A Parkes Family Thanksgiving

Uncle Richard helps Adelaida and Elizabeth play with legos

We had a very special Thanksgiving last year (yes, over two months ago!), with a house full of several special visitors for the holiday. Adelaida's Mamaw, Uncle Richard, Aunt Laura, cousin Elizabeth, and cousin Sarah all stayed with us for a long Thanksgiving weekend. As always, we took lots of pictures and I wanted to share some with you here.

Sarah shakes Adelaida's maraca

We spent a lot of time just sitting around the house, letting the girls play with each other and playing with them. Both Sarah and Elizabeth enjoyed shaking Adelaida's maraca!

the three cousins play with legos together

Dale shows Adelaida the giraffes at the zoo

The weather was beautiful, so in addition to the normal Thanksgiving activities -- cooking, eating, and making turkey leftovers -- we also took a walk around the loop and went to the zoo for an afternoon.

Elizabeth loved pushing Adelaida's stroller through the zoo. She took it from each exhibit to the next, while Dale carried Adelaida

I'm not sure who enjoyed the zoo more, the kids or the adults. We saw an adorable baby orangutan, some surprisingly active rhinoceroses, a seal that swam directly into an underwater wall (ouch!), a very young Asian elephant, and a playful baby chimpanzee.

Uncle Richard, Sarah, and Mamaw look at the animals

The chimpanzee was the most fun, and we spent half an hour just watching the chimpanzee jump off a barrel, swing on a rope, and try to land on her parent's back. She fell so much, but was so fun to watch!

Aunt Laura helps Elizabeth look at the animals

The best part about the zoo was that it was almost empty. Very few people were there, so we had almost every exhibit to ourselves.

the men and the girls pose for a photo at the zoo

back at home, Mamaw and Adelaida play with the stacked rings

We had a great visit with the Parkes family and look forward to future Thanksgivings with them!

A Visit with Mamaw

Adelaida had a very special treat this Labor Day weekend: her Mamaw came out for a visit! Adelaida was so happy to see her Mamaw, and I think Charlotte was a little bit happy to see her granddaughter, too :)

We had quite an exciting weekend. Charlotte arrived Friday evening, and after a short play session to satisfy both the visitor and the visited, we all four turned in for the night. Saturday was a luxurious day -- we didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do! Instead, we played a bit at home, Adelaida practiced standing, and we went for a short hike near our house. Adelaida got to ride on her Daddy's shoulders for a large part of the hike (she especially enjoys pulling on his hair and tugging on his ears), which was a real treat for her.

Later in the hike, Dale got a very special treat -- Adelaida fell asleep in his arms! Although she used to do this all the time, she seems to have outgrown this precious act and we don't get to carry her sleeping very often any more.

On Sunday, we took a family trip to the zoo. We saw almost all the animals in the zoo, including the adorable baby orangutan and a much (much!) larger version of Snuffles Jr. Adelaida is getting to the point now where she actually looks at and pays attention to the animals at the zoo, so taking her is really fun. She doesn’t seem to notice many of the smaller animals, but really enjoyed looking at the polar bear, tigers, giraffes, and gorillas.

Monday was another relaxing morning. We sat on the floor a lot and read to Adelaida and helped Adelaida play with her blocks. In the afternoon, we went to a Labor Day party with my chemistry group, then Charlotte had to leave us. It was a short visit, but a wonderful one!

Four Generations of First-Born Daughters

Adelaida had two very special visitors this week: her Nonna (my mom) and her GG (my grandma Betty). Adelaida enjoyed playing with her Nonna and GG, and I'm pretty sure Nonna and GG enjoyed playing with Adelaida :)





Having them here was especially wonderful for me, as I'm trying to finish a poster that I'll be presenting at a conference in March. I was able to get a lot of work done while they kept Adelaida occupied during the day, and they were a wonderful help with folding laundry and preparing dinner!







The week was full of fun activities, most of which focused on Adelaida. We played with her on her turtle play mat, took a couple of walks in the neighborhood, and introduced her to a mylar balloon tied to her ankle (more on that later). We also introduced GG to sushi on Saturday night, when we met some friends for dinner (both Adelaida and 4-month-old Shreya were wonderful restaurant patrons and weren't at all scared by the sudden heat from the Teppan grill