America Part 6--Houston!

Not surprisingly, Houston was just as hot and steamy as New Orleans, so Nana cooled us off with a little misting from her garden hose. Being misted is particularly effective when one is in the nude, which is why I can only tell you about it and not show you the pictures.

And I got a good look at what a big ole steak fresh off the grill looks like. My Papa loves to grill steak and my Daddy AND my Papa love to eat steak. That's why they look so happy in this picture.

Poolside fashion:
We got to see our old friends, Kristian, Jaime, Ella and, new addition, Fiona, too!

I was very grown up about my mom holding Fiona and was also fine with my Dad holding her!

I had the best time playing with my older friend, Ella, and my fabulous cousin Jenna. They are really fun!


This is my future, I'm afraid. My mom is doing lots of weights to get ready for hauling two of us around!


Back at Nana and Papa's things got really exciting. First I got to stand on the diving board with Daddy and Jenna:

Then everyone wanted to hold me!

Jenna and I had a little dance party in the kitchen. She has some pretty cool moves and I got so excited about it all that I drooled on myself!

The next day we went to brunch in Houston to celebrate Olivia's graduation. The highlight for me was definitely throwing change into the fountain outside.

I also liked sharing some special time with my sweet and beautiful Aunt Mendy:

And now I know that the best place to be during dessert is in Papa's lap!

I love my family so much and had a super fun time visiting, but eventually we had to go back to London. We flew on a really big double decker airplane and Daddy made sure that I was nice and comfy in my seat. I was SO comfy that I slept almost the entire flight home (much to the relief of my parents and everyone else on the flight).

PS Isn't my Dad handsome? He looks so dapper when he is flying. My mom on the other hand...well, we won't go there. Let's just say she stays comfortable.

New adventures

Evie proudly sits on her new potty seat (with diapers on and with her aptly named mascot DouDou).


And on her portable potty, which she prefers to carry around the house and NOT sit on.


Flashy potty decorations to make the potty more appealing??!

At some point I'll get really brave and let her try it without her diaper, but for now we're just practicing.

Dancing

Just a break from the recounting of our trip to share a video from tonight of Evie and her latest dance moves. This is also a great way for her to get the last spurts of never ending energy out before bed and I love to watch her and sometimes dance with her (although she prefers solo dancing and frequently tells me 'NO!' when I interfere too much).

America Part 5--New Orleans!

I have to admit that I really wasn't a very good sport about driving before our ride from Birmingham to New Orleans. I did a lot of whining and crying and kicking my legs and throwing my toys around and, generally, being in my car seat put me in a bad mood.

BUT that all changed when my Dad rode in the back seat with me! Sticker Party!!!!

Another great thing about taking a road trip with my Dad is that even though my mom tries to make sure I'm eating things that are good for me (like orange pieces and raisins), my Dad always lets me have some of the bad stuff (like french fries..YUM!). And then my mom has to get all stern with him. Lucky for me, she was totally out numbered because my grandparents also let me eat whatever I want.
We stayed in a hotel in the French Quarter in New Orleans and had a great view of the city and the Mississippi River from our room:
Our room also had an antique baby walker in it, which I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have been playing in (it was actually a table, but my Dad took the glass top off of it because, for some reason, everyone thinks I'm kind of accident prone).

When everyone else arrived, our room became party central. Cheers!

I had my first taste of gumbo while we were in New Orleans and I liked it a lot. I also liked red beans and rice.

I also tried my first beignet and wasn't a fan. That just meant there was more deep fried deliciousness for everyone else to eat.

It was so hot in New Orleans that we couldn't really stay outside for very long, so we decided to go to the wonderful New Orleans aquarium, which was definitely a highlight of my young life.

Hello, fish!

I was a little wary of stepping on this glass floor over the shark tank...especially since my pregnant mom was also on it. It pays to be careful when you are sharing such a tenuous space with someone who is a little on the heavy side. We survived, fortunately.
Jellyfish:

And taking a closer look at the shark tank with my Dad:

I also got to pet a sting ray, much to my surprise. I sure didn't want to do THAT again.

After all that fish action, it was time to eat again. And we ate a lot of...well, fish, in the form of shrimp and catfish po'boys and seafood gumbo. My enthusiasm for New Orleans food was waning at that point, so I just had a PB&J. Peace!
On the way back to the hotel, I danced a little to a brass band in Jackson Square...

and was unable to deny the advances of the balloon man. He saw me coming a mile away.


What a fun time we had in New Orleans, but it was time to head back to Houston and be reunited with Nana and Papa, Jenna, Olivia, Aunt Mendy and my future Uncle Rick! But not before I finished relaxing by the pool.

America Part 4--BIrmingham!

From Atlanta, we headed on to Birmingham, where we visited with my Dad's Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom. They live in a really tall building with lots of space to run, really nice, big curtains, and a tall, tall balcony. Most excitingly, they gave me a beautiful tea set, which I play with on a daily basis. I have become quite the hostess at our house and everyone around gets a cup of my tea.

Here I am with my beautiful Aunt Pat and my handsome Daddy and Uncle Tom.
I really liked going out on the balcony and looking down at all the people below. At the end of the day, the sun sets and you can see it looking like a big, red ball from Pat and Tom's balcony. But my favorite thing was to look down at some kids playing below. They had an actual ball (not the sun) and I'm a huge fan of balls.
I was also a little bit obsessed with Pat and Tom's shower and tubs. Normally, I'm really scared of the shower, but I'm pretty sure that if I could have taken a shower in this one, I would have had fun.

As for the tub....well, it was awesome and much bigger and more exciting than the tub in my house. Tom let me play around in it for a while, but I didn't get to take a bath in it. Next time!
No family get together is complete unless you get some stickers stuck on your head.

We took a walk around Pat and Tom's neighborhood, too! Here, Pat and I sport our sun hats in one of the parks near their house. It was hot!

When we were in Birmingham, we stayed in an awesome hotel with a glass elevator and a pool. We went up and down the elevator as many times as we possibly could and every time we got off I ran to the door of the pool. FINALLY my parents took me swimming. It was ice cold on the outside of the pool, but really warm when we were in there. My favorite game was to splash my Dad while my mom was holding me. He couldn't splash back because my mom was using me as a human shield. Crafty, Mama is teaching me lots of good tricks.

It was great to see Pat and Tom and I can't wait to visit them again. But the next time we take a road trip, we have to get our luggage situation under control.