Paul Shaffer . . .

... you have some competition.

Fortunately, Elizabeth can take time off from her piano practice to play ball.

Tallulah and the Pyrenees

Before Elizabeth learned to crawl, stand, slam dunk, etc., we all took a trip to the Pyrenees. Sorry for not telling you all. It was so beautiful we wanted to keep it a secret.

Actually, we were busy too keeping up with Elizabeth – cleaning, baby-proofing, pulling electrical things out of her mouth - to write anything. So here’s the short version (and a snap of E waving to a local farmer).

Executive summary in 50 words: We weren’t prepared. No one spoke English; only Catalan. And because we didn’t know Catalan we accidentally ordered grossness like liver, pork ribs with baby-poop sauce, actual pigs feet, etc. Our unpreparedness, however, meant fate took over. And that’s how Elizabeth became an international baby model (See Hiking with Tallulah).

Day 1: Carcassonne and beyond:

One of the most striking towns I’ve ever seen. For those of you unfamiliar with Carcassonne, check it out on Wikipedia, here.

Unfortunately, we’d gotten up at 4 a.m. and were looking to start our long journey south so Elizabeth could get in a good nap. So we spent maybe an hour and a half walking around the town and stopping to take a picture of Kate sampling the local cuisine (croissants and orangina).

After three hours of snaking up mountain roads, we arrived at our “Allotjament rural,” which if you type it into google/translate just means “lodging.” Anyway, the place we stayed at was on the northern side (read: ski-slopey side) of the Pyrenees, but it had good views, quality amenities, and a gross breakfast composed of wet bread (by ways of tomato juice) and various thinly sliced cold meats (liver, pancreas, cat).

It was also tucked away down a road that kept tapering. Here’s a video of us driving the last few hundred narrow feet.

Day 2: We’ll be coming ‘round the mountain

Our place also had a very nice hostess who told us all about a wonderful place to hike.

Unfortunately this didn’t happen until day 3. On day 2, we were armed with only a poorly marked map and a vague idea of where we were. So we simply headed for higher ground hoping to come across a beautiful, well-marked hiking area.

Although our drive was nice, we didn’t exactly find this. Instead, we came upon the “Famous Cathar Trail,” to us was neither famour nor a trail. Here’s E and K standing by one part of it.

Day 3: Hiking with Tallulah

Finally, we figured out where we were AND, more importantly, where we wanted to go. After about 30 minutes we got to a town named Estana on the edge of the little known Cadi-Moixero national park. There, at the a hikers’ parking lot in the town square, a squat auburn German Shepherd we named Tallulah sauntered up to us and offered to become our local tour guide through the woods. Gladly, we accepted and took a glorious 1.5 hour hike, following Tallulah the whole way up a mountain, much to Elizabeth’s delight. Yes, it felt weird to follow a dog we didn’t know up a trail we weren’t familiar with, especially because we thought Tallulah’s owner might find us and think we’re stealing his dog!

On our way back into the town, we were stopped by a large truck with a photographer, a translator, and a driver – all of whom wanted nothing more than to take pictures of our happy family (dog included) for the local tourist office, which was trying to expose these mountains to the tourism industry.

So we agreed, posing with Elizabeth and Tallulah while the mountains provided a scenic backdrop. One of the poses they asked us to do was me squatting down to take a picture of Kate and Elizabeth while Tallulah sat by my side. Here’s one of several of those photos.

Afterward it was time for E’s nap, so we drove to Andorra, had paella (yes, in a land-locked country), filled up with cheap (tax-free) gas, bought what I thought was chocolate milk (it was not … it was something called chufa juice), and got stopped at the border and had to open our truck to show that we weren’t carting off boxes of tax-free goodies to resell.

Day 4: The return trip.

We stopped at a beautiful French town called Ax les Thermes, well known in the region for skiing and thermal baths. We also saw the scariest town we’ve ever seen, called Frejoiux, which actually had a free public internet window with the keyboard and mouse outside while the monitor was pressed against the glass on the inside. I checked my gmail.

