Been a long time...

I am sorry to say that the "no blogging bug" has caught us again. But really...is it any wonder when we haven't had a weekend at home in the month of April? This month has truly been a whirlwind of activity for the McGel family, so I thought I would do my best in a post or two to catch up. But just to give you the jist of what's to come, Vince and I traveled to Seattle for four days, then to Detroit for three. Then I headed to New Orleans for work and play for five days. And as we speak Vince is in San Diego for work for four days. We didn't get pictures of it all, but here are a few of our adventures.

We started our adventures in Seattle (or at least the greater Seattle area). My sister and her family moved out there last summer, and this was our first chance to visit. My brother and his wife were there too, so we a great time.

Tim just returned home from being out to sea (he's in the Navy), and Mika (who has been in the deep south most of her life) could not stop talking about the beauty of the area...the mountains, the water, the change in seasons, the access to nature. In fact, the running joke of the trip went something like this...

"Isn't it beautiful here? How could you NOT want to live here?"

"Yes, it's gorgeous."

"No, I mean the majesty of the mountains...can you even believe it? It feels amazing...I can't describe how I feel out here..."

"Yes, it would be wonderful to have this view every day."

"I don't think you understand...it's so BEAUTIFUL here."

"YES, IT'S BEAUTIFUL. NO ONE IS ARGUING ABOUT THAT!"

Truly, we had a great time teasing Mika, but she is right. It was absolutely beautiful. Vince was trying to figure out if there was a seminary there that he could go to! We ate tons of salmon in every form possible and we hiked in the mountains. We were able to spend time with my nephews Jonathan and Colin and generally had a wonderful time. Here are some of those beautiful views that we were talking about.



A gorgeous snow-capped mountain near my sister's place



All of us at the end of our hike



My cutie nephews Colin and Jonathan...oh wait...he prefers Jon now.



A view of Seattle from the ferry on Puget Sound...my sister lives across the sound from Seattle



Daffodils growing on the balconies at Pike's Place Market



Jake and Robin at our first of many seafood dinners



A view from Scenic Beach. I wonder why they call it that. One of the most disappointing things about visiting Scenic Beach was that you can shuck oysters right on the beach, but the season ended right before we got there!

All of the pictures of our trip are on my facebook page if you are interested.