Back to America

We are on our way back home. This time we took a taxi 🚕 to the airport instead of braving the bus 🚌 and train 🚅 system.

The stewardesses on the plane happened to be the same as when I flew to Belgium on Tuesday. Daddy told one of them it was nice to see a familiar face and she realized what a short trip we had and offered to let us sit on an empty row of 3 seats so we can lay down and rest 😔!

Daddy is feeling much more relaxed because his talks are over. We watched 2 movies 🎬 on the plane and Daddy slept through another movie

As we are flying they display on a TV 📺 information about out trip and I noticed how fast the plane is flying. We are going super fast ✈ at 600 miles per hour! That is over 7 times how fast we travel in our van 🚙 on the interstate!

We are now at the airport in Atlanta, GA waiting for our last flight for Nashville, TN. Home!!! 🏠

We look forward to seeing you all and giving hugs and kisses!

Daddy Walks a Robot

There was a little robot at the conference! The above picture is of Daddy next to the little robot. His name is Neu.

When Daddy grabs Neu's hand it will start walking along with him until Daddy lets go of his hand. Someone took a short video of them walking together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryxg4GBDx2s

How is everything going? Did you all get the toy jet planes that Daddy bought you all?

We both miss you all very much and we look forward to coming home soon!

Authentic Belgian Food

After the conference the Microsoft organizers took out all of the speakers to an authentic Belgian restaurant in Brussels.

They had to explain all of the dishes because they were unfamiliar to us. We ended up getting some really tender pieces of meat with a side of large fries. Hmm mmm good! Daddy and I were so hungry. He usually is very nervous and doesn't eat much before he speaks so by the time dinner came his tummy was needing some food!

Daddy Teaches

Daddy gave 3 presentations today. Normally he only gives one presentation at a conference, so this was a new experience. The feedback from the talks were positive.

There weren't any questions during the presentations, but many came up afterwards to ask questions.

The Belgian people have been very friendly us. There have been numerous times when we've needed help and numerous people have gone out of their way to assist us.

Hello Belgium

Our long flight across the Atlantic ocean is now over and we've landed in Belgium. Were you able to find the county on the map?

They played several movies on the plane trip here. Daddy worked on his computer until all the power was out. He was able to sleep a little bit on the plane, but it's not near as comfortable as his bed at home.

We took a train to Antwerp and now we are on a bus to Edegem where our hotel is and where the conference will take place tomorrow. The bus driver has been extremely helpful, because Daddy doesn't know where we are, but he said he would let us know when to get off. Thank you Mr. Bus Driver!

Daddy still has work to do in order to be ready for his 3 classes tomorrow, but he made a lot of good progress at the airport an on the plane.

How are things going at home? Abby, I miss playing with the other animals on your school desk. How are they doing? Have you all taken any nature walks while we've been gone? Enoch, how was school? Did you get your picture taken?

You all should be getting a special surprise in the mail today or tomorrow. Keep your eyes open for it! Daddy got something for Abby, Enoch, and Ezra for you to pretend you are traveling like us ;)

We miss you all so much! Remember to love, honor, and obey your Mommy.

White Wolf the World Wide Traveler

Turquoise the Traveling Turtle was playing hide-n-seek at home and apparently he is doing a great job because we can't find him anywhere!

However, that is great news for me because I, the White Wolf, am going to be a World Wide traveler! Daddy is going to Belgium to speak at a Microsoft conference and he chose me to go with him, hoowwwwlllll!

We are now in Atlanta, GA waiting for our long flight to Europe. The trip will be 8 hours and 45 minutes long! That is almost 9 Sesame Streets long! The plane will be traveling 4,413 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe you can draw a line on the map to follow out progress.

We miss you guys already. Take care of Mommy while we are gone and obey and respect her. Daddy says he loves you all!

Last Leg Home

We are getting on the last plane until we will be home with you all.

Unfortunately you'll all be asleep when we arrive. Daddy and I will probably sleep in some in the morning and then play with you all until lunch-time.

Daddy will need to work after that, but he is very excited to be with you all. He is still feelimg somewhat sick so hopefully the sleep will help him recover.

Huge Hamburger

Jonathan, Daddy, and I met for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and we ordered a HUGE hamburger (as you can see me sitting on top of the avocado).

We had a great talk over lunch and amazingly Daddy and I were able to eat that whole hamburger. The waitress asked us about dessert, but we were way to full so we declined.

