were incredible. Continuing along the northern road we were expecting to find a park with information and maybe some trails. After driving around the west coast and arriving in Fetovaia, we realized this was not quite the park we were expecting. It is mostly a protected area with no roads or trails; so it doesn't really get enjoyed. Interestingly enough, though, is how the landscape changed from the north to the west to the south.

At this point we decided to head to Campo nell'Elba and see what information we could find there. We stopped in town and found some information about a nice lookout to the south and a small church up on the mountain. So, we hit the road in search. The lookout to the south was supposed to be tricky to find. We found a dirt/gravel trail with a sign that pointed to the lookout, so we went for it. This is the type of trail you want a truck for, but our little Fiat Panda's did ok. We were unsuccessful in finding the exact lookout, but our views of the water and shoreline were great. Before we got in too deep on this trail, we decided to head back and it was much more rough than we thought we could handle (and we had no water or food). So we got back on the main east/west road.

We then found the north/south road that cut across the mountain back up to Portoferraio and Magazzini (where our hotel was located). This was supposed to be a little hiking trail up to a small church and then through the mountain-side to another view. We ended up descending on the north side without finding a trail, so we turned around at someone's house and they were able to indicate to us that we had just missed it. So we headed back up and sure enough from that direction, there was a small sign on the road. We drove down the side road to what appeared to be a parking area. There was a park ranger truck there and they confirmed that yes, we had found the trail.

We crammed everything in to our Panda (as the other one would not lock) and started up the hill. It was only a 5 minute walk up to the little, locked church, but the view from the top was amazing. We all took many, many pictures.

Not my greatest work, but panoramic view from the top of the mountain.


View Larger Map

We then found what we figured would be the trail, but the couple different legs we found were all overgrown within about a 1/4 mile. It was also starting to get dark, so we decided it was time to find our hotel and get some food!

We had booked a couple rooms at the Hotel Mare, located on Magazzini Beach. While this beach doesn't really have any sand, neither do most beaches in Italy. And, it is private with calm waters and the ability to rent some kayaks or paddle boats. The hotel also has a restaurant that was actually ok. Since Magazzini beach is about 10-15 minutes to Portoferraio, we were ready to eat immediately and opted to eat there. We sat by the water, eating and drinking vino until about 11.

The next day, Kacey and I had to return the Pandas and bus it back to Magazzini. Our plans for the day were to sit by the pool, sit by the beach, do nothing, and then take a water taxi back to Portoferraio to catch a ferry around 3pm. It all worked out pretty well. On our way back the next ferry leaving was Moby, so we climbed on and got ready to snap many pictures on our way out of the bay. Check them out with the link below!

Pictures from Elba

Barcelona

Very early on September 2, we headed to the Madrid airport to catch our vueling flight to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona pretty early and we took the cheap bus option in to town. We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Aranea, dropped off our bags, and started walking toward La Sagrada Família. As it was about lunch time, we ate on some snacks before going in. I have to admit that I had not read much about Barcelona before going and had no idea what to expect here. The Church of the Holy Family has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to finish around 2026. It's architecture is nothing like any other church we had seen before. We walked around for a while and enjoyed seeing a unique church still under construction.

We wandered back to our hotel to check-in and take a little nap. Of course Nolan had been napping already and woke up as we got in to the room, but we were able to rest some nonetheless. After our nap we decided to walk toward the water by way of a large park. This led us to the Arc de Triomf and the Parc de la Ciutadella. We slowly wandered through the park and when we ended up near the zoo, we headed toward the city center. We ended up close to the Santa Maria del Mar so we walked there and went in. This was another pretty interesting church and fotos were allowed, so we spent some time walking around and then decided to look for food.

We were near the Jaume I metro stop and walked down Carrer de Ferran. There were many restaurants in this area. We found a chinese place and got some noodles for Nolan, and Kacey and I ate at Trobador Ferran. We liked this place! While Kacey did not exactly like the way her fish was prepared, mine was good and the goat cheese salad was yummy. They also had a traditional Catalan appetizer, toasted bread with a special tomato-based sauce grilled in. It is pretty simple, but most restaurants in Barcelona seem to offer it. On our way to the hotel after dinner, I finally inquired about horchata (something we had been seeing frequently in Spain). The flavor is unique, but similar to chai, and the texture is that of a mostly melted milkshake.

The next day other LGOs were going to arrive in Barcelona. First in was Chris and we met up with him right after breakfast. We walked a few blocks north to La Pedrera (Milà house). I found the apartment amusing and the roof very cool. There were also nice views of the town from the roof. We ended up not visiting Casa Batlló as it seemed similar to La Pedrera, much more expensive, and not quite as cool. We grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe, stopped for Chris to check-in, and headed toward Plaça d'Espanya.

