Great Little Traveler

You know who's a great little traveler? Stella.

Knock on wood.

Sure, with the exception of Hawaii two Summers ago, Sarah, Stella and I haven't done any major traveling or vacationing outside of Washington. But, with Sarah's parents in Texas, some extended family in Illinois, and our respective siblings in California, Stella's already been on a plane more times in her first two and a half years than I had by the time I graduated from College. And, with the exception of some squirming and fussing and some trouble with sleeping in strange beds, she's been a complete breeze to travel with.

Again, knock on wood.

Two weekends ago, we had the opportunity to travel to Illinois again. Sarah had to travel to there for work, and so we decided to take advantage of her free flights and downtown hotel room, and make a little mini vacation out of it. It had been the better part of a year since our last visit to the area, and it was a good opportunity to visit with Sarah's family there; and for Stella to see her Nana, Grandpapa, Grandma Geri and, of course, Mia. Stella doesn't have any cousin's yet, and is still an only child (for a couple more months), so its good for her to get a chance to visit with Sarah's large extended family in Illinois and jump into the swirling mob of second cousins that live there.

But, in addition, it proved a fun chance for Stella and I to do something that we hadn't before: Explore a (relatively) new city together. Without Sarah to help us both along.

Stella checks out the bed at our hotel, during out night in downtown Chicago.

After getting in late on Thursday night (and after having to deal with a cab driver "forgetting" to return Sarah's credit card), Sarah had to wake up early the next morning to head to her day-long meeting. After sleeping in a little more, Stella and I got up and got ready for our day together in Chicago. First up: Breakfast!

Dig in! Stella focuses on the yogurt parfait, while I have a selection of eggs, bacon and potatoes. Plus, coffee!

After a tasty, if too expensive, meal at the hotel restaurant; we went back to our room, grabbed our stuff, and made the couple block trek to catch a bus to the Shedd Aquarium. Though the swooping pigeons at the bus stop were a bit daunting to Stella, she seemed to roll with the punches as we boarded the standing-room-only bus. Being a cute 2-year-old though, it wasn't long before she scored a seat, and soon even looked like she would have nodded off, if not the "bumpy road!"

Arriving at the Shedd Aquarium, we discovered that it was Spring Break for the Chicago area public schools, and that a line literally extended around the block to get in. An aquarium employee explained that the wait was an hour and a half long just to get in. Stella, initially seemed undaunted, insisting that she would wait in line to see the fish... but 5 minutes later grew bored of the line and wandered off to look at the giant stone head statue nearby.

Next to the Shedd Aquarium is the Field Museum. I'd already been there with Sarah on our last trip to Chicago, but I knew it was big enough that there would still be new stuff to see, and that it would have enough variety to hold Stella's attention. And, while the Shedd featured mutant-long lines, we were able to walk right in to the Field Museum.

The Museum did end up being a hit! Most of the exhibits seemed interesting to Stella, with only one or two causing her eyes to start to glaze over. And, only one -featuring giant animatronic insets- scaring her. In addition, there was a great toddler area, featuring a family restroom with a child-sized toilet... always a great find with a recently potty-trained toddler.

Anyhow, pictures!

Trying our the saddle at the Horse exhibit.

Playing some music in the children's exploratory area. Notice she took her jacket off, but insisted on keeping the hat on.

Probably Stella's favorite exhibit, a scooter with a ghetto blaster strapped to the back. Pressing one of three buttons would play part of a song. Stella enjoyed dancing to the music for a good 10 minutes or so. I took video, but Blogger is being disagreeable.

Giant robot bug = scary. T-Rex = not so much.

Leaving the Field Museum. Little girl, big steps!

As Stella began to grow more and more tired looking, I realized it was time to head back to the hotel to meet up with Sarah. Unfortunately, while the bus to the aquarium and museum had come nearly right away, the bus back took about 20 minutes to arrive, and Stella and I found ourselves packed into a crowded covered area, waiting for it to arrive (we'd brought the Seattle rain with us). One of the nice things about traveling with a little kid is that people who would usually be inclined to ignore a bearded 35-year-old suddenly become your best friends; and I soon found myself chatting with other tourists, as middle-aged women snapped Stella's picture like she was one of the museum exhibits.

