Florida (28 May - 1 June)

We finally made it to Clearwater, Florida...the last stop on our trip before returning to Germany. I was happy to visit there and meet Sam's friend and family that I'd heard so much about, but it took me a little while to be excited about being there. I was ready to get back home to Germany, sleep in my own bed and stop living out of a suitcase. 2 1/2 months is a LONG time to be away from home.

On top of that, I was in a lot of pain during my time in Virginia and Florida. Ever since Elly was born (even a little before that) I've had lots of pain in my neck and shoulders. I've been to a chiropractor in Alaska (last summer), then an orthopedic doctor in Germany who ordered physical therapy, then I saw my town doctor when I was back in Alaska, but am still trying to find an answer. The morning after Elly and I arrived in Virginia I pulled my neck/shoulder/arm somehow and for about a month after that had severe pain in that whole area with pain radiating down my left arm. I've just recently pulled something again and am back to that pain, but the whole time we were in Florida I was hurting, so that just added to my misery. I say all that not to complain, but to explain my mindset while I was there. I just wanted to quit hurting and get back home. No one else can see the pain that someone is experiencing and it's really hard to enjoy things and act as if everything is fine when all your energy seems to be focused on the pain you're dealing with.

Anyhow, in spite of all that, I really did enjoy meeting Sam's best friend from childhood and his family. They were so sweet and Elly just fell in love with their youngest daughter, Marley. Everywhere we went Elly was asking about Marley. I can't tell you how many times we heard "Where's Marley?" over the week we were there.

Our final couple of days there were really wonderful. I think we both had finally relaxed and were just completely enjoying the beach and time together, knowing that when we returned to Germany it would be back to the grindstone. Of course, it took me all week to realize we had a whole shopping center just across the street from our hotel. I love me some Target! I'm really not a big shopper, but after being in Germany I just LOVE to go into a store like Target and see everything there at my fingertips :) It's something we don't have overseas and I miss it. I think most Americans overseas would say the same thing.

Here's Elly...looking about how I felt :) This was the evening that we arrived. We went to our hotel from the airport and Elly got a nap and we showered to get the travel grime off of us before heading over to Matt and Davin's that evening.

Having ice cream with Marley. Elly's two favorite things at the time...Marley and ice cream.

Matt and Davin with their 3 youngest (and Elly).

The next day, Matt and Davin had a beach get-together planned with some of their friends. I was in a lot of pain that day and was not very jolly. Too bad, because it could have been a really fun day. Elly enjoyed being with Marley though and Sam took her out on the Ski doo.

Elly enjoyed having a snack in the shade.

Marley and Elly having cookies at the water's edge.

Sam and Matt

Sam took Elly to the pool at the hotel. This was right outside our door, which was nice.

I just HAD to post this :) Sam was ready to go Tarpin fishin'.

Sam and Matt went out fishing one day. Matt's brother-in-law is a boat captain, so the guys got together and went fishing for Tarpin. It was catch and release, but Sam had a lot of fun.

Beautiful Florida sunset as they were heading back in after their fishing trip.

Elly was checking out her "Hadassah braids". All braids are Hadassah braids to her because my little neice, Hadassah, has the most beautiful long braids. I guess they made quite an impression on her.

Elly and Mama at the beach soaking up some more sun before heading back to Germany.

Elly loved collecting shells on the beach. I'm used to the beaches in Hawaii where it's rare to find a nice shell. The waves in Hawaii are much stonger and there is more of a shore break so it's rare, in my experience, to find a nice whole shell. I was amazed at the beautiful shells we found in Florida.

The water was wonderful! Much warmer than in Hawaii.

My little water baby :) I love her!

Off to find some shells with Daddy.

An elderly gentleman saw us gathering shells and told Sam he had some to give us. He lives there and had lost his wife a few years ago. Sam said his apartment was filled with containers of shells. Elly loved looking through them all.

She thought this one looked like an ice cream cone.

Acting like she's eating her ice cream (shell).

She, obviously, thought she was pretty funny :)

This was our last day in Florida. We went to Clearwater Beach for just a little while before rushing back to the hotel to get showered and packed and to the airport in time for our flight back to Germany.

And that, my friends, is the conclusion of our LONG stateside visit. We made lots of memories and had a great time. It was wonderful being back in Hawaii, spending time with all of our families, being back in Alaska for awhile and then seeing more family and friends on the East coast, but I was really ready to get back to my home. I just wish we didn't live so far away. I would love to be with our families more often. I would love for Elly to know her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends better, but this is where we are at this time in our lives, so I must make the best of it. I am sorry it took me so long to get these posts done. There were so many pictures to upload that it seemed to be a never ending job, but I'm glad it's done. Now I just have to get June, July and August caught up...it never ends :) So, until next time...

Virginia & West Virginia (19-28 May)

So, the next stop on our never-ending trip was Virginia. Sam was in a class at Ft. Belvoir and way back when we were planning this trip it sounded like a great idea to meet up with him there. The plan was to touch base with some of our family in that area and then continue on to Florida to see his childhood friend.

I was going to spend two weeks in Virginia with Sam, but as it got close to the time Elly and I were originally scheduled to leave Alaska, I started to get worried about having her in the hotel in Virginia for that long. Sam would be in class all day and I couldn't see myself venturing out much on my own, so it would be just me and Elly...in a hotel room...all.day.long. I figured that could be the longest 2 weeks of my life. It sounded much more appealing to stay an extra week in Alaska with my family. And I was so glad I did. I totally enjoyed that extra time at home.

