Last trip before baby

On July 9, our friends, Keaton and Rebekah, got married! Yay! It was a real do-it-yourself wedding and we had agreed to help out with reception preparations the day before the wedding. The wedding was in Milwaukee and a few months ago I thought it would be no problem to drive up. Well, it was a very long drive at 33 weeks, but Jean-Luc and I toughed it out. It was worth the hours on the road because we got to see a bunch of friends from college we hadn't seen in close to 2 years.

Working on bouquets

Preparing wedding favors

Pretty bouquets

Enjoying a beer after helping set up the reception hall

Lydia feeding Ransom

Sam was MC of the reception

33 weeks

More college friends

The bride enjoying a cigar

On our drive back home, we stopped by chinatown in Chicago for lunch.

Mmmm...dim sum.

I have decided that is the last trip before baby arrives. Unfortunately, it means missing another friend's wedding this weekend, but I am just too pregnant for a 5 hour car ride. Are you almost done in there, baby?

Wiley Family Reunion

This weekend has been very busy for me and Sam. In addition to an unexpected trip to Michigan, a large chunk of Sam's extended family were in town for a reunion Sam's mom had been planning for over a year. We missed events on Saturday evening, but Sunday was the big all-day Wiley family reunion.

I actually had a great time meeting Sam's extended family. There were people from Ohio, Indiana, Washington, California and even Hawaii. I was a little surprised how many little kids there were. I guess all the Wileys really like big families and there is no fear of the Wiley name dying out anytime soon. Sam and I helped with an egg hunt for the kids (who says you can't do an Easter egg hunt in July?). All the eggs were filled with Starburst and then every kid got a prize toy. It was really funny watching some of the kids try to trade up for more toys with Starburst. They got an early economics lesson. It took a lot of Starburst to buy a toy and most of the kids were not interested in selling their toys.

I didn't take many pictures because Sam's uncle was taking "official" video and pictures of the event that I will get copies of later. But I did take pictures of all my cute nephews and niece.

Ambrose loved Jim and Justin's music. He was dancing on stage with them.

Sam's dad and his brother in a classic tech-gadget moment.

Caleb and Titus in a moment of cooperation.

Nathan had a lot of fun with a grocery bag. He even was getting the hang of the potato sack race.

Sam's cousin, Cheryl, and our niece, Sonja. Sonja is a little cuddle bug.

Ethan is mobile!

Baby's First Camping Trip

Before I got too pregnant, Sam and I went camping because it was the last opportunity for 2011. Keys to camping at 30 weeks pregnant: 1. Air mattress, 2. Cool location, 3. Others to do the heavy lifting, and 4. Lots of readily available snacks.

Sam's sisters, Anna and Rebecca, as well as his cousin, Jesse, joined us. We went to the Seneca Rocks area in West Virginia. I really like this part of WV because there is so much to do: Spruce Knob, Seneca Rocks, Bear Rocks, Canaan Valley, several caverns. We went up to Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV, and the next day visited Seneca Caverns. Unfortunately, the Seneca Rocks trail was closed for repairs so we didn't hike to the top.

Tent city

Picking black raspberries that we used the next day in pancakes. Yum!

The view from our campground. (Seneca Rocks)

View from the top of Spruce Knob

High mountain glade (and Jesse)

Yeah, I got a flat tire. Fortunately, my car has a full size spare so we didn't have to find a tire shop.

Nail went right through the side wall.

Butt shot! Crawdad gathering on the Gandy. They gathered about 30 crawdads while I took a nap in the car. We cooked them for dinner, but decided they were too small to be worth it. Sorry, little crawdads. You died in vain.

Fun rock outcropping on the Gandy.

The next day was rainy so we went to Seneca Caverns. It is a very large cavern with 2 natural entrances. Some settler explored the cavern back in the 18th century during a draught looking for water. The Seneca Indians had been using the cavern for hundreds of years, of course. It didn't have amazing formations, but it was impressively large.

Ready to enter Seneca Caverns. We all felt a bit naked without safety glasses and steel toe shoes.

Cave bacon!

Biggest column in the cavern.

Sam and a large mineral formation (I think this is called the Castle or something).

We had a great time and I can't wait to take the little thumper camping next summer. Sure will be different, but I figure start camping with them early so you have all the family camping routines hammered out for when you are out numbered.

