Elliott's Latest Fun & Our Hip New Hangout

First meal on the patio - It's finally approved and finished!!!!
Mama Locke and Dad Locke stopped by on their way to Minneapolis and were able to enjoy it with us. We are glad it worked out this way since Dad Locke put so much time and effort into the foundation of it. Wow, I get to be in a picture for a change!

OK, time for something more recent now that I finally finished writing about Florida...from a month ago!

Elliott eats rice cereal!

On the patio!

With Jillian!

He was fussy before we got the spoon close to his mouth the first time, then...

...boy, did he settle down and eat! His tongue is still working on the proper mechanics of eating solid food,...

...but his mouth knows what to do!!!

Today is Jillian's birthday--I will post from our festivities as soon as I have pictures, unless we don't get any. Then I'll just have to write about it.

St. Augustine, FL - Finishing Up

St. Augustine - A city of history, wild beaches, and heat. Here is a lovely view from the lighthouse.



When we first arrived, we went to the beach. A storm was in the forecast, but we still had time to have some fun before it arrived. The waves were ferocious and merciless to my poor parents. Mom lost her Rx glasses one of the many times she got knocked over, and Jim got pulled across the jagged shore of broken shells and had major scratches to prove it. I stayed on shore with Elliott for the most part. Jillian had pieces of broken shells all in her hair, and the guys came home with pockets of it in their swim trunks. It was cool to see the storm approaching, but we got rinsed off and hurried out of there before it got too close. The loud thunder was enough for me! After the rain passed, we walked to the historic section of the city, with shops, sweets, and restaurants, and lots of people offering ghost tours.


To represent the history part, here are some really old tombstones from a cemetery that we passed. Jim wanted to seem some ghosts, so he and Brooks went on a "ghost tour" but they just heard stories about ghosts.


My First Lighthouse Adventure

This trip marked my first time going into a lighthouse. It was a great museum and it was "fun" climbing the stairs to the top. It's pretty stuffy at the base, but the higher you go, the more you feel the cool Atlantic breeze. To think, the keeper used to lug a big bucket of oil up all those stairs.


St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum






The view of the surrounding beaches from the top of the lighthouse.


Spiral staircase--don't look down or you'll get dizzy!





I look way too happy to be climbing all those stairs. It wasn't really that bad, but I tried to take it easy, pausing on the landings as needed. I wasn't there to work out or sweat more.



Jillian was hoisted up into this window sill by Grampa to wave at us.







Mom, Jill, and Jim waving from the top.





Here's a local that we met at the lighthouse.



And here is our view of Jill, Mom, Jim, and the stroller (with Elliott in it) from the top, zoomed in. Elliott wasn't allowed up since he can't walk, and he wasn't allowed to be carried, either.
Fun time, just very hot.

AND THIS CONCLUDES OUR TRIP TO FLORIDA!!!

Disney - Friday and Saturday

This posting will be brief due to Elliott's crying--he is not consoled most of the time, but likes the cold, partially frozen washcloth in his mouth and being held. Sounds like teething, so if there aren't any more posts for a while, you understand why.


We all rode Spaceship: Earth (the big Epcot landmark that looks like a big silver golf ball) and here are our pictures from that.

Jillian answered the questionaire for their car, and guess who answered for my car? ;)
Based on your answers, they come up with a picture of your future. Jillian wanted to live in the city, and I said the country, thus the "tree house".



Jillian's Big Surprise: A Trip to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique

The BBB is where young ladies (and we discovered a young man, as well) can go and become "princessified" (or princified, I suppose). There are three hair styles to choose from, and the option of getting an entire outfit (which we opted not due to the very high cost).
Since Jillian doesn't really *need* anything, we decided to give her this experience as part of her birthday gift from us. The rest is still yet to be determined...so much to do, so little time!!
Anyway, above is her "before" picture.

Jillian's fairy-godmother-in-training preps her hair.
I couldn't get many in between shots due to her other f-g-i-t's tending to her nails and glitter make up.


Hair spray shield.


Beauty spot.


Mickey Mouse is sitting on the back of her head.


Final princess close-up.




Princess Jillian, complete with sash.


Here's an example of what we *could* have done, if we were rich...


Me and the princesses, Jillian and Cinderella.


Mom, me and Princess Jillian and Princess Aurora.


Two princes at Rainforest Cafe after the big makeover.

Back to my crying prince!

Magic Kingdom

I'm exhausted from my busy day, but perhaps it suits well to blog about an exhausting day at Disney World.