Milestone Mania

For those who read our blog to check out our travels, this entry is not for you, but we'll have a post about our recent trip to the Pyrennes up soon. However, for those who read our blog to check out Elizabeth, this entry IS for you.

Elizabeth went through a month or so of relative sameness. Sure, she sat up a little straighter and improved her table manners, but she wasn't hitting any new milestones. In the past week, all of that has changed.

Last Friday I found Elizabeth sitting up her crib after a nap for the first time. On Saturday, Elizabeth started crawling. On Monday, she started pulling to a standing position using Justin or I as support. And on Wendesday, she pulled herself up to a standing position using a piece of furniture. All of these skills are exciting, but very scary for Justin, Pecos, and me (perhaps mostly for Pecos who has been chased a few times and had his water dish overturned).

Elizabeth is also popping out four top teeth, which adds some drool and sleeplessness into the mix. Needless to say, I am pooped.

Crawling Day 1

First attempt at pulling up

Peek-a-boo player

The fruit bandit strikes again!

Naked explorer

United States of Gluttony

Kate, Elizabeth, and I came back form our three-week trip to the States exactly 18.4 pounds heavier than when we left. (Kate’s most cited quote was, “Really? More donuts? OK.”)

Yes, our trip was pretty much three weeks of nonstop eating and family. Which is better than this 31-year-old Czech woman who is accused of combining those words in different ways: http://tinyurl.com/6ljqne. You know, the worst part about this (aside from the uncouthness of bringing this up) is the ease of finding that story online. God bless the internet.

Anyway, here’s our story of the States:

Maryland Part I

I don’t even think we were outside airport property when I started talking about food. Chipotle. I-hop. Donuts. Bagels. Cheesesteaks. I was ready for indulgence.

But first, Elizabeth had to help us unpack so we could all spend more time eating … and of course sharing stories with family. Mostly this revolved around watching Elizabeth interact with two very large and somewhat dim dogs. “Oh, she pulled his hair! Uh oh, she just went for the whisker! Oh look, he’s scared of her now ….” The fun never stopped.

Apart from pulling dogs’ hair and extremities, Elizabeth also tried a few new foods (chicken, cheerio-type puffs, peas, pears, pumpkin, chipotle) and hung out with her old man while Kate bided her time working.

Leonardtown

A short visit to Leonardtown started off with Elizabeth meeting this crazy lady who thought it was a good idea to have a baby play with and put in her mouth not just a plastic bag (a known choking hazard) but a plastic bag filled with trash. We later brought Elizabeth to her first “real” Mexican restaurant where the crazy lady allowed her to use a fork as a toy).

Seeking to flee from this woman as quickly and far as possible, Elizabeth and I ran off to the nearest safe haven we could find – a children’s playground where I helped Elizabeth go through her first wormhole on the swings. She was apprehensive at first, but after my lessons about how swings can actually take you through worm holes and even time warps, she found them to be quite fun.

Also during our time down there, we hung out with some great friends, Kate worked, and I showed Elizabeth how NOT to play Wii tennis, Randy us all the intricacies of Tetris, and Kate (when she wasn't working) tested her "Wii fitness" level to determine she was, in fact, an 87-year-old. She later got her fitness age down to 66. We're very proud of our mom-grandmom.

Alabama

Although the prospect of going to Alabama conjured up images of strange men on the Chattahoochee commenting on her dad’s purty mouth, she went along anyway because she knew there would be more family down there to ooh and ah her every move. Plus she was excited to go in her first body of water below the Arctic Circle.

Although most of the trip was spent hanging out with her father, learning all about the wonders of air conditioning, and watching her mom get frustrated at the slow internet connection, she also managed to find an inner tube and make her way into some pretty awesome portraits if I say so myself.

