Key West

Key West was beautiful. We spent our time swimming, playing volleyball on the beach, and (of course) reading Harry Potter. After the first two days, my mom, my sister, and I had to read other things to fill the Harry-shaped hole, but I think we're recovering well now.
Ellie had a blast in the pool with Grammy and Grandpa. She's getting so brave in the water! My dad supports her belly with his hand, and she kicks her legs and splashes with her hands while he moves her closer to her goal (usually, a yellow ball we brought to the pool with us).
We went for lots of walks and saw all kinds of birds and the iguana who lived nearby. On my birthday, I went snorkeling with my brother Frankie and his girlfriend Kori. It was so much fun!
We flew back to Boston Saturday night. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:30, but was delayed until 10:50. Thankfully, they changed it back to 8:00, so we were back in "our own beds" in our home away from home by midnight. It was a great trip!

Great Adventure: East

We made it to Massachusetts! I loaded the car and drove to Colorado Springs on July 13th. We're calling this Day Zero, since the Great Adventure didn't really start until we had the third member of our party. The next day, Luke's mother and Ellie and I did our long day and drove to Omaha, Nebraska. Day Two wasn't supposed to be as long, but thanks to the longest 9 miles ever, it was another 10 hour day to Ottawa, IL. After that, we stopped just short of Cleveland, OH, and then on to Rochester, NY. This was our shortest day, and put us in town with enough of the afternoon left to visit the University of Rochester campus and eat at Jay's Diner, a favorite of mine and Luke's. We spent hours there talking during what we now consider our first date, and visited there after most big and small events during college. Now Ellie has been there too! She ate tomatoes and feta cheese. She is her father's daughter!

You can see our route here.

Ellie is a great traveler. She was very excited to get out of the car whenever we stopped, but unless she was hungry or sleepy, she didn't complain. Here are some highlights from our drive, and proof that we really did visit the following states: Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts.

(Pictures soon, I promise!)

Doodle!

Ellie received some money for her birthday, so we went out today and bought a MagnaDoodle. She's been very interested in trying to write and draw lately, so this seems the safest route. Also, it should be good for the car trip.

So now, the question is, will she be left-handed or right-handed?

Society of Baby Engineers?

I was doing household errands yesterday afternoon, and Ellie was playing happily in the office/guest room. We normally keep the door closed, but it was open because I kept going in and out. And since she seemed so content, I figured, why not? After leaving her alone for a few minutes, this is what I found:

Since she wasn't hurting anything or anyone, and the laptop was off and unplugged, I let her go. I guess it should remind me that she is always watching and imitating...

Gramps will be proud!