Then again, who wouldn't want a picture of this?

Back on the equally crowded bus, Stella stood, wedged against my legs, gripping the pole and looking like she'd rode the bus a million times before. It was only after we were reunited with Sarah, and she was safely and snugly situated in her stroller that she finally dozed off. Which was probably the best, since Sarah and I spent the better part of the next hour pushing her around downtown, lost while trying to find the car rental place.

So, yeah, mine and Stella's little half day adventure wasn't anything spectacular, but it was just another reminder of what a great little traveler she is. (Knock on wood.) ...Which is a good thing, because in a little over a month, Sarah, Stella and I are going to go on Stella's first international adventure: A week long trip to Mexico!

I have to admit that I'm personally, really, really excited to be making the trip. And, I know that after all her hard work both professionally and as a mother, Sarah deserves this vacation. But, even Stella seems to be looking forward to it, stating daily that she "wants to go to the beach!" And, picking up our guidebook, and announcing "Want to go to Mexico!" So, we're all looking forward to this last big adventure before the arrival of our latest edition to the family!

Speaking of which, here's Sarah at 26 weeks!



Also, between now and our departure in mid-May, we'll be making another quick trip to the Bay Area. Again, Sarah has to go down there for work, but we are going to parlay that into a quick visit with her brother and sister-in-law. The big adventure for me on that trip is that Stella and I will be flying down in a separate flight than Sarah.

Wish me luck.

Four Generations Part 2: The Freebairn Family Reunion

Hanging out with my mom's side of the family wasn't even the impetus for our trip this year. My dad's cousin had helped organize a Freebairn family reunion, gathering my dad's mother's siblings and their families.

My dad's family has always been more far-flung, with his siblings in New York, Virginia and (now) South Carolina and my grandparent,until a few years ago,in Virginia. During this time, we lived in Arkansas, Indiana and Texas, so our trips to visit were fewer and farther in between.

But I did know my great-aunts and uncles a bit better since they live in the same farming area as my mom's family. My dad grew up spending summers on his uncle Tom's farm (which explains how my parents met), so holidays and visits to Ottawa always meant a trip to see Tom and June on the farm, who were really a second family to my dad. I remember going to visit my affable Uncle Tom and Aunt June who always had ice cream on hand for the kids, as well as visits with my dad's uncle Wes and aunt Naomi, typically around the holidays, when their houses would be filled with their kids, and their kids' kids and lots of delicious baked goods, like shortbread and Scotch cookies.

So while I grew up knowing my great aunts and uncles on that side of the family, I hadn't really seen many of these relatives since the last reunion, 13 years prior. So Tyler and I decided to make the trip to the reunion happen so we could re-connect with that side of the family, too. And I was happy that the reason for the gathering could just be for people to get together. Over the past few years, more of that generation has passed on, including Tom, Wes and Naomi. Of the five Freebairn siblings, only my grandma, one of her brothers and Tom's wife June are still with us.

Despite 13 years or more, it was amazing how recognizable some of my second cousins were. I'd see them and have vague memories of running around together when we were little during the holidays. And even people who I was really meeting for the first time were so nice and friendly. There were a few gatherings over the weekend, but the last one was a potluck picnic at my great aunts house out in the country--again, lots of family and lots of food.


Once again, I did a terrible job taking photos (still hoping to snag some from others who were there!) so I borrowed this one my aunt took of all the baked goods, most of which my grandmother made--Scotch cookies, short bread, orange slice cookies--mmmm.

I might have to update this after some further investigation. I can't Google and get a good explanation for what Scotch cookies are. They're not butterscotch--they seem like good sugar-type cookies with the defining characteristic of having some egg cooked on top.

And spending time on a farm is definitely different than hanging out in the city:


Stella's favorite part was probably the battery-powered cars that were on the farm. This one's battery was charging, so Uncle Dick was nice enough to give her a Stachowiak-powered ride.

Eventually, Stella ended up in a car with a battery. She was in heaven.


Did I mention the driver is three?!

It was a blessing to get to spend time with so much family who travelled everywhere from New York, South Carolina, St. Louis, Georgia, Texas and maybe other places to get together. Thanks to Rita and June for all their planning! Hopefully we can have another get together just because it's fun before another 13 years pass!

