We're Back!

We all made it home on Monday.  Zack picked us up at LAX, having driven straight from the Bay Area after his long fishing weekend (pictures to come!).  Beatrice was soooo happy to see her Daddy.  I was happier.  Beatrice and I arrived in from Atlanta all in one piece.  I think the fact that I didn't beat Miss I-have-ants-in-my-pants on the plane is a true sign that I love her more than anyone else I know under 3 feet tall.  Anyone else and I would have resorted to lashings with the seatbelt for sure.  Flying alone with a 17 month old is FUN!

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The minute we got home Beatrice had to play with all of her toys.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.  And of course tell her Daddy about all the new things she learned about in Georgia:  how to wall-sit (see picture above), Frosted Oranges from The Varsity (yum), the art of just hanging out, Inman Park Festival, Uncle Graham's birthday festivities, Dada's pipe, watering Mama's plants, and how to read magazines on the couch.  

We had so much fun in Atlanta visiting with everyone.  Now I just have to find some time to post all of the pictures.  There are basically enough to watch them all in video format...and blogger is having technical difficulties.  Oh, and my work has gone crazy (I didn't see Beatrice for 36 hours after we got home!), so...hopefully later this week I'll get all forty-leven photos up!

Inman Park Festival

Graham, Grandma Elizabeth, Beatrice and I ventured back to Inman Park for the Spring Festival on Sunday. We had a memorable day, meeting up with many old neighbors and friends that we hadn't seen in years (as in, "...but the last time I saw you, you were 4 feet tall!"). We parked at Kathie's and walked over to our old house to harrass the 'new' people who live there. We barged right in and told them all about the house (e.g., "I wouldn't mess with the kitchen floor if I were you, the house is sinking there in the middle..." and "...oh, and don't dig in the alley there...we had at least 10 cats buried there over the years...it was always a busy street"). Then we went over to Harry's house and bothered him and forced him to go out and about at Festival with us.



It was fun to see Beatrice in the house I grew up in. But why anyone painted 'our' house yellow is beyond me...don't they know it is supposed to be BLUE?


Beatrice enjoyed Harry's house, especially his kitties - Sarah Elizabeth (yes, for real) and Giggi-boy. As Harry was feeling 'poorly' we took him sustenance - a Mr Goodbar and a Coca-Cola. [Best joke from Harry this week: "My (cousin's/mother's/next door neighbor's) old aunt finally died and in her obituary it said she had 'enjoyed poor health for the last 30 years of her life'"]. And yes, that is a picture of Scarlett O'Hara's face...


It rained solid for an hour at least, so we stayed cozy in Harry's until Beatrice was in such dire need of a nap that we braved the rains. Luckily for us it chose just that moment to clear up. One of my favorite parts of seeing Beatrice in the South though has been the curling of her hair in the humidity.

After we ventured out into the streets for Festival, we ran into so many old friends that we finally just stopped and chatted with everyone for the next TWO HOURS. I told Mom that next year we're just going to get ourselves a booth.




We ended the day at Mama & Dada's for dinner. Harry came too, of course. We had a great time - eating, sitting out on the wall, and taking pictures.





We had a fantastic week. Hopefully we were good enough (or at least entertaining enough) to be invited back next year!

Child Labor

Today I escaped for a few hours BY MYSELF. It was wonderful. When I got back I found Mama and Grandma Elizabeth had put Beatrice to work scrubbing the posts out front. Fantastic. Now Grandma Elizabeth just needs to teach her how to sew and I can make $18 per pair of trousers from the cleaners for hemming (prices are not cheap in CA).

We also visited Uncle Charles and Aunt Fran, and their dogs. Beatrice had fun with them until they trampled her.

It got quite hot in the late afternoon, so we also had some naked baby in a bucket playtime. If Mama and Dada's neighbors didn't think they were country before, they do now!

Arm Hugs

Beatrice has a whole litany of "things" she can do now:
* What does a chicken say? "Boick" (and pump her arms like wings)
* What does a gorilla do? "Uhn uhn" (and thump on her chest)
* What does a cow say? "Mmmmo"
* What does a tree do? (noodle dance swaying in the wind)
* What does an airplane do? (noodle dance swaying in the wind)
* What does the wind do? (noodle dance swaying in the wind)
You get the general idea...
But my absolute favorite is 'arm hugs' - this is where she'll put her tiny arms around you and squeeze. Each time I get one I thank my lucky stars I'm her mother. And seeing her give Grandma Elizabeth one (see photo above) makes me teary eyed.

We did have fun with Beatrice today - dressing her up (again) in (yet another) new dress. Grandma Elizabeth and I took her shopping with us yesterday (bad idea) and couldn't resist this polka dot number.

Beatrice and I went to my friend Laura's house for lunch and got to meet her 6 month old daughter Claire, who is quite possibly the cutest baby I've ever seen (sorry Beatrice).

I enjoyed talking with Laura about motherhood and all things in between. Plus she fed me the BEST lunch ever - pimento cheese sandwiches, as requested. For those of you poor (non-Southern) people who don't know pimento cheese is...you must visit Georgia sometime soon.

At the end of the day we had a very tired Beatrice...

Play day

We played at Mama & Dada's most of the day today, with very little to-ing and fro-ing. We had to say goodbye to Granddaddy Bill today. But luckily we convinced Grandma Elizabeth to stay and help us get through security at the airport on Monday.

Playtime for the adults consisted of dressing up our doll-baby, Beatrice! For most of the day she wore her blue dress that Grandma Elizabeth made for her (with matching hat). Getting her to pose in said dress...nearly impossible. Especially as she seems to despise pinecones! Why? Who knows. But man, does she ever bless them out (in her own new language) when she sees them. Luckily Mama will throw them in to the woods for her. "Dahbla na blah na na na" (scowl)



We also spent a good amount of time underneath Mama's furniture...poor Mama will have to Windex underneath all her glass tables when we leave!

And of course, we went to check out the construction across the street multiple times, as we have everyday.


In the afternoon, in a desperate attempt to get Beatrice to nap, we drove and drove (and I convinced Mom to come with me to get Frosted Oranges from The Varsity). Guess who loved her first Frosted Orange?


Harry joined us for dinner again, and we ended the day with some wall-sitting and general hanging out.