Arden and I had a lovely time in Grand Rapids, Michigan this August. Here's how it went!
-The Travel-
(This was all my mom's idea, by the way.)
Arden and I flew nonstop from Melbourne to L.A., where my mom met up with us and flew us in to Grand Rapids via Detroit. So, for this trip I only needed to do one 14-hour flight solo with Arden. And what a flight it was! The first 7 hours were very... manageable. All my solo-parenting tricks were working - the fresh fruit I brought for her to snack on (instead of all processed snacks); her favourite books I had hidden from her a few weeks prior and "surprised her" with; some brand new toys I also surprised her with mid-flight; and yes, breastfeeding.
pre-flight selfie.
The last 7 hours, however, were very... not manageable. Arden missed both her Australian-timezone nap and her bedtime and was very, very overtired. There was screaming. Inconsolable shrieking. Writhing around like a wild mackerel. And during the whole 14-hour flight, there was one nap - a 20 MINUTE NAP. Random passengers approached us in the aisle asking me if there was "ANYTHING we can do?? anything??" But. Nobody kicked us off the flight or threatened to send Arden to foster care or any of the other airline vs. mommy nightmares that dominate the headlines these days. I didn't even see any looks of disgust or frustration from neighbouring passengers (not that I was really looking anyone in the eye, ha). So, it was a success! We made it to L.A. where my mom graciously worked her grandma magic. And of course, Arden was an angel for the next two flights to Grand Rapids.
Arden and I after the long international flight. Don't we look thrilled?
-Wait, Why Wasn't Ben There?-
This year's trip to the USA was a bit different. Instead of all three of us making the rounds together, we decided to split up the visit into two parts - Arden and I spending three weeks in Michigan with my family, then joining Ben for two weeks in Washington to visit his family and some of our friends.
It made more sense for me to spend a significant time with my family alone with Arden, as Ben only gets so much vacation time and we wanted to make sure he was able to spend all of it with his family (which is by default more people, in four separate households scattered around Washington, not including extended family). And who knows, someday Ben and Arden might make future trips to Washington without me, depending on our situation - that would only be fair, right? ;)
the Michigan house.
-The Visit-
With over three weeks in Michigan, we were able to go at a pretty relaxed pace. My family took us to all the Grand Rapids highlights at least once: the Children's Museum, Meijer Gardens, the John Ball Zoo, Grand Haven beach, Meijer, various malls, parks and walks around the neighbourhood. We stopped by a rehearsal for one of my mom's choirs, and my parents even planned an "open house" event for people in the community and my family's church to drop by and say hello all at once.
post-open house
Meijer Gardens!
the Japanese garden
baby's first Meijer run!
at the zoo.
"driving" with Uncle Gabe at the children's museum
when at Trader Joe's...
one of my favourite restaurants, Olga's Kitchen. Arden approves.
at Grand Haven beach.
killing time at the mall.
It was fun being in the United States during the North American eclipse. I didn't have any viewing glasses, but I was just happy that Arden woke up in time for me to go outside to see little crescents on the ground. I talked to a few friends who witnessed totality and it sounded amazing! For a country that's felt so divided over the past few years, it was nice to feel some excitement and positive energy from an event that brought people together.
eclipse shadows.
Because we were in town for a while, I decided to arrange a few baby playdates with a few local friends from high school/college, and their offspring. Social media is definitely a great way to keep in touch with old friends, and I was happy for the opportunity to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in years. Also, a few out-of-town friends (who now live in California and Illinois) were actually in Grand Rapids for a family reunion during our visit, so I got to see them a few times! Which was really really awesome.
an unofficial 1811 crew reunion.
Overall, Arden adjusted really well to the time difference, new climate, suburban lifestyle (car seats - a new frontier!) and new faces. But even though Arden was much better at adjusting to new people than she was during our USA visit last year (you know, when she burst into tears every time someone laughed... haha), she still wasn't 100% comfortable around anyone. It took her about a week to warm up to my dad and Gabe, and she was still a little cautious around them until the last few days of the visit (don't get me wrong - she loved being around them, as long as I was holding her!). I think this is mostly because Ben wasn't around, as she adjusted to new surroundings much faster during our Washington trip with both parents present.
Like most grandparents, my parents did spoil Arden a lot, but I can't blame them - Arden knows how to work her charm. I was able to get some good quality time alone, as my parents graciously took her on walks or to playgrounds while I journaled and worked on projects and enjoyed some quiet time.