Four Generations: Soenksen Side

As Tyler mentioned in his entry about our night away in Chicago, we went to Illinois a few weeks ago to go to a family reunion. We got to spend time with two sides of my family, the Soenksen clan (my mom's family) and the Freebairn's (my dad's mom's side).

I realized on this trip to Illinois that my grandma's house has been the most constant physical location of my life. My parents have moved. I have moved. My dad's parents have moved. My grandma still lives in the house they moved to when my mom was probably about 10 years old, so I've been visiting here always. There's always been a big back yard to run around in, a basement full of toys, and plenty of snacks to nibble on.

The other thing to know about this side of my family is that it's big. My mom is the oldest of seven siblings. I'm the oldest of 21 grandkids. Stella's one of 10 grandkids, ranging from 7 to 1. And that's without even getting to my mom's aunts and uncles and cousins. So my whole life has included trips to Ottawa to see lots of family.

When I was really young, all my aunts and uncles still lived at home, so I got to play with them. As I got older, there was a growing bevy of young kids. And there was some point when I was of an awkward generation--too young to really relate to my aunts and uncles, but too old to relate to many of my cousins who were 10+ years younger than me. But much of that has changed. Now I can relate to both the older and younger parts of my family--and it's fun getting to really know many of my cousins for the first time as adults. Most of the family still live close together--in the same town, even, or in other parts of Illinois or Wisconsin and grew up together--five cousins are the same age. Even though that's not true for me, it's important to me to visit and still be part of the family even though I live far away.


I did a terrible job of taking pictures during this trip (I was too busy enjoying myself, I guess!), but this shot just feels like time at Grandma's house--hanging out in the living room, with various aunts, uncles, cousins and kids around.


And if we're not in the house, we're hanging out on the back porch, chatting while people keep an eye on the kids running around the back yard.

And now that I've had Stella, I'm even more anxious to get back and see everyone and have her know that side of the family. She's the only grandchild on all sides of her family. When we get to Illinois, there are lots of kids to play with, lots of adults to keep an eye on things, and lots of new things to try out.


Out on the town with Great Grandma Geri


Spinning on the back porch with Maddy, my cousin Lindsay's daughter.


Trying to get a turn on the slide. We were so shocked when Stella played on it--she tends to shy away from slides at the playground, but I think she was inspired by her cousins!

On this trip, we also got to meet two of my cousin's kids for the first time, Jonas and Mila who's just three months younger than Stella. Trying to coordinate a photo of a 20 and 17 month old is a bit like herding cats:


Mila up, Stella down


Stella up, Mila down


Stella got to ride a tricycle toy in the driveway, but what I really love is how casually on a Monday night you'd have a cousin over to mow my grandma's lawn and my aunt stopping by to stay hi and we're all hanging out and watching Stella.

Stella also seems to be in a phase where she really likes four-year-old girls. This included my cousin's daughter, Mia, who Stella called "Me-Me."


Swinging on a big girl swing like Mia


Matching head wounds--only Mia's was real....

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye and head back to Seattle. I know Stella had a great time, and I can't wait to go back for our next visit! While I love my life here in Seattle, I do miss the fun and chaos of being closer to my extended family. Hopefully we'll get back again before too much time passes.


Four generations: me, my grandmother, my mother and my daughter

Time Away, Part 2

As Sarah mentioned in her last post, the week before last she was out of town for a couple of days, allowing Stella and I to have some dedicated daddy-daughter time. It's probably a good thing because, while I possibly spend more time with her during the week, she's been going through a definite Mommy Phase... or, as I sang tonight:

Daddy, uh... What is he good for? Absolutely nuthin'!

Actually, while this was the longest period of time that Sarah's been away for work, it was probably mostly notably to me in how smoothly it went. While I had expected periods of fussiness, or crying for "momma," that ended up largely not being the case. And, since I'm still in full-time stay-at-home-dad mode, our days tended to be mainly leisurely affairs. Generally, we'd spend some portion of the day running errands, but we'd also spend a lot of time just hanging out.

One evening she tagged along with me to my weekly illustration group. Another afternoon, we wandered around the Seattle Center, and spent a lot of time looking at the rides in the Fun Forest and watching the elevators go up and down the Space Needle. And, another afternoon, we went for a walk around Seward Park. Sadly, because I wasn't thinking, I didn't take my camera with me to any of these things, so I only have a few photos from my phone, including these two...

