California Dreamin'

This summer, we took our first Burkhart-Savage-Wilbanks vacation with Elysen. We flew to San Francisco at the beginning of July, then drove to Yosemite National Park.

I felt completely terrified at the thought of 1- flying with Elysen, 2- packing for Elysen, 3- sleeping in strange hotel rooms with Elysen, 4- hiking with Elysen, 5- driving for extended periods of time with Elysen. As you can see, I felt like I had a lot to fear.

As it turned out, Elysen did wonderfully. Everyone on the trip helped out here and there, and she loved being around Uncle JB, Aunt Allison, Aunt Ashley, and Grandad and Marmee. She slept perfectly because she was so exhausted by all of the activity.

The only flaw in the trip was that Elysen was sick for the first few days, and she decided to give me that illness, so I ended up sick for the last 4 days of the trip. Thankfully, I only got really sick on the last day or so.

Here are a few of our pictures to chronicle the trip. We had such a wonderful time!

On the Pier in San Francisco

Looking at the sea lions....there were only 2 that day.

Resting on Aunt Ash

Ready to hike!

At the end of the hike

Mirror Lake (not really a lake this time of year)

The girls went to play by a stream while the boys hiked Half Dome.

Not sure about the cold water

Ok, now I like the water!

On the bus back to Yosemite Lodge

Eating a fry at the Wawona Hotel outside Yosemite

Standing outside the Wawona

Someone loves her aunts!

So tired on a drive through the giant sequoias 

Looking at a duck!

Playing with Grandad at the San Fran airport

Someone was quite hyper when we got home to Dallas. Here she is playing with Ginny and Daddy.

Glad to be in a place where she could play!

We are so blessed to be a part of a family who loves to travel. I pray that we can take our children on more fun family vacations as they grow. It's such a great time to bond and laugh together. Thanks to Mom and Dad for planning the trip, and thanks to everyone for playing with this squirrel-y girl (especially Aunt Ash who slept in the same room with us every night!)

18 months

Oh, my sweet girl, you are 18 months old. No one told me that somewhere between 12 and 18 months you would lose your "baby-ness". It makes me sad and happy at the same time. I feel sad because you are such a big girl, but it makes me happy to see you growing into the person you will become.

Weight: 22 lbs, 10 oz

Height: 29.37 in

Sizes: You still wear a size 4 diaper. You wear a mix of your 12 month (or 12-18 month) clothes and your 18 month clothes. Your 12 month dressy clothes have become too snug in the last few weeks, so I know it won't be long until you're in 18 month clothes only.

What you're up to:

- We think that you are allergic to penicillin - at least for now. You had your first ear infection at 1 year (and have had at least 2 more since then). We gave you penicillin and you broke out from head to toe in a rash AND your ear infection came back since we had to stop your meds. I feel blessed that you went so long without an ear infection, but I wish you didn't have them at all. They make you so miserable. In fact, at your 18 month appointment, we confirmed that you have yet another one.

- You got to go on your first vacation this summer! We went to Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. I'll do separate post about that later, but I think you had a great time!

Easter 2012

- Your Aunt Sarah got married to Charlie in April. They both love you so very much. They especially love babysitting and spending time with you. You really like Uncle Charlie and always smile and laugh at him.

- You and I had a fantastic summer together. We played together and read so many books. We even went on some adventures. We went to the new Crystal Bridges museum with Reed and Mrs. Brittany. Your first art museum! (You enjoyed the lunch part better than the art part.)

At Battlefield Park with Mommy

Picnic with church friends

Giant snail sculptures on the Bentonville square

Eating lunch at Crystal Bridges

- You still love to read. You can now "read" several of your books that we've been through 15 million times. Your favorite books are Where's Spot (you like to do all of the animal sounds); Moo, Baa, La La La (again, you make all the animal sounds and say "No no no" on the page that says "No"; Barnyard Dance is a favorite because you like to keep time while we read the book to the beat; and you also like your bath time book about the pig. I could list many MANY more - you love books. That makes this mommy's heart very happy!

