Family

Last week was such a great one for our family! Bard's aunt and uncle were on vacation and decided to come here to visit with us. We spend very little time with Bard's side of the family, so this alone was a treat. But Kevin and Susan went above and beyond-deciding to just spoil us all week! Let's see, dinner at the beach, long talks on the deck, BBQed filet mignon, fresh grilled salmon, drives to Gig Harbor, lots of peek a boo and musical instruments, and, and, hmm, what am I forgetting? OH, they got our basement ready for it's first inspection! And it passed! It was so amazing to be blessed all week. And I'm so grateful that Evelyn got to know her aunt and uncle, I know they will continue to show her what it is to be family.

First Night

Well, I figured I had better do it before Evelyn left for college, so Friday night was her first night spending the night away from both me and Bard! Of course, Bard has been on business trips, so she has been away from him before, but I have never left her over night. I was totally comfortable with it because she was staying with my parents and since my mom watches her twice a week she is used to sleeping there and knows both my parents really well. But, that only helped to an extent!

Last February I bought Bard Coldplay tickets for Valentines Day and a few months ago, since this was my birthday weekend and Evelyn would be 15 months old, we decided to make a night of it and stay in Portland before coming home. We dropped her off just before nap on Friday, which made me kinda sad because since she was asleep I wasn't able to say goodbye. Of course she wouldn't have really known what I meant anyway. The drive down was nice and we had a good time walking around Portland before going to the concert. Although to get to Powell's Bookstore we walked through what I can only nicely call the red light district and I haven't smelled that much pot since college! We called her before she went to bed and said goodnight, she was busy being spoiled to death so didn't say much ; ) The concert was great, we were on the lawn at the amphitheater and it was a beautiful evening. Coldplay even came out on the lawn and sang several songs (including a pretty cool rendition of Billie Jean) on a small portable stage they had set up not too far from us! I saw a baby about Evelyn's age (please do not even tell me she is not a baby anymore, that is just nasty!) It did make me miss her a bit but at the same time I thought those parents were crazy for bringing their baby and I was glad it was just me and Bard!

It took us an hour, yes an hour, to get out of the parking lot-apparently not the smartest traffic engineers in Clark County! So, by the time we got back to the hotel I wasn't really thinking about not being able to check in on her. But, as I woke up throughout the morning - most of you know I'm a horrible sleeper - it was very odd to not have to get up based on her schedule. In fact, it was the first time in 15 months that I hadn't followed her schedule! We were up so late the night before it was great just to be able to sleep in and have our morning together.

We went to Portland's Saturday Market which is a fabulous mix of hippie, yuppie eclectic art with great food and interesting music thrown in just for fun. Even though Bard and I do get to spend a lot of time together, probably more than the average couple with a one year old, there is something different about extended time. Date nights and walks are nice but I think there is something unique about having extra time with each other, the conversations can become more in depth and varied. After an amazing chocolate almond croissant (hey, it was my birthday!) we headed out of the city and back home. We made pretty good time and actually got in to Tacoma before Evelyn would have been up from her nap. So we swung by the mall and I re-pierced my second holes-maybe this time I'll leave earrings in so they don't grow over again! I hadn't felt too antsy until that point. But I knew she would be waking up and I just wanted to be there. The last ten minutes of the drive were longer than the two previous hours and I was so glad to go into my parents house and see her smiling, cute, yogurt covered face. She had done great both days, no problems, which made me happy, but I think I'll keep her with me for awhile before leaving her overnight again : )

Bienvenidos!

Ahh, where to start?

*In the morning when she woke up, Evelyn would say, "Outside!" and crawl or walk to the door.

*We went in the pool twice a day and she would say, "Pool!" Then she would point to the other kids and want to play with them.

*Most of the families there were Mexican so our little blondie stuck out and got quite a bit of attention from everyone. A lady in the elevator even stopped me and asked if I was the one with the baby.

