March was another busy month. Work, visitors and a vacation!
It all started, however, with something mundane. I ordered a stepstool for Elizabeth’s bath so she could reach the sink. Not unexpectedly, the project took a little longer than it would have without my helper!
Elizabeth is now brushing her teeth at the sink and washing her hands, too. She likes having her stepstool so she can reach the sink. Such a big girl!
On March 10th we had our Grand Opening Party and the Ribbon Cutting ceremony on the 12th for our company Rolling Sands. Andy’s sister, Carol, and niece, Stephanie, came out to help us with Elizabeth for the long weekend. I don’t know how we could’ve done it without their help.
I was surprised to see that Elizabeth could even wear down an energetic 20-something year old!
In addition to being the best babysitters ever for days on end, Carol and Steph gave us our first night away in 17 1/2 months. We stole away on Sunday night (the night between our Grand Opening Party and our Ribbon Cutting) and went a short distance into the mountains to Idaho Springs so we could soak in the hot springs. Idaho Springs is an old-west town and I enjoyed just strolling the small main street and shopping.
After soaking in the springs pool on Sunday we took a drive towards Mt Evans at sunset. The road wasn’t open to the top of this fourteener, but we enjoyed the scenic drive. The cloud formation this evening was awesome.
Steph shared her pictures from their visit. I love seeing the self-portraits of Steph and Elizabeth. These two have become fast buddies on the couple of visits they’ve had together. “Stephy” is one of the first names Eliz has begun saying.
Here Carol has Elizabeth all dressed up for the Grand Opening Party. She’s wearing a new dress – a gift from Mom Mom Thomas. She looked so beautiful.
Steph and Carol gave Elizabeth a wonderful tour of the local area. They took her for a walk in Golden and they enjoyed time at the playground and on the swings.
On Friday while we were working, they even took a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park. I should’ve given them her NP Passport to have them stamp it (again!).
We were very happy with the Grand Opening Party and the Ribbon Cutting. We estimated over 75 came for the Party on Saturday. It was an Open House type of event with people coming and going all day long. We had lots of raffle prizes to give away and Gift Bags for the first 40 guests. We were so grateful for so many friends and fellow teachers who helped make our Grand Opening a success.
Elizabeth welcomed the younger crowd to the store. (Ok, these are her good buddies – Allison and Finley with Mom Stacey, her babysitter)
Here’s a family photo outside the store on our “Main” Street.
The Ribbon Cutting on Monday was very nice as well with lots of Ambassadors from the Chamber of Commerce who came to offer their support and well-wishes.
Even the fire department arrived in the fire truck.
Again, I can’t say how grateful we were for Carol and Steph. Not only did they entertain Elizabeth and give her a wonderful opportunity to get to know family, but they cooked dinners for us, and helped get Eliz to bed at night, and everything.
A little over a week after Carol and Steph left, we flew down to Florida for a vacation. It’s been years since we took a true vacation with the intention of solely relaxing. We were so looking forward to 6 days of picking up seashells and pedaling around on our rental cruiser bikes.
We knew something just wasn’t right the first day on the beach. Elizabeth wasn’t herself and actually seemed disturbed by the water.
Each visit to the beach was short-lived and even her time in the swimming pool wasn’t received with the excitement she usually had for the water.
On Thursday we had plans to drive to Tarpon Springs to visit a friend Pat that we had met thru the Internet Merchants Association. A one-hour drive became a two-hour ordeal (thanks for the directions Google!!). At least Elizabeth slept most of the way.
We enjoyed our visit, and for awhile I thought Elizabeth was feeling better. In hindsight, I think it was because she was distracted by Pat’s 3 dogs.
On the way back home, she snacked on Oreos and pretzel sticks. Thankfully she likes to eat more pretzels (Dad) than cookies (Mom).
Much later that night Elizabeth developed a fever and she became so sick that we truly thought we’d end up in the emergency room. I sat with her through the night with a cool washcloth and Andy began the research and phone calls to find a doctor’s office at sunrise the next morning. She had a double ear infection. That would explain the balance problem and the fact that she didn’t want to look at waves.
It continued to be a low-key vacation after that. The meds helped with the fever, but she wasn’t herself until the day before we left.
I had so looked forward to walking the beach and sitting sifting through sand looking for shells with Elizabeth. She finally was able to “help” me find shells on that Monday, so at least I had that day with the real her.
We did get to ride our rental bikes, too, and she enjoyed sitting on the seat behind me. We talked a lot about the birds and squirrels and flowers as we rode down the island. She liked being able to “grab” me as we played and rode. It was different for her, I’m sure, then riding along behind us in the trailer that we use at home. Our rides were short, but at least we got out on the bikes and toured the area.
The hotel we stayed at was on the Bay and across the street from the Gulf. On the bayside we had a dock we could go sit on. For the first several days Eliz refused to walk on the dock (probably because she could see the water through the boards), but she was fascinated by the two laughing gulls who resided on this dock. We loved imitating the gulls with a loud “ha-ha-ha”. She has since recognized the different sounds birds make - “ha-ha-ha” “caw-caw” “tweet-tweet” and so on. She is good at imitating them all. I just might have a little birder on my hands!
Our vacation wasn’t the vacation we had dreamed of, but we were lucky to have had a beautiful cottage to stay in with the dock and swimming pool, friendly neighbors, easy access to the gulf, beautiful weather with no humidity, and overall just a nice place to be. We thought it was interesting that even though Anna Maria Island is nowhere near our ‘home’ in Fort Lauderdale, we both felt comfortably at home during our visit.
Elizabeth has always enjoyed helping me “unpack” after our trips. No wonder it takes me days (or longer) to get the suitcases emptied and put away.
The weekend before Easter, the Apex Fieldhouse held an Easter Egg Hunt. I got Eliz dressed up and ready to go for her very first hunt.
Here we are in front of the city’s Fieldhouse (which houses two large indoor fields for lacrosse and soccer).
Elizabeth was a pro at the hunt. She could’ve scored a lot more eggs, but I really didn’t need the extra candy in the house for ME to eat.
She did enjoy playing with the plastic eggs back at home so I’m glad she picked up a couple of handfuls for herself.
On a Saturday after Andy closed the store, we went for a late-day hike with the intention of letting Elizabeth “hike”. We went to the west side of White Ranch to let her enjoy several different trails and historical farming equipment close to the parking lot. Our main concern was finding trails without drop-offs or steep climbs (aka “toddler-friendly”).
We never got too far from the parking lot, but she had a great time hiking on her own. Some of the time was spent just sitting in the middle of the trail picking up and dropping stones. We’ve got to adjust our thinking of what hiking with a toddler really means.
She explored the equipment, and even found out what splinters are. Oops!
Here’s a video of her hiking style…(hiking in circles).
This hike was exactly what I had hoped for – an opportunity for Elizabeth to explore nature on her own terms and to expend a little energy. For me? It was an opportunity to be outside with a nice view and a lot of chuckles.
More pictures and videos from the March Webalbum.
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