So apparently after Ava's first birthday our life flew into fast forward and here we are almost at the start of the holiday season and I see that there have been so few posts for so long, who is in charge of this thing?
So I take us back to our June/July USA Extravaganza. We rode on planes (2 round trip long haul flights in fact), we drove in cars, we rode on trains, we hiked up mountains...no need to state that this was a very active and busy vacation. We started our flying into NYC and then on to SFO before driving to Yosemite National Park. Ava was a traveling champ as has become typical and we just tried to sleep when possible and enjoy the scenery. We meet with the Aylesworths Sr, including Aunt Sandy, for a week of swimming, hiking, and gorgeous mountain sunsets. Ava spent most of the week practicing her newly found walking skills and discovered how much fun a set of stairs could be. One of our most memorable evenings was driving with Sandy to watch the sunset from Glacier Point and then stopping to check out bears, or was it a deer, on the drive home?
After a few days in nature we headed north towards Lake Tahoe for Ben's cousin's wedding. A great weekend in a more relaxed setting where Ava got to meet a whole different extended side of the family, in fact after 8 years together I was meeting many relatives for the first time too. We finished up the West Coast portion of the trip with a night back in San Francisco where we got to spend a fun night catching up with Matt&Josie and Hilary&George. One of the benefits of reaching your 30's is having friends spread out all over the country and beyond for impromptu visits!
Now it was East Coast time, we flew back into JFK and Ava was able to meet the darling Rynn Twins while the parents had a blast catching up with Erin and Joe. There is nothing like looking at your best friend of the last 17 years and sitting there in awe that you are both parents together (and then opening a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and grilling for the evening). While we were having a lovely time in Nyack, NY we felt like we couldn't miss the opportunity to drop down to MD for a quick visit with family and friends (what is another 4 hours in the car when you have flown over the Atlantic and the distance of the US in the last 10 days). It was great to spend some time with Ava's cousins, Tyler and Chloe and spend July 4th with Ben's sister, Mary Beth and Beau. We even dropped in on the Smith's for a night before shuttling back up to NYC for our return flight home.
If you are wondering when in this vacation we relaxed Ben would say while hiking and driving in Yosemite. Megan would agree but also say, "Stay tuned for Greece coming in August"!
Love and best wishes,
The Aylesworth Trio