At the end of our trip, my mom flew with us to Seattle via Detroit. Because she had a long layover before heading back to Grand Rapids on a red eye, we got to have a short visit with Ben's mom and younger sister, who were at the airport to meet us and Ben. We grabbed some coffee at Starbucks while Arden transitioned from one family to the next, catching up and sharing stories about her Michigan visit. It was bittersweet as usual, saying goodbye and hello at the same time.
inter-family reunion at the SeaTac airport!
A huge thank-you to my family for making the trip happen, for the friends who made time to see us, to everyone who stopped to chat for a bit, and to Grand Rapids for giving us some lovely PureMichigan weather. Arden and I had a wonderful time, and we'll be back soon, I'm sure.
It's been a nice, low-key winter season in our household. We've been enjoying some of the city's winter activities (such as our neighbourhood's Winter Glow festival, replacing the weekly fireworks of previous years - the festival was okay), trying to keep warm in our apartment, and just enjoying each others' company on the weekends.
the Docklands Winter Glow festival. fire everywhere.
Ben's been busy at work, while I've been focusing my free time on art projects and recording new music for upcoming videos, and also preparing for our upcoming trip to the States.
visiting Dada at work on his birthday!
A 21 months, Arden is a little sponge - learning dozens of new things every day, surprising and delighting us with new words, mannerisms and quirks. Some of our favourite recent verbal acquisitions are: "Star Wars!", "AWESOME!", "Yay I did it!" and counting from 1 to 10 (give or take a few numbers...). She loves to sing, often joining in on the lullabies we use to soothe her, and even humming recognisable tunes when she's in her stroller or nursing. She uses a cute sing-song voice when she's looking for something ("ball? oh baaa-alllll...") and in the mornings when she wakes up, the baby monitor will crackle to life with "mama? mamaaaa... oh maaaa-maaaa...?" which is honestly a little creepy too, haha.
For some reason, I feel like this past weekend she's really become a little toddler. She finally started asking to video chat with our families, which is really sweet. It's also really fascinating to see how differently she acts during various FaceTime conversations - she's very shy in front of some of my friends, while she's grown very accustomed to once-a-week phone calls with my family, and doesn't need any time warming up to most of our family members. And thanks to the little family picture book I made her, Arden can recognise and say everyone's name and/or family title, which is really great. Hopefully she's just as warm and playful with everyone in-person during our upcoming USA tour!
weekend storytime
Arden is a bookworm, currently happiest curled up on the couch surrounded with her stacks of books (and a specific order in which to read these books, I might add). She can recognise many letters and a few numbers, and when we're walking outside she'll point out letters on signs and advertisements and shout things like "M! Hi-yo M!" as if the letters were dear friends. She is also obsessed with pointing out boats ("booooat"), planes ("paaaaain"), and helicopters ("COPPA!") as they pass by our window. I also should add that her hearing and eyesight are pretty incredible, as these vehicles are often faint sounds and tiny dots in the distance. She also gets very excited when she sees clocks, especially the giant one at Melbourne Central that opens up every hour and plays "Waltzing Matilda" with little animatronic animals dancing around.
looking for helicopters.
Arden also has a keen sense of direction, to the point where I have to bribe her with Cheerios if we go the opposite direction from her favourite park and library, or else she has a terrific meltdown. She loves wearing "pretty" things (and NOT the cool superhero t-shirts I just bought her... how devastating!). She's also still a bit needy at home, always wanting to be carried or cuddled, but every now and then she'll happily entertain herself with toys or puzzles for a few minutes. Sometimes I'll catch her acting out exercises from our swimming lessons with her plush toys, which is really adorable.
with her "pom poms" and "pretty necklaces"
Sleep habits have improved a lot, especially night-time sleep. We still have really bad nights, but these are once/twice a week occurrences (instead of the other way around), and she is very capable of sleeping through the night in her crib, after one of us (usually Ben) coaxes her to sleep for an hour. Naps are still held/carried (usually in her bedroom in her glider chair, as she nurses) but we've gotten accustomed to the routine. And once she's asleep, I can carefully put on my headphones and catch up with my favourite YouTube vloggers, so it's downtime of some sort!
All in all, it's been a wonderful winter. We're excited to see our families very soon, and especially for everyone to meet almost-2-year-old Arden (who will hopefully be a lot less terrified than 8-month old Arden was last year!)...
