A Visit to Papa's Work

Despite the boring title of this blog, on Friday I had a super exciting visit to Papa's work.  For those that don't know, Papa works at a very large construction company.  He gets to travel all over (by car and plane) and see really big machines.  At his office, they have 2 very, very, very large parking lots full of all sorts of cool trucks, diggers, semi's and other equipment.

As we drove around the lot, I took pictures of the various equipment that I saw. 

This dump truck is for sale - only 14k miles

Ahh, watch out an oversized load... hehe, it was parked and we drove by it

Check out all of these graders.

You can check out all of my Phin taken pictures here.

Peace out,
Phin

Dad Goes On an Adventure Without Us

As many of our readers may know, while we have been in Milwaukee for the past three weeks, Dad was in Portland looking for a house and causing trouble.  While I skyped with Dad on a regular basis (to make sure he was not causing too much trouble), I was so excited to pick him up at the Milwaukee airport earlier this week.  After we got him, he shared a few details about his trip - photos of which are included below.  You can see his general Portland photos here, and pictures from his hike around Mt St Helens with a friend here.

At a waterfall

Drinking Pickle Brine (that's Gross!)

Hiking around Mt St Helens

Glad to have you back Dad, so we can continue the road trip.  After another week or so in Milwaukee, it's off to South Dakota.

Peace Out,
Phin

You still need to look good, even on the road

Just because we are on the road, does not mean we should look "shlumpy," as mom would say.  For the past three weeks, our wagon has been hitched in lovely Mequon, Wisconsin at Nana and Papa's.

While there, our Chicago family has come up for a couple of visits (and we've gone down there too for dinner).  During one of these visits, we go 'all dolled-up' and Cousin Lisa from Felise Pomerantz Photography.  Here are a few of my favorites; but you can check them all out here.

Peace Out,
Phin

Separate Paths

Today, Monday, marks the start of the 4th part of our Westward Adventure - The Split.

• Stage 1:  Sell House (box everything up, don't make a mess and certainly DO NOT fingerprint the windows)
• Stage 2:  Ohio (you've read the blog, you know we've been there)
• Stage 3:  St Louis / Weddings - there are blog postings to be written
• Stage 4:  The Split - Wisconsin for the 3 of us; house hunting for Dad
• Stage 5:  Reunited - In Wisconsin full of many hugs in (estimated date: June)
• Stage 6:  South Dakota (estimated date: mid June, hopefully)
• Stage 7:  Montana and beyond (estimated date: later in June)
• Stage 8:  Arrive in Portland (estimated date: Finally)

  

  Dad's sidewalk chalk map of our journey featuring all of the major destinations

Our time in stage 3 of our adventure has been marked by a roller coaster of events (that was Dad's phrasing).  Stage 3 ends with the same impact - excitement to move on and see Nana + Papa, but sadness to leave Grandma, Grandpa and the ton of people we have seen in St Louis, and sadness to be separated from Dad who is heading to Portland to buy a house.  While we will get to see him through the phone, I have been enjoying seeing him everyday (even if he was distracted by "job stuff"). 

Dad, here are my requirements for a new house (just for reference, we have already discussed them):

1. A Blue house (because blue houses are cool)
2. A garage (I just want one)
3. A basement full of toys (self explanatory)
4. Amelia wants either a hot air balloon or a monkey room (I vote a monkey room, but it may be tough to find a house with one already)
5. Also, please buy a house that has neighbors, so my Alexandria friends can move next door

Onward to Wisconsin!
Phin

PS - We love receiving mail, so please send it to me at my Nana and Papa's house (mom can give you the address)

Oregon Trail - Lisa & Doug's Wedding

There are only two commitments we have on our road trip - 1) Cousin Lisa & Doug's wedding, 2) Aunt Mimi & Uncle Wes' wedding.  Luckily, both are in St Louis and both are just weeks apart. 

With Uncle David's wedding just a month+ ago, I am quickly becoming a pro at attending/being apart of weddings.  I bet by the end of the summer, I could run a "being in a wedding" class for all of my friends.  Unfortunately, it will have to be a video conference class, since all of my friends will be on the other side of the country (in DC).

Cousin Lisa & Doug's wedding was so much fun.  We got to dress up in a lot of pretty and fancy clothes...

They had a special party room for people who got dressed up.  Check out all of this food!  Mom and Dad let me eat as much as I wanted to.  Amelia liked to try one bite of everything (before putting it back in the tray/bowl).

We also had to stand still and smile a lot while we had our pictures taken.  Amelia is still working on the smiling part, and I am still practicing standing still.

One of the best parts of the wedding ceremony was that I got to walk down the aisle holding my cousin Tyler's hand.  I was supposed to hold Amelia's hand, but she cried the entire time and had to walk down the aisle with mommy (it was just a little awkward and funny).

After she kept crying (it was late for her), Amelia had to watch the ceremony from the other room with Dad.  Dad said they still had a great time and had one of the best views.

You can check out all of the photos (that are about me) from Lisa and Doug's wedding here.

Peace Out,
Phin