Baltimore Trip- July 21-25, 2006
We had such a great time in Baltimore, and to be honest it was nice just going for a visit and not having a major event to have to go towhile we were there!! It was so nice to see everyone and to be able to relax with a change of scenery! Unfortunatly, we missed the Reichart side of the family again, I guess that the beach won out over us this time ( I can't blame them one bit) but there is always next time. We were able to see Aunt Angela, mom's friend Joan, and Bethany and Matt. All in all we had a fantastic time!
Bill and I went to Einstine Bros. Bagels for breakfast on Saturday morning and Ellie got her first taste of a bagel. She loved it!! She just ripped into it with her three teeth.
I couldn't resist this one, she zonked while we were shopping on Saturday after lunch eith the Hills!
While we were at the mall, we stopped by the Rainforest Cafe so that Ellie could the jungle that is out side of the resteraunt. Here she is with the alligator and she was pretty excited!!
This is Bethany, Ellie, and I in front of Bill Bateman's. We met Bethany and Matt for lunch on Saturday. It was great to see them and for them to finally meet Ellie. We had a great time and a fantastic crab pretzel!
Here we are the Lysse clan (- Schatzie, she was staying with Mike and Jess for the weekend and having a great time chasing rabbits and luckily not catching them!) now aren't we just a great looking group! :)

Baltimore Trip... continuedEllie and Bill are sharing a Slurpee... I think that he has created a monster!!!
We had crabs on Saturday night after Ellie went down to bed, this is what was left over on Sunday at lunch. I really think that they were the best ones that I have ever had! When we showed Ellie a crab she had no idea what to do with it and then she wanted to grab it and put into her mouth!! Go figure!

On Sunday afternoon Bill, Ellie, and I went to the Shops at Hunt Valley for a day of shopping . The weather was perfect, sunny and low-mid eightys and breezy, a great day to be outside! We had the best pizza ever for lunch and a gelato for dessert (you only live once, right?) and managed to pick up a thing or two for Ellie. What a great day!!

Ellie and I stop for a picture in front of the black-eyed susans while we are shopping, I mean we are in Maryland, right?

Baltimore Trip... continuedThis is Ellie enjoying a fantastic dinner of tender chicken, veggies, and stars with a side of apples and blueberries outside on the patio. Mmmm, make me hungry just looking at her!! And in case there is any doubt , we did giver her a bath and hose down the exersaucer once she was done!!

Here is Auntie Margie and Ellie pausing for a photo while airing out the baby goods on the patio after a swim in the "pool".

Grandma Meme and Ellie take a break from playing in all of her toys to smile for the camera. After days of Ellie doing her best to try to get into the basket with all of those great toys, Grandma just put her in there and she had a ball!! Good thinking!!
After a busy day of splashing around, nothing can top off a day better than "toasting" to family with some good old fashioned Zwieback. Can life get any better? Hanging out outside with Grandpa Nels, nudie and wrapped in a towel, cup of juice within reach and toast in hand. Now that is a good day!!
Bill and Ellie hang out on the patio in the Reichart's redneck pool. All of the stores are all sold out of kiddie pools this time of year so we had to make due with what we had... a rubbermaid tote with the stickers still on it. Hey, it worked!!

Ellie is growing so much and changing everyday. She can walk better today than she could last weekend! And of all the new things that she is picking up there was a new one this week that really got to me.
Tuesday when I dropped her off at school it was like any other day. We put her bottles in the fridge and set her food on the counter and slid her bag on the shelf. Miss Ellen and I were chit-chatting like normal the gave Ellie a kiss and told I loved her. When I went to leave I got to the door and waved to her and said bye-bye. She looked at me and started sucking her lip and waved bye-bye back to me for the first time and followed me with her yes all the way to the door. She looked so sad. But I was proud of myself, I held back my tears until I got through the front door. Ellie has waved bye-bye all week and I am so proud of her newest "trick"!

4th of July Weekend - Virginia Beach, VA

For the weekend of the fourth we took our first official Lysse road trip to Virginia Beach to visit all of the Stones (Nana, Pop-Pop, Bob, Julie, Jenna, Rachel, and pets) and take Ellie to the beach for the first time! the car rid went as well as can be expected, we stopped about three times and them almost ran out of gas because she was sleeping and any stop might wake her up! Other than that as long as she was sleeping it was smooth sailing!

It was so good to see everyone and Ellie was just taking in all of the sights! The visit got off to a bumpy start when after only being there for about 15 minutes she slipped and whacked her mouth on the kitchen chair and was bleeding. Thank you Julie and Bill for keeping a cool head because I sure wasn't! I learned that I can handle blood on most anything except for my own child! Now that I know that I will try to work on it and try to be better next time something happens! Anyway, enough about that and on to our trip...

Here is Ellie and Daddy in front of 7-11 (Bill's favorite). What is a morning at the beach without capping it off with a Slurpee? Ellie threw her face into Bill's Coke Slurpee and came up licking her lips and smiling. I know Bill was thrilled! His legacy will live on and now he has a permenant Slurpee buddy! I, on th eother hand, was not so thrilled, I mean it was coke for heaven's sake. All of that caffine and sugar? Come on, she isn't even a year old yet!! So we settled on letting her have some of my sugar-free passion fruit Slurpee, and yes I know that there are all of theose chemicals in sugar-free things, but hey, it was a compromise!!
Here is Bill and Ellie in Bob and Julie's pool. She had a great time throwing her face in and squeeling when she pulled it out! We could hardly get her out, everytime we did she would whine to go back in!! She had a great time splashing and watching the girls bob up and down in the water. What a water baby!!
We went to the beach on Saturday morning bright and early to beat the crowds! At 8am it was already getting hot! Ellie was not too sure of the sand when we stood her up in it, she had a look on her face that said, "What is this?" We took her down to the water's edge and put her feet on the harder wet sand and she seemed to like that! She was amazed with the waves and the surf. she really liked the water washing up over her feet!
We got her wet up to her nimmies and she loved it, especially when the little swells would come up. She was splashing and kicking and having a great time until I set her down in the surf, it was high enough up on the beach where it was barely comming up over my toes. Wouldn't you guess it, as soon as I stepped back a random wave came up and knocked her on her on her back. She was not too happy about that one to say the least!! She came away unharmed with sand in her hair and a new found respect for the ocean. As for me, I felt like the worst mother in the world and I know it is not true, but I sure felt like it! After that she was less than thrilled about being at the beach and wanted to go back to the pool, there are no waves there!!
All in all our weekend went great and I can't wait to take her to a big-person pool or the beach again!! Our next trip is to Baltimore and we are opting to fly instead of driving, hopefully it will be easier!! Wish us luck and I will let you know how that went when we get back!