Camping...Finally

In August, 2008, I mentioned that we wanted to go camping and mused at how long it would take us to actually get around to it. Almost a full year later we went camping!

We packed up the entire house, threw the two dogs in the trunk (not really), and met up with some great friends, their two younger kids, and their little dog for an excellent weekend enjoying the outdoors.

It rained for part of the first day so we shut the dogs in the tent. Ilow didn't like that at all. Otherwise we enjoyed eating and sitting by the campfire and drawing and the dogs went swimming in the river.

{Sherpa required some rescuing}

Ellie got her first taste of two kid staples; juice boxes and fruit roll-ups. Yum.

She also further honed her beg-like-a-dog skillz. Why eat my hot dog when I can have yours?

It was tons of fun and I hope we get around to another trip this summer.

Baby Jameson

Pete's cousin had a baby boy at the end of May, and they brought him down to visit Grandma as soon as possible. And who can pass up a visit with a tiny baby? Ellie was pretty fascinated. She was just learning how keys worked, so she tried to start Jameson with Aunt Susu's car key. Other than that relatively mild incident she was very gentle with him.

She wasn't even jealous about sharing Grandma's lap with her new second cousin.

And, by the way, babies grow fast. You'd think that'd be obvious but I'm still amazed when I see recent pictures of him. You will be to, if I get that far.

July 4th

I wrote down all the things we did over the missing months and there are a TON, so I figured I'd better get to them while I have a free minute. And in this house, Pete doing the dishes while Ellie sings to herself in bed is a free minute, so I give you Ellie's second 4th of July, including her first set of fireworks!

Scruncle invited us up to Baltimore where they had harbored their boat for the holiday to wine and dine with the marina crowd. First, hanging out in the cabin and having a few pre-dinner drinks.

Then it was out to dinner for mussels and other things Ellie refuses to eat. Fortunately she's a good sitter like her mom.

Then it was back to the boat to get settled before the big show.

{cheers}

And, finally, it was fireworks time! Ellie did really well, especially given it was well past her usual bedtime. She seemed to really enjoy watching the explosions. And I really enjoyed her willingness to snuggle on my lap.

Happy very very very very very belated Independence Day!

Summer

I realized that I missed an entire 6 months of Ellie's life on this here blog *shock*. And it was a busy 6 months. And these were an important 6 months for many reasons, but one really important reason. Pete's grandmother passed away a few weeks ago, making our visits with her over the last 6 months some of our last. And they were great visits. So, I'm going to catch up on the missed months as best I can.

Starting with our visit with Grandma in June. It was a gorgeous weekend so we sat on the front porch at the home and just enjoyed the weather. Aunt SuSu brought yummy strawberries, which Ellie LOVED (as did I).

I, being the brilliant and awesome mom that I am, let Ellie play in a mud puddle. She fell down. Pete was not surprised, nor was he particularly impressed.

And of course we had Ellie sit on Grandma's lap, a ritual that I had them repeat knowing we'd cherish the photos some day.

A Song

Um hum. Been awhile again. Might have something to do with a crazy toddler giving us a run for our money. Here's a song recorded at her daycare, so fun to have a place that will share stuff like this with us!

Aviation Museum

While my mom and step-dad were here over Thanksgiving we finally got things together enough to make it out to our little local Aviation Museum.

The College Park airport is the longest continuously operating airport in the country (I think) so there's a lot of history there, including some association with the Wright Brothers. Cool!

Ellie had a good time running around and looking at the different airplanes.

But her favorite thing was the little exhibit they had on air pressure involving two different sized beach balls.

She figured out how to make it work pretty quickly.

{push button}


{pick up ball}


{toss ball gently into air stream}

I don't like to brag but she's obviously brilliant. And beautiful.

Catch up. Again.

Um, been awhile again. I did get pictures in those empty frames at least.

Ellie started preschool! We have a little daycare here at work that take children over 2, so once she turned two and they had an opening we got her in. It took some adjusting, but she seems to have settled in pretty well. Didn't even notice me leave this morning.

As referenced above, Ellie turned 2. It was another marathon birthday celebration. She's talking and singing nonstop, it's a lot of fun to hear what comes out of her mouth.

She made an adorable Foofa for Halloween. And Pete made a pretty mean DJ Lance Rock.

We had our kitchen completely dismantled last century and it is slowly coming back together.

My dad and step-mom came to visit at the beginning of November, and my mom and step-dad were here for now annual Thanksgiving visit last week. Both visits were a lot of fun, especially since Ellie is starting to learn what "grandma" and "grandpa" mean.

And now we're working on getting in the holiday spirit, welcome to December!