Baby Boy #2

We did a 3D sonogram when we were in California and got some decent shots of the little guy in the belly. It's hard to know exactly what he's going to look like from these, but it does give us a general idea. Chubby and cute!

Morocco

Getting to Morocco from Barcelona was quite the trip. We had a late flight out of Spain (our only option) that connected to Agadir via Casablanca. Our plane ended up leaving Spain late for some reason (we never figured out why) and we barely missed our connection. We were stuck in Casablanca Airport at 2am trying to find small office that dealt with hotel accommodations without speaking a word of Arabic and almost no French (the two languages used there). We didn't have our strollers to wheel the babies around in because "gate check" there means that you can pick it up with your luggage at your final destination. Trying to keep track of two free-roaming toddlers as you go through customs and immigration and then wander through a closed down airport while you're tired and frustrated and feeling very pregnant is NOT fun. Not fun at all. By the time we found the little office I was ready to be done and the man at the desk could see it on my face. They gave us two hotel rooms, pointed us towards the shuttle and with that we were able to finally get some rest.We woke up a few hours later, ate some breakfast and headed out to meet the shuttle only to find that we had just missed it. It was fine, we had gotten up early to be sure we had time, so we settled into some comfy chairs in the lobby and let the kids run around a bit before heading off to the airport again. Twenty minutes later I see Bex with his "concentration face" and I know that he's doing his morning business. I figured I'd have time to go and change him before we left, but as I was picking him up the shuttle came and, since we didn't want to miss it, I decide to wait out the 5 minute drive and change him at the airport. Big mistake. Big brown-gross-wet-leaking-on-my-white-pants mistake. We got to the airport and I dug through my bag to find a new diaper and something clean to put Bex in. I did have a diaper, but didn't have an extra outfit. Luckily Robyn had a spare for Elle which just happened to be bright pink. It did the trick and neither Bex nor I minded that he was romping around the airport in a hot pink onezie!

We arrived at the Atlantic Palace (ahhhhhhhh...) where were greeted by Ryan (ahhhhhhh...) and a clean room and a clean bed and fresh food and water and a giant beautiful pool (ahhhhhhhh...). I had never been so happy to arrive somewhere in my whole life. It literally felt like walking into a dreamy mirage in the middle of the dessert.

Beckett had a whole lot of fun in the pool with his Daddy. He loves the water and thinks that everything that his Dad does is the funniest thing in the whole wide world. I love watching them play together!

Here we all are at the beach in Agadir. There was a nice boardwalk to stroll along. It's such an interesting blend of cultures. There are lots of Europeans that visit the beaches in Agadir as well as the locals. The contrast in swimwear says it all: European women in bikinis and Moroccan women in long dresses and head scarves.

We rode camels, of course. Beckett hated it at first and screamed when we got on our super-sized camel, but after a few seconds of the back-forward rocking he decided it was fun and started to laugh. I wasn't sure I was going to like it either, but a taking a family ride on a camel in the desert is actually a pretty good time.

We took a day trip out to visit Taroudant, an old walled city with a bustling market. It was interesting to see how people live there. In some ways it feels like you've stepped back into Biblical times and then you see someone on a cell phone selling DVD players. Odd. And interesting.

The tree goats were a definite highlight. Our guide was telling us about them as we drove and sure enough if you looked on one side of the street or the other you could see herds of goats here and there, some laying on the ground in the shade and others up in the tops of the trees. Apparently the goats like to eat the nuts that are high up in the branches and figured out how to climb up and get them. We pulled off the road to take a few pictures of the goats and the herder was quick to bring some tiny baby goats over for us to hold.

These ladies are pressing the nuts that the goats "pass". They make a fine oil that is used in cosmetics (all around the world). It was interesting to see the process from goats in a tree to hand lotion.

Our last night we saw the strangest sunset. The sun had a "spotlight" that was going strait up into the sky. I kept thinking that it was going to be a fleeting moment, but it stayed through the whole sunset. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. It was a good way to end our visit in Morocco.

Barcelona Baby

We thought it would be fun to take an international trip with our babies and planned a trip to Morocco via Barcelona, Spain. I had visited the city a couple of years ago and really liked it. We spent several days there on our way to and from Morocco and had a great time (minus the missed connections and major tantrums). Bex had a tough time adjusting to the time zone change and (maybe) the different cultures and started throwing tantrums--real, live scream-your-head-off tantrums. I was hoping that he was just adjusting to all of the changes and luckily that's all it seemed to be. He was back to his happy self by the end of the trip. Schwew! We saw many of the major sites in our little time there. We visited Parc Guell which was designed by Gaudi. Here are Bex and I in front of some of the crazy-cool buildings that he designed. This park is one of my favorite places in Barcelona.

