Across America Days 1-3 Pictured Rocks

Time to finish catching up on my blogging. I still have so much to share before the fetus arrives.  We made the trip across America, and since I do not plan on driving anywhere near any of the sites in the Midwest again, we decided to make the most of Kevin's last few weeks before he became property of his law firm.  We decided to take our time, not really put ourselves on a schedule and go explore some of the beautiful sites America has to offer.  It was a great idea, and it was a wonderful experience, but I do have a small bit of advice; If you are 30+ weeks pregnant, do not camp, or at least bring an air mattress if you do. Our first stop was totally out of our way.  Kevin had wanted to go earlier in the year, but weather did not permit.  So on our way out of Chicago we made the last minute decision to drive all the way up to the upper peninsula of Michigan to check out Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  It is a beautiful little stretch of coastline along Lake Superior, that is famous for the rock formations and minerals that give it the different colors on the rocks.   This particular stop added another 10 hours of driving in the car and 3 days to our journey from Chicago to California, but it was such a beautiful place, that we just had to see it.
We were there a couple nights, and camped in Christmas Michigan.  Kevin thought it was a sign that the fetus MUST be named Klaus.  While we were there, we did a boat tour of the coast to see all the colors and  admire the streaking colors offered by mineral seepage along the coast giving it the name Pictured rocks.  We also went on a nice 17 mile hike.  It would have been really nice of Kevin to tell his VERY pregnant wife that it was so far so she could bring more than just 2 bottles of water and a baggie of trail mix for the day :(  We both lived, but I learned my lesson. Always bring food and water when I leave the car period.  That lesson came in handy on a couple other occasions that same trip.

Captain Planet

It took a little while for me to learn that I married Captain Planet. I sometimes want to start singing the song to him. "Captain planet, He's our hero.  He's gonna take pollution down to zero."  It must be from living in the Bay Area with all the tree-huggers and hippies. Kevin doesn't really strike me as a hippy, but he does love earth. I get in really big trouble when I forget to put something in the recycling, he curses people whenever he sees litter, and he is always concerned about global warming, I have even been forced to sit and watch "An Inconvenient Truth".  It's not that I don't care about the environment, but I really don't think my carbon footprint is that large.  

So far, all these little nuances have been cute and endearing until NOW.  My fetus will be here in about a month, and although I am very excited to meet the little miracle, I am slightly apprehensive.  Kevin seems to think that having disposable diapers is the worst thing I can do for the environment. Yes, He thinks I have nothing better to do all day than 10 loads of laundry (and ruin the water supply for the world) by reverting back to prehistoric times and using cloth diapers.
His arguments - 2% of the waste in landfills is diapers.  My fetus will use 5000 diapers by the time he is potty trained.  He says I can use a diaper service and they will pick up my old smelly diapers and drop off fresh ones each week.  How exciting! Won't that add to pollution? I just get so excited when I think about what this means for me,  I get to keep stinky diapers in my tiny apartment that smell like poop, the will allow waste to get all over my baby, his clothes, take up space, and think of the diaper rash from it not being as absorbing.
AHHHHH.  I have tried to be a good sport about this, but the end is near and I do not want to be confined to my house to take care of linens.  What if Brady Belichick and I want to go to the park, or the zoo, or on vacation?  What now?  Carry around poopy smelly diapers for hours or days? I could compromise Kevin's morals and keep a few disposables on hand for such occasions.  No, I need to come up with another option. I hear of mother's not using diapers at all.  Isn't that fantastic.  Since I am a tremendous mind reader, I will just watch my baby's face all day and when I see cues, we will run to the potty and sit on the toilet...Ok, I would rather do cloth than that.
In my research, I have come across what I hope will be the compromise. Compostable diapers! They also have a service.  They are "disposable" and work like a disposable diaper, but are 100% biodegradable and within 14 weeks are turned into topsoil.   I will have someone come, take them away and compost them for me. Look at me being a Planeteer.  I am pretty proud of myself.  I think this is even going to be a cheaper option than cloth.  Hallelujah! I just hope they don't start decomposing on my baby's bottom.
If any of you have advice and have tried to be a better person that I am willing to be, please comment and give me some advice, but the more I think about it, the more anti-cloth I become.

