Well we're movin on up, to the eastside. To a deluxe apartment in the sky.

Can you find Esther in the mess? We have moved to Kirkland, and are trying to work our way through the mountains of boxes and stuff. It's an undertaking trying to unpack and organize with a toddler. She's really good at pulling stuff out of boxes but not too keen on putting things neatly away.
A new obstacle to overcome...stairs. Gene drilled into Esther's head to "scoot, scoot, scoot" down the stairs. She finds it very amusing when he demonstrates his scoot technique for her. So far so good, no head-first tumbles down the stairs yet.

This Tuesday, we got together with my roommates from college (I won't tell you how many years it's been since we were in college). All four of us girls are now married and have kids, so it was fun to have all our kids meet each other. Esther enjoyed running down the pavement at a dangerous speed. She fell twice and scrapped her forehead each time, luckily after two good cries she was good to go.

Here's a shot of the first head wound:

Getting ready to go on a boat ride on the lake:

Gene was exhausted making sure Esther didn't make a break for the water every chance she got:

Here's the four roommates and our families (only one family member is missing...and you know who you are...Chris):

On the way back home, Esther was so tired. This is how she likes to fall asleep, sucking two fingers and smelling her blankie.

All is good with the world!!!

I'm home safe and sound again. I had a great trip but was definitely ready to come home. Gene and Esther had a great time bonding. After about the third day, Gene got into the flow and started enjoying himself. Five days was a little long for me to be away from my family but I think it was a good amount of time for Gene and E. Other than a few minor mishaps everything went pretty well. Esther decided to wait until I was gone to figure out how to fall out of the crib. She was down for a nap and Gene was spying on her through the monitor. He saw her drop her blanket and then try to grab it back but instead she went over the edge. As he was running toward her room he heard a clunk and then Esther started crying. Probably expecting to see our daughter's broken body, upon entering the room Gene found her on her back, no worse for wear. Soon after this occurance, Gene lowered her mattress to the lowest setting. Now climbing on the coffee table doesn't seem so bad.

I had the camera so unfortunately there are very few new pictures of Esther. So enjoy these photos of Alaska. This is on the way to Bettles, where I grew up:

This is on the way from Fairbanks to Anchorage. You can see Mt. McKinley and some glaciers:

Today Esther decided to do some painting...while preparing to move Esther has found some new and probably inappropriate playthings:

Her she is showing off her technique:

Esther's dad is going to get an ulcer...

she's figured out how to climb up on the coffee table. Can you see the look of terror on Gene's face? And to add to his ulcer, I am going to Alaska for five days (4 nights) without my girl and husband. Esther will be in very capable hands with her dad, but I'm sure he'll be ready for a break when I get home. Wish him luck.

Doin' the sign for cat:
Ah, so cute...on the coffee table:

Oh, Esther says "da" now for dog and she makes a cute little woof sound. She loves dogs...which is weird since we don't have any. Sorry Audrey and Sydney (our two cats).

I've run out of ideas for post titles...

so let's get straight to the pictures. This is how I found Esther...whimpering, she had gotten herself stuck underneath a chair:


Pan Pan and I spent a nice Saturday evening with my sister and her son at Golden Gardens. Esther enjoyed her first experience with sand and sea:

Yummy, this rock tastes good!