ATL

Let me just say this, if there is an Academy Award for expert traveler, Campbell should start writing his acceptance speech.

You see, Michigan made it to the Final Four last weekend and my super fan husband decided to fly down with his buddy for the game on Saturday. They stayed with my sister and cheered on the incredible Wolverines Saturday night.... and we won! Michigan made it to the championship for the first time in years! Obviously, I was bummed that I wasn't there for so many reasons, but it was still such an exciting win!

Rick called me on Sunday morning, with barely a voice at all, and told me Cam and I needed to get on a flight and come down for the championship game. So we did! With two hours notice, I packed us both up, got to the airport (thanks to my dad!) and hopped on another flight with my little man. I was so stressed about the whole thing, but it turned out great. If you remember this post, you can imagine I had severe anxiety about an outburst from Cam and a stranger attacking me about it. But, Campbell was a champ traveler and did an amazing job! We made it to Atlanta without a glitch and the weekend was so fun.

It was basically a Campbell and Michigan love fest. Candy (aka CaCa in Cam language) was so gracious to babysit for us so that Rick and I could attend the game on Monday evening. Though we didn't win the game, they played a tough game and we had a lot of fun!

Thank you again, Rick and Candy, for making the weekend so memorable and fun. 

Because I'm kind of obsessed with iMovie right now, I put together a small video of our Atlanta Adventures. Enjoy!

Austin Round Up

Well, Campbell and I were on the road (or in the air) again! We headed to Austin last week to support Poppy and the incredible work he is doing for the Jewish Federation of Austin's Men's Division. The Sisters, Cam and I are so proud of the passion my dad has poured into this organization and the blood, sweat and tears he's dedicated to making the Momentum event a success. We were honored to be a part of it.

My dad spoke of the DNA that connects us all, particularly us Jews and how our contributions to charitable Jewish organizations like the JUF help families, senior citizens and refugees who may not know our names or faces, but are incredibly grateful for our help and support. He spoke of his own family who escaped the Nazis because of the Shanghai government's policy to accept Jewish refugees into their ghettos. His words brought me and so many others to tears. So inspiring.

Our visit was full of sunshine, good food and company, and a lot of lovin' on the little man.

Auntie Ash may just be a little obsessed with her nephew and took a lot of selfies of her and the munchkin.

The mister got his first taste of frozen yogurt and l.o.v.e.d it (especially since it had blueberries in it!) 

When we took him to opening day at SnoBeach (how lucky were we to be in town!!) he was not such a fan of the sno-cone. He has so much to learn. 

Me, on the other hand, well, I couldn't have been happier. The taste of my adolescence and the sun shining above made for the perfect afternoon. 

We took advantage of the sunshine and headed to Zilker Park to let Cam run around and let off some steam. He ate it up. Especially the swings, his fave.

Coming from a long line household of Voticky women, the poor guy is subjected to a lot of activities that his father would not be proud of. (And had Rick been present, they would not have happened.)


Like being dressed up...

And too much shopping... (at least we gave him a football!) 

But this kid is such a trooper. He sat through so many meals out at restaurants, shopped till he dropped, and let everyone snuggle on him like he was going out of style.

It was a short visit, without much time for visiting with friends. But it was a perfect amount of Voticky bonding. Our flight home was one of the most successful flights I've taken with him by myself. Before we left for the airport on Saturday, I had pretty much sworn off traveling alone with the little guy ever again. But he proved me wrong and rose to the challenge, and I'm pretty sure we'll be hopping on another flight again soon by ourselves because who can stay away from all the goodness Austin has to offer!?!?

Dad, I couldn't be more proud to be your daughter. You are a true inspiration to our family, our friends, and our community. Thank you for setting such a brilliant example for us all. Love you so much.

Ain't No Party Like a West Coast Party

The past two weeks have been very trying. Well, actually, it's been a really trying year. But the past couple of weeks have been emotionally draining, exhausting and, frankly, too much for my heart to handle. Which is why this past weekend's sister getaway to Napa to celebrate Candy's birthday was just what the doctor ordered. Of course, if you remember my confession back here that I'm plagued with the gift of guilt, you could assume that I hopped on that airplane with a little voice nagging me about leaving my husband alone to care for our little nugget during a less than perfect time. Your assumption would be correct.

But the guilt slowly dissipated as I focused on the necessity of a getaway and reminded myself of the ultimate purpose of this trip -- celebrate the birthday girl and reconnect with my three best friends. After a very early and very long flight to San Francisco, the four of us met up, packed our bags in a rental car and hit the road to Napa.

We got to our hotel and immediately headed to the spa where we were greeted by a surprise from Mom and Dad Voticky. Some champagne and strawberries to kick off our weekend!

 After a little R&R, we got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to start the celebrating.

Saturday morning, we woke up leisurely and headed to the first activity of the day. Vineyard #1:

It was breathtaking. Seriously gorgeous. As we drove up the winding roads, we saw miles and miels of this:

We took in the beautiful views and posed for some photo opps.

 

  

We tasted lots of wines, munched on some cheese and crackers and celebrated this lady:

 

As we left the gorgeous vineyard, Ash stole some grapes.

And we ate them.

We then drove to a market where we ate lunch and walked a little more. We decided to retreat for an hour of rest before our big night out. While the "urban winery" wasn't exactly what we expected, we had a really fun time stomping grapes, tasting wines and even making a few friends. The music on the other hand was less than desirable. The three person band played songs entitled "Alimony" and "Love Hurts" in a honky-tonk tone the entire time. Not exactly uplifting, wine-drinking music! But we still managed to laugh a lot.

 

Water Break!

