Family Vacation - Shenandoah National Park

On Memorial Day, we drove from Pennsylvania to Gordonsville, Virginia to the Shenandoah Crossing resort. Unfortunately, it took us a lot longer to get there than we originally planned. We didn't leave until late afternoon,and finally made it to the resort after 10 pm.


Day 1- May 29 We drove the 40 minutes from our resort to Shenandoah National Park. The park was absolutely beautiful. Forests and trees and far as the eye could see. I can only imagine how beautiful it would look in the fall with all the leaves changing colors. We pulled off at South Falls for a little picnic and a hike. This was Eliza's favorite part of our vacation: Eating her lunch while sitting on top of the picnic table. The silly girl would NOT keep her hat on. She could almost take it off faster than I could put it on. I plastered her head with sunscreen and hoped she wouldn't get sunburned. The two cutest hikers on the planet ready to go!! She's a natural! Notice that I tried tying a different hat on her. As you can see from the pictures below , she still figured out a way to pull it off. We made it to the South Falls waterfall (80 ft.), and enjoyed the overlook Even though it was extremely hot and humid, Eliza did really well. She didn't like the hiking backpack as much as we had hoped. We had to make frequent stops so she could have a break from being strapped on Bruce's back. About halfway through the hike though, pure exhaustion overcame her. We stopped for a few moments on a rock to "rest." We decided that we might be able to make quite a bit of progress with her asleep. We positioned her as comfortably as we could, and headed out. Apparently all she needed was a 25 minute power nap because after 25 minutes, she was happy, bubbly, and ready to finish the rest of the hike. After an exhausting and super hot hike, we sat under a tree on this blanket eating trail mix and relaxing. We decided to take a family picture using the timer, and rested the camera on top of the diaper bag. I think it's so funny how straight Eliza is sitting. She must be showing off how good her posture is.

We went back to our cabin to make dinner and rest. Eliza thoroughly enjoyed the gliding rocker.

Day 2: May 30  

We decided to spend the day hanging out at our resort, and enjoying its immense amenities. The resort had over 1000 acres of rolling hills. Neither of us are big horse back riders, so we opted for the horse drawn wagon instead. Eliza was fascinated by the horses.

It's a good thing the horses were well trained and pretty mild since Eliza kept poking them in the eye.

She followed a peacock:

Had a close encounter with a turkey:

and enjoyed listening to daddy tell the wagon driver a story while looking at the scenery.

That is until the rocking movement of the wagon slowly lulled her to sleep.

The 60 acre lake on the resort property. Isn't the country just beautiful.

We played mini golf:

Making the "perfect" shot.

The first game Bruce and I tied; the second game, Bruce beat me by 1 point. Eliza also got in on the action:

We also played in the swimming pool - Eliza wasn't a fan of the COLD water, so she decided to take a nap in the stroller instead. We enjoyed an improv comedy show, a free magic show, and played BINGO. I was shocked when I won the first game and Bruce won the last game. We were pretty happy with the prizes we got to take home. I won Eliza a T-shirt, and Bruce chose a free kayak rental.

Day 3: May 31

  We headed back to the National Forest for another day of hiking. We stopped off at some of the overlooks, and went on 2 hikes.

We learned that Shenandoah National Park was the first national park east of the Mississippi. President Roosevelt decided that the west shouldn't get all of the parks so he instructed this one to be built. The first hike was to Dark Hollow Falls- one of the most impressive waterfalls I've seen inside a national park. Dark Hollow Falls is 85 ft. Perhaps the coolest thing about it is its many levels. You can see the entire falls from the lowest level - it is worth the grueling hike back to the top.

We used our brute strength to hold up the rocks.

Then we stopped for a family picture halfway up the trail.

Thirsty Eliza - we stopped for a water break.

She decided to share with mom.

Our second hike was to Lewis Falls, a 1.5 mile hike to an 80 ft. waterfall. Despite the short distance, the hike was surprisingly tough. The trail was narrow, steep, and covered with large rocks. To make matters worse, there was very little shade. When we made it to the falls, we were a bit disappointed. Although it could have been amazing, the way the trail positioned itself made it difficult to get a good view of the falls. Eliza got tired of the backpack, so we moved her to the Baby Bjorn.

We finished the day by Paddle boating on the resort lake. Eliza was curious about the life jacket, and thoroughly enjoyed steering our boat.