*She played in the sand and I think still probably has some sticking to her somewhere. But when Bard took her toward the ocean, his understanding of "Go slow" was to plow in waist deep which totally freaked her out. She'll get used to it : )

*I think she liked the elevator as much as the pool and said, "Beep" whenever we went in it.

*She slept like a rock, she slept at the airport, during flights, during boarding, all night and good naps, on the bus, and in the car. I wish I could sleep like that!

Overall we had a great trip and I am so glad we went. We had made the decision to take our first real vacation last fall but then had to schedule an unplanned family trip for August (because of cancelling the one that was supposed to be in December) so we were a bit unsure if we could do both in one summer. It will definitely be a busy summer but it is worth it! Next year we won't be taking any big trips, so we'll sit around all summer and do nothing : )

Anyway, the trip there was great. She was really good on the plane and at the airports. It was a long day and I was pretty tired by the time we arrived (more because of staying up and watching LOST with friends the night before, not so much because of the trip!) It was great to walk into the resort and see how nice it was, you never know, you know? But it was beautiful and we loved it. We had a one bedroom suite so Evelyn slept in a crib out in the front room and Bard and I had a separate bedroom. We went to the little store the next day to get food and snacks to have in our room so that we could make our own breakfast-conveniently the store is right on the resort so you never have to leave. They are sooooo thoughtful! ; ) But actually the prices weren't bad at all, except peanut butter which was $4 for half a jar! What is it with other countries and their lack of peanut butter love? Of course my sweet OCD hubby insisted we use only bottled water, so we bought that too. But I rebelled and used tap water for brushing my teeth and making coffee. If I die Abby gets my season one LOST. The hotel provided us with a crib and a high chair which was great-keeping Evelyn contained is a full time job!

Our days looked like this: get up, eat breakfast, get ready for the pool, play in pool, eat lunch, nap, go back to pool, eat dinner, put Evelyn down for bed, watch LOST with Mike and Sara, go to bed. We pretty much did that every day! Puerto Vallarta is two hours ahead of us, but we stayed on the same schedule, so Evelyn woke up around 9am and went to bed around 9pm. her naps were perfect-Bard would fry if he stayed outside all day and he wanted to nap anyway so he napped every day with her! I did maybe once or twice, but often read in our room or went back down to the beach/pool. Yes, I finished all three books! This is the longest Bard has spent with her since we visited family for 4 days back in September. So it was great for them to have so much time together and very restful for me too-having a second pair of hands makes a big difference!

Evelyn learned several new words on our trip: Hola (yes, too cute!), cow (although I think cow means field to her because later we drove by a field with no cows and she pointed, saying, "cow!"), pool, owie, gentle (this because for months Bard has been letting her smack his face so now we are having to retrain her!), Mike, Sara (which she refused to say to Sara, only in front of the rest of us!), and thank you. I think she said a few more, but I wasn't writing them down like normal so I'm not sure.

She did really well and seemed to have a great time. She never had any major melt downs although she did get a bit fussy more often than she does at home. I think she is a pretty solid extrovert and was just a bit over stimulated by everything. Our next trip I need to make sure she has some down time by herself or with just me or Bard for a bit each day. Honestly, since I am the same way, I am surprised I didn't realize this before! Bard and I learned that about myself the hard way on our first trip together and have since been pretty good about making sure I have my own quiet time : )

The pictures are on Facebook and posted to the right, (along with pictures from June.) I thought I would take more, but we did the same thing every day! Well, okay, one day we took the bus in to Puerto Vallarta and walked around for about an hour, but that is about it. We really just wanted to relax. Which, for those of you who know me, know that is not normally how I vacation. I am a Europe girl at heart and love vacations spent travelling all over the place in a million different museums and monuments. But I think this vacation taught me how great it is to sit and relax. Let days blur together. Talk with friends about meaningful stuff and about nothing. Read books and stare at the sunset. Then get up the next day and do it all over again. I hope this is the first of many family vacations. And I hope that they are all like this one-prioritize experiencing the family, not experiencing the experience.