Summer Vacation!

As some of you know, we recently braved a marathon plane flight and a five-hour time change with a one-year-old to take a week-long vacation to Kauai. Grampa Bob and Grammy Sandy were kind enough to invite us out to their time share resort as well as to offer babysitting duties-- we couldn't refuse! The plane flights, with the exception of one minor bump (see pic below), went surprisingly well: Eliza loved walking up and down the aisle sticking her tongue out at everybody. And she is also definitely a little water baby, as you'll see below as well. We were nervous about the time change and, to our amazement, Eliza slept better in Hawaii than she's ever slept on the mainland, as we often found ourselves confused and staring at each other at nine in the morning while Eliza snored away wondering: whose baby is this? We're now looking into jobs and housing in Kauai and will keep you all posted on an impending move. 

Just kidding.

Anyway, here's some pics:

So here's a picture of our first night in Hawaii, which we actually spent in L.A. Notice the airplanes out the window. Mechanical problem; short layover; run through the airport with baby, stroller, and bags; airplane door tragically shut in face; unanticipated detour to LAX Hilton c/o American Airlines. We managed to keep our smiles!

Here's Eliza, Grampa Bob, Grammy Sandy and Boo Doll among the palm trees and the Trade Winds

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Eliza having fun in the resort pool.

Getting our first taste of the Pacific Ocean!

 

Happy (Belated) Birthday Eliza!

Last month Carrie and Brian celebrated the occasion of having kept Eliza alive for one year (not always an easy task, considering Eliza's inclination to propel herself off of beds, couches and futons). The birthday celebrations and present openings occurred in several shifts, including parties in both Columbia and Macomb. Here's some pictures from mom and dad's house:

A new slide, and hopefully a healthy outlet for Eliza's daredevil spirit!

Mmmm, cookie cake!

Eliza practicing her sharing skills.

And proving the point that, at this age, the wrapping is in fact as much fun as the present!

Here's a short movie of the celebration as well:

Forgive Us Family and Friends...

...for we have neglected our bean blog! It has been three-and-a-half months since our last post, and an awful lot has happened! We have acquired new jobs, bought a house, moved all our stuff into it, unpacked all our stuff, painted several rooms, settled into the never-quite-finished-with-all-our-projects mode of being home owners, and through all this, we have managed to keep the Eliza bean alive! And not only have we kept her alive, but (despite her valiant efforts) we have managed to keep her from eating any cat food, sticking her fingers in electric sockets, nor has she taken any spills down our staircase. She is, however, eerily adept and scrambling up the stairs...

Here's a quick timeline of the past few months:

While  Eliza wasn't as much help at unpacking boxes as we'd hoped, she did have a pretty good time being pushed around in them.

This picture cracks us up because not only is Eliza in her playpen, but she is not screaming, crying or throwing a tantrum to get out. A rare sight: the playpen didn't quite buy us the amount of free time we'd hoped it would. Notice in the background, the boxes are gone, and the books have made it up on the shelf! This room is our future library/currently Eliza's play area.

Here's a picture of Eliza's Easter outfit and rainbow brite tights,illustrating the fact that kids are never as cute as when they're too young to know better than to let mom and dad dress them in just about anything.

Here's Eliza playing one of her favorite games: steal the TV remote! This is our basement TV room/currently Eliza's other play area...

And here's Eliza and dad having some fun at a local park. She is definitely an outdoors sort of girl, who loves to swim, swing and stick her hands in the dirt.