meeting my 3rd niece

i just had the joy of spending 5 wonderful days in charleston with my two darling nieces. most of my time was spent playing in a wonderful world of 2 year olds--little man and his cousin had so much fun together and i bonded with her even more. she's my little buddy! and of course i caught a snuggle from the sweet little baby miss whenever i could. my sister is doing so well and just trying to get some much needed sleep. on sunday it must have been 65 degrees! the warmth was welcomed with a bicycle ride on the beach with my brother, our kiddos behind us in baby seats. it was terribly sad to leave such a scene of sweetness, but i'm hoping to make one last trip there in the spring before baby girl gets here.

here in kansas city

well, this month is a big month for us, but it requires nothing of us but waiting. and so music man has a lot of time off. (that's right, time OFF for once!) but instead of spending that time off at home relaxing, chilling, and getting the rest he deserves after all this time, he's found other opportunities for work and is spending most of his time in kansas city. so we are with him here, as challenging as it is. being the traveling family that we are, i've learned that sometimes it's worth it to give up my own comforts of home and a daily routine in order to give music man the joy of having us near him. and the beauty of his work is that it allows us to be near him all day. if we are together, then we are able to see him at any moment of the day that we choose.

and so we are here, staying with another (very wonderful) family, while music man and the dad of that family work in his basement studio during the day.

there are 4 other kids here (ages 14, 10, 5, 2). the two youngest are both mixed. the dad is black and white and the mom is white. the 2 year old and my son are quite a sight together. they have the same hair except hers is blonde and she has blue eyes. someone asked us the other day when we were all out if they were twins. (needless to say, i am trying to get as many hair tips as i can, from them as well as another family here we are friends with who have mixed kids. taking care of little man's hair everyday, as of late, has become the most dreaded part of the day for me)

so far our time here has been very family focused. the snow left us home-bound for a few days. plus, i am without a car in general. and so the usual independent, get-out-and-go me is forced to quiet down and just....be.

hear me roar

"since when have you been so in to Halloween?" my mother asked me
"um, since i had an adorable kid to dress up!"

i flew out to the west coast for the last week of the october tour. i was in LA, San Fran, Portland and Seattle. halloween was spent in seattle. we went to the residential area of capitol hill and went trick or treating. little man said "trick or treat!" at every door, totally oblivious that candy was going into his Chipotle chip bag from dinner. because it is all for mama and daddy :) cheers to the man or woman that invented trick or treating!

west coast fav

if portland wasn't on the other side of the country from everyone that i love, i would move there tomorrow.

a few reasons to love portland, oregon (i haven't discovered all the other ones yet!):

1. it's the #1 Greenest City in America! Half its power comes form renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

2. water

3. mountains

4. Old Town

5. Stumptown Coffee

home at last

sidewalk fun (thanks Tia Jo!)

morning Mass

moonflowers

i am back on the bus at last. this entire past week has been spent in california. and as my plane flew into the Burbank airport, i felt that unmistakable feeling of relief to finally be home.

i flew into los angeles and spent a couple of days with my friend, Sheinina, before the bus came. she is a beautiful person, whom i so enjoy.

77 degrees with a chill in the air was a nice change after the stale, humid heat of a southern summer. oh, california, how i love you.

we had a day off in LA before heading to san fran (with a high of 58 degrees!). then it was back to los angeles for another day off.

little man came down with a stomach virus the day before i flew, so the adjustment back into bus life has not been a smooth one. quite hellacious, really. which is why this update comes so late. but it seems he is on the mend, finally.

and so tonight i find myself back in this familiar place--my husband doing vocal warm-ups, my baby boy snug in his bunk, myself unshowered and ready for a motion-filled sleep on the way to our next city.

i am home.

oh canada

some highlights from the past week on our canada tour....

on the 11th we flew into Portland to meet up with the bus. 

portland was super cool. no pics though.

next day was Seattle. it was as rainy as it's supposed to be


that night little man threw up all night. it was so sad and scary. poor guy.

