Sometimes I Wake Up Crabby

Sometimes I let her sleep. That's Pete's favorite joke. He's sooooooooooooooooooooo funny. Crab fest at Scruncle and Aunt Julie's marina gave Ellie her first boat ride! An important rite of passage in this family. And resulted in one of my favorite videos of her.

The "wee" is so convincing, don't you think? Anyway, we all had a good time, and overdosed on crabs and old bay.

Yum.

A Wedding

Next on our cross-country trip, a visit to Portland for my brother's wedding. We had a fabulous time and it was a gorgeous ceremony and reception. Her family was so welcoming, and I haven't seen my brother so happy in a long time.

We had too much fun at the rehearsal dinner to get many pictures but Ellie looked awfully cute in her little dress.

First were pre-wedding pictures, then ceremony, then the obligatory bubble blowing, etc.

{so sweet}

{my favorite picture ever}

{Grandpa Mac did, in fact, wear a tux}

I love these pictures because you can just see how much fun we're all having, everyone's so happy. And now let the wild rumpus start (can you tell what we've been reading lately?).

The reception was truly a blast. It was on the family farm, an amazing piece of property. They had a dance floor set up with tables surrounding, amazing food, everyone just let loose and had fun. Great toasts, yummy cake, good beer, perfect weather. Ellie tore up the dance floor all evening long.

I had a gazillion more pictures I wanted to post, but instead I'll just point you to the flickr group if you want more. Welcome to the family, Aunt Mary!!

You're How Old?

We took a little side jaunt over to Omaha for Pete's 20th (!) high school reunion. We stayed with some friends and they hired a babysitter to watch their two kids and Ellie so we could go out and enjoy the evening.

We also had to hit the fabulous Omaha zoo where Ellie got another chance to ride a carousel and got up close and personal with some goats and other pet-able "wildlife."

It was an excellent little side trip. I think I had more fun at his reunion than I had at mine.

I-O-W-A

Back to Iowa in July as part of another cross-country adventure. We took to the air this time.

It was a little chilly but Ellie still had fun playing in the little pool my mom set up.

{Grandpa Mac is so cute with Ellie}

When I was a kid the best place in the world was City Park, they had tons of playgrounds, the Iowa River ran through, an outdoor pool with a super-tall diving board, and a little amusement park. We did it all, rode the train and the marry-go-round, played on the slides, chased the ducks, had a blast.

Ellie wasn't sure about the merry-go-round at first, but in the end she didn't want to get off.

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!