Philly

I had a one-day work trip that allowed us to hang out in the City of Brotherly Love for a night with William Penn (in focus in the background. For the longest time, no building in the city could be higher than his hat).

While in Philly, Kate tried one of the city’s famous artery cloggers from Jim’s on South St. (The Yoo-hoo was mine. Kate wouldn’t dare fill herself with empty calories like that!)

And, when Kate wasn’t working and Elizabeth wasn’t napping, they managed to find a children’s park to play in where Elizabeth tried to explain the concept of worm holes to Kate. Kate then complimented her imagination and kept pushing her at a speed far too slow for intergalactic transport. They also discovered this glittery netherworld called Magic Gardens, which was closed when we went by: http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/.

Maryland Part II

Finally, we were back in the Old Line State for a few days where Elizabeth could relax while pulling brainless bow-wow whiskers, learn Hebrew on Shalom TV (her favorite), and, again, wait for Kate to be done working.

We did manage to get out of the air conditioning a few times. Here she’s sitting with GG watching one of the dogs do a comedy routine about missing every single pop-up thrown at him. Elizabeth thought this was hilarious. We all thought the dog had palsy.

The trip ended with an excursion to I-hop to see the crazy lady again who, according to Elizabeth, was indeed off her rocker but was still pretty fun.

Iceland

We’re back from the valley of the ice and snow and ready to share our adventure with you faithful blog followers. But as this was one of our longest and most nature-based trips, we think the pictures will provide you with most of the detail you need. Plus I’m lazy.

Bottom line: Iceland helped me realize that Earth is a neat place. Here’s a rundown:

Reykjavik: Small. Lilliputian really. Also reminded me of a frontier town. We had Indian.Thingvellir: Think Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Europe and America meet here and are continually tugged in opposite directions by super strong (tectonic) forces (to continue the metaphor, think their careers). But no matter the tugs, they just love each other so much that they stay together… and in the process create lots of cool geographic features (babies?).
Gullfoss: One of Iceland’s biggest waterfalls. This was perhaps the most wind I’ve ever felt. My lips were literally blown open at one point like a skydiver’s. It was crazy wind.Geysir: Geysir is where our word geyser comes from. Unfortunately, it stopped routinely spouting in the 1950s when tourists through rocks in there. Next door is the smaller but still awesome Strokkur. It splashed me with superheated water. No fun.


Kerith: This is the caldera from an old volcano. Or perhaps not. No one knows for sure.

Hveragerdi: As the most geothermally active town in Iceland, this place takes the steam pouring out of the ground and does great things with it: Warming greenhouses so they can grow bananas and papayas, cooking food, and heating buildings, pools, and roads. Crafty.

Skinny dipping: Yup. Cold outside but warm in the water.
Seljalandfoss: The most amazing waterfall I’ve ever seen. You get to walk behind it. Very enjoyable.
Skogafoss: A huge waterfall by the North Atlantic. Very nice to look at, especially the rainbow (which you can't see here).

Vik: Meaning “bay” (as in ReykjaVIK, KeflaVIK, VIKing, etc.), this place was only a small town on a bay. But it had black sand, awesome views, and a gas station with food.
Solheimajökull glacial walk: We walked on a glacier. Scarier than I thought because you’d have to step over these huge and jagged ice caves that were as much as 10 feet below you … with flowing water at the bottom. And ice can be sharp. Trust me. Scary.
Krysuvik Seltun: A big depression where the earth’s crust is super thin, meaning lots of bubbling pits, sulfurous mud pots, and masses of gasses.

The Blue Lagoon: It’s like taking a bath with 200 of your closest friends. As Iceland’s only tourist trap, we had to go to this place. It’s basically a large swimming hole carved into the rocky landscape where a local geothermal electricity plant (which boils water with the heat from the earth) dumps its used water so tourists like us can pay lots of money to swim in it. By the time it gets to us it’s like bath water. Elizabeth enjoyed this.