- Your greatest love is still Elmo. He can bring you out of every bad mood, and make every sadness go away. We have 5 or 6 Elmo dvds and we watch them on a rotation. We usually watch only 1 day, but I think you would watch them over and over and over if we let you.

-You are still very engaged with technology. You love playing on the iPad. You have your favorite apps and games, and you know just how to work it. Your Ree Ree and Marmee are amazed at your iPad skills.

(Daddy put these headphones on you just for show.)

- We painted the living room and hallways this summer. I was ready for a change. (This was one of those times that I did let you watch Elmo over and over again....I was almost ready to go crazy!)

- You are walking and running so fast now, but at first you were a little unsteady. At the end of the school year, you had a slight crash at Mrs. Amanda's house. This picture shows the result....but you were perfectly fine. Minutes later you were laughing and giving me kisses.

- Your Papa gave you a sweet play house for Father's Day. We have not put it outside since it has been hot all summer. You have just played inside and loved every minute. I guess we're going to have to get a bigger house soon so that we can fit all of your growing collection of things. Currently, your favorite thing to play with is whatever dirty or clean laundry you can find - usually your Daddy's or mine.

- You are such a ham (as your Marmee would say). You love to entertain anyone and everyone - whether it's a stranger in the grocery store or just members of the family. You will do your tricks to show off to anyone. And you're usually very giving with your kisses and huge. Last weekend, your Uncle Dan and Aunt Janna were here and when they left you gave them big hugs and kisses. I was so proud of you.

You were showing me that Uncle Dan had been on his phone

- Our biggest accomplishment recently has been giving up your bottle. This made me VERY sad because it confirmed my worst fears - you are no longer a baby. It was not easy for you to give up your favorite comfort item. You cried and fought and asked for Daddy to come give you your bottle over and over, but we worked it out and now you're doing a wonderful job going to sleep without it at night.  Now the only problem is getting you to drink milk in your cup.

- Your relationship with the dogs is still growing and changing. You love them and would spend all the time in the world with them if you could. A few weeks ago, we gave them a bath and let them come inside as flea-free animals. They lay down on a sheet to chew on their rawhides, and you plopped yourself down right in the middle of them to play. You love to give them hugs and pet them, but you don't love it when they kiss you back. Ha!

Playing with your first purse - You knew EXACTLY what to do with it.

- You are your father's child....you love to get dirty. You love to play in the dirt outside even when it's really hot!

Your favorite shady dirt hole

Playing with mud

Finger painting with Mommy

Dr. Denton made me feel so good when we went to your well visit a week ago. She said, "This is such a passionate age, isn't it?" I immediately agreed. Your happy times are extremely happy. Your sad times are heartbreakingly sad. And your angry times are....well....let's just say we're having to work a lot on not throwing fits to get our way. We are also working on saying "Please". I want you to be a polite and kind little girl.

A "passionate" moment

I wish I could list all of the things you do each and every day. I don't want to forget anything. You are the most precious thing to me. I cherish all of your actions and all of the love you give me. My favorite thing about you growing up is to see you express your love to me and to your Daddy. I wish that our summer could have lasted so much longer because I have loved seeing you play and learn. You are the light of my life, Elysen Ashleigh. I love you so very much.

Over the river and through the woods...

         As soon as school was out for the summer (May 21 - astonishingly early!), I had a few things to finish up for the district and then my number one goal was GET TO TYLER! I was ready to visit with my family and to have help entertaining Elysen for awhile. 

          Elysen is a very busy 15-month-old (almost 16 months now), and she started walking just days before we left for Tyler. Well, she actually started walking about a month ago, at least. But she flat out refused to walk without holding onto the couch or the table or her walker. I knew she was perfectly capable, so I started making her walk around the house holding my hand. Pretty soon, she got the idea, and started stepping out on her own. No wobbly one or two steps for this girl, she was off! 

          We left for Tyler on July 1st. Elysen did so well on the drive - I was impressed. It's the first time she and I have gone alone in a long time. We took a couple of breaks and watched a couple of Elmo dvds and she was great!