Our goal was to check out the Olympic area and the fort on top of the hill. We walked the fountain-lined street toward the National Museum of Art. We then found our way around the back to the large open area near the stadium. It was a large area filled with water features and light towers. After a few minutes rest, we walked toward the stadium only to find that you are allowed to go in and walk around for free. We walked in, took some photos, grabbed a slushy, and figured it was time to head on up to the fort. Castell de Montjuïc can be reached by (expensive) cable car, bus, or tiring up-hill walk. We opted to walk up and bus down. There is not much at the fortress except great views, but it is free! From here we headed down to meet Emily, another LGO, for dinner near the water. After dinner we walked out on the pier toward the aquarium before heading to bed.

The next day we wanted to get to the cathedral before it closed, so we headed in to check out the Catedral de Santa Eulalia. As we walked around we got separated and Kacey ended up going out to the garden with Nolan. Too bad the place closed while she was out there as she had to then walk around the entire church to meet me out front. It was lunch time already so we looked for food near Jaume I and the Santa María del Mar church as there seemed to be a lot of food in that area. We stopped at a little place that had a very interesting menu so we went in. We were trying to keep the cost reasonable so we didn't get large portions, but the food was very good! El Rovell del Born is highly recommended if you are in the area.

From here we had to decide to try the beach or the zoo. We had trouble reaching the LGOs in town and figured it was Nolan's turn for some fun, so we spent a few minutes at a little playground and then headed to the zoo. The Parc Zoològic de Barcelona, despite the initial thought it would be small, is actually a nice zoo. They have unnecessary golf cart rentals for all, so there are way too many being driven around, but things were laid out well and there was a lot to see. I was glad Nolan got to see so many animals, especially his pony ride!

Pony ride quotes: Nolan ride baby horsie, hold on tight

After a long afternoon at the zoo, we headed out the south entrance of the zoo to walk near the Olympic Village at the beach back toward the city center. We slowly walked the boardwalk, hoping Nolan would take a nap. He didn't but this was by far nicer than the beaches we had seen yet in Italy (note we don't go to many beaches, though). The entire beach area was revitalized for the Olympics in 1992. As we made our way back toward the center, it was time to meet the other LGOs for dinner. We took the metro up to Espanya to meet at a little restaurant near there. Karla had learned of a water/light show near Espanya so after dinner we walked toward the Museum of Art. Look at my pictures as it is hard to describe, but the long street is lined with water features and at the end of the street is the Font Màgica de Montjuïc. Every 30 minutes the fountains come to life to music, and different colors are shown through the water. It is pretty cool! After taking way too many pictures and staying up way too late, we finally headed back to our hotel.


We woke up on Sunday, our last vacation day, packed up and headed toward La Rambla, a long street that is converted to shops and restaurants. We walked out to the water to check out the views from this point and then walked north up the street to take in the area. After watching a few street performers and reading some menus, we meet up with the LGOs to find some lunch. After walking for a while, we decided to go to the place Kacey and I had eaten a previous night and take advantage of their outside seating. I unfortunately had to quickly eat and rush back to get our bags to make our flight, but it was still good times and good food.

Pictures from Barcelona

Madrid and Toledo

Madrid
We caught a quick, cheap flight from Lisbon to Madrid on easyjet on August 29th. By the time we got to Madrid, took the long metro ride and got to our hotel, the Hotel Santos Agumar, it was about 4pm. We were tired so we crashed for a little while in the hotel. Indy MotoGP was on, so I sat and watched some video of home.

That night we decided to just walk by some sites and find food. We walked north from Atocha up Passeo del Prado, a large, tree-covered street with a few museums along the way. We walked up to the Plaza de Cibeles and got a view of the large water fountain there. To the east a block is the large Plaza de la Independencia, home of the Puerta de Alcalá. We got some views of this and headed toward Puerta del Sol, the large, centrally located plaza of the city. We were also on the lookout for food so while we never made it all the way to Sol, we walked a lot of back alleys looking for food. It was much harder than we expected! It got late so we ended up at a little forgettable cafe. On our walk back to the hotel, I was able to take night pictures of things we had seen on our earlier walk, so it was kinda cool.

On Monday our goal was to catch a few sites around town, so we went to Atocha, bought our train tickets to Toledo for Tuesday, and took the metro to Sol. We looked around for some decent breakfast snacks but our best option for Nolan was fruit and juice from McDonalds. In the square I saw El Oso y El Madroño, the Bear and the Strawberry Tree, but didn't get a picture. I did get a picture of the statue of Carlos III, though. We started walking toward Plaza Mayor. While there was not much going on when we passed through, it is a popular place for markets and other gatherings. We were only a block or so away from the church, so we walked down to Colegiata de San Isidro. While no foto, this was a nice little church. Being right up against a small street made it hard to get a picture of the outside, but I managed. Nolan was really on his game of listening to his voice echo; he would not stop squealing! I took him out and an older woman came up to me outside and said it is ok, he is a baby. I appreciated her saying that as sometimes I feel as though people want me to take a loud child out.