When Candice and I had the opportunity to travel around as part of my job and visit a few Australian states, I started to think about whether it might be possible to visit all the states/territories around Australia. It isn't nearly as daunting as the US, as there are only a handful, but Australia is still extremely large so it wasn't going to be easy either. After our trip to Perth earlier this year, we decided to take advantage of another holiday weekend and book a trip to sunny Brisbane to escape the cold and tick off another state from our list. (Only 2 states to go now, Tasmania & Northern Territory (technically a territory and not a state, but whatever)).
Brisbane!
Our first day in Brisbane was just what we needed. When we left Melbourne on Thursday evening, all three of us were in varying states of sickness, constantly feeling cold and craving a new adventure. We woke up on Friday morning to clear blue skies, with temperatures approaching the low 70s and a whole new city to explore.
After getting some coffee from a little cafe near our hotel, we started wandering and shortly came across the Kurilpa Bridge, which led us to the art district and then on to Southbank. Southbank was a really cool area, it has a man-made beach (Brisbane is on a river, and the only beaches are about an hour away), really cool kids pool and playground area, tons of restaurants, a little market of locally made crafts every weekend, a winding archway of flowers running the length of the area, and excellent views of the city looking across the Brisbane River.
the Kurilpa and William Jolly bridges
Southbank
kids pool
the Goodwill bridge
apparently Segways are very popular in Brisbane, as we saw many of these signs around the city!
After getting our fill of Southbank, we walked across another footbridge back into the city and explored the City Botanic Gardens. This was probably our only letdown of the trip, as all the other cities we have visited have excellent botanic gardens, but the gardens in Brisbane were pretty unspectacular. They had lots of open grassy areas and would be ideal for picnics or playing footy, but what we love about botanic gardens are the densely packed sections with native and exotic plants, so you feel like you have been transported to a little mini-jungle. The gardens in Brisbane were too open and really didn't feature much in the way of gardens at all. Arden still loved wandering around them though and walking up to random strangers to say hello.
one of the cooler parts of the Botanic Garden: a circle of palm trees
The rest of the day we walked along the river, taking in the views of the city and Brisbane's most iconic landmark, Story Bridge. One of the cool things about Brisbane which is very different from Melbourne, is that the Brisbane River winds and meanders through the city, dividing it up so that as you walk along the river your perspective of the city is always changing. The river is also much larger than the Yarra (the river that runs through Melbourne), so Brisbane has a network of CityCats (catamarans) and ferries which shuttle tourists and commuters to various stops along the river all around the city. After our long river walk, we took one of the free ferries back to the pier closest to our hotel, and enjoyed the views of the city and surrounds from the top deck of the little boat.
view from the ferry
Our second day in Brisbane was forecast to be rainy, but ended up being another beautiful sunny day. We decided to explore the CBD, which is full of very unique skyscrapers. Almost every high-rise in the city has a different style, but they flow together well and each has a unique feature which sets it apart from the one next to it. After wandering through the CBD, we walked across Story Bridge, and made our way to Kangaroo Point Cliffs Park, which is a popular destination for taking photos of the city skyline and rock climbing.
view from Kangaroo Point
After mistakenly deciding it was a good idea to get a milkshake at the cafe on the cliffs (seriously Australia, a milkshake is not meant to be runny and watery), we headed back to the city to explore the Queen St Mall and Roma Street Parkland, which had a beautiful garden area and cool waterfall split in half that you could walk through. It was something we had seen from our hotel, and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I'd definitely recommend it over the City Botanic Gardens.
the iconic Story Bridge up-close
Roma Street Parkland
the Pointsetta Riverfire sculpture
The last day was the highlight of our trip. Before our trip, Candice saw that the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA for short) was hosting an exhibition we had to visit - Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe!!!! We timed our visit perfectly too, as that morning the weather had turned so it was a perfect escape from the rain. The exhibit was so cool! We loved seeing all the original costumes, weapons, various large scale props/decorations and of course the life-size Hulkbuster. Also, I've never seen an art exhibit with such huge lines (not to mention all the visitors dressed up in costume). Thankfully we got there early, before the line went out the door and around the street.
Thor throne room
Iron men.
some green-screen fun. :)
part of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok movie was filmed in Brisbane, so we got to see some sneak preview props!
Hulkbuster!
We had such a fun time in Brisbane and highly recommend a visit. The weather was great, the people were friendly and there were so many nice places to walk along the river and around the city. Arden also loved Brisbane, though that's probably because we let her walk around on her own and explore more than we had on any previous trip, which she absolutely loved. As soon as we took her out of the pram so she could walk around, her face would light up and she could barely contain her excitement. It's so fun sharing our little trips and adventures with her, and seeing her grow with each journey.
Next up: a big trip to visit our families back in the States!
