Traveling Mercies

Our first plane trips with Mia while not effortless were not too bad. On the way to Los Angeles, we had Kona, but an extra adult to help since Grandma Chow was returning to LA with us. Mia slept in her own seat. Kudos to the folks at Alaska for blocking off a seat for us since the flight was not full! The flight attendants were very friendly and always stopped by to get a smile out of Miss Mia who was more than happy to comply.

We weren't in LA long--just about two days--before we embarked on a longer flight to Detroit to see Grandpa Song and the rest of the Song clan. Mia also met her cousins, Tyler and Alyssa. Unfortunately the flight to Detroit from where I am connected (on a dial-up line) was packed and Mia was a lap baby. She slept for about two hours which helped.

Yesterday was a family outing with the Lazoens to the Yates Cider Mill where Tyler and Alyssa got to ride ponies while Mia watched with fascination. We drank freshly pressed cider and had doughnuts while enjoying an unusually warm fall day. Ken and I both did feel slightly out of place as we definitely felt in the minority at the Cider Mill grounds. That's MI for ya. We both agree that we could never live here or raise our kids here as Tyler gets made fun of in school. Ken got made fun of in the early 80's for being different from the other kids. Tells you things have not changed much here. My question is, since when is "Chinese-y" an insult?

Totally different topic: Wanted to give a shout-out to our friends, the Kassissieh Family--recent transplants to the Pacific Northwest! The were up in our neck of the woods shortly before we left town. It was great to see Julia and Richard and their boys, David and Charlie! I realized that we didn't take photos! Though we seriously lack appropriate toys for toddlers and young children, the boys made do and I think they had fun with Kona while the adults chatted away. Thanks for the totally adorable bib for Mia. I'll post a pic of her wearing it or wearing food on it.

Okay, we'll see how long this takes with dial-up...