The talks today have been really good. There are only a couple more talks until Daddy and I head to the airport to begin our journey back home.

We are very much looking forward to giving each of you a great big hug and kiss!

Boston at NIght

After the conference we went out to a restaurant and had we enjoyed some Boston Clam Chowder and some Lobster Artichoke dip and chips.

Daddy was excited to see Doug, Jonathan, and Ralph because he doesn't get to see the regularly. He talks to them all the time on the computer, but it was a very special thing to hang out with them in person.

On our walk back home we saw this great big Tyrannosaurus Rex outside a museum and Daddy wanted to take a picture of it. It is sooooooo much bigger than my little turtle self :) I think it's funny how little his arms are compared to his body ha ha ha

Speaking

Today Daddy gave his presentation at the conference. He actually thought he was speaking tomorrow so he was a little nervous and making final changes to the material after breakfast. 

Daddy make some jokes while he was teaching which helped him relax somewhat. The audience seemed to enjoy the talk and several people came up with questions afterwards. 

He is pretty relieved now that the talk is over and he can enjoy the rest of the conference without that over his head. 

I hope you all are doing well. We look forward to being home soon. 

Speaker Dinner

Daddy said it was great to talk to you last night. Although I didn't get to talk to you I was with Daddy at the time.

Right after talking to you we went to the Speaker dinner. This is where all the teachers from the conference eat together. The food was pretty good, but it was a little odd eating soo late ;)

Afterwards we went back to our hotel room and Daddy worked on his slides for his talk. Eventually we both got very tired and just went to sleep.

By the way, the bed in our hotel room is huge! Even though Daddy and I shared the bed there was still plenty of room.

Although he didn't sleep very well. He is still quite sick :(

We miss you all very much and we hope you are enjoying Nana being able to visit while we are away.

All Day Travel

Well, what was supposed to be a half day trip turned into an all day trip.

Our previous flight was running late and we missed our connecting flight to Boston.

I was able to get another ticket for 7:30pm and they put me on stand-by for a couple of other flights. Stand-by is a fancy way to say "Why don't you stand around and see if we have an available seat for you".

After a lot of waiting in the airport, we were able to get a seat on the 5:30pm flight and we are now in Boston!

Above is a picture of all the cabs outside of the airport. A cab is a car that takes you places when you give the driver money.

If all goes well we may still make the special dinner for the speakers (teachers) at the conference.

Traveling to Boston Again

This is my first trip to Boston, MA. You can ask Mommy to show you where that is on the United States map that is on the wall.


Even though I've been on several airplane rides with Daddy before I am still a little bit nervous.


The first plane we are taking is a small jet. We'll be flying to Washington DC, that is where Aunt Alisa lives, and then get on a much bigger plane for the rest of the trip.


Maybe you can draw a line on the map from Nashville to Washington DC to follow our travels.


I'll blog more as our adventure continues. Be good to Mommy while we are gone.... TEAM MANOR!

Golden Gate Bridge

Tonight we went into downtown San Francisco, California to see some of the sights.

Daddy and his friends from work are in the above picture in front if the Golden Gate Bridge. If you look in the background you can see the red bridge covered in fog (that is like a cloud that is really close to the ground).

I stayed in the car because it was very cold outside and I didn't bring a turtle jacket.

Afterwards we went to a great pizza place downtown, but I think I ate too much because my tummy started to hurt pretty bad ;(

We look forward to headed home tomorrow. It will be a long day of travel, but we should be home in time for Daddy to tuck you all into bed!

jQuery Conference Presentation

Today Daddy gave his jQuery presentation at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, California. I was up in front with him, but I'm too small for you to see ;)

There was a good crowd in his talk, were several questions afterwards, and a few people came up to speak with Daddy after his talk.

Daddy is feeling much more relaxed now that his talk is over ;) Thank you for your prayers. Daddy says that he misses you all very much!

Abby, Daddy said he is looking forward to telling you stories, going on walks with you, making artwork with you, and tucking you into bed at night.

Enoch, Daddy says he is looking forward to putting puzzles together with you, reading you stories, wrestling with you, an tucking you into bed at night.

Ezra, Daddy says he is looking forward to tickling you, tossing you up in the air, and just watching you smile.

Mommy, Daddy says he is looking forward giving you a big hug, to her about your day, but most importantly being able to love you (support/strength/listen/encourage/etc), as you need, in person.