Summer Vacay Part 2-California-Hill Family Reunion

For some reason, the picture taker-Kevin, didn't take as many on the second leg of our trip.  I think he gets too cool in front of his family or something, and I just forget most of the time.  So, this post will be significantly smaller.  

Since Kevin has kept me sequestered in Chicago for the last 3 years, it had been that long since I had seen his family, so it was so great that EVERYONE was able to be there.  It was the year of the baby, so everyone had their little ones except me, but Klaus will be here soon enough, we aren't rushing it. I also got some great tips, which I will certainly need. With all the vacationing and moving, I hadn't, and still haven't done much to prepare for our little ones arrival. 

One of our days we got to go out to Half Moon Bay to go deep sea fishing. It sounded like a fabulous idea to me, so the boys, Lianna, and me went off to catch ourselves some rock fish and link-cod. Most of us fared pretty well, we caught our maximum number of fish, even without the help of Art, who spent most of the day with his head overboard.  Maybe that was the bait that kept the fish coming and poor little 4 year old Kaden.  He got sick early on, but was an amazing sport on the fishing trip that never ended.  I think we were out on the water an extra 3 hours. 

 Kevin, trying to look the part of a fisherman.  He ALMOST nailed the look. 

 I think Lianna caught the most fish, but the men just claimed to be after the big fish. Whatever. 

 Kevin caught a Jellyfish, but he just wanted a big link-cod so bad!

 We won't mention that this was actually Trace's fish, but Kevin wanted the picture with it so people might think he caught it, Trace was gracious enough to consent.  So let's critique his fisherman outfit one more time.  From the waist up, he nailed it.Grizzled beard, flannel shirt, toque, and a good neutral jacket.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a good enough picture.  If you could look down, yup, those are Jordan shorts and Puma sneakers. Maybe next time if we get him the real look, he'll catch some real fish.

 We also got to go down to Monterey, one of my favorite places in the whole world. We went out wandering in the piers, went to the beach, and since we mastered kayaking the week before, ventured out in the open water kayaks.

We went out with Kevin's brother and his little 4 year old.  It was chilly, but we were all bundled up.  We saw lots of marine life, seals, otters, and sea lions around the harbor, but, it was super windy, and  those sea lions were foul smelling, so we weren't out too long. 

We got to spend lots of time hanging out with the family, and playing with all the new little spawn, but I am terrible and didn't do a very good job of documenting all the fun we had, but Tina had the foresight to schedule pictures. 

 What would a family reunion be without family pictures?  Here we are! 

Here is the baby train.  All within a year of each other.  

And our mini family pic.  Kevin was a terrible sport, and he kept making me laugh commenting on how the photographer wanted us to get so intimate in public. It is amazing that we don't look entirely distorted from me laughing and hitting him to get him to quiet down.

It  was such a fun trip.  Hopefully we can all get together again soon! Luckily we are closer now that we are in California.  Oh yeah, I neglected to mention that didn't I?  We moved out to Mountain View so Kevin could start his new job as a lawyer.  We have been here almost 3 weeks now. Let's hope he ends up loving it and forgets all about wanting to be a Geologist!

Summer Vacay-Part 1-Canada

Lets start with another dialogue from my darling husband.  Warning***It may be slightly offensive to some of you, so you can skip it if you want. 

Kevin-"Is it weird that you are half female and half male?"

Me-"I'm pretty sure I am still fully female.  I just have a little man growing inside of  me"

Kevin-"So that makes you like a transgender"

Me-"Nope, I haven't changed anything"

Kevin-"Is it weird to have a penis inside of you?"

Me-"I guess if  I didn't like it, I wouldn't be pregnant"

That got him to shut-up. 

