8 Weeks, 8 States
What can you do with a five-week-old infant? (This is not a riddle, friends.) My mom and dad might suggest to take that five-week-old on a three week flight/roadtrip extravaganza. At least that’s what they did. At five weeks old and weighing in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, my parents packed me up and flew me up to Seattle. We spent time with my Ong Noi, Ba Noi, Mammer, and Grandpa…so fun! I love all of them very much and can’t wait for my Ong Noi and Ba Noi to live closer to me!! I also got to meet my uncle Jeremy, who is super cool. He gave me a book and played with me.
My mommy’s friend, Jen, also threw me a really fun party where I got to meet many of my mommy’s sorority sisters and some of my daddy’s friends. It was a fun day and they gave me lots of presents. The party was UW themed…very appropriate considering my daddy’s obsession with the football team. Thank you, Jen!!
While in Seattle, my dad was the best man in his friend, Chris’, wedding. I stayed at home with my Ong Noi and Ba Noi while my parents partied. My mom said that my dad looked great in his tux and both of my parents said that Chris and his new wife, Nicole, are a perfect couple. I hope they have a baby soon so that I have a friend to play with at all of the Husky games I am bound to attend in my life.
From Seattle, we flew to Dayton, Ohio. My mommy says that I was an angel on the flights. [I am hoping that my parents will want to travel more with me now that I have shown them what a great flyer I am!] We stayed with our friends in Columbus, where I met Lana and Hans. Hans was not so interested in me, but Lana loved holding me and brushing my hair. She was SO nice…I want to be her friend! My parents had a great time catching up with Lana and Hans’ parents in German Village before we drove down to Nashville (with a stop by Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY). In Nashville, I met Brileigh and Crosby. Brileigh was very gentle with me…I like to think of her as my long-distance big sister. Crosby was more interested in jumping off the bed and couches. I hope I am as adventurous as he is! We drove around the city with Brileigh and Crosby’s parents…Dad stopped by the Titan’s stadium to look for a Jake Locker jersey and Mom stopped by the Grand Ole Opry in the hopes that she would see one of her favorite country music stars. (She did not.) Mom and Dad also ate gourmet popsicles. I wonder how long until that trend comes to Los Angeles.
From Nashville, we drove to Birmingham, Alabama, where I met Mommy and Daddy’s friends, Clay & Molly. They have a really awesome house and Molly cooked my parents a delicious dinner. I was a bit fussy, but really, who isn’t after being in the car all day?
From Birmingham, we headed to New Orleans so that my daddy could attend the UW v. LSU game up in Baton Rouge. Upon arriving in New Orleans, my daddy insisted that we check out Bourbon Street. Much to my mommy’s chagrin, I saw Bourbon Street in all of its “glory.” I think both of my parents would agree that the street is no place for an infant no matter what time of day you go out. While my daddy spent a day up in Baton Rouge at the UW game (let’s not discuss the score of the game), my mommy and I hung out with Brooke and Stacy in New Orleans. Brooke has known me since I was very small and she’s very good at calming me down. I wish she still lived close to me in Los Angeles! It was really fun meeting Stacy and I wish that she, too, lived closer. The day after the game, Mommy and Daddy took me to Cafe du Monde, the French Market, and up and down the Mississippi River. Let’s just call it a hot, sweaty sightseeing extravaganza. I only wish that I could have eaten all of the tasty treats that Mommy and Daddy had (beignets, po’boys, gumbo, and etouffe to name a few).
After three nights in New Orleans, we drove over to Houston, where we picked up my Mammer at the airport and went to Orchard to meet my Granny. Oh, I love my Mammer so much!! Granny is also pretty cool and so are all of my uncles and cousins who I met! Isn’t it awesome that there were four generations of women at my Granny’s house?!
From Orchard, we stopped in Cameron to meet my great great aunt and uncle, Betty & Omer, and then headed up to Dallas. I met my third-cousin, Chloe. She’s four years old and really nice. Unfortunately for Chloe, I was feeling particularly uneasy that day and spit up everywhere. Chloe wasn’t so excited to hold me after that.
In Dallas, we stayed the night with my parents’ friends, Adam and Lindsey. They have a great house close to SMU with a huge backyard. I like their house a lot, but I really wish they’d move back to Los Angeles because Mommy and Daddy said they were really fun to hang out with!
Our final day in Texas was spent in Fort Worth, where I met my Gigi, great-aunts Eileen and Janet, cousins Jenni and Madison, and my very favorite aunt Amy. It was a short stay before we left to go back to Ohio…16 hours later (and one early morning stop on Beale Street in Memphis), we made it to Dayton, Ohio where I met Ava, Lincoln, and Eli. Brileigh and Crosby also came up from Nashville to spend the weekend with us and Lana and Hans came from Columbus. So fun having everyone together!! Our parents stayed up way too late chatting and playing poker while we kids slept…I think my Mommy and Daddy really miss their friends who left Los Angeles because they seemed to have a great time. I was so tired that I slept a lot until sadly, our trip ended. Two flights later and we were back in Los Angeles and ready to get back to the real world…or were we really? I’ll post more exciting updates later…
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