Happy Birthday, Aunt Dawn!

Today was the day I got to meet my Aunt Dawn and cousin Aiden for the first time!  We took this trip to celebrate her 40th birthday, which was today, as well as her surviving breast cancer - lots of great reasons to get the whole family together (something I'm told hasn't happened in several years). Grandma and Grandpa drove in with them from Sacramento in the morning while Auntie Nicole and Uncle Mitra came to our room to play with me.  It was so much fun to meet them in our hotel room.  You could tell that Auntie Dawn thought I was pretty great - she volunteered to change my diaper and push the stroller right away.  I thought she was pretty great - and so was my cousin, who also loved me right away.  He was excited to meet "Baby Elliott."

After a yummy lunch at a Mexican place near 9th & Irving, we walked to Golden Gate Park to explore a few great attractions.  First stop: the De Young Museum's observation tower.  Check out these cute pics from above. 

Love this picture.  Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to see me  - and vice versa! :) 

Next stop:  Check out the art on display around the fountain and take some family photos.  

 Proud Grandma, Grandpa and their grandsons!

Next stop:  California Academy of Sciences.  Here I am with the Abbott siblings about to go in. 

They all went to the Planetarium while Mommy avoided the screen time exposure and took me to explore the aquarium down below.  As you will recall, I LOVE aquariums! 

One of our favorite family traditions: smashed pennies!!

  

Checking out the rainforest biodome!
(I was pretty conked out at this point, but they tell me it was really cool).

On to explore the living roof! 

I <3 my aunties!

Next stop: birthday dinner for Aunt Dawn at a delicious vegetarian/gluten free restaurant.

It was a great day celebrating Aunt Dawn and being together with my big family!  

As the shirt says, I <3 my Auntie(s)! 

Baby's First Napa Wine Tasting Trip....

Since the rest of the family was not planning to arrive today, Momma and Daddy decided on a day trip to Napa Valley. We had some family playtime in the morning (and I got to check out the Pack n Play knockoff provided for us even though we had been told they had no cribs) and then we were off. I napped during the car ride there (over the Golden Gate bridge!), waking up just in time for lunch at Gotts Roadside. After eating outside in the shade (a necessity because they were having one of the hottest days on record there -- 105!), we went and had a quick wine tasting at V. Sattui winery (well, Momma and Daddy did... I just smiled at people from the Bjorn). Then, we had a reservation to make at Cakebread Cellars, where Momma and Daddy enjoyed another tasting. Next stop was Robert Mondavi for a 30 min tour and tasting, and then Mumm Napa before heading back to V. Sattui to buy some wine. We ate at Don Giovanni's and then drove back to the city. 

Turns out that it was Pride in SF this weekend, and we had planned to meet Daddy's friend Travis in the heart of the Mission district. After 45 minutes of looking for parking, we ended up walking through a giant block party (Momma and Daddy say most people were half naked and the music was loud and it wasn't their proudest parenting moment, but I slept right through it) and then making it to Bi-Rite Creamery (where I woke up when I heard a siren pass by) to eat some delicious ice cream with Travis. He lo Ed me (of course) and Daddy was happy to see his old friend.   It was a late night, but I passed out in the car on the way home. 

Photos:

 Golden Gate Bridge view from the carseat / chilling after a diaper change at Gotts 

  

V. Sattui winery.  (Hood = replacement hat). 

Cakebread Cellars

Robert Mondavi Vineyards

Mumm Napa

  

Dinner at Don Giovannis.  Is that sweat or drool all over me?  Hard to tell.  

  

Sleeping through Pride...
Waking up in time for ice cream / to meet Travis

Off to San Francisco!

Well, today I added my fourth state to my travel repertoire (after WA, MA, and RI)... California!  I spent my day playing with Mommy like normal, napping while she packed, and spending waaaay too much time in Best Buy getting Momma a new phone upgrade (the better to take photos of me with, though!).  Then, Daddy was home and it was time to go to the airport to catch our 6pm flight.  I love the airport! So many fun things to check out! 

Momma thought it was much nicer to have Daddy along on our plane adventure and I agreed!  He helped us get through security, packed up the stroller and car seat in the jetway, and, of course, had fun playing with me on the plane.  I was awake and excited to explore for about half the plane ride which made me a squirmy wormy... good thing Daddy wiped down the area around my seat with antibacterial wipes!  Then, I nursed and fell asleep for a while in Momma's arms.  

It was about 8 o'clock when we landed, which is usually my bedtime, but there were way too many cool things to see in the San Francisco airport, so I was wide awake.  We took an air train to the rental car place (after having to double back and get our luggage... Momma and Daddy walked away without even thinking about going to baggage claim... oops!  They are not used to having anything but carry-on luggage for weekend trips.  I think I'm a much cuter carry-on than their old baggage, personally).  

By the time I got in the car, I was pooped, so I slept through the ride to the hotel.  Momma and Daddy were able to get me put to sleep in the little co-sleeper in the middle of the king sized bed right after we got there.  They are glad that I still (sortof) fit in that little co-sleeper because it was easy to carry on board, although I should probably stress the sortof part... my feet had about two inches of room from the bottom when I was laying still (and we all know I don't sleep still all night!).  I did end up with my head against the side, but luckily it was all mesh and Momma and Daddy were right there beside me the whole night to check on me. They were worried about my sleep getting thrown off by travel, but that didn't happen - I had a normal night of sleep that night. :)  Phew!

Here are some more Happy Baby flying photos: 

Playdate!

Today, I slept in a little while (after going to bed a little late last night and then sleeping 6 hours straight for the first stretch of the evening) and then had fun playing with Momma in the morning.  About two hours after getting up, right on schedule, I got tired, and then went down for a nap.  Today's nap was 2 hours, 15 minutes! Wow... Momma was impressed!  She used that time to finally get our RI trip booked. 

Then, it was off to Sydney and Connor's house in Madison Park for a little playdate with Connor and Max.  I was smiley and happy and loved watching my little friends play on their living room rug, but Max and Connor got tired quickly... we are on different nap schedules!  So, we left and went to Pharmaca to get things for our trip to San Francisco tomorrow.  We ran into Uncle Mitra doing the same thing!  After a little stroll around Madison Park, we went home to do some more playing and to give Grandma a FaceTime call.  I wasn't looking particularly tired, but Momma finally decided to put me down anyway around 3:30 because I hadn't taken another nap yet, and lo and behold, I took another long nap.  Phew!  These good naps during the day usually mean good sleep at night. 

In the evening, we took brother Kobe to the DP (dog park) with Jenna and her dog, Lola.  Jenna and Lola are staying at the house this weekend to baby-sit brother Kobe while we are out of town.  Then, I had fun in the bathtub with Mommy showing Daddy all the things I learned yesterday. I was a kicking and splashing machine!  Finally, it was time for bed. Check out the cute pic Momma snapped of Daddy feeding me... I decided to be a little more hands on in the process. :)