Robs, Bri and little E at Parc Guell overlooking the city. It was really fun and easy to travel with them and they were a great help to me and Bex.

Bex and E loved to play together (most of the time). When one of the would wake up from a nap they would look for their little buddy and smile so big when they found each other. In the picture above they are playing on our little balcony in Barcelona. We found a great place near La Rambla on Craig's List and had our own little apartment.

This is at the fort/castle atop Mountjuic. We got a lot of miles out of those little strollers.

The picture below was taken in front of Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's most famous, unfinished work.

This video was taken at Park Guell under the mosaic benches where there are lots of cool pillars and pigeons to play with. E and Bex had a great time running after the birds.

All in all it was a great trip but I won't be repeating it again any time soon.

Spring Time in Utah

We went to Utah to visit the family and were greeted by a giant snow storm. That's Utah in the spring time--one day it's sunny and hot and the next you're bundled in your warmest clothes building a snow man! We spent the weekend in Park City with all of my aunts and cousins for our annual Girls Weekend. Beckett was the only boy there, and was more than content entertaining the room full of women. Park City knows how to have fun, even when it's cold. They had a nice heated pool at the condo and Beckett had a hey-day spashing and playing in the water. I have a great video of Bex and his cousin Elle in the pool that I'll post in another blog. It was fun to soak in the warm water while the snow fell down around us.

Grandma CoCo has a couple of plastic chairs that Bex LOVED. He couldn't figure out how to get into the chairs at first, so he would just walk backwards towards the chair and then wait for someone to pick him up and put him in the chair. We starting singing the "Back it Up, Back it Up" song to him each time he'd walk backwards, which just encouraged him to keep doing it. It wasn't until he saw his cousin Elle climb up into the chair that he figured out how to do it too. They both thought the blue chairs were just the coolest toys in the world.

We went to the zoo with all the little cousins. I've been going to this zoo since I was Beckett's age and it's so fun to go back and see the familiar places. Hogle Zoo has made some huge improvements since I was a kid. Their enclosures are all much larger and nicer. They have a kids park with fun toys to play on and even a Merry-Go-Round. We went on everything, even the train, which was there when I was a kid, but I had never been on it before. My sisters and I were commenting on how exciting it was to ride the train for the very first time. I guess waiting 30+ years to do something silly like that does make it more fun.

Here are some of Bex's cousins posing on a spider at the zoo park. It's really tough work to get that many wiggly kids to sit still long enough to take a picture. We made several attempts to get ALL the kids to sit up and smile, but finally gave up and just took the picture. It still turned out cute.

We went to a little park near my parents house. It was fun to get out and do some walking with the kids and dogs and strollers. I always forget how many of us there are until we go out somewhere in a group. This is only a fragment of my whole family. Three sisters, one husband, five grandkids and a grandma and grandpa, that makes ten. There are still seventeen of us missing! We had a great time visiting the family and can't wait to see everyone again sometime soon!

DC Cherry Blossoms and Earth Day

Me and my dad at the tidal basin across from Jefferson Memorial with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. I can see why people travel from around the world to visit DC in the spring.
I've got some very important calls to make. The "Future President" is one busy guy. I soaked my shirt (see photo below) and so my mom got me this tourist T-shirt from one of the street vendors.
This fountain was the perfect size for me to splash and play. I had so much fun I ended up soaked from head to toe.
NASA was at the earth day celebration so I got to see what it was like to be an astronaut.
In a few more years, I think I'll be as tall as the Washington Monument.
My mom took this pretty shot of spring time in DC. :)

Splashy Bathtime

Beckett loves bath time. We bath him every night and it's a great way to get him nice and tired AND get rid of all the grime and slime that little boys manage to attract in a day. It's an opportunity to splash and kick and spill and blow bubbles. He really loves the water and is even experimenting with putting his face underwater and blowing bubbles. He doesn't mind me pouring a cup of water over his head and even seems to think it's funny. I'm determined to get him into swimming lessons this summer or try to teach him myself. I think he would love it and I'd be so much more comfortable if I knew he could at least hold his breath and float a bit. We have lots of water adventures ahead of us and the wee one will definitely need to know how to swim in order to keep up in this family. The fancy hair do is courtesy of Dad who always gives me a mohawk when it's his turn to bath me.
Happy Splashing!

It's MINE!

This is one of my very favorites! We took this while we were in Hawaii visiting cousin Elle. The two babies usually played well together, but those videos just aren't as funny this one. Elle is three months younger and wasn't quite walking yet when this was taken, which should have given Bex an advantage, but in the end they are pretty fairly matched. As you can see Bex resorted to biting his cousin (or at least trying to). Luckily he's outgrown that defense strategy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I laugh out loud every time I watch it.