February: Naked Trees and Sunburned Cheeks

For Valentine's Day this year, we visited Gong Gong (XW's dad) in Blacksburg and were happily joined by Mei-Lun (+family) and Michael (+kids). We just wished we could have also seen Jimo, Vincent, Janie and the Chicago kids.

Max had a blast with his cousins and it was quite special to be in Blacksburg for Valentine's Day. He met many of Gong Gong's friends (of all ages) and also sat through his first college-level lecture given by....Daddy! Alan was invited to give a presentation to the Industrial Design students at Virginia Tech.

Following our visit in the mountains of Virginia, we head down to the sunny beaches of Amelia Island, Florida. We were totally spoiled and pampered at the Ritz-Carlton and Max had a blast with his sweet "Texas cousin," London.

We realized on this trip that need to keep up our travel routine so that Max continues to experience different climates and seasons. While we were in Blacksburg, he commented several times, "the trees are naked!" And, on Amelia Island, it was the first time Max was exposed to a warm beach and able to dip his toes in the ocean. The downside were the very strong and sneaky sunrays. Fortunately, with the world's largest sandbox at his disposal, he hardly noticed his sunburned cheeks.