July 27, 2010

 Horatio is a Hit!

A pretty good week and a really great weekend.  We spent a good deal of the weekend with the double-digit Ellison Cousins.  In keeping with tradition, we had a summer adventure.  In past summers, this has involved sleepovers with all of the older Ellison Cousins, but given that our house has less space this year, only the Lampasas crew (Michaela and Jon) spent the night.  On Friday, Bill, Amelia and I had a fun time riding the train out to Leander to get them. 

On Saturday morning early, we loaded up and headed to San Marcos.  Amelia stayed with Aunt Sandra while we picked up Tyler and Aubrey, traded cars with Aunt Sandra and continued on to Schlitterbahn.  The four kids, Bill and I had a full day at Schlitterbahn -- riding all of the big water coasters, eating DipNDots and other junk food and kickin' it old school in the tube cutes that have been around since I was a kid.  We didn't close the park this year (I didn't want to be away from Amelia that long), but I think we had better "line management" than in years past.  Consequently, I think we probably enjoyed an equal amount of fun time and less standing in line.  Back in San Marcos, Amelia, Bill, the Lampasas kiddos and I stayed for some tasty fajitas that Tim cooked and then drove back to Austin.  Like all niece and nephew weekends, this one was over too quickly.  The kids are also growing too quickly!  Soon they will be driving and graduating from high school  I'm just glad that they don't already think that they are too old for Peppy and Bill.

Amelia seemed to have a good time while we were at Schlitterbahn.  She went for a walk in her stroller with Aunt Sandra.  Nanny and Sandra's Mom also visited her.  She had a loooonnnng nap on Nanny shoulder.  (Nanny apparently has the magic touch.)  I don't think that she was starved for attention while we were making up for lost time with the four older Ellison Cousins.

So, to change the subject, you are probably wondering about the title of this week's Blog.  Horatio is a new addition to our monkey household.  Puter apparently found him at that great treasure store -- "G-Dubs" and fixed him up for Amelia.  Rather than tell you whether Amelia likes Horatio, I think I'll just show you.  Here is a short video of the night they were introduced.  It may take some time to load, so please be patient.

Horatio is a Hit!

Also, here are a couple of Amelia photos taken this morning.  She is continuing to grow at at an alarming pace!

Finally, a special thanks to Mrs. Farr in San Marcos for some new ideas on baby food.  Amelia is getting lots of fruits, but it is time to mix it up.  Thanks to Mrs. Farr, she now has some meats to try.  Good stuff!