April

April was a month of get-togethers. There was a birthday of Hazel and Derek's neighbor we attended, Easter holiday, camping with momma's group, Children's Discovery Museum with cousin Savannah, Bill's birthday, and miscellaneous outings.  Elizabeth is growing her vocabulary and continuing to surprise me.

The month started off with the neighbor's birthday party.  She turned 1 and had her party at a nature's center. There was a puppet show and animals to see.  The kids got to pet three different animals while the lady talked about them.  Elizabeth got to see and pet a turtle, duck, and chinchilla. She loved it. Hazel and I had a hard time keeping Elizabeth still. Not only was Elizabeth tired, so she was in the can't stop or I'll sleep stage, but the place was fascinating to explore.  I couldn't hold her back as she pushed out of my lap and up to the stage where the puppet show was going on.  She just knew that the lady was hiding behind it making the puppets go! After that, all the kids were up at the stage. Oh well!

 
I made some shakers out of plastic eggs. They didn't work so well but she enjoyed them while they lasted.  We colored eggs for our egg hunt at my parents house. On Easter we went to my parents for brunch and an egg hunt.  Hazel and Derek joined us as well. It was great to have both sets of grandparents together as Elizabeth had her first egg hunt. The grandpas hid the eggs as we were finishing up brunch.  Elizabeth caught on to finding eggs.  She thought it was so funny to see "balls" in the plants.  Around egg 6, she started to get sidetracked, but with help at the end, we found them all.
 
Elizabeth and I met up with my friend Heather at the SF airport during her layover on the way back to Seattle. We had lunch and walked around San Mateo for a couple hours. It was great to have the chance to see her even for the short time we had.

I am not sure I mentioned in March that Elizabeth and I took a baby signing class.  We hosted it at my house. There was only one other mom with her son but it made it an intimate group. The class was okay and it introduced it to us. We have been continuing on our own.  By the end of April she was doing all done, eat, and more.

Elizabeth and Gemini are bonding. More like Gemini putting up with Elizabeth's hugs to a point.
 
Mid April we went on our first camping trip with Elizabeth.  It was with my momma's group. It was at Coyote Hills park where we go for walks.  There is only one group site and nobody else is on the grounds besides you, so it was a little strange.  It was quite a trip to say the least. It was camping on training wheels as we put it.  The group was a little segmented and so it was awkward at times.  Chris, Elizabeth, and I went for a walk just to have something to do.  Elizabeth and her friend played soccer and rode in our wagon.  We brought our wagon, thinking the kids would enjoy it. It definitely was a hit, but the older kids were a bit rough with it. Night time was the difficult part. Elizabeth has slept different places but I usually put her down and leave even though she is still awake.  However, I did not want to leave her by herself in the tent until she was asleep.  So having me there with her, she couldn't settle down. The other kids and adults that were still up talking and playing didn't help.  By the time they went to bed, the other little girl woke up and started singing. Elizabeth at this point had fallen asleep and woken up, fallen asleep and woken up. Now it is 11, after 3 hours of this sleep/awake/sleep cycle, the frogs start up.  It sounded like we were in a chorus of frogs. They were everywhere! It was amazing. I just laugh thinking back on it, but I sure wasn't laughing at the time. Chris and I just picked her up, leaving everything in our tent, and went home. We only live not even 10 minutes away. We went to bed in our own beds.  The next morning we got up and went back. Just in time as the group was all packed up and about to leave on a hike. They thought we were still in the tent sleeping. I am glad they hung around a little because our stuff would have been there stranded. We packed up and went home. It wasn't the best trip ever. I do think that camping would still work. Camping in the forest with just us or a few people would have been different. Elizabeth is not used to sleeping with us or without her crib so it just may mean camping when she is older. I am definitely glad we were so close to home!
 
We went to the Children's Discovery Museum with my brother and Savannah.  They just loved it there. I am always impressed how detailed and elaborate their discovery rooms are. Everywhere they went, they had a smile on their face and a fascination about what they saw. Elizabeth loves water.  Seeing the water area and the balls move by the force of the water was just so much fun. Savannah would laugh her heart out. Love that place!
 
Elizabeth got some time to play with Savannah as I watched her a few days.  We went to the park and played together. It was a great time. I really enjoyed seeing Elizabeth getting to know her soon to be official cousin.

I never said Elizabeth did not have her moments.  But it is sure hard not to laugh at them!


We went to my parents house for Bill's 40th birthday dinner. Bill, Carrie, and their three girls are in the process of moving. They sold their house and are moving right next door to my parents. They are staying at my parents' house while they wait for the previous owner to move.  It is not until mid July that they get their house. My parents have a house full but they are enjoying having that time with their granddaughters.  Elizabeth is enjoying this as she gets to see her cousins every time we go over to her grandparents. She is really developing a close bond with Paige, the youngest.