First baby pics and more confirmed travel plans

Today, we got to see the kiddo for the first time. It was unbelievable, really. And I did cry. It's nice to see that s/he is getting that sucking reflex on and that we aren't having sextuplits.

We leave tomorrow for Seattle and are only there for two days. This visit with the family went way too fast and we had such a great time. My apologies to those I didn't see whilst in Spokane. We will be back in January and plan to stay for a little longer then so some coffee and/or some mongolian (Eric) would be nice.

The other big news of the day is that we finally made another decision regarding the journey ahead. We purchased a Eurail pass that will allow us unlimited travel in 18 countries throughout mainland Europe. As you can see on this map (click on map, newbs :>) some pretty cool countries aren't included for the pass, so we may have to make other arrangements to get to Prague and so on.

I have spent countless hours in the last two weeks researching for this trip, coming up with several options for our itinerary. One of the cooler options we looked at: plane from Athens to Cairo and a bus to Jerusalem, which would've been a three week trip and then a flight to London from Tele Viv. However, at the end of the day, it just didn't feel right for this trip (a little too ambitious for the wallet) and we decided to add that time to just focus on Europe so that we could do it proper.

All in all, we'll be gone three months and this is the TENATIVE itinerary: Oct 11-16th at Holmsted Manor to visit the place where A and I met, as well as my little brother. Oct 16-18th in London to visit my sister-in-law, Hilary, possibly catching some theater. Oct18th-23rd possibly travelling up to Northern Ireland to visit our friends, Bryan and Breanna Chud (not confirmed and we may just do a hike in Cornwall, along the southwest coastline of England if the former doesn't work out). Oct 23rd-Dec 23rd we will ferry from Ireland to France where our mainland adventure will began. This is where I could use some help. I have been doing my research but can't seem to make up my mind on the best route for this two-month period. It would be grand if YOU could offers some suggestions (please see map-link above and put a rough itinerary together). Please do. Dec 23rd-Beginning of Jan we will spend Christmas with Hilary and the rest of Ailsa's family in London (also, not confirmed). Beginning of Jan to Jan. 10th we will either do the Cornwall hike, train to Scotland to browse or just get out the footy-ball and juggle for a week, frequenting the local public house at my discretion.

I didn't mention this in the Oct18-23rd leg, but I found dream tickets to a Everton v Liverpool match at Goodison Park. For the non-footy savy, this is a big deal. Everton F.C. and Liverpool F.C are two professional English soccer clubs that are located in the same city (Liverpool). These types of games are called "local derbys" and are almost always quite the matchup. I have been an avid supporter of Liverpool since I was a spry 18 year old living in England. This game is an away game for Liverpool and the tickets are in the Liverpool fan section. I couldn't justify a game at Anfield as Liverpool home tickets are even more expensive. If I can (in some way) pull off getting this ticket, and if anyone wishes to attend with me (um...bry), let me know and I'll give you the ticket prices and such.

Sooooo, it's almost 4am and I just finished finally packing and getting all my music on my new media player (Had to do it...I can't carry all the cd's I want to bring with me...too many).

Pavel, Danielle, Renata, Tim, Ray and Jessica, we'll be seeing you tomorrow. Seth, Amy, the likes of Nate, Daniel and the Arena Sport's clan, call Pavel, maybe a hand of cards...is in the cards. With that joke, I leave you.

I've been enthralled by chidllins lately.

We say "cya" for a while

We left Homer about a week ago, arriving on Ailsa's 30th birthday (SHE'S GETTING MORE AWESOME BY THE YEAR!) and we are now off for some silly adventures. We are currently in Spokompton, WA visiting my parents, have been for a week and will be for a few more days. We will then drive to Seattle where we will catch a flight to Boston, visit our old home of Portland, ME, drive up to Fredericton, NB to visit with Ailsa's lovely fam and then come back to Boston so that we can catch an aeroplane to London.

That's all we have confirmed as of now so I won't speak of all my outlandish plans for this trip. We will be off N. America for exactly three months, coming home on January 10 for some good old fashion nesting. The baby is due March 7th.

We've really just been partying with the folks and little brother since being here. The fishing was....well, let's just say it was very nice. Littlest brewthar got the biggest this time. By the way, he just left for Holmsted Manor in England for a 6 month or so DTS. Now, if he manages to find his wife there like Chad and I did, I vote that we have the wedding at Holmsted.

Oh, and for you international buddies, one other confirmed date for us is Holmsted on like October 11-17th or so.

These are some pics of the trip thus far. We are loving it all.

Let us know if we are going to cross your path as we disclose/discover where we are going exactly and we will try and bug you. Until my next blather, cya.