the next day the other bus babe turned one! we had a small bus party:)


that day we also went to Vancouver! if you've heard how amazing this city is, just know that the rumors are true. and best of all, i got to see my other 'brother', who I haven't seen in 9 years! he's getting married in May so I got to meet his sweetie, too. He took a half day off of work and spent the whole day with me, walking around the city, eating sushi with our family, and then they went to the show.







next day, i woke up with the virus little man had.
vomit & diarrhea & nausea all day + huby had it too so i had to take care of a baby + stuck on a bus driving 16 hours through mountains + bus toilet with no water, using water bottles to wash it all down + 4 other people got sick too = absolute worst day of my life. i can't even explain the magnitude of how awful it was, so that's all that i will write about it.
it was, however, the most beautiful drive i have ever experienced. drove from Vancouver to Edmonton through breathtaking views of mountains and rivers and waterfalls...
from Edmonton we went to Calgary, and then to Saskatoon. it has been cold, but not ungodly cold. 20s, but i was expecting worse. here is proof that babies can stay warm in the cold.
first, make the first layer 100% merino wool, add layers of clothes, wool mittens, winter jacket and hat. put inside of stroller blanket..


then add shield from the wind and cold air.
voila. take 'em out later and they are toasty as a hot bun fresh from the oven
BUT, i'm not going to lie, i can't wait until spring when i can throw a onesie on him and head out the door.

we had a two day break and spent the first one in Minneapolis. we took munchkin to the Mall of America and let him ride all the toddler rides. so much fun, and highly impressive place. too bad all malls don't encompass indoor theme parks, underground aquariums, miniature golf, and who knows what else...it would make rainy days easier on mothers everywhere

today we got the day in Chicago, and i truly love this city. took the blue line down to millenium park and experienced the tangible definition of "Windy City". then we met Rachael and Fletcher and Sarah for tapas and sangrias. what a treat!






took a shower tonight...oh the luxury of a shower. and tomorrow it's back to Canada, and the twilight zone of no phone and no internet. we'll go to Kitchener, Toronto and Montreal, and then on the 25th we'll wake up in the Big Apple for 2 days:) that makes it all worth it

winter wonderland

we've driven across the entire country this last week, and i'm pretty sure the whole continental US was having a cold front/blizzard. this is just perfect because the one thing that I happened to forget to bring on this tour was a coat! i've been making due with my Uggs (ugly but they sure are warm), a (fake) fur lined vest and a sweatshirt type jacket. on our way from richmond, Va to Colorado Springs we got stuck in Selena, Kansas in the middle of a blizzard. we stopped at a truck stop (our bus and trailer is the size of an 18-wheeler so we are always at Flying J's. I'm starting to feel a connection to all the truck drivers, like i understand their life or something) and since the next exit with gas stations and food wasn't for another 100 miles we decided to call it a day. so we got a hotel room and tried to stay warm.






across the street was an IHOP (the eating kind) and so we walked there for dinner. it was a short but brutal walk

this was the street in the middle of an intersection

our neighbors

thank goodness for the warmth of uggs

we got to stop for a day and night at the IHOP in Kansas City (the praying kind), which was so amazing. it felt so refreshing to sit in the house of prayer all day, and that night we got to go to a revival meeting (a revival has been going on there for a few weeks). i got to worship some, but little man was all over the place so i took him to the nursery to play. they had a great room filled with toys and 1-2 year olds. i couldn't leave him because it was too cute to watch him interact. i realized how much he's grown. he played with the kids and the toys so nicely, and sat in a chair during storytime while he munched on a graham cracker. he crawled up the back of a plastic slide and slid down all by himself, squealing. it was so much fun! 

the beauty of the drive through colorado and utah blew me away, and i've gotten to experience below 0 temperatures for the first time in my life. at least now i know how to prepare for a month in canada this january!