By the end of the day, we were all tuckered out. When I put Eliza in bed that night, she started playing peek-a-boo with herself. When I went back in to check on her, she had fallen asleep like this.

Day 4:  June 1 - our last day

We started out the morning by Kayaking on the lake.  Eliza enjoyed looking around and being close to the lake.  She found the geese swimming close by fascinating.  Bruce did such a good job steering, that he rocked Baby Cakes right to sleep. 

Afterwards, Bruce decided to take the Kayak out by himself for another spin.  He was having so much fun, when he decided to try and do a 360.  Because he was sitting in the back of a two person Kayak, he ended up swamping it.  Although he tried and tried to get back in, it was to no avail.  I saw him tip over, but wasn't worried about him.  Bruce is a good swimmer.  An older couple also saw him, and wondered if she should tell the workers that Bruce was out there.  When I told her that he would be fine, she asked me if Bruce knew about the snapping turtles and snakes in the water.  He definitely didn't know about that.  Even though I still wasn't worried, she told the workers, and they rescued Bruce in a pontoon boat.  We later found out that there is a 35 pound snapping turtle named Bowser that lives in the lake.  Definitely grateful that the workers rescued Bruce before he had a close encounter with the lake monster.  I'm glad that Bruce is such a good sport about everything - he wasn't at all embarrassed. 

We ate a picnic lunch, played one more game of mini golf, and let Eliza get in some swing and sandbox time at the resort park before we headed back to Pennsylvania. 

It was a great vacation - so fun for Eliza's first official family vacation.  We decided that we will definitely go back to this resort in a couple of years.  Baby Cakes was such a trooper on this trip.  For the four days we were there, she never got in a decent nap.  She only napped in the car, the stroller, in the hiking back pack, or in my arms for no longer than 20-40 minutes, and yet she was still as happy as a clam.  I think she enjoyed the cabin we stayed at.  She slept well at night despite being in an unfamiliar place.   

I just can't resist - I have to post this absolutely adorable picture of my little hiker. 

11 Months

I can't believe how much she has changed in the past month. For one thing, she not only eats regular food (not baby food), she prefers to feed herself. It's quite conveient. I used to feed her first before I ate. Now our family can all eat together. She can also drink out of her sippy cup by herself - I don't have to tip it back for her anymore. I've learned to not stand in the way of Cakes and food. She only ever gets upset over food: either she doesn't get it immediately, she ate everything in front of her and wants more, or she sees me pull out something she doesn't have, and she wants it. She hasn't quite learned the concept of patience. If she sees food, I must give it to her immediately, or there may be consequences. Once the food is in front of her, she chatters happily while she fills her mouth too full with food. It's especially cute when she hands me her bowl wanting me to fill it up for her again.

Favorite food - Yogurt. She eats an entire carton in one setting.

She also likes: bananas, cheese, peas, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, Macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, lasagna, chicken, hamburger, and almost everything else I give her.

  One habit we are trying to break: She tends to play with her food, and throw it on the floor when she is full

She takes two naps a day. One in the morning around 10, and one in the afternoon around 3. Length varies depending on how busy we were for the day. She sleeps in between 10 and 11 hours a night. Bedtime has also become a lot easier. She went through a phase for a period of 3 months or more where she would only go to sleep if I rocked her. Sometimes it took 10 minutes, sometimes as long as 30. After a couple of rough nights, she now goes down without a fuss. It's a beautiful thing!

She loves: grocery shopping, going for walks in the stroller, going for runs in the jogging stroller, the swings at the park, giving hugs, giggling, and playing with mom and dad. She's very good at sharing her toys. She also enjoys "interacting" with the neighbors dog, playing the piano, and just about anything as long as it involves other people. She is such a social bug. It takes me twice as long to shop than it should simply because she wants to engage in conversation with everyone she sees.

She is getting to be more and more fun everyday. She laughs hysterically when tickled. She dances whenever she hears any kind of music (including when the cuckoo clock goes off), and leads all the music in sacrament meeting and primary singing time.

She still doesn't crawl, but rolls all over the floor to get to where she wants. She has recently started to stand up (but only when she thinks no one else is watching.) She waves "bye-bye" to everyone, gives high fives, and folds her arms for the prayer (albeit only for a couple of seconds).

She is just sooooo happy! She makes her parents happy too!

This is a great shot of her toothy grin - she's got 6 of them.

And finally...some videos of her dancing. She does this through evey song in primary. I love when she starts "lifting weights."

