Let's Go Away for Awhile

Mom and Lily have been to and returned from a week long trip to San Francisco, and Lily is finally getting her sleep schedule back on track. The trip was taken with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom, and we met Aunt Tracy, Uncle Stan, and of course Aunt Kelly who lives in San Fran.

Overall, Lily was a trooper on the plane and only minimally disturbed all of the first class passengers with her loud talking - her response when told to quiet down was as follows "Mommy, I want to talk" or even better "Mommy, I want to talk loud."

Lily was also a trooper adjusting to Pacific time, and keeping up with all of the scheduled activities. Once arriving in San Francisco, we almost immediately headed to Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, we were unable to swim in the mountaintop heated pool due to a blizzard, but she got in some hot tub time, as you will see below. During our time in San Fran, Lily enjoyed Golden Gate Park, and enjoyed taking the ferry to Tiberon. We also got down to Monterey to see the fish, otters, and penguins - no dolphins (her favorite) but she had plenty to keep her interest.

The flight home was interesting as we were diverted to Tulsa, OK, due to bad weather in Dallas/Fort Worth, and while in Tulsa, we had to evacuate to the basement due to a tornado warning. We eventually made it out to Chicago, and then to D.C. - our luggage followed a few days later.

Since returning, three days in a row Lily slept in until 9:45 a.m. and thus took no nap at school but she seems to be slowly moving away from a nap - although Mom and Dad aren't ready for her to completely give it up!

Friday Lily got a haircut, and for the first time had her hair washed, and sat in the chair all by herself with the cape. Mom is relieved that the crying spells are over.

Saturday, we visited with Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice and ate some delicious pizza.

Sunday, we met up with Cole, Hayley, Mr. John, and Ms. Michelle at the playground and then had some lunch. Upon returning home, we ventured on a walk with Gypsy and ended up at another playground, and an impromptu visit with her classmate Gavin in his front yard.

Lily sends out birthday wishes to Aunt Tracy who turns 32 today!!

Enjoy all the many pics from the trip to San Fran, and post-vacation!


All ready for the slopes.


Up the mountain with Aunt Tracy.


Chillin in the hot tub.


Checking out the view with Grandpa Tom.


Catching up with Aunt Kelly.


Checking out the flowers ...


and the view ...


and the Golden Gate ...


and more view.


Collecting flowers.


A whole family of penguins.


With Mom.


Blowing away.


Getting accustomed to a big girl bed.


Showing off her new haircut with a green eyed dog in the background.


With Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice.


A close up at the playground.

Blow Wind Blow

Well it was a very wet and windy weekend here but we managed to survive without drowning or getting blown away. Friday Lily spent some quality time with Mom at the local indoor pool - no pics due to having no camera and Lily was busy kicking all over the pool. Saturday we ran some errands - and picked up a new camera - so we have pictures. Then we went for a visit to see Hayley and Cole and then out to dinner. Lily had a great time running around and playing with Hayley.

Sunday we hung around the house and ran a few more errands. We caught some classic Diego episodes, played with a lot of toys, and read a bunch of books. Lily and Mom are geting ready for their big trip this week to visit Aunt Kelly in San Francisco (or San Franfreckle if you are Lily) with Grandma Gail, Grandpa Tom and Aunt Tracy, and Uncle Stan also plans on making an appearance. Gypsy and Dad will have to fend for themselves.

That is about it...it was a quiet week around here. Things should be getting busier soon as we get ready for some hopefully warm weather and a very busy summer - weekends at the lake, time at the pool, and moving.

Enjoy the pics.


Being serious.


Feeding baby.


Reading about Diego.


Watching hockey.


Playing in Gypsy's house - we swear she wants to hang out in there!

Spirits in the Material World

Lily has spirit, yes she does, Lily has spirit - how about you? - ok that didn't really sound right...but this week was spirit week at Lily's school. No specific occasion to be spirited, just a fun week of dressing up. Monday was sports jersey day, Tuesday was hat and sunglasses day, Wednesday was patriotic day, and Friday was pj day. Lily really got into it, although she refused to wear her pjs to school but of course when we went to pick her up, the pjs were on - peer pressure, we are sure!

The reason we skipped Thursday of spirit week - which was stuffed animal day - was because Lily didn't go to school that day b/c she was with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom who so graciously rescued her from her germ infested home where Mom and Dad were bedridden with a horrible stomach flu. Mom and Dad are pretty much recovered but it was touch and go for a bit - at least it felt like it at times.

Easter Sunday we went over to G&G's for the annual Easter egg hunt and this year Lily participated and quickly found 12 eggs expertly hidden by Grandpa Tom. Lily also visited with Great Yellow Grandma Katie, Great Aunt Jenny, Great Uncle Carlton, and cousin Alex.

We are happy to report that Lily appears to be pretty much potty trained. She hasn't had an accident in weeks, and she has gone about a week with waking up with dry diapers so we will give it a little more time before we begin 24/7 underwear. Again, she would prefer that Mom and Dad discontinue any participation in the toilet process as she wants to do absolutely everything herself - the best is when she instructs us to "close door," sits on the potty for about 10 minutes reading (by then we have forgotten she was even in there - kidding!), and then gets off the toilet and comes out of the bathroom with no pants or underwear in sight singing "I'm done."

Lily's language continues to develop at a rapid pace - her latest tonight was "What is the problem, Mom?" We should really start writing down some of the funny things that come out of her mouth but it never really translates on paper, but we will try to videotape more often.

Enjoy the pictures!!

P.S. Grandpa Tom has a birthday coming up on Saturday - Happy 61st Birthday!!!

UPDATE: Well we had a couple of pictures from spirit week but in all our cleaning we seem to have misplaced the camera with the pics.


Making eggs with Grandma.


Working hard.


Standing on her head.


Making cookies.


A little video from last week. Lily and the Wonder Pets them song.

Victim of a Foolish Heart

So with our 160th post upon us, and a little more than 2 1/2 years along, Marcy and I have been talking and have decided that it may very well be time to pull the plug on our little baby book blog. The fact of the matter is that Lily is getting older and eventually the kids in her class are going to start making fun of her for having her whole childhood on the internet. It has been fun but it is beginning to turn into a chore these days - we just have too much going on between crashing cars and buying new houses.

Anyway, in closing, it was a busy week at school this week and Lily is talking a ton. Her favorite query is "[Mom or Dad] what are you doing?" This was cute the first 500 time in a row but I am ready for the next question :) This weekend we did not do much - the first lazy weekend in a while. Marcy took Lil to the pool on Friday and on Saturday and Sunday we did some work around the house - improving curb appeal and and then played a lot outside - at the playground, in the park and riding bikes and Winnie the Pooh ride.

I guess that is about it. Enjoy the pictures and see you around.


Some sand?


Being serious.


At the pool. Marcy and Lily took a trip to the pool on Friday.


Putting on her pink shoes.


Playing with chalk.


A little chalk on the brow.


With baby.

P.S. - HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY - SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.