California

Back at the start of January Tyler had a 2 week training in CA. A perfect opportunity for Abigail and I to spend some time in my home town of Merced.

This is how Abigail felt about our trip:

The Monday before our departure, the flu descended upon us. It was awful. The day of our flight, Atlanta had the worse weather (snow and ice) it has had in over 4 years. Despite it all, we made it on time to our flights. We were very glad that we brought plenty of changes of clothes for Abigail in our carry-on as the flu was still lingering and even before getting onto the plane, she had gone through 2 outfits.

We planned to have a lay-over in SLC to see Tyler's parents.

These flowers greeted Abigail, Tyler and I as we came into my parents house.

Abigail loved all the attention she got from everyone. My parents showered her with love. She was Grandma's little helper and companion a lot of the time and just kind of took over the house doing her own little things here and there.

She LOVED playing with her cousins and fell in love with her Aunt Christy. After spending one afternoon with Christy and Craig, Abigail was so destrought about leaving Christy, that I finally kept Craig with me and let Abigail go with Christy for a bit.

And, we got to be there for my brother Chad's first day of work.

As it turned out, Tyler's 2 week training was interrupted by his need to be in Florida for more important business.....which meant he wasn't going to be able to come back to Merced over the weekend. My parents saved the day by watching Abigail for the weekend and I met Tyler in San Francisco.

We spent Friday evening with our super great friends from our days at Duke. It was so much fun to spend a few hours together, seeing their kids, and just hanging out. Hopefully next time we'll have Abigail with us so she can join in the fun.

Tyler and I spent the next day in San Francisco. We took a tour of the Ferry building and then just hung out and walked around the rest of the day. Some of our stops included Coit Tower and Pier 39.

Abigail loved spending time wrestling and playing hide-n-seek with Grandpa. I think it is safe to say that she has Grandpa wrapped around her finger.

My grandmother stays with my parents for several months each year and so it was fun to see her and have Abigail spend time her great-grandmother.

We also had a few great visits with my grandma and grandpa Rowan, albeit, one of them was in the dark as part of the city experienced an afternoon and evening without power.

After his meetings in Florida, Tyler was our hero and instead of flying home to Georgia (a mere 2 hour flight) he flew all the way back to California (5 hours with a layover) so he could help us fly back home so I wouldn't have to do it alone. This was the longest amount of time Abigail has ever gone without seeing her Daddy-- over 10 days. She was SO HAPPY to see him and literally wouldn't let go of him for minutes.

Abigail loved many things about California, but one of the things she loved most was being outside for hours on end. She helped Grandma and Grandpa with the yard work and just loved running and playing here and there.

It was a wonderful trip!