We can be honest and say that the primary purpose of this blog is to allow distant family and friends to see how incredibly cute our daughter is, without feeling like we are foisting videos on people who don't really care. With that said, here are some of my favorites from the last week:
Eliza loves to play on her rocking horse, although her attention span for it is generally 25-30 seconds (about par for the course for her). The cool thing about this rocking horse is that it was originally Jared's and was made for him by his Grandpa Bill. The thing is built like rock, and I'm pretty sure our grandkids will be playing with it someday.
Here we have the munchkin playing with her bath toys. Usually I try to limit them to bath-time only, but I left the bathroom light on (she won't go in if the light is off), and it was cute so I took video.
Also, we go get Jared just about everyday and bring him home for lunch. The accomplishes a several things 1) we get an extra half hour or so of Daddy-time during the day 2) I don't have to eat ALL the left overs by myself (Cooking for two is tough. Recipes almost always make enough for 6-8) 3)We don't have to pay 5 bucks a day for Jared to eat bad food at the mess hall 4) It gives me a vaild reason actually put on make-up, rather than stay in my PJ's or, worse, work out clothes all day.
However, Eliza often gets mad because it seems like whenever she starts to do something really fun, Mommy says we have to stop and go get Daddy.
Here is another outing to the beach. Last Thursday was ridiculously gorgeous outside: 72 degrees, mostly sunny, but a few puffy clouds, and just enough of a breeze to feel good. So, we (I) decided we needed to go outside and take a walk to the beach. The beach is less than a mile away, so it's almost not worth the trouble to drive there. Eliza loved digging holes in the sand. She also really like piling the sand up on my legs or on the blanket, but I didn't get any video of that.
Saturday was also really nice, although it cooled off and the wind started to blow. We decided to go across the Chesapeak Bay Bridge Tunnel and find out what was on the other side. On the other side, known as the eastern shore of Virginia (something we learned when we got there), is a large wildlife preserve, or refuge or what-have-you. Due to the time of day and time of year we didn't get to see anything too awesome, but the Visitors' Center didn't have a nifty observation window, with one-way glass so you could look out at the birds that like to come check themselves out in the mirror side. This little guy few right into the glass three times while we were there.
After spending some time at the Visitors' Center we decided to try out one of the little trails that criss-cross the area. We found one called the "Butterfly Trail" that was only 1/2 mile long, so we thought that Eliza might be able to handle it. Her legs could do it, but her attention span wouldn't let her focus on walking long enough to make it more than about 20 feet before we had to stop and look at something, usually a stick, a bigger stick, or a dandelion. But we had fun anyway.
You will notice that we are surrounded by dead bushes. I was a little freaked out by these at first, as they were all covered with thorns ranging from really tiny to about half an inch long. I was a little afraid Eliza would trip and fall face first into them (didn't happen, although she did trip once and grab one; that was about the time we decided to turn back) but I kept thinking that they looked vaguely familiar. This was a strange thing for me to think because I am not a botanist by any stretch of the imagination. About the time Eliza tripped, grabbed one for balance, and started crying I realized why they looks so familiar: they were RASPBERRY bushes. And some blackberry bushes. My parents have some raspberry bushes in their backyard, so I saw dead ones every winter. Also, in my last apartment on my mission our daily jogging route took us past a (what seemed at the time) large patch of them. Luckily I was there in late summer, so my companion and I went by one day and collected a bunch for our morning fruit salads. That was when I learned that while raspberry plants will catch on your clothes a little bit, black berry bushes will reach out, grab you, and try to pull you into their bowels.
So, those dead bushes you see? Come late summer that island is a piece of heaven, covered with acres of delicious berry goodness. If we were going to be here in July I would totally find out if they let you pick them.
And, last but not least, though definitely the least visually interesting, is a video I took on Sunday after we tried to put Eliza down for a nap. She was ok snuggling while Jared sang to her, but apparently after he put her in bed she decided she wasn't tired, so she decided to sing to herself. She probably did this for 45 min. What you see is her bedroom door. I tried to get as close as I could so you could hear it, but you'll still have to turn the sound way up. The clanging you hear in the backround is Jared eating his lunch; the last bit of a gumbo I made a few days earlier. (BTW gumbo is delicious, and gets better with age. Sadly, it also got spicer with age and by the end (the part Jared was finishing off) I couldn't eat more than a bit or two before I had to go looking for a glass of milk. But, oh, it was good eatin'.)
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