Riding the dino at Posados 

          I was unsure how long we were going to spend in Tyler, but once we got there, and I realized that there was nothing rushing me back to Arkansas, I decided that we would stay for awhile. We ended up staying with Marmee and Grandad for almost 2 weeks! 

           We did some shopping, of course, which Elysen tolerated fairly well (except one day when we were late getting home for lunch - oops). I also had a few things that I knew I wanted to do with her now that she is getting old enough to really enjoy outdoor activities. We went to the zoo on Saturday when Daddy, Aunt Allison, and Uncle J.B. (and Ginny) came into town. Elysen liked the zoo, but even the small scope of Caldwell zoo was a little lengthy for her taste. She probably loved the penguin exhibit most because it was inside and she could look at the aquarium. She also loved the snake house for the same reason - although I was not thrilled to be there because 1- it's the snake house and 2- they recently decorated by hanging giant furry spiders from the wall. Thank you, Tyler Zoo for making my nightmares a reality. 

Ready for the zoo!

Aunt Ashley and Aunt Allison

Snack break!

Petting a goat!

Then promptly washing our hands.

              Anyway, we also spent quite a bit of time seeing Nana and Granny. I want Elysen to spend as much time as she can with her great grandmothers. 

Walking with Nana

Sitting with Granny

               We went to eat at the grocery store/deli/coffee bar Fresh with Granny and Aunt Sissy. Elysen saw the cheese cow and got so excited that she started "moo"-ing at it. People were stopping and laughing at my "moo"-ing child. She LOVES cows. She also really enjoyed the giant frozen fish in the meat section. Fresh was amazing, and I will go there again - probably every time I go to Tyler from now on. 

Giant cheese! (These are taken with my phone, so they are a little out of focus).

Cheese cow!!

             Elysen spent so much time outside while we were in Tyler. It was HOT most of the time we were there (big surprise), but she wanted nothing more than to play outside with the dogs. Mom filled up her little sandbox with water so Elysen could swim, but she wasn't a huge fan. Mostly, she loved swinging, playing on the trampoline with Marmee, and playing with Chloe and Lilly. The last of these resulted in 2 new phrases: "Sit" which sounds more like "Sa" and "Good girl" which sounds like "Guhguh" (this is accompanied by heavy patting on the head or back). I've already heard her tell Remus "Guhguh" since we've been home. 

               Aunt Ashley just started her job for the summer, so we went to eat at McAlisters several times to spend time with her. Elysen loved seeing her aunts and uncle while we were in Tyler. She was very clingy the whole time we were there, but by the end of our stay, Aunt Ashley was her new favorite person. 

             I got to see Lindsay and Daniel while I was in town, which was so nice. Baby Atticus is due in the fall, so I was excited to see Lindsay looking pregnant and cute. 

            Several other visitors came to the house to see Elysen while we were in town, and she entertained them all. 

First pigtails!

Trampoline time

             Elysen is such a big girl these days. She's walking everywhere - rather quickly now. She got some big girl tennis shoes while we were in Texas, and they give her even more freedom to roam. She is talking all the time about everything. Her favorite words are "more", "daddy", "momma", "clock", "Elmo" (this is a biggie - I hear it about 100 times a day), "cow", "duck", "frog", "cracker" (which really sounds more like "ckkkaaa"), and her very favorite thing in the whole world - "fan" (which sounds like "sha").

"Guhguh"

            It's so nice to be able to communicate with her in an easier way. Even though I can't always guess everything, she's pretty good at pointing to make herself understood. I'm so proud of her. She gives me so many kisses and hugs each day, which make me melt. She still takes a bottle at night, but I know it won't be long until that's gone as well. I feel like that is the last remnant of her time as a baby. 

              Today I took her to Battlefield Park and we ate a snack and played on the slide and swing. We took a walk and sat on a bench together. Those are the times when I have to remind myself that she's only 15 months old - she seems to be growing up so fast. She is also more and more opinionated - which may end up being a problem in a few years. I can see her personality taking shape. 

             So that's my long post about our fun trip to Tyler. Even though we were worn out when we got home, we can't wait to go back soon!