So, back in the end of July, we were able to go spend some time in Canada.  Kevin got really upset when I suggested I go home and play with my family while he studied for the Bar exam. I guess he now not so secretly LOVES Canada and knows that it is so much fun. So, he met me out there straight from finishing his 3 day testing from hell to enjoy a blissful 10 day party with the best party planner I know, Jackie! Now, I have 1000s of pictures, so please bear with me.  This is an extremely long post, and there will be plenty more to come, but I would understand if you give up part-way through. 

We got in super late on Friday night/Saturday morning so we decided to take it easy the first day.  It also didn't help that all that travel made me puffier than the Michelin man! We headed up to Waterton to ride bikes, picnic, and play on the beach, oh yes, and an evening Kayak!. 

 Building Tee pees and  log cabins at driftwood beach

Me and Jackie. Its a really good think they cut out my sexy cankles, I know you would all be jealous. 

 Cameron Lake- Kevin thought it looked like Lord of the Rings.  

 This part of the lake was in America.  The snow and ice was not in Alberta. 

Sunday was a day of rest, we just hung out with the family, but on Monday, Jackie had other plans.  We got up early and took off to Iceberg Lake in Glacier national park.  It was a lovely hike, and not too far, although Kevin did manage to get some nasty blisters on his feet in some of the strangest places.  

 Basin of Iceberg Lake.  A little family photo with the fetus. 

 Bear Grass. It only blooms every 5 years. 

 Walking across the Glacier. 

 View of one of the Glacial lakes

 Glacier water is SOOOO cold!

Jackie worked really hard to get Kevin to pose with the bear grass that looks like anatomical body parts. Here is the only successful picture. 

The next day, we went on a Kayak trip to rest our little feet. 

 Doesn't Kevy make his skirt look manly

 the crew

 I am not sure which one of us this is, but good action shot Jackie!

And, it wouldn't be Canada without seeing a beaver!

Well, this is what happens when you don't blog about your adventures right away. We kayaked and then hiked.. I got my days mixed up.  Then, we went to writing on stone to float and play in the hoodoos. 

 Robyn finally got what was coming to her when Sam tackled her over with all her tubes. 

 Hiking in the hoodoos

 floating down the milk river.  

So after we had wonderful burns, it was time to get out of the sun.  We decided to go mountain biking in Waterton to Wall Lake. 

 This is Kevin's all time favorite picture.  I could hear Jackie using her "surprised" word quite loudly ahead of me as I watched her fall in slow motion. Disclaimer- It would not be funny if she were hurt.  

 Jackie made me dismount for all bridges.  I think she thinks I am clumsy or something.  I only did it because of the fetus. 

 Action shot of Kevy. 

 Wall Lake

 Waterton Lake

Prince of Whales hotel. 

Well, we were rested, so it was time to hike the leisurely trail to the Garden Wall. Kevin still had blisters, but he needed to suck it up.  It was going to be 80degrees according to Jackie (remind me not to trust her again) so we headed out to the top of the Going to the Sun Road.  Well, as previously stated, we will not trust Jackie again.  There was fresh snow at the top of the pass, and it was a whopping 39degrees. Almost 80 right? So after we went on a wild goose chase to get Kevin a coat, we finally started our hike.  Even if it was cold, it was beautiful.  

 The very famous Goose Island in St. Mary's lake. 

 Kevin loved his reflection pictures.  We had to pull over at every single roadside turnout. 

 Walking through the mist at the Garden Wall

 Bighorn Sheep

 Grizzly Bear. 

 The Chalet

 Overlooking Logan's Pass

One of our little mountain goat friends frolicking near the road. 

So after I, being 6mos pregnant, nearly had to carry Kevin down the mountain because of his blisters. It was a good day for Kayaking again.  This was a 25 mile trip, and apparently we need to go earlier next year to get some REALLY good rapids, but it was still so fun. 

 Lloydy got to make it out with us on this trip!

That's me and the fetus.  Good action shot Jackie!

Well, we couldn't just waste a day and get on a plane, so we left early and went up to Banff before we flew out to California, part 2 of our vacation. 

 Best Hosts ever! Thank you again for showing us such a fabulous time!

Well if you made it to the end, you can see why I have procrastinated my blogging.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Vacay. and then for our series of The America tour.