Boats

Sam always takes pictures of boats he likes.

Babymoon

Sam and I just got back from the last kid-free vacation for the foreseeable future. We really wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise, but all cruise lines have a policy of no pregnant ladies. I understand you don't want babies born on cruise ships, but the 20 week cut off seems a bit early. Oh well, we took the opportunity to attend Sam's cousin's wedding and then headed to the Florida Keys.

Sam got me a new camera for my birthday, but it's not waterproof so we don't have any pictures from the water.

The wedding was in Tampa and we stopped by the aquarium after we arrived to learn about the gulf fish before all the snorkeling we were going to do in the Keys.

Me and Jean-Luc

Sergeant Majors (very common reef fish)

Mostly grunts in this picture

Sam, Alan, James and Charles enjoying a cigar bar the night before the wedding.

The wedding was on the beach at the resort all the Wileys were staying at. It was a great destination wedding and we had fun hanging out on the beach and in the resort pool not doing much of anything. Sam and I even got in a round of mini-golf. On Monday, we said good-bye to the Wileys (and Collins) as they headed off to Orlando and Disney World.

After the wedding, we headed to the Keys. We stayed on Duck Key just northeast of Marathon, which is in the middle keys. It was a great location for seeing the state parks (John Pennekamp, Bahia Honda, Curry Hammock, and Long Key). We stayed at the Hawks Cay Resort, which was very nice and kid friendly. During the week there was almost no one there, but come Friday it seemed like all of south Florida arrived. People from Miami are like tan, Spanish speaking New Jerseyians. It was a bit much for us, but not too bad.

The Google street map car!

The day after driving from Tampa to Marathon, we went to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to take the snorkel trip out to the reef. When we were here 3 years ago on spring break, the seas were too rough and all the snorkel trips were cancelled, but this time things were alright with 1-2' seas. The snorkel trip was to the Grecian Rocks shoals, which are incredibly shallow. It was actually a difficult snorkel because most of the reef was in about 2-3' so we only snorkeled around the edges. We saw lots of parrot fish, sergeant majors, blue wrasse, blue tangs, barracudas, and queen conch. I only saw one french angel fish. We had a really great time and are very happy we went back to see the reef.

Mangrove trail at John Pennekamp

Broken mangrove trail at John Pennekamp

The next day we drove over the 7 mile bridge to Bahia Honda State Park, which has just about the best beach in the Keys. We also took the snorkel tour here out to Looe Key. This was a much more interesting reef with all these fingers and little 15-20' deep canyons to dive. I have never seen so many parrot fish and there were tons of french angel fish. We also saw a Nassau grouper hiding under a ledge. Unfortunately, the visibility was only about 20' and there were 2-3' seas. I got tired of bouncing all over the place and being pushed around so I went back to the boat after about 45 minutes and Sam continued snorkeling. We had a great time again and then enjoyed the more secluded beach at the northern end of the park.

Classic Bahia Honda picture

The next day we went back to Bahia Honda to rent a kayak and take it out to this little island near the channel. When we made our way through the changing currents to the island we realized it was an old reef from the ocean levels were higher. (Yet more blindingly obvious evidence against anthropogenic global warming.) Sam was really fascinated by the tide pools on the island. The larger pools were like sergeant major nurseries.

The little key we kayaked to

Part of the Flaggler railroad

North end of Bahia Honda

Curry Hammock's brand new beach

We stopped by Curry Hammock State Park, which apparently is a totally manmade key. It became a park in 1991, but they have been filling in the key since the 1960s. There isn't much there except a brand new campground. The beach would have been alright, but this time of year there was too much rotting seagrasses on the beach to make it pleasant.

Before the weekend rush of south Floridans, we went to Key West to hang out. It was the third time we have been there and the people watching is always amazing. All the restaurants post the city ordinance that says you can't have open containers of alcohol, but still serve all their drinks in plastic cups because everyone walks around with open containers. It is also one of the few places you can go anywhere in your swimsuit. Sam even pulled a classic Wiley and found free parking near the southernmost point.

Key West deep water terminal

We spent our last day at the resort hanging out by the pool. The place was pretty crowded, but again the people watching was great. However, I was glad to go home. It was back to reality on Tuesday.

Next year we will be taking the little thumper on his first camping trip!