As we exited the church to start walking to the Royal Palace, we spotted a grocery store across the street so we went in to check it out. While in there we decided to buy things for lunch on our own. We headed to the Palacio Real, also home to the Catedral de la Almudena (looks like a large cathedral, now an overpriced museum with limited open hours). We sat in the grass and ate our food, and let Nolan run around a little bit. After lunch we went on in to the Palace for our tour. Of course inside is no foto, but it was still pretty cool.

After our walking tour we decided to go rest at the hotel, so we walked by the Madrid Royal Theatre to the Opera metro stop. After a brief rest, we walked around the Atocha area to find some quick, simple food. Nolan fell asleep so we stopped at this little sandwich bar and ate at the counter. It was pretty good and cheap. We found Nolan some take-away pasta to eat at the hotel after he woke up.

The next day we went to Toledo for a day and Wednesday we were back in Madrid for some more sites. Kacey wanted to see a bullfighting ring and I am glad she had researched it, because it was really cool! We arrived at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas right as they were starting a tour so we joined in. The tour was in both spanish and english and we got to basically go where ever we wanted! Check out the pictures and my youtube video of the ring. When we were done we grabbed some food at the grocery store to then take to the Retiro Park and eat. After eating we had to walk over to the playground to give Nolan some play time. After a bit we convinced him we wanted to go see some big water fountains, so he ran toward the big water fountain! After a stroll through the park it was time to hit the Prado Museum for a couple hours. Unfortunately Nolan wanted to test out his voice using the echo, so I had to walk him around in the lobby for the first hour until he fell asleep. After our time here, we started walking toward the hotel. Kacey spotted a Thai restaurant, so we had to stop for dinner. It was now time to pack up and get ready for our 4:30am taxi ride to the airport to check out Barcelona!

Pictures from Madrid

Toledo
I was unfortunately under the weather this day, but it still turned out ok. The train ride was only 30 minutes and direct, so we were in town pretty early. We took a bus up to the centro and started our walk. We didn't have any real definite plans but we first started walking toward Alcázar, which looked like a big fortress. Turns out it has been turned in to a library, coffee shop, and offices. We got some decent views from up there and then decided to head toward the big cathedral. We wandered through the streets until it was in view. It's size is masked by the other buildings in this hill town until you are right next to it. We had heard very good things about this church, so we went to buy tickets. €7! While the most expensive church we have been in (at that time), it is also one of the most interesting churches we had been in. Unfortunately no foto, but there are several little chapels, a large choir area, a small art gallery, and many other features. We walked around for an hour or so and decided to find some food. Due to the "Italy hill town" feel we had hopes for some good food options, but the restaurants we found were pricey and we ended up eating some small sandwiches at a cafe and Kacey ate a baked potato from a potato bar.

The next 90 minutes or so was spent watching Nolan while he slept, me not feeling well, and Kacey trying to find an ATM so we could pay to visit a few more little churches. We finally got to then visit the Parroquia De Santo Tome and the Sinagoga del Tránsito. The synagogue allowed foto and was filled with a lot of history, most in spanish. It was still interesting. From here we made our way back to the train station, only to run in to one of Kacey's classmates from school at the station!

Pictures from Toledo

Nolan and the Month of August

August was a busy and exciting month on many fronts! We visited many new places and countries, saw lots of friends, and Nolan grew up a lot!

Nolan started showing interest in the big boy bed in his room during nap time, but just as nap time would creep up and I would try to leave him, he would want to go to his crib. On Thursday September 9th, he was tired and interested enough in it to take a nap in a bed! He has done it a few more times and also overnight once!

Nolan has also been expressing interest in the potty so we encourage it of course. His reward is he gets to push the button to flush. While we were at our hotel in Madrid, Nolan said to us "make poop" so we rushed to the potty and he did it! Gross for most, but a big step for us! We have done it successfully a few more times since, but usually he is a little too late in telling us. But, he is trying and interested!

Nolan also talks up a storm (as well as repeats what he hears) now. He even uses words we are not sure how he learned them! He loves to put together sentences and tell mommy and daddy things. He is also using some Italian! Although I usually use both Italian and English numbers with him, he isn't picking those up. He does say caldo for hot and freddo for cold. This is surprising as caldo sounds a lot like cold, but he usually gets it right. Also on the repeating what he hears front, mommy and daddy use the word crap occasionally and even though we have stopped saying it and stopped reacting to him saying it, he likes to yell something that sounds like crap. I have now started reacting by saying "yes, clap" and clapping at him while saying clap. I am hoping he switches to clap :)

If you have followed the blog, you have seen that we have visited Vienna, Budapest, Libson, Madrid, Barcelona, Assisi, and Cortona during the month of August. We also had a visit from the "swiss kids" as we call them; the LGO students in Basel, Switzerland. Another student located in Liverpool also made the journey down during the August Palio along with the swiss kids. It was a fun weekend and they left with more than their share of cheap wine.

Now, it is time for a quick trip to the states; we won't have much time to visit friends, mostly family. But if Nolan and I get an invitation and nothing in particular is planned, maybe we can meet up!