end of tour

after boston we headed to my fav- nyc. one of the perks of my new life of traveling is that i get to go to nyc all the time now. it makes it so much more fun because i don't have to stress about seeing a whole lot (i have quite a few 'favorite' spots) when i'm there. i can pick one area to stick to and just relax and soak it all in because i know i'll be right back soon. this trip i decided to focus on my little man. the bus was parked in gramercy park, so the other wife and i walked the kids up Park Ave and 5th all the way to central park, where we spent almost the entire day in FAO Schwartz with the kids! it was really fun. so fun in fact that we went back the next day too with music man, haha. and guess what--little man is 11 months and walking!

my hubs had to work so much that he really didn't get to enjoy the city with us much:( all we really did was walk to FAO Schwartz and eat dinner, he was so exhausted. but i got to meet up with Michelle, one of my best friends from middle school and high school. i haven't seen her since graduation, and in fact she is the one person that i regret not keeping in touch with. she lives in nashville, but i randomly saw on her facebook that she was in the city, so i contacted her. it was great to reunite with her, and very surreal that it has actually been 8 years since graduation!

next we went to Baltimore, which sits pretty on the water. little man and i walked around the waterfront before heading back to the bus at sundown. natalie drove in and i got to meet her Evan. stephanie and cem (turkish...pronounced jim) also can after the show to spend some time with us:)

next we went to philadelphia. i was thankful it was sunny this time. i walked my man around the old historic part of town. philadelphia is a beautiful city.
on our way to atlanta, we stopped overnight in Durham and had a 'family' thanksgiving with the main band. we used a conference room in our hotel, and the kithenettes in our suites to have a huge dinner. i think i got more stuffed that night than on the real thanksgiving!







and finally, atlanta. how fun to see so many friends and family all in one night! ok, so it was a little overwhelming, but still good, and i did my best not to get stressed out. my mom and stepdad, my dad and stepmom, my 80 year old grandmother....plus a whole schlew of friends. it was great

chicago, toronto, montreal....boston!!!

after spending a week in jacksonville for Dolly's funeral, our family took an early morning flight to Chicago to join back up with the tour. thankfully, little man napped for 3 hours and I was able to get some rest too. Rachael took the day off of work to see me, which meant the world to me! it was like a breath of fresh air to be with her. she is one of the most beautiful people alive on this earth and i actually feel priviledged just to know her! she took me and the other wife and the babies to a coffee shop nearby and then to her little nest and cooked us grilled cheese and soup for dinner:) then we all headed to the show, where I got to meet her wonderful new husband, Fletcher, and see Sarah, who also lives there! background: Sarah and I became friends when we spent 6 weeks together in Russia one summer. she always talked about this Rachael that she just knew i would love, so when we got home she introduced us....we decided that moment to live together the coming school year. Sarah just finished Med School and is doing her residency in Chicago. she is specializing in pediatrics, so i got her to look in little man's ears to see if his ear infection was gone:) it was! thanks to breastmilk in the ears...seriously, it is a cure-all

long awaited hugs

so good with children (as long as he doesn't fall on his head!)

After Boston we headed to Pittsburgh. Last time we were in the pittsburgh area we were in Munhall, outside of the city. but on our way there we drove through the city and it was SO beautiful that we've wanted to go there ever since. so, we were pretty excited about this date. unfortunately we were terribly mislead. the venue was actually in Midvale, which is just as boring as Munhall. it was in an old church and attached to it was the 'parsonage', which is now the green room. but with 3 living rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, it was basically a house. so we had wonderful showers there (believe me, it is a big deal), and the main band's camp cooked a huge dinner for all of us...and Midvale was redeemed after all.

Next we headed to Toronto, for the 3rd time (same venue too). but this was the first time that we realized how close a really cool area was to our venue. the other two times i've hung out at the grocery store and pharmacy that our bus parks at haha. but just a half mile away is Kensington Market. our family walked there to explore, and then split a yummy pizza between the three of us:)

next was Montreal, which i was super excited about as well. the city was beautiful, and we were in a pretty cool area. the bummer was that it was raining all day. hence, no exploring, and no pictures. it's ok, i think we will be back there eventually.