Stella sitting on a small metal pig statue at the Seattle Center. I didn't need to pose her for this shot... she decided that the pig needed to be sat on.

Stella on the beach at Seward Park. I tried to get her to turn around but, frankly, would you turn around with a view like that?

I have to admit that I was really happy to have that time with her though, especially in light of the fact that next week she will be starting Day Care. While I'm really excited about the Day Care we've chosen for her, and I think that she will benefit in a lot of ways from it; I will say I'm a little sad about this next step. Ultimately, I think at this point its the best and logical step for the family, but I've also been proud of the way that Sarah and I have been able to juggle our work schedules in a way that has allowed us to spend more time with her than many parents get to spend with their children. Anyhow, I won't go into the Day Care situation much, since she hasn't even started yet, and I'm sure that this transition will warrant at least one entry of its own... so stay tuned!

Also, while Stella and I spent the most of the week before last hanging out one-on-one, she wasn't the only lovely lady I got to spend time with: Sarah and I also finally had our first full Stella-free night. Last week, we went to Illinois for a couple of reunions on Sarah's side of the family. And, while most of the time was spent in Ottawa, a farming town a little over an hour and half out of Chicago, Sarah's mom, step-dad and grandma offered to watch Stella for a night so that Sarah and I could go into Chicago, sight-see and have a date-night.

While I have to admit I was nervous to leave Stella in someone else's care overnight, I was comforted by the fact that Sarah's grandma had raised 7 children of her own, as well as helped raise 21 grandkids, and now 10 great-grandkids. So, I imagine that her, plus Sarah's mom and step-dad could manage Stella for 24 hours.

Sarah's been to Chicago several times before, and I've actually been to Illinois a couple times myself, but this was my first time to Chicago itself. So, in addition to getting to spend some time with my favorite traveling companion, I was eager to check out this exciting city.

Borrowing Sarah's parent's car, we made good time into Chicago, and checked into our hotel room at the James. Those who have been following our blog for some time know that Sarah and I aren't afraid to rough it a bit. But, when our opportunities to travel and relax are as few and far between as they've been in the last couple years, we figured it was worth splurging on a nice room this time out. In those regards, The James definitely didn't disappoint.

Sarah rests and checks her phone after our drive into Chicago.

After getting settled in, making some reservations through the concierge and running and errand or two, it was time to grab some lunch. We knew we were going to be going fancy for dinner, so lunch was decidedly less so: A Visit to the "World Famous" Billygoat Tavern. Made famous by SNL's "Cheezeburger! Cheezeburger!" skit.

A quick exchange at the Billgoat:
Waitress: Are your Bulgarian?
Me: No. Why?
Waitress: Your shirt says 'Bulgaria.'
Me: Oh. I bought it there. Are you Bulgarian?
Waitress: No. Russian. But I can read.
Cook: Try the double cheez. It's the best.

Me, wearing my Bulgaria T-shirt, enjoying my Pepsi ("no Coke.")

With our stomach full of double cheezeburgers, Sarah and I went to check out Millennium Park. Before heading there, several people had suggested we check out 'the bean.' And, while Sarah and I weren't sure what 'the bean' was, exactly. We figured that we'd know it when we saw it. And sure enough we did. This, is the bean...


"The Bean," also know officially as "Cloud Gate."

The reflections you see while standing under the bean. Try to spot us!

After wandering around it, and attempting to take witty and artsy photos of it, we continued on to Buckingham Fountain, aka the "Married with Children Fountain."

"Love and marriage... love and marriage..."

A couple of photos and one quasi-panhandler later, we realized we needed to hurry in order to make it to our next destination in time: An architectural boat-tour of Chicago. Before we'd arrived in Chicago, I'd posted on Facebook that I was about to explore Chicago for the first time, and asked if people had any suggestions. Probably the most common response was to do an architectural boat tour. One person even posted something to the effect of "I don't even like architecture, and I still gawk at Chicago's buildings." And, while I can run a bit hot-and-cold on a lot of more recent architecture, I figured -if nothing else- a relaxing hour on a boat couldn't hurt.

