Week 29--Riga, day 1 & 2

Monday, July 13th

We'd been counting down to this day for months!  Our highly anticipated family trip to Europe to visit Maddy and Mason and Ezra!!  We were stoked!!!  Colombo had spent weeks and many hours planning every detail!   We were giddy with excitement for a big adventure and to see those faces we've desperately missed for 8 months to the day!

The trip came to be because Maddy and Mason had their annual conference in Riga, Latvia and there was an invitation to meet up with them there.  I had to Google where Latvia was and though I didn't know I ever wanted to visit that region, it suddenly shot to the top of my bucket list!  We threw it out to the gang to see who would want to come and everyone jumped on board except for Trevor who needed to stay at Word of Life and keep his filming commitments up there.  So then we decided to steal Maddy and Mason after the conference and get a little vacation together.  Our friends gave us the recommendation of Bergen, Norway because it's a beautiful city and geographically it was an easy, quick flight over.  So the plan was set and the time finally arrived.

I'm usually the trip planner for the fam, but I was thrilled to let Colombo handle it.  Twelve travelers, multiple countries, ground transportation, excursions....it was a bit overwhelming.  I found the Air B&B's and Colombo did the rest, literally planning the perfect trip.  It could not been improved upon and every detail happened like clockwork and the weather could not have been nicer.

We left out of Boston, taking an overnight flight, connecting in Amsterdam.  We were all impressed with the airplane food and lovely service.  

Tuesday, July 14th

Baby Bo was a picture-perfect traveler, sleeping through most flights.  Probably our biggest disappointment of the trip was no more actual stamps in the passport-it's all digital.

We landed in Riga, found our driver, and arrived at the Air B& B 20 minutes later.  

Nathanael and Tima had traveled on their own a few days prior get extra time with her sister (also there for the conference0.  Earlier this day,  Nathanael and Tina had gotten to go to the zoo with the R's and the V's as it was a day off for them.  It was a highlight of the trip for them, so I wanted to include a picture.

When we arrived, Mason and Nathanael came out to help with luggage and I lost it!!!  So good to see their faces.

It was a happy reunion!  We took it slow and let Ezra take the lead on hugs and interacting.  But in no time at all, we picked up from where we left off.  It helped that she'd had Fan and Tina for a few days already.

We got settled in.  The house was great!  Fit our group and was in the perfect location.  Super thrilled with that.  Mason's parents had been there for a week and left the same day we arrived.  It worked well to book the same place.  Ezra was already warmed up and familiar and Uncle Fan and Tina had seen lots of her, too.

Maddy's baby bump was too cute!!

Little Ezra shoes.  Happy Maymee heart.

Eventually we ventured out to do a little exploring and get some dinner.

Riga is incredibly clean, safe, and everyone spoke English making it super easy for us.

This park totally reminded me of a mini Central Park.

We bumped into Sarah!!  

By this time, the jet lag was setting in and hitting some harder than others.  It was an 8-hour difference.  Personally I didn't really struggle.  I pushed through and just acclimated to the time change.

Back at the house, Maddy sorted through all the baby stuff I brought- some from bins she'd left behind and some new gifts from her registry.  People have been so generous.

Then we cozied up on the couch to watch Sing together while Maddy and Mason went to their evening session. It's one of Ezra's favorites and she knows every word to every song.  It became the soundtrack of our trip.

Wednesday, July 15th

My mornings started off walking.  It was such a great way to explore the city.  It all felt safe, easy to navigate, and pretty compact.  In fact, in our whole stay we heard only one siren of an ambulance.  We were amazed that with no significant police presence, we also saw no disorderly disturbances, fire emergencies or accidents, no homeless, and no drug activity, and didn't even smell weed once!  The capital city is nearly 600,000.

We quickly settled into a morning routine.  After my walk, I'd meet Colombo at the hotel lobby (one block from our apartment) so we could grab Ezra from Mason.  At the house, Kelly would pass Bo off to us and go back to bed.  

Maddy and Mason would come during their break in the day.

We had a great park just steps away.  Honestly it felt like everything was steps away.

We met up with Tina's sister and her family- Ashley, Anthony, Elios, and Matteh

If I really had to knit-pick the trip, my main complaint would be the food.  Partly due to our size group, not wanting to linger in high-end, expensive restaurants with babies.  Amazing food was dimply not a big priority and we needed convenience and flexibility around meals.  Also, Riga just didn't seem to be a foodie or coffee connoisseur destination.  This dinner was our 'L' of the trip.  But we still enjoyed an evening outdoors together.

Quite randomly, on a whim, I decided to put together little videos of our travels.  I've gotten quicker with editing since doing my Ezra videos, so I decided to put together some video memories in two-day bits.  I'm so glad we have them to look back on.  Click here to watch the first one.