When we left, we couldn't pass up a "late night" treat from Sonic. Well, really I just begged all weekend to stop at Sonic and finally the sisters caved :)

We woke up Sunday and drove to San Francisco to spend the day before our flights took off. We drove the most gorgeous scenic route, over the Golden Gate bridge and through the waterfront marina. We parked and had brunch and then took a long stroll hike up to see the Painted Ladies.

Some of us were more thrilled than others to have hiked up those steep hills, but we all fake good smiles in pictures :)

 

And then we were off, each going our separate ways back to reality.


The four of us are fighting off our own personal battles right now. Each of us, in our own way, needed this trip to recharge. We needed the laughs, the tears, the hugs, the wine. Oh, the wine! And I'm pretty sure we each walked away with a life long lesson engrained in our minds:

Happy birthday "K"andy! xo

Our Trip to Texas: According to my iPhone

Two weeks ago, we packed our bags, stroller, carseat, and ourselves and headed to Texas for a week full of Sourthern fun. I decided not to bring our big camera for the sake of my sanity as we were carrying SO many bags, so pardon the update via iPhone pictures (and Ash's camera!)

We flew into Dallas where we met Mimi and Poppy, Ash and Gena for the Michigan/Alabama game. The flight was good and Cam was a great traveler as usual (thank you Lord!), and when we stepped off the jetway it was pretty clear we had arrived in Texas. Man that heat hits you hard! 

We have literally been planning this trip for nearly two years. I think I had just found out I was pregnant when the Cowboy Classic was announced, and Rick immediately declared we would be going. My mom immediately nominated herself as the babysitter, and my dad so generously offered to get us tickets. I'm pretty sure I've written about my habit of looking forward to an event for so long and then as soon as it begins I get sad because I know it will be over so soon. Well, I haven't changed much, and as soon as we touched down in Dallas my heart dropped a bit in my stomach because I knew this ten day long adventure I had been counting down until would be over in a flash.

Nevertheless, Ash met us at our hotel and of course, she was most excited to see Baby Cam and Mimi.

We all got dressed in our Michigan gear and headed out to wander around and eat dinner. The entire city was dressed in red or blue. It was really unbelievable.

 Someone was such a good sport...

We did a bit of shopping and browsing, and I'm pretty sure I got to hold my baby for a solid ten minutes all evening. This kid is one loved munchkin.

 And when he got sleepy, Mimi scooped him up and snuggled him.

Gena flew in from LA and arrived sometime in the middle of the night, and was apparently treated like royalty when she arrived at her living quarters for the weekend.

I hardly slept that night. Between sharing a room with a baby who has sixth sense for his Mama when she's near, the beautiful serenade I received from my lovely husband's nostrils, and the excitement of the big day coming up, I was wound up to say the least! But, bright and early, just as expected, Ash and Gena and a slew of Michigan fans showed up for a breakfast reunion the next morning.

Oh man it was good to see this lady!

Thankfully, she loves me enough that she forgave me for attacking her upon sight and spilling her chai tea all over her. Oops.


We all "ooed" and "ahhed" at each other's gear. 

And we hugged a lot.

Then it was time to kick off the football season. Ash packed her car full of tailgate awesomeness and we headed to the stadium in two separate cars. Picture this: My dad driving me, Campbell and my mom in one car, following Ashley whose driving her car packed full of people. Ashley's excited, anxious and ready to get going so she leads the way in a speedy manner. I'm texting Rick to tell Ash to slow down because my dad is having a field day with his comments. After about twenty minutes of driving, my dad is huffing and puffing that she's going the wrong way. I'm getting more nauseated as the minutes pass, my mom is telling my dad he's going too fast. It was fun. One hour later, we arrived at our tailgate spot, and Rick quietly whispers in my ear, "Poor Ash. She took us to the old stadium at first. Too bad that thing was blown to pieces!"

I digress. We arrived, we poured our beverages and soaked up the 110°F heat.

It was hot. Like hotter than I ever remember being. I seriously don't remember how I lived in that heat for so many years. I guess when you're younger, you don't care as much. But holy hotness, it was hot!

Campbell spent some time at his first tailgate, and then Mimi and Poppy took him back to the hotel to cool off and go to sleep.

And then it was time for the game. Walking into the stadium took my breath away. There's nothing like the Big House, but this stadium stacked up pretty well. Our seats were awesome. First row a few sections up.

This guy was so happy.

We were cautiously optimistic that it would be a fun night and at least a close game, though we knew deep down we didn't really have a chance of winning.

And then the game started. And Rick looked like this for four straight quarters. 

And by the end, we were all a little depressed. A little sad to be defeated. A little sad that the first game was over. And a little sad that we had to battle traffic for an hour+ to get in our beds.

The next morning, we sulked and wallowed and packed up our car for Road Trip o' Fun!

And when we arrived in Austin (via Sonic!) it felt good to be in a new house my parents just moved into but sorta looked like my old home home :) 

Our week in Austin was amazing. Everything I had hoped for and a little more.

Campbell spent a lot of time reading with Mimi...

 

And laughed a lot from Poppy's clucking and tickles.

SO bummed this one is blurry!!

Mimi set up an entire playroom that resembled Disney Land on crack. To say Cam was in love would be an understatement. That kid spent five seconds playing with one thing and quickly moved to another for seven days straight.

 

Asher came back for a couple of days because she missed us and wanted more Campbell lovin'. 

We cooled off in the pool. This kid knows how to chill :)

Cam played the piano and visited the mall, and by the end of the week we were ready to get home.

 

Thank you, Mimi and Poppy, for hosting us. Thank you Ash for coordinating such a fun tailgate. Thank you Gena for making last minute arrangements and hanging with us for a while down south! 

Happy football season, y'all!