But, in short, the tour ended up being really interesting. It was fascinating to see some of Chicago's older architecture, since Seattle is still comparatively young. And, since the tour took place on the river which winds through Chicago's urban core, it was a unique experience to float through a massive canyon of concrete and glass, and under Chicago's seemingly bridges. Plus, from the oldest and more modest buildings to the latest towers of industry the tour guide did a good job of giving everything context and creating a sense of history. It honestly made me wish that Seattle had something similar, and not just the noisy novelty of our Duck Tours.

Admittedly, this photos isn't from the tour, but it was really hard to take interesting pictures of buildings, from the river, from a boat, in glaring sunlight. Still, that's the river we floated on, and in the background you can see some of the architecture we gawked at.

I wanted to include this photos because, while not the best picture, it illustrated something about Chicago that I thought was really striking: Its a very vertical city. Everything seems stacked. Here, you apparently have a skyscraper, on top of a street, on top of a train station, on top of the river. Layers upon layers.

After the boat tour, it was back to the hotel room to clean up (rinse the sweat off since -in comparison to Seattle cool summer- Chicago was sweltering), and then head out for dinner.

Again, before coming to Chicago, we'd sent an email to our friend Jody (who, you may remember, teamed up with Sarah during our Round the World Trip, to make recipes that matched the locations were were visiting, on her food blog Eddybles). Jody has a keen eye and ear for whats going on in the culinary world, and we knew she could give us suggestions on where to eat in Chicago. And, as we predicted, she responded quickly with some amazing recommendations.

First up, it was drinks at the Violet Hour. The Violet Hour is a speakeasy (or at least a faux-speakeasy) in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. This allowed us to also ride the subway and the El for the first time. When traveling, even within your own country, there's nothing quite as humbling as riding public transportation the first time. As Sarah and I fumbled with our newly purchased tickets at the turn-styles, the security guard there finally took pity on Sarah and let her through. Meanwhile, since I was presumably less physically attractive to the guard, I was left to figure things out on my own. A feat that involved sticking my ticket into the wrong slot the wrong way while throwing my weigh against the wrong turn-style. Once through, I then attempted to direct Sarah toward the north-bound train, when we needed to head south. Needless to say, I did not look like someone who has navigated cities on the far side of the globe.

Arriving at the Violet Hours location, Sarah and I paced up and down street trying to determine its location until finally a large man in a sharp suit inquired: "Violet Hour?" Yes! "Follow me." And led us through an unmarked door and into a dark and intimate lounge. The whole speakeasy entrance was all effectively performance art, but still left us with the thrill of having "discovered" someplace secret. Plus, once inside, the drinks were excellently mixed and they had tater tots as an appetizer. Good stuff around.

Drinks and tater tots at the Velvet Hour.

With a drink in our stomachs, the next stop was the Publican, a restaurant that -with about 50 beers available and half its menu dedicated to pork- could effectively be described as an upscale beer-hall. Again, excellent. Tasty food, well-paired beer and a great server (that Sarah and I agreed oddly reminded us of the lead character from Six Feet Under). Full, happy and excited to have this little opportunity to be exploring again together, Sarah and I returned to our hotel room and called it a night.

The next morning, we awoke still full from the previous nights dinner, and decided to skip breakfast so that we could get a head start on the Field Museum. I wasn't to see some dinosaur bones!! Luckily, with the T-Rex, Sue, guarding the entrance, I wasn't disappointed.

The Field Museum.

Gah! Maybe the first time I've seen a dinosaur skeleton in person. Maybe.

Slightly more disappoint was that, despite mine and Sarah's hopes (sic), it turned out the Hope Diamond wasn't on exhibit there. Still, we enjoyed exploring the massive museum, looking at robot dinosaurs, Tibetan clothes and art, and being surprisingly moved by the Half Asian, 100% Hapa exhibit we stumbled upon.

After the Field Museum, we headed over to the Sears... er, I mean... Willis Tower to head up to their observation deck. Sarah's brother is fond of going up in tall buildings, so years ago Sarah and already been. But, after noticing something during the previous days boat tour, I had become fixated on the idea of heading up to the observation floor too.

A view of the Willis tower from the boat the previous day.

