The Rojas Family Adventure: August 2008

As I mentioned in my last post, Gabby and I traveled to Seattle last weekend to visit Tia Traci and Tio Matt. While we were there, we were also able to see my Aunt Sheri and another family that we met online, Monica and Michael and their daughter Isabel. Monica and Michael adopted Isabel from Bogota and she is just six weeks older than Gabby! We've been talking via e-mail for the last few months, and Monica's extensive packing list came in very handy for our trip to Colombia. The girls were very cute together and I hope that we will stay in touch.

Let me start by saying that traveling with a 14 1/2-month old is challenging in and of itself. And maybe it was being away from home and daddy, the four molars that were coming in, the time change, the hectic schedule, a combination of any and all of the above, or something else entirely, but this trip was especially trying. The good people of Seattle got the version of Gabby that we call "Crabby Gabby" and the version of mommy that we call "Frazzled, Exhausted, On-the-Verge Mommy."

On the plane ride to Seattle, we had an empty seat next to us. That was a very good thing because Gabby was pretty wound up and climbed around like a monkey for the entire flight. I had several new books, juice, milk, Cheerios, blueberries, and dried apples in the diaper bag, which held her interest for approximately 8 minutes. Needless to say, it was a long flight. We resorted to playing with the vomit bag and in-flight magazine and taking trips to the restroom for entertainment. It was exhausting. However, there were only a few minutes of fussing, whining, and/or crying, so I don't think it was too bad for the rest of the passengers. The flight home was entirely full and we were seated in the window seat next to a very large man that took up all of his seat and about 1/4 of ours. I believe we both muttered a few choice words under our breath when we saw each other. However, Gabby slept for the first hour and a half of the flight and then sat pretty quietly until we landed.

Toddler challenges aside, we had a good time and it was great to spend time with family and friends. We were able to spend an afternoon with Aunt Sheri, enjoy the Tour de Fat at Gasworks Park, meet up with Michael, Monica, and Isabel on Lake Washington and then again for dinner, attend one of Traci's baby showers, and go swimming with Matt, all in just three days!

Here are some photos from our trip - enjoy!

Leslie, Daniel, & Gabriela

Isabel & Gabby's first meeting