So we made it to the fairytale land of America, and it was so nice and humid! Jillian enjoyed the tram and monorail rides.


Jillian sets foot in the Magic Kingdom for the first time!



Elliott rides in with us. I look kinda dorky with the hat on that way, but it was better than cookin' in the sun.



Yay! Cinderella's castle! It's official!


"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a..."


The rides in Fantasyland were often tame enough for Elliott to ride along with us. Yay! Family fun!


We met our first princess, Belle, in Liberty Square. She called me a princess, too! Then I had warm fuzzies. Now I know why Jillian gets such a thrill from all this!


We waited in the heat of the day for almost an hour for about 30 seconds on Dumbo, and Jillian hasn't even seen that movie! Ok, it was for me...I went on as a child once but didn't have a riding partner. Not anymore! Whee!!


Jillian and Brooks are in there somewhere on Cinderella's Golden Carousel (towards the middle). I would have gotten closer if I could have.


Jillian and Brooks got to meet Ariel and waited in line for about 45 minutes in the heat to do so! At least we got some cute pictures! Elliott and I went to the nice air-conditioned baby care center and he got his tank filled up.


Yeah, we went hom and crashed after that. Jillian stayed a little longer with my parents, but not much longer. We were all tuckered out--even Elliott! We eventually enjoyed the pool that evening, though. Very nice!! Later we ventured back out to Tomorrowland. It was still quite humid, but no sun and thinned crowds.

We didn't go to the parks on Wednesday or Friday (you'll see Friday's post in the near future). On Thursday, we enjoyed the waterpark, Blizzard Beach, until the afternoon rain storm, then made it to Epcot for some dinner in Great Britain with my folks, again with rain. Later, we had time to go back to Magic Kingdom and visit Adventureland and Frontierland. We got to ride so many rides in about 2 hours that we didn't need to go back there! It was great, and a lot of fun. We even got to see the light parade and wave to Cinderella and a few other familiar characters. Needless to say, another very full day.

I'm a Sponsor!

Monday, Stephanie (Hopperton) Perry and her two lovely children, Nathan and Brianna Isabel, came to visit. Brianna is two months old now! Stephanie asked me to be her sponsor at her christening, which won't be for a couple months due to scheduling at the church. Anyway, I'm very honored that she asked me and I'm looking forward to it! Here are some cute pics from their visit.







The Perry's (Bob didn't visit)






Brianna Isabel at 2 months






Jillian and Nathan being very silly




Steph, Brianna, Nathan, Jill, and me (Elliott had JUST gone down for a much needed nap prior to this picture being taken)

On Being Home

It has been wonderful being home for the past week and a half. I feel like I have gotten caught up on a lot of things, including housework. I haven't been checking email often, but I did today. Instead, I have gone to Jazzercise and helped transport Jillian to summer school, where she is learning the beginnings of multiplication. The concept of how it works is still new, but she knows 2x2 and 2x3 and 3x3, as well as the x1's and x0's--her Daddy taught her those, probably in our long car rides recently.

Brooks had a trial today that was rather silly because the obvious could not be proved...bureacracy strikes again! Oh well--it's his first loss for the year, and it's almost August. He finished the deck last night, but it's still "drying" and avoiding foot traffic. He scheduled an appt. to have it inspected, so that's the last step I guess. We'll see how it all goes from here! As for me, I continue to enjoy my iPod that Brooks gave me, as does he. :) I am trying to finish importing all of my CD's onto iTunes, which isn't so bad because I can do other chores while I wait. :) I plan to post another "back-blog" from vacation here soon. I continue to ask Brooks to contribute, but I am yet to be successful.

Elliott is playing with his activity mat/gym thing with the animals hanging from it--the is the first time he has really been actively participating with reaching and grabbing and swatting. I'm so glad he is reaching another milestone! Yay! Elliott seeks a lot of attention, and I often want to drop everything and give it to him to stop his crying, but I know it's important to allow him independent time to learn these types of important skills as well. He is quite spoiled from being held just about any time he wants to be. Even in his most crabby times, he still seems to enjoy some good face-to-face play. And just like any child, he *freezes* in front of a television.

We look forward to a visit from Mama and Dad Locke on Friday evening, and tonight we will take Jillian mini-golfing with 129. Hopefully, tomorrow Bethi and I will be getting Noodles together and catching up after more than a month apart! I'm looking forward to it!

