Alayna

The Coppolas w/ Kaia

Tonight we are sleeping just outside of Youngstown, OH. As we are sitting here in the hotel we are watching CA burn on television. My sister called today to find out if our house was in any danger. For any of you that have the same question, no right now our house is fine. It is actually 5-10 minutes from Qualcomm Stadium - one of the largest evacuation centers. In the Cedar Fire of 2003 the fires did get miles from our house, but so far we are OK this time. We do have friends being evacuated.

Time to go back in time to catch up on our trip... Saturday we drove to Decorah, IA. We got to Bryn's Aunt Kris' house in the late afternoon/early evening. Uncle Kyrl came over to visit with all of us and Kris had made a delicious dinner for us. Kyrl took a number of great pictures of Kaia. You can see them at www.kyrl.com. Go to photos, then galleries and then Kaia in Decorah. Kaia was not only introduced to her Great-Aunt Kris and Great-Uncle Kyrl, but also Kris' dogs, Alma and Patsy. We spent the night at Kris' house. The next morning we went to Kyrl's house (4 blocks away) and had the nickel tour before heading out to breakfast at The Oaks. Once we said our goodbyes we headed to Albany, WI.

All of the roads to Decorah and to Albany were backroads full of twists and turns. Needless to say the scenery was beautiful. In Albany we visited Uncle Roald and Robert and their four dogs at their vacation house. We got to see all of the work the did to update and re-do their house. Robert made a delicious meal for us as well. We were so spoiled...two home cooked meals in less than 24 hours. We all visited for a number of hours and Kaia got her first snow suit. we can't wait to use it in RI. After awhile of catching up we headed to Chicago to visit with Rachel, John and Michael.

This was a long day for all of us...three stops in one day. We were so excited to get to the Coppola's. First because we were so excited to cross over with them in Chicago (John is performing in Jersey Boys) and secondly because we spent two nights there. This was the first time we didn't have to turn around and re-pack the next morning. Rachel had food waiting for us which was great. The next day we all stayed in our pajamas until about 3 or 4pm. Kaia was so happy to not have to nap in her car seat! And Squirt got full run of the house. That night we had great Chicago pizza and both kids went to bed early.

This morning we all got up early because the kids went to bed so early, but we didn't end up leaving until later in the morning. Tonight is our last stop until we make it to my dad's house in MD tomorrow. There we get to stay for 3 whole nights while we visit with family and friends.

It is great getting to see everyone, but we are looking forward to getting to Newport next week and trying to settle in a bit.