back home again

We are back from a 5 day visit to Terre Haute to stay with Rita. It was just Elden and I on this trip. He was a rather hellacious child on the plane ride there and I am going to be so glad when we are done traveling for a while.

While there, we had our traditional dinner at Real Hacienda on the first night of our stay. Then Elden cruised the local Wal Mart super center and say a very interesting Parrot in some one's truck parked out front. He was quite fascinated by it, I was quite horrified of the idea of driving around with a giant bird in the car!

We visited a local park with an awesome toddler play area. It was huge, the area for the little kids was as big as most playgrounds at parks here. It was wonderful that there were so many things for him to do, touch, push, climb on, turn, crawl through, and explore. I was most impressed as the local parks in Atlanta treat the toddler area as a total afterthought, we are lucky if the park even has one, and if so they are usually small. This one was giant. Elden had a great time. We also took a miniature train ride around the park, he seemed to like that, and clapped for the conductor afterwards.

This park also had a pool with a play area, fountains, sprinklers, etc. I took Elden later in the day as Rita had symphony business to attend. He had a great time. He's gotten so bold with splashing and running through the water. He was almost fearless about getting his face wet. It has taken a while to get here from the kid who wouldn't go into the fountains at centennial park at the beginning of the summer.

Elden also had a summer buzz cut, and I'll try to get some pictures up, although I am still without a camera, so phone pics will have to do. He looks just as cute as ever, and like a little boy now.

We hit the park a second time, and tasted some local cuisine, including a really tasty pizza place with less than stellar service. Giovanni's I think was the name. Fresh homemade pasta sauce which was really wonderful. But mostly, we hung out around the house.

Rita's subdivision is under construction and one morning we went out exploring. Elden was enthralled by a man cutting grass with a giant tractor and mowing attachment. He waved at us each time he passed. Of course, Elden's waving was a bit delayed so the poor guy never got any reciprocation. We walked around the lake to be and heard lots of birds, saw two hawks, saw a large doe cross the street twice, found deer and possibly coyote tracks. We also found that it must be frog hatching season there as there were hundreds of baby frogs around. Elden really enjoyed seeing them. I even picked up a few and held them in my hand so he could GENTLY touch them. Lastly, we picked some wildflowers for Nai Nai and headed home.

Today we flew back to Atlanta. All was uneventful. Elden was really good on the plane, except for some green marker on the tray table, his face, and my neck. Thanks god that stuff washes off with baby wipes! He made a friend with the pretty lady next to us. He flirted the whole way. I think she liked him a lot. She gave him a squeeze before she left. Hope she had a nice flight to Ft Lauderdale, we did not catch her name. I am so amazed at how nice some strangers are. I am not sure where I am getting all this great karma, since I don't think I was ever really out of my way nice to pregnant women or parents with young children before I got pregnant. So I guess I need to make sure I do some good out there in order to deserve the wonderful people God has been putting next to Elden and I on our flights.


We have another fairly busy week planned. No trips, thank goodness, but Jason and I have a date. I am so excited. Our favorite sitter Anne France is coming to watch E on Wednesday while we go to the movies and dinner. She gave us free babysitting and movie passes, since Jason helped her son find summer employment. Poor kid, he is barbacking at one of the bars Jay works at, and I know they are working him a lot. However, Anne has told us that it has been a huge help, since he doesn't seem to have his hand out every time she turns around now. Ah, I remember those days. You just asked and your parents handed you some money. Life was so rough!!!

I had to add a picture of Elden at Whitewater.


Elden at the supercool playground in Terre Haute, sporting his new haircut:


A Montage of Elden and the tree at the playground:









The end