Home at last

So, things didn't work out to post again, and we are busy working at home on getting the house cleaned and putting the finishing touches on the patio. Jillian has summer school this week and next, so she is keeping busy, too. I'm still working on Brooks to post, but I am very thankful that he did some work in the office room upstairs that I have been asking him to do for a very long time. :) Elliott is sleeping extremely well now that we are home. Days are unpredictable (seems like several short naps instead of a couple long ones) but nights are AWESOME!
Dr. Jao measured him and he is in the 40-45th percentile for height and 50th for weight at 15 lbs. 7 oz. at 5 months. I still haven't taken him for his 3 month photos....perhaps the 6 month photos will happen? Oh well. At least I'm still sane.
Tomorrow night, we are going to JP and Hamille's for dinner and going to go see Batman: Dark Knight after watching Batman Begins with my mom. Good movie, even if you are not a comic fan. I love spending time with them, and I'm eager to take as many opportunities as I can since I anticipate that they will relocate in the future to further themselves professionally...like Providence, RI. That reminds me that I need to contact Bethi to hang with her! She is so wonderful and fun and I have missed her! Hopefully I won't forget tomorrow (again) in my busyness. Well, off to bed! I have to get Jill to class tomorrow!

Ooh, another post!

Don't Cry! I bring you good news!

I just found out that the Blairs have wireless internet, so I will post something new after a good night's sleep. Yay!

I'm sure we will have a few things to share. This one may disappear when we update. For now, Brooks is enjoying my iPod. :) I'll try to get him to contribute, but you can tell how well my efforts have worked in the past.

Two more days, two more states! Four more coming up!

Today we make our way to Maryland, so we have another long drive ahead. My new iPod, that Linda helped me get set up right before we left, has been quite helpful in making this trip more managable for me. :) Thank you Brooks and Linda! This post documents our travels on Sunday night through Tuesday morning. Brief, but plenty of pictures!

Stoughton, Massachusetts - Mariya and Alexander Kireyev (better known as Masha and Sasha)
Brooks pointed out today that this is only the 3rd time we have seen Masha (and I met Sasha, Alex, for the first time on Sunday night!) but it seems like we have known each other for years. :) Masha and Sasha are Russian immigrants who moved to Toledo originally, where Sasha's family was. They attended Emmaunel Baptist Church, where the Lockes attend, and that's how they met. While Masha was finishing her Masters program at Bowling Green in Spanish (so she could teach in the US), she lived with the Lockes, and we visited twice while she was there. I found out that we share 3 languages--English, Spanish, and music! Masha plays recorder, for fun. We had a little recital before she left Ohio to rejoin her hubby in Boston, where he has been working for a pharmacutical company.

Don't you think Masha and I could be related, sisters even?

Sasha had to go to work, but Masha showed us a wonderful morning and an amazing crepes breakfast--my first! Another way to enjoy fresh fruit!

Jillian and Masha in her very cool kitchen!

Elliott had a great time on the floor, especially on his tummy, after two days of driving to get to Stoughton, south of Boston.

Boston, MA, Back Bay area - Ben Staffin and Jenny Steele

For those who may not know so well, Ben is one of my best buds from high school, and Jenny is his longtime girlfriend. I met her the first time at our senior prom (I would have been his date had it not been for my loser boyfriend at the time, but I'm glad to know Jenny--she's been a great match for Ben :) I think the last time we saw them was at our wedding, at which time they both lived in California (closer to SF). They moved to Mass. last summer/fall and bought their current condo downtown Boston this spring to accomodate work, thus less commute.
It was so good to see them again after so long! Jenny is working on her PhD at Tufts in Vet stuff and Ben enjoys working for Google.

Ben and Jenny treated us to a very nice Italian dinner in the Italian district in Boston. Brooks had his usual, of course. :) I had cheese ravioli and Jillian...you guessed it, spaghetti!


The "Make Way for Ducklings" statues in the Gardens. Jillian is taking a ride on the mother duck. :)


We had a nice (but very HUMID!) time at the Boston Public Gardens with Ben, as well as on the "promanade" that runs down the middle of Beacon Street on the way from his place to the Gardens.


Brooks and Elliott were quite warm but lookin' cool. :)
Elliott barely slept all day, but crashed for the night quite nicely around 9:30pm.









Another Day, Another State: Rhode Island! The Ocean State





The views from our hotel room. It was quite a nice view to wake up to! The sailboats on the water were neat to watch.


I don't know the internet capabilities for the next couple days, but we will update when we can. We are rushing and busy all the time!
Love from Rhode Island