First Time Swimming

To kick off the beginning of summer, we went swimming the first day our complex pool opened. Baby Cakes loves to "swim" in the bathtub, so I thought she would be thrilled. After a little hesitancy in the kiddie pool, she did eventually start kicking and enjoy herself although not nearly as enthusiastically as I first thought she might. Later we tried putting her a baby floatie in the big pool. She DID NOT like that. I don't blame the girl - the water was freezing cold. She did get back in the kiddie pool, but with far less gusto than the first time. It's been so rainy lately that we haven't been back. It makes me wonder if she will eventually love swimming like her daddy, or sometimes tolerate it like me.

"I wonder what is going to happen? Will it be fun???"

"Um.. Daddy, what are we doing?"

"Okay! This isn't so bad. Maybe I'll kick"

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  I realize that it was nearly a month ago, but in my opinion, Mother's Day is everyday.  You never stop being a mother. 

Some thoughts on motherhood/parenthood from the last General Conference:  "Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected.  We urge our members to show devotion to their families." ~Boyd K. Packer

"Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling - from which they will never be released - is to one another and then to their children.  One of the great discoveries of parenthood is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents." ~Boyd K. Packer

"Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated.  They need to be assured of that often.  Obviously, this is a role parents should fill, and most often the mother can do it best."  ~Henry B. Eyring

My Dear Eliza,
   You are such a delight.  You bring so much sunshine into my life.  I hope you know how much I love, want, and appreciate you!!  I hope that I am the kind of mother that you deserve.  I feel like the luckiest mother in the world to have you as my daughter!!  I love you Baby Cakes - you make every day special. 

Bruce gave me a Cinnamon Fern, and Eliza gave me a T-shirt she made (with Bruce's help) that says, "You are the BEST mom" with her hand print. 


I made this magnet for the mothers and grandmothers in my life.  (Wish you could see it better).  I made one for myself too. 

10 Months

My goal was to get this posted before Baby Cakes turns 11 months. What can I say about my Baby Cakes?  In a matter of weeks, she has turned from baby to little girl. She now has 5 teeth, and her 6th one is about to pop through. She has quite the toothy grin now days.  She says three distinct words: Hi, Mom and mama (she says both), and Daddy (or dada).

She loves:

• To "unpack" - any container will do, a basket, a bag, a garbage can, anything.  If a container of any kind has something in it, Eliza loves to pull everything out and sort it into piles.  Give her a full container, and she is entertained for a long time.  Put everything back in, and she starts up again. 

  As you can see, she is a bit naughty about it sometimes.  Here she is going through the garbage can.  She pulled out a Fudge Shoppe mint bar wrapper, and licked all the leftover chocolate off it.  She kept offering it to me, but every time I would get close to taking it from her, she would pull it back, lick it again, then offer it back.  She was a big tease about it.  I normally don't let her eat garbage, but this time it was just so cute, I just had to laugh about it. 

• To sing - Her favorite thing to do during sacrament meeting is flip through the hymn book and hum.
• Eat crackers - she takes after me in that she could eat an entire box at a time - if I let her, but I don't.
• The Park - the swings in particular.  She could swing all afternoon; she has even started to kick her legs to get her moving faster.  When she sits on the teeter totter, she holds on with one hand, and swings her other arm in the air like she's throwing a lasso. 
• To look at books - the first thing she wants to do every morning (before anything else) is read a book. 
• To wave Bye-bye to everyone.  Funny thing is she won't wave Hi, but she will wave Bye.
• Bath Time - She likes playing with her toys in the tub, back stroking, and getting out of the tub.  However, she doesn't like being washed. 


• Giving hugs and kisses
• Grocery shopping - she gets so excited to ride around in the shopping cart, smiling and talking to everyone in the store.
• Sitting on chairs or anything else that makes her feel grown up.  She prefers to eat whatever mom and dad are eating, and do whatever mom and dad are doing.  It makes me more cautious about what I do and what I eat.     

• Playing with her food, playing with her toes, and playing with mom and dad

 

• Talking/Babbling/Squealing - I don't think she was quiet for even one second in sacrament meeting last week.  Once she learns how to really talk, she will probably never stop.  It's super cute to hear her babble. 
• Yogurt - it's her new favorite food.  

  I thought this picture was cute.  She fell asleep when we were bringing her in from the car. 


She sure is a fun little girl to have around.  I love her to pieces.  Thank you for being my little Baby Cakes, sweet girl!!