The Great Escape

Due to a recent water incident in our bathroom involving gallons of water pouring through our ceiling, our apartment complex replaced our vanity and part of the back wall of our bathroom this past week. After the challenge of living here with a toddler when they replaced our ceiling a few weeks ago, I decided to jet out for the duration of this remodel.
We went to Colorado and it was so great!
We visited JD's grandparents - it was so so wonderful to see them!


Great Grandma brought some jewelry for Lilu - she loved the beautiful bracelets and necklaces.

I'm clasping one for her, but she pretty much put the rest of it on by herself.

I can tell they're related, can you?

This one is one of my all-time favorite pictures.

We had such a wonderful time at lunch with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma!

The sun was a little blinding this direction, and I think Korrali is pointing at a dog, not scowling.

This tiny little liquor store had a ton of fun decorations - benches with fake grapes, a tiger, a bear.. a stone face.. all worth exploring.

On our way back we stopped by Vail. It was my (and Korrali's) first time visiting there. I finally understand what all the fuss is about. It is so gorgeous.

There was a river under this quaint bridge; Korrali looked out the side and was glued. Mind = blown. I can't wait to see her reaction to the ocean.

A valiant effort at escape into the water feature. Lilu wanted to play in the waterfall. I can't blame her, it really was gorgeous.

How did they manage to take family pictures back in the day when photos took like 40 minutes? 

We got to hold Emily's Adorable New Babies.

We really had two objectives this trip - meet Great Grandparents and snuggle sweet, soft, adorable babies.

Lilu loved them so much. I have never seen that little girl so happy to meet anyone.

You may not be able to tell, but she is smiling a huge smile.

She tried to pick up her cousin the second time she met him. The first time was the day before, and she was just too excited to even get close to them.

Thank you Em for being so kind and letting her hold him! (I don't have a picture here, so I should explain she held him with help, not alone.)

We went swimming too. It seemed like we hit perfect weather for whatever we were doing, every day. Thank you, Colorado!

SUCH a fun spur of the moment trip. Thanks again Mom for being so flexible!

What Teo is up to these days

We don't say much about him anymore, but he's just as much a part of our family as ever.

We had a great time Memorial Day with our Eldredge cousins. He loved their pool. 

He is very much a patient older brother. Maybe Uncle is better, because I'm not sure I know any older brothers who would submit to this so cheerfully.

This was not the first, or last, time he played dress up with us. 

He's usually right there when Korrali gets into things, like cereal..
Korrali's favorite thing is to steal his toys, and then run, shrieking, behind my legs while he slowly follows her. I think he likes it too, because he is very gentle with her.
He waits for me to get Korrali in the morning, and comes and pokes his nose through her crib bars to say good morning. She is more excited to see him than me :sigh:.
These days, wherever we go, he's likely to be along too.
Glad he's part of our life!

Family Beach Day

A little while back, our Grandparents Quillen stopped by Chicago on their way to New GBaby #9 and played with us for a few days. What a perfect summer day to be with them!

We spent a day with our Eldredge cousins - we are so lucky to have them so close by. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo

They had a farm exhibit at the Zoo. Korrali loved getting out and running around at the indoor playground. This is a chicken egg that was part of the chicken part.

Grandma and Grandpa bought us ice cream, Korrali couldn't get enough.

Ice Cream is helping her learn how to use a spoon. For now she still just dips and stirs though.

Then, we traipsed across the street to the beach. I put Korrali down in the sand, and she took off towards the water. I snapped a picture, and then raced to catch up before she got in over her shoulders. (Am I in trouble when her legs get longer, if I can hardly keep up now?)

We had long afternoon playing in the sand.

Korrali loves her Grandpa Quillen. He must love her too, because he let her sandy, soggy, pbj self clamber over him several times.

We don't have pictures, but Korrali made the rounds of everyone on the beach. Looking at them, smiling, generally making friends. Everyone. I told her she could skip some, but she didn't. Teens, adult men, women, other kids....

This is her version of smiling when she's focused on something.

Decorative rocks have been her new favorite thing recently. The pebbles on the beach were heaven for her.

scream! giggle giggle.. I think L Eldredge there is doing a somersault.

Why I don't blog more often

I spent a few minutes blogging today.

This happened.

Teo is her role model.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! Korrali and I went to Cantigny this year to commemorate the holiday and they had a giant chalk board asking what freedom means to you. So here's the question, what does freedom mean to you?

?

To me, it means the freedom to debate over what freedoms we should have - we can talk openly about Hobby Lobby, and tell the world we love our Savior, and converse in a friendly way with people who have religious beliefs completely opposite of us. It also means the freedom to take my toddler to a giant park and let her run and play without worry of harm.

She agreed to wear her headband for almost an hour!

I always love and appreciate when places give out free baby-safe things to hold. This commemorative flag kept her hand busy enough to me to snap this picture and get my camera safe before preventing her from climbing off the rocks into this pond.  (She was too fast to prevent from climbing over the rocks, right next to the sign asking us not to climb on the rocks.)

She loved this fountain. I think we spent 40 minutes playing with it. To a toddler attention span, that's like, a million years. To her, freedom is playing in the water feature!

I'm also grateful for the freedom to eat candy or ice cream or brownies after my daughter goes to bed with abandon. Freedom is ability to be who I am without fear, to become something better, and to really love the process (and sometimes to hate that process too).

 I need to add here, that we spent the evening having a grill out with some really good friends of ours from college. Korrali Loved their cat. Cap.it.al L. It came downstairs when we arrived, and she didn't want to do anything else the whole time (aside from eating) besides following it, petting it, pointing to its nose, and occasionally trying to give it giant hugs. The cat was very tolerant of her petting, and seemed to enjoy sitting up to nose her finger, or reach and and touch her finger with a paw. I helped it escape from the hugs. The sweet critter was so patient. Every so often, Korrali would have a little private freak out of excitement.
Pet, pet, pet. Back up, crouch down, shake with excitement and shriek with giggles. (the cat escapes) Stand up, find the cat. Repeat. Also, we learned that Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce is really excellent inside a beef patty.

How to look out the window

Step 1:

 Step 2:

 Step 3:

Dance party

Once in a while we have a friend over - this little one is one of our favorite friends. We and Korrali just play and jam it up together. This time, we had an dance party.

It's not, granted, the most exciting party ever. But it is fun to watch babies expressing themselves creatively.