We went to Austin first. We gave Riley a package of about a hundred bows, all of which we immedately attached to her hair. She humored us. She seemed to like the "bonk the balls" toy we gave to Connor--especially the mallet, which (we quickly found out) makes a surprisingly loud racket when it hits wood. (Sorry about that, Lindy and Chris.)
We finally met Connor! He is a beautiful and good-natured baby, with incredible blue eyes that cover 25% of his face, and Bob and I got to cuddle with him. What a beautiful child he is!
There's a new Salt Lick right near the Kincaids, and we ate there right after we arrived. I could be mistaken, but I believe Riley has overcome her aversion to picture-posing.
Riley ate quite a bit of raw spaghetti during our visit. Yum. Raw spaghetti.
Connor demonstrated his excellent crawling skills. He is fast--an efficient crawling machine!
Riley and Bob have become pretty close friends, possibly because he visited a couple of months ago (and is an extremely likeable fellow).
Connor has also become an expert at standing. And smiling. And flirting. He also may be the most photogenic baby ever born, so I believe he has a bright (and lucrative) future in advertising. He looks just like the Gerber baby, does he not?
We went to Dat Park Over Dare several times, and among the fascinating things to play on (and with) was this potato bug.
We baked cookies, with sprinkles. The adults ate the cookies; Riley mostly ate the sprinkles. (In her defense, the sprinkles were shaped like dinosaurs.)
Chris and Lindy are fantastic parents, and Riley and Connor are lucky little kids.
Special treats: Riley let me French-braid her hair, and I got up close and personal with Connor.
And of course, Rick was the ever-faithful guardian of the family. What a fun visit we had!
And then, on to New Jersey! GM and GP took us to visit a little town near Vorhees called National Park, and we went to Red Bank, a battleground for the Revolutionary War, on the Deleware River. In this picture the Philadelphia skyline is in the background (but the clouds make it hard to see the skyline).
I was able to get reacquainted with the millions of very athletic squirrels who live in GM and GP's back yard.
We got to see Joshua during our visit, who demonstrated his guinea pig handling skills.
Bob and GP did a little manly pruning of the dogwood in the front yard.
And grandpop showed us some cool new adjustable chairs they bought. The chairs tilt way, way back, making them (I thought) suitable for dentists. I'm going to suggest that my dentist buy one.
We had a great visit with GM and GP! Dad has a bunch of historical family artifacts in the basement, and I can't wait to go through them with him the next time we're there.
Our last stop was Columbia, where we got to meet the amazing TATE MAN. He is, indeed amazing.
Not only has he has learned how to smile, he also has trained his parents to do all kinds of useful things. For example, in just a few short months Logan and Jody have been taught to hold Tate almost all the time, kiss Tate constantly, and remind Tate often him how handsome he is. How smart is that? Tate is adorable in every way.
After careful study, I determined that Tate is, in fact, a genius. My first hints were (1) his contemplative facial expression, (2) the fact that he has trained his parents so expertly, and (3) this onesie he was wearing (which obviously is intended to subliminally signal his intelligence). Actually, I may have sent him the onesie, but still...
Tate's strong resemblence to Winston Churchill gives him good potential for a career in politics. (I heard Logan quietly tell him "If you are going to govern the country, you're going to have to stop drooling first" so I'm obviously not the only one who feels this way.) None of this should be surprising. As a baby, Logan looked exactly like Einstein, and look how great he turned out!
We all took Tate and the dogs on several long walks every day, and one day we went to a huge field where Toph and Sparta galloped and loped around like horses, chased each other with abandon, and rolled in the grass. These dogs are very lucky dogs, and Tate is a very lucky baby.
On our trip I learned that Tate is an extremely snappy dresser. As just one example, note the dinosaur onesie paired with the hip-looking jeans. He kept saying (inwardly) "You're gonna like the way you look..."
Jody had this cool baby-holding thing called a moby wrap. I tried it out during one of our walks and it was fantastic! What a great way to carry a baby without having to actually be pregnant! I highly recommend it.
Logan and Jody are fantastic parents, and I can hardly wait to see how much Tate has matured when I see them all again in a couple of weeks!
We are going to Vashon Island in July, and we will see Dunc and Betsy! Congratulations to Betsy, by the way, who is now a fully-graduated Master of Communication in Digital Media! She is so smart! She is so smart! S-M-R-T! S-M-R-T! Good job, Betsy.
And last but not least, I leave you with our gigantic cat, Gus. When I bought a new chair for my office and realized how much he loved my old one, I bequeathed it to him. He has scratched his chair to shreds, but he finds countless ways to relax in it. I love cats.
