Caleb was able to finally meet his other Grandparents from the West Coast as my Mom and Dad flew into Cleveland for nice visit. Of course the trip was filled with quality time at the house, some nice walks around Shaker Lakes and our neighborhood. One highlight was Caleb's first MLB baseball game (Indians got smoked by the A's) on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. He slept most of the game, but didn't really fuss and was just happy to be out and about. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the help around the house, the quality conversations, and for being so supportive.
The next big event was our first family road trip to Traverse City (TC), MI. Because we are rookie parents and this was our first trip we packed the entire kitchen sink in our new family Toyota 4Runner (Yakima travel box loaded as well). The main reason for the trip was for the TC marathon which I was running with some friends from Cleveland and a nice chance for a little get away to kick off the summer. We rented a nice house from VRBO on an inland lake and were able to set up base camp there. The marathon was awesome with an early morning start 0700 and we finished in 3:29 (PR's for all of us). The rest of the memorial day weekend was spent with great friends and enjoying some lake life. Caleb was able to meet many more friends to include Julie & JT, Katie & brother, and some other TC locals. Because we had traveled to the Northern tip of the lower peninsula of MI, we decided to go big and just keep driving north across the Mackinac bridge and into the U.P. We visited Grandpa and Grandpa Koski again and of course Uncle John, Uncle Joel, and Aunt Kari came to meet Caleb as well. Again three more days of lake life as the sun continued to shine and represent. At this point, Meri and I have started to figure the routine of traveling with the little man and he has been great. He loves his car seat (usually falls asleep within 5 minutes of rolling) and loves looking out the window. It was really nice to see other friends in the U.P. and again enjoy some quality family time. On the way home to Cleveland we decided to make a smart decision and break up the normal 12 hr drive and stop half way at Kari's house in Milwaukee. The following day Caleb had his best day in the car driving all the way from Milwaukee back to Cleveland with only one stop to feed. So far Caleb has traveled in OH, MI (& the U.P. of MI), WI, IL, & IN. Yyyyeeeehhhaaaa buddy and can't wait to take you all over this amazing world.
This may sound crazy, but the next week (Meri's last week before going to back to work), we decided to book some last minute flights to Montana to attend a Chris Maki's wedding (buddy from Montana State). Caleb once again rocked out his first flight and despite our crappy flight plan to MT (two layovers . . . good job McNulty) he did great. The wedding weekend was fast and furious, but so great to see old friends like the Lacnys, Seacats, Sturrocks, Hulst, Corys, and Kellogg. Love you all and MT could be calling our name (in the future) as we did a little recon in the lovely town of Big Fork on Flathead lake. Congrats Maki and what a beautiful wedding.
So now the next event is meeting crazy Aunt Michelle as her Voice Casting Crew is in the lovely city of Cleveland for the week. Get ready Caleb . . . . . another great week ahead of us.