Getting to Willis Tower wasn't a problem, but getting to the top proved to be a little more tricky. What Sarah and I hadn't anticipated fully was that apparently every other tourist was also on their way to the top of the Willis Tower. Thus, we found ourselves in what seemed to be a never-ending queue to the elevator. First we queued up to get through security. Then, we queued up to get our photos taken (presumably for souvenir photos... it wasn't optional). Then we queued up to actually buy our tickets. Then we queued up for a mandatory, pre-elevator-ride film... at which point Sarah and I realized we were rapidly running out of time before we needed to be back at our hotel room to check out. As the security guy working at the theater entrance began to let people in to the movie, we approached him:

Me and Sarah: We need to check out of our hotel room in less than a half hour. Is there anyway we can skip the movie and go straight up?
Guard: (Quietly) Um, yeah. Just wait until everyone else is in the theater.
(Then, once everyone had filed in, and he had closed the door.)
Guard: This way. (Opening a door and peaking in.) Hummm... Never mind. Those people don't have anywhere to be. You do. Here's what you do. Go around that corner, and then merge with the front of the line at the rotating door.

So, following his directions, we quickly found ourselves at the front of the line and finally boarding the elevator for our minute-long ride to the dizzying heights of the Willis Tower's observation floor. (As a side note, if you work at the Willis Tower, read this, and are inclined to fire the guy who helped us cheat the endless queues there: Please don't. Seriously. He was awesome.)

Finally, at the top of the tower, we were able to make our way around taking in the cityscape.

A view of downtown Chicago from the 103rd floor.

Furthermore, I was finally able to experience what had originally drawn me there: the Skydeck Ledge. The Skydeck Ledge is basically a small clear box that protrudes from the side of the Willis Tower's 103rd floor. Standing in it allows you to look directly down... 1,353 feet.

Looking straight down 1,353 feet.

Me on The Ledge. As you can see by the person in the foreground, only the most daring and adventurous people even dare even try!

Apparently, like climbing down into the sweltering, claustrophobic depths of the Great Pyramids, it was a thrill that Sarah was happy to pass on. But, I enjoyed it.

Having taken in the Ledge and the views, Sarah and I realized that it was basically time to check out from our Hotel. Unfortunately, we were still 103 floors up and stuck in another queue for the elevator down. Even more unfortunately, when I called the James' front desk they seemed less than willing to flexible on check out times, and we were worried that we'd get stuck paying for a second night.

One long line, an elevator ride, a couple stops on the subway, and a mad dash through several blocks downtown brought us back to the James. Sarah, having had to listen to me grouse, swear and complain about the situation the whole way, decided to made more sense for me to go grab our bags while she checked out with the front desk. And, several minutes later we were back on the road to Ottawa.

Unfortunately, the electronic navigator we'd borrowed from Sarah's mom and step-dad didn't like traffic. Normally, we don't like traffic either, but equally unfortunately, it started leading us down obscure side roads to avoid traffic, and eventually stuck us on some arterial that was severely backed-up as a result of three construction works attempting to drill a very small hole in the middle of the road. Even more unfortunately, despite the fact that it was now well past noon, neither Sarah nor I had had anything to eat.

Still, eventually, we made it back to base camp, got some food in our stomachs and -most importantly- were reunited with Stella.

Who, in typical fashion, acted as though we'd never left.

All in all, it was a great little excursion. An exciting chance to explore a new city, and an opportunity to spend time with my best friend and favorite fellow traveler: Sarah.

As a final note, as you might have noticed, Sarah and I are getting caught up on Strange and Benevolent this week. With any luck, we'll each get another entry or two done, hopefully including more details on the Family Reunions, plus a hike we took this last weekend. After that, I'm sure that we'll have more to talk about including Stella starting Day Care and the basement remodel we are hopefully starting soon. As I said before: Stay tuned.

Baby Experience Points

August has been a busy month, typical for the Northwest. We're all trying to get married while there's nice weather and fit in some last camping trips, hikes and BBQs before fall officially begins. The rain is in sight, and we're bound and determined to enjoy summer before it's over! This year has been no exception, with two weddings, a trip to Illinois, two camping trips and our anniversary so far. Tonight Tyler and I were joking about how many "baby experience points" Stella has. That comment probably has some genesis in role-playing games that I didn't fully appreciate, but it is amazing to think of how much Stella has experienced and changed.