Mix11 Session

Today Daddy presented his "Good JavaScript for C# Developers" session. There were quite a few people that attended his talk as you can see in the above picture. You can't quite see me in the picture, but I am also on stage with Daddy!

I was a very nervous little turtle, but after a few minutes I started to feel much more comfortable.

After Daddy's talk 15 or so people came up afterwards to ask questions, but I stayed tucked away in Daddy's pocket.

We are now about to get on another plane to San Francisco, California. That is near where Anna (Mommy's sister) and Cyndi (Daddy's sister) lives.

It was great to hear your voices today on the phone. We love and miss you all so much!

Kinect Call

Today was another busy day of sessions, continuing relationships, and making new friends. My little turtle feet were very tired by the end of the day!

I was pleasantly surprised that Microsoft gave all of us a free Kinect device today. It is a new technical toy that Microsoft wants us to play around with ;) Thankful as a turtle I didn't pack much in my luggage so there should be enough room to bring it back home!

I would have to say one of my "highs" for today is that Daddy got to read you all a bedtime story tonight over Skype on his iPhone! We enjoyed seeing you all. You didn't see me, but I was taking a napping in Daddy's pocket.

Tomorrow Daddy will be presenting his session on "Good JavaScript Practices for C# Developers". It will be at 3:30pm CST. Please remember to pray for him if you can.

We love and miss you all very much!

Vegas at Night

So our hotel room is on the 8th floor of the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. There are 16 floors in this building! The above picture is from our hotel room.

Today was a full day at the conference. I attended some great sessions and met a lot of new people. I still haven't met another turtle, but it is part of what makes me unique at this conference.

Daddy was on TV today? Were you able to see him? If not, I think it was recorded so you can watch later. Mike took the above picture while he was talking.

I hope you are all doing well today! Did you do anything fun today? We love you all ;) Goodnight!

Sky Mall Magazine

I just got on a plane in Denver, Colorado headed towards Las Vegas, Nevada.

Daddy introduced me to this wonderful magazine full of interesting and bizarre (that is a fancy for for "strange") gadgets!

I noticed this strange metal helmet as shown in the above picture. Do you think it will help Daddy's headaches any? Probably not, but it sure does look funny ;)

How are you all doing? I saw pictures of you all having a special Peter the Rabbit picnic our living room! Too bad it was raining outside, but it sure looked like you were having fun ;)

Daddy gave up his seat so a Mommy could sit with her two daughters on the way to Denver. We ended up getting a middle seat, but it wasn't all that bad. The stewardess (that's a fancy word for an airplane waiter) thanked Daddy and let us watch free tv on the plane.

We miss you all and hope you are doing well. Mommy says that there were some tornado warnings in Nashville. We prayed for your safety and trust the God will keep protect you while we are away.

Las Vegas Here I Come

Well, I'm about to get on a plane for Las Vegas, Nevada! This will be my first trip to Vegas. I wonder if there are other turtles there? Daddy says that he doesn't ever remember seeing turtles there, but I'm crossing my little green toes ;)

Daddy says that he misses you all already even though it's only been a couple hours since we left for the airport.

Our plane will first land in Denver, Colorado for a short layover and then we will head the rest of the way to Las Vegas.

Mommy can show you these places on the map for you to see. Maybe you can pretend you are flying too in your airplane or helicopter?

On My Way Home

Yeah, we are on our way back home! You can see the map of the plane traveling across the country below.

Our first leg of the trip was pretty rough. We left at 11:00pm and flew into Atlanta, GA at 7:00am. We are now on the plane to Nashville!

Daddy and I are almost home ;) We miss you all so much!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Today was pretty exciting. We had many more sessions that we attended.

I was asked to be a guest on a podcast by Scott Hanselman. You can think of a podcast kind of like a radio program. The show should be available sometime next week.

It was great to talk to you all and see your beautiful faces over skype video on my iPhone. That was one of my "Highs" for the day!

At the end of the day we went to the stadium where the Seattle Mariners baseball team play. The above picture is of the stadium and the following picture is of a band that was playing in the middle of the field.

I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. My plane leaves really late tomorrow night. I'll be flying through the night and into the morning. Thankfully there will be lots of room for me to sleep on the plane ;)

Ballmer and a Moose

Today we went to a lot more sessions. The picture above is from the keynote talk by the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer. It was good to hear from him an his vision for the future.

