Vacation P.S.

Eli started experimenting with walking upright over vacation. Now he is a walking pro, running whenever possible!

Walking

Vacation Part IV

In between the cousins' birthdays, we of course had to have a party! Eli was very gentle with the cake, patting it lightly like we teach him to pat the dogs. Once he had a piece of his own, however, he went to town. He very possessivley covered it with both hands so no one would take it from him. Magically, the small amount of blue frosting on top of the cake covered his entire face by the end!

After cake and industrial cleaning supplies, we/he opened presents! A hit was the singing book from Grammy. It helped that she put his picture in it and he was on every page. My how handsome the main character was, even Madelyn thought so!

Vacation Part III

Beach, boardwalk, Funland. It just works! What better way to spend birthday party Saturday than at the boardwalk! We weren't quite sure how the kiddos would like the rides. Our first attempt was the carousel. Eli was a champ and loved sitting on the horse. It took him a minute to realize that he was moving up and down though.



Since the carousel was a go, we tried the flying helicopters. Eli got very impatient that the ride took so long to start, and I am pretty sure I was having way more fun than him, but overall I think it was a positive experience. The thing you need to know though is that you move the lever in and out and the helicopter goes up and down. Well, Eli just liked pushing it in and out really fast...luckily we didn't really take flight!

Helicopters led us to the hot air balloon ferris wheel. I let Jason climb into the mini ballons and was able to snap this adorable picture. As soon as it started moving, Eli stood up, he's such a little daredevil.

As if the day wasn't busy enough, we packed up and head back to the house for the party... and of course cake!

Vacation Part II

Once in Delaware, we packed and packed and packed to go to the beach. Eli and Madelyn wore show-stopping outfits and had no idea what was going on.



Once we found a spot, Eli was so heavy that I just plopped him in the sand and he LOVED it. It didn't matter that sand found its way into all the creases, of which he has many, or that killer 6 inch tidal waves flattened him, he always got up for more! Jason and I bought him a new hat to wear. We only found one "boy" had that a strap to it, but everyone kept making fun of our little German soldier. I thought it was cute! 4 hours of preparation made for a fantastic 2 hour beach excursion.

Vacation Part I

Jason had two weeks off from school/work and we took advantage of it! Our first stop was the lake for a fun weekend with Jason's family! Gran and Granpa showed up with one of the coolest toys Eli had ever seen. Here is he playing with it:



He kept pushing it round and round and round the house. When he wasn't playing with and empty plastic box, we went swimming! We plopped him in his crab, tied a rope to a claw, and gave the other end to Granpa and he had a great time. (Both Eli and Granpa!)

He also liked playing with daddy in the water too. It was the first time that any of us had gone kayaking as well. Now that is a good workout! Before we left Texas, we went to Coolidge to track down some ancestry links for Randy. We visited cemeteries and found headstones and even walked through the house his grandfather built in the early 1900's! It was so neat to find everything almost exactly how he remembered it. After the lake we headed to Dallas and on to Part II...