But I get ahead of myself. First, our family trip to Illinois.

We finally got the chance to take Stella to meet her third great-grandmother in Illinois two weeks ago. It was fortunate timing as my mom and stepdad were able to take a trip and visit at the same time. It's been two years since I've been back to see my extended family, and Tyler hasn't been since before we were married when we went for my great-grandmother's funeral. I was a little worried about how Stella would handle everything and everyone. My mom's the oldest of seven children; I'm the oldest of 21 grandchildren; Stella's currently one of 10 great-grandchildren. When we visit, there's no shortage of people to see and talk to. The day of the big family get-together had 36 people, and that's not even everyone!


My grandma and Stella


Four generations: my mom's mom, my mom, me and Stella


Me, my mom and Stella. If you look closely, you'll see the rock commemorates the very first Lincoln-Douglas debate in Illinois.


Stella and three other great-grandkids, Madelyn (9:00), Van (the youngest at 12:00) and Logan (6:00)


Rose has been a popular middle name among the grandkids; it was our great-grandmother's name (my grandma's mom who lived to be about a week shy of her 100th birthday). Here is Stella with the other "Roses": Mia Rose, Mariah Melania Rose, Madelyn Rose and Stella Rose


Stella in the highchair that's been at my grandma's house since I was born. Apparently they had just given away their baby stuff when I came on the scene and they had to get a new crib and highchair.

While we were there, my mom, stepdad and grandma also did a little babysitting to give Tyler and I some time together, including celebrating our fourth anniversary with a lunch out together at the Starved Rock Lodge.


Celebrating four years of marriage! It's passed quickly, yet it's hard to remember my life without Tyler

We also had the chance to do a little hiking in the nearby canyons. I hadn't been hiking there in ages, and the sights and smells kept bringing back memories of hiking around the park and canyons when I was little and we'd come visit family for the weekend.


Tyler in Illinois Canyon land


Tyler standing under Ottawa Canyon. There's not much water now, but in the winter there are really cool frozen waterfalls.


Tall, curving canyon wall


Then it was on to our annual summer camping trip. This past weekend, Tyler, Stella and I went met up with Grandpa Rick, "Uncle" Gary and friends up in the Alpine Lakes Region (also irreverantly known as Lake Phuckalia) for a few nights in the great outdoors. This started as a father-son thing, but a few years ago the wives started joining in, and this summer was the first Baby Edition.


Early evening the first day at camp: Grandpa Rick, Tyler and Stella and "Uncle" Gary


Having a little dinner on dad's lap


Some of Stella's favorite times camping are in the tent, probably because for now it's one of the only places she can roam free. (Once she gets past the pesky phase of putting everything in her mouth, we can have her be a bit more independent.) She looked awfully cute in Tyler's alpaca hat, but she wouldn't keep it on, even though the mornings are a little chilly.

This year we even managed to fit a hike in to Hyas Lake. As we were hiking, Tyler and I were reminiscing about one of our past backpacking trips in the region and thinking that maybe next year Stella can spend a few days with her grandparents while we rough it. A few minutes later, we caught up with a family backpacking: mom carrying the 20-month old baby on her back and a pack on her front, the dad carrying a big pack and holding the four-year-old by the hand. We'll see how ambitious we get next year!


Daddy-Daughter hiking!


Lake Hyas, beautiful views and a great, easy hike


Me and Stella at Lake Hyas--it's not a very exciting picture, but otherwise all the shots ended up being mommy-free...


Our camp grew by one family on the second night when Gary's son Alex came with his wife Rachel and 16-month-old son, Ryder


Stella at her first (illegal) campfire.

On top of all that, tomorrow Stella turns 9-months-old. At her last check-up, we learned she's 29 inches tall and 19 pounds 11 ounces. That puts her at the 93 percentile in height and only 64th in weight, so she's apparently slightly thin for her size. And her first tooth continues to come in, causing us all more sleepless nights than we might like. I've been trying to get a photo; if you click on this, you can see a whits spot on Stella's lower left gum. That's the tooth!


Stella at 9 months: crawling, pulling up, getting her first tooth, and generally a pretty smiley happy girl