It turns out that I wasn't the only animal present at the event, there was a Moose! The moose is the mascot for the Mariners baseball team here in Seattle and since we are going to have a party at the baseball stadium he came to get us excited ;)

The rest of the day I got to meet many new people and reconnect with friends I've made last year or have developed online.

I miss you all very much! Daddy is looking forward to coming home soon.

Lots of Sessions

I went to a lot of classes today. I met a lot of new people throughout the day. There are about 1,500 MVPs present here at the conference from all over the world!

While everyone was learning at different classes I took some time to learn how to make a computer program like Daddy,

I missed you all today! I hope and pray that you are doing well. I hope tomorrow we can video conference and look and hear each-other on the computer. I love you all sooo much!

Swimming in Watermelon

We woke up to some nice healthy food this morning at hotel. There is more watermelon than I can eat in a week! I'm sure Daddy will eat the parts I can't finish.

Did you all sleep well last night? Daddy and I have been praying for you all!

We are about to get on a bus to the Microsoft campus where sessions will be held today. I hope you all have a great day!

Turtle Bed Paradise

We just got into our hotel room and WOW, I have the biggest bed EVER! I can spread out my legs and can't even touch the sides of the bed ;)

Daddy is going to enjoy sleeping on this bed. Dan has a bed next to me as well. He is our roommate.

Daddy and I pray that you all are doing well, that you have good dreams and not bad, and feel well and not sick!

Playing Chess with Dan

I challenged Dan to chess as we waited for our hotel room to be cleaned. I'm afraid I didn't do too well, but I am still learning ;) The game of chess is a little bit like checkers, but with a lot more rules. Someday I can teach you how to play.

We registered for the conference already. We have our badges that we wear around our necks and they even gave us a nice button up shirt that we can wear. They didn't have a super small turtle size shirt, but they did have one Daddy's size.

Limo Drive to the Hotel

We finally made it to Seattle, WA. Dan already landed by the time we got here.

We went to find a cab to the airport, but it turns out that a limo costs about the same price so we rode in style to the hotel!

As you can tell there is plenty of room here in the limo ;)

I hope you are doing well. Daddy really enjoyed talking to you all tonight. I look forward to having a video chat with you all soon.

Leaving a Little Late

The above picture is of the airplane we are going to ride in. Look how LONG that wing is!

Our flight was slightly delayed because they had to repair the bathroom, but we have finally boarded and all is good. We should land in Seattle, WA sometime after Enoch's nap.

The picture below is what it looks like inside the airplane. The flight is full. There are no empty seats. I guess lots of people want to get to Seattle ;)

Daddy ended up trading seats with a boy about your age, Abby, so he can sit next to his Mommy and then Daddy traded seats with a wan so she could sit next to her husband. I felt like I was playing musical chairs ;)

I hope you had a great time at church this morning. Daddy and I miss that we weren't able to join you.

Thanks for adding comments to my posts. I enjoy seeing them very much!

Freezing Cold in Minneapolis

We just landed in Minneapolis, MN and it is super cold here at a freezing 18 degrees Fahrenheit! Thankfully my nice hard turtle shell keeps my nice and warm, but Daddy is a little cold ;)

My ears felt a little strange going up high in the air, but they are all better now that we landed.

Daddy says we now have to find the other airplane that we are going to ride to Seattle, Washington. It is supposed to big a lot bigger airplane ;)

Mommy can show you on the map where we are. Daddy drew a line to trace our trip for you to follow at home.

It is going to be a much longer flight than the last one. I'll be in the air for a total of 3 Sesame Streets and then 1 episode of Super Why!

Lots of Leg Room

So, one of the the benefits of being an extremely small turtle is that you get tons of leg room on the airplane! I'm currently sitting in the cup holder of the food tray, but Daddy says I'll need to move once the plane is about to take off.

Speaking of Daddy, he has plenty of leg room as well. He is pretty small too ;)

This plane is much bigger than I had imagined! This first flight is supposed to last a little over 2 hours. I think I'll read or help Daddy on the computer.

Daddy and I miss you all very much!

Waiting for the Plane

I just arrived at the airport!

Daddy is taking good care of me. I'm waiting here by the window until our airplane arrives.

This will be my first trip in an airplane. I'm a little nervous because I'm so used to going very slow. I am a turtle after all.

I miss you all already! Daddy sends his love <3