Montreal....

my favorite was Boston! we had two days off before the Boston show so we headed there and got to spend 3 full days in boston! the bus was parked downtown, so every day i walked over to Newbury Street, which is a beautiful street with lots of shopping and great restaurants and coffee. Espresso Royale Caffe was there and it was amazing. every morning i went there for a latte (decaf:) and a bagel. it is rare for me to have a coffee these days (i drink tea now) but this place was that good!

on our first day there my brother and his family drove there to see us! it so wonderful to see them again when i had just seen them such a short while ago. we walked Newbury together, ate lunch, and just enjoyed each other. but not knowing when i will see them next, i was sad to say goodbye.

the next day i walked around with the other wife and babe, and then Grace picked me up at 4 and we went back to Cambridge, where she lives. I briefly said hello to her husband, who is back in grad-school and so must study 24/7, and then we walked around Harvard Square (which i love) and ate at a quaint little cafe. the next day she came to the show as well, and hung out with us afterwards. i was really happy to spend some time with her!

Love and Haight

it started on the drive from Reno, NV to San Francisco--the beautiful morning views that i now look forward to every morning when i wake up. that morning i woke and saw that we were surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful views. i've always had a sneaky suspicion that the northwest might be my favorite part of the country, but i am just now seeing it at the age of 26. such beautiful sights can only be bottled up and tucked away in my memory--no picture on camera can ever capture it right. so i haven't even bothered to try.

coming out of the 'desert' areas in california going into northern california, the transformation is gorgeous. the rocky and barren hills turn into rolling green hills with grass (finally) and sparse trees. higher up, huge evergreen trees dart high up into the sky. i have never seen these trees before, and never even knew i was missing anything. approaching san francisco, the land opened up to the water, the large bay areas and islands and bridges, surrounded by the rolling hills i described above, except now there were houses up and down the hills, whose windows catch the light of the sun just enough to make the landscape appear to be sparkling. so, i'm wondering.....

why do i live where i live?

ahh san francisco. i was so happy to finally be there, yet the reality i found was that i really needed a week there to experience it all. we had halloween off there, so our family took the bus over to Haight-Ashbury district. there are so many freaks there, and Lord knows i love freaky people. and they were all dressed up for Halloween. very fun... even my little munchkin was dressed up all day. he was a boxer. 

Haight street is lined with the coolest boutique stores and consignment stores. i wouldn't advise anyone to visit there without having some money they plan on spending! i unfortunately did not, and it was a miracle that we managed to get our of there without spending a dime. we did stop in the Pork Store Cafe to eat a late brunch

after that we headed down to the water to Fisherman's Wharf. It was getting chilly, so we looked around, saw a thousand sea lions (to our surprise), and then went back to the bus. little man fell asleep at 6:30 that night, which was just as well.... we figured downtown SF was no place to be out late on halloween.

This morning i awoke on the drive from SF to Eugene, OR and it was the same----amazing. surrounded by high mountains filled with tall evergreens, with streams and rivers going through the valleys. large rock formations jetting out of the ground, and farther out snow-capped mountains. we get the day off in Eugene today, the half-way point to Seattle tomorrow.  i've been wanting to come here to Oregon ever since I started reading Don Miller books.

reno 911

reno 911...get me outta here!

....not impressed with Reno. granted, we were literally in the hood and never got to see any more of that city. (so, reno, i'm sure you have much more to offer than what i got to see) i don't even know how to describe where we were, but i tried to take some pictures of it. about a mile down the road was a huge casino called The Nugget. after walking around for a long time looking for food we ended up there and found some. casino's weird me out.

we found an authentic mexican pastry shop and bought these to enjoy while we walked these weird streets

the music venue

across the street was a $5.95 buffet at this casino...we did not eat there

surrounding the venue...