By the time we were heading to Virginia I was really done with travelling and just wanted to be back in Germany already, so in all honestly I wasn't too excited about this leg of the trip. By this time, we had been gone from Germany for 9 weeks and it was getting a little long.

I was dreading the trip alone with Elly, but it went remarkably well. She is such a great little traveller. It really helps for her to have her own seat. I've taken too many flights in the last two years where I had to hold her on my lap the entire way, so it was a real blessing to have that extra seat this time. She never sleeps well on the flights, but she's happy and a little sweetheart. I had several people compliment her. She chattered and sang almost non-stop and I appologized to the people around us, but they all said she was great and it was sweet to hear her chatter.

It's always nice to get our little family back together though. I miss my husband and Elly really misses her Daddy when we're not together. When we were in Alaska I tried to get Elly on the video cam with Sam, but it's just not the same for her and I think she doesn't really understand why he's not around.

Elly and I arrived in Virginia Thursday night and the next day Sam's parents arrived from Pennsylvania. We had seen them just a few weeks before in Hawaii, but it was really nice to spend a couple of days with them again. Elly loves her Oma and Opa and was thrilled to see them again.

That first evening we planned to go to Mount Vernon, but by the time Sam got out of class and we drove there it had already closed for the day. So, we just went for a walk and out to dinner. We planned to return the following day.

Elly took Oma's bracelet any chance she could. She was pretty happy about having it on :)

She wanted to carry Oma's purse too.

Then it was on to Daddy's glasses.

The next day we finally made it back to Mount Vernon and had a really nice day doing that tour and walking the grounds. We've seen so many historical places during our travels in Europe that it's really nice to see some of our (as in America's) historical sites.

Such a little lady...sitting there all proper like with her little baby doll. I couldn't love her anymore than I do! I feel so blessed and privileged to be her Mama.

I tend to think I had just told Elly to stay OFF the grass. This is totally her personality. If I tell her NOT to do something, that's what she has to try. Little stinker keeps me busy :)

Statues of George and Martha Washington and her kids.

Taking a break

Standing at the front of the lawn leading up to Mount Vernon.

The House

Really beautiful gounds.

That evening we went into Alexandria to meet up with a friend for dinner. After dinner we stopped for some ice cream. Looks like Higgins was enjoying his :)

Sam and Elly with Michele

Knowing we were going to be in Virginia for Sam's class, I had made plans to drive over to West Virginia to see my Grandma. I don't get to see her very often and want to take advantage of anytime I'm near to spend a little time with her. I was very concerned about the trip alone with Elly though. She does great for about 1-2 hours and then she gets frustrated with being in the car seat. As it turned out, Sam's parents were heading back to Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon and driving in the same general direction, so we decided to make the trip together. It worked out great because Elly went in their car and was entertained by Oma for several hours of the trip. When it came time for them to change directions to go on to Pennsylvania we stopped at a gas station and moved Elly back to my car. It was such a huge blessing to have that help on the way there and I know Elly enjoyed her trip MUCH more than she would have if she had been with me the whole way.

By the time we separated ways, I only had about another 1 1/2 hours to go, so the trip went far better than I thought it would. I always love going back to Fairmont. I love my Grandma's little house. We were never around our grandparents much through the years because we lived so far away, but it was always special to go back to Grandma's. Unfortunately, she had gotten sick the day or so before we got there so she wasn't feeling very well. We were only able to be there just over a day because I was supposed to meet up with another friend back in Virginia. As it turned out, I didn't get with my friend so we could have stayed another day or two. Too bad we didn't know at the time. Grandma didn't feel like doing much so we just stayed around her house, but at least I got to spend a little time with her.

Elly sitting on Grandma's front porch

Elly and her Great Grandma, Lefa Thorne

Taking a nap back at the hotel

Tuesday morning Elly and I headed back to Ft. Belvoir after stopping by Grandma's to say goodbye. I was not looking forward to that long trip back. Elly's not the greatest traveller after a couple of hours. God was looking out for me though. Elly ended up sleeping a good portion of the trip and woke up just as I was getting on the beltway around D.C., which is really confusing. I was so worried that she would start screaming at that point when I really needed to pay attention to where I was going so I didn't make a wrong turn. She did cry briefly, but I was so thankful when she calmed down and before I knew it I was pulling into the gate at Belvoir. I was so thankful to have that trip over with. I don't like travelling with just me and Elly.

Some of our days in Virginia ended up being a little long and boring, but it was so hot outside that I didn't care to venture out. Oma and Opa brought Elly a little tent for an early birthday gift, which she really enjoyed playing with in the room. Quite a few times, when Sam got home in the evening, we took Elly down the street to a playground. She loved it! I think it was definitely a highlight for her.











This picture looks a little out of place among on the playground photos, but this is so Elly. She loves to act like Mama. She's very pleased with herself when she gets to play with grown up toys.









One day we met up with some of Sam's family. His cousin Amanda lives nearby and her dad was visiting so we met them for dinner one evening.

These woodchucks were EVERYWHERE on Ft. Belvoir. They are much bigger than I thought they would be. I found myself saying "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood..." :)

Our last evening in Virginia we met up with Michele and went bowling on post. I thought Elly looked so cute in her little bowling shoes :)













Elly's at that age where she LOVES to try on shoes. She had fun with Michele's bag and flip flops.

Elly liked the arcade room

Michele and Elly back in our room at Lodging.

The next morning we were on our way to the next location in our never-ending vacation....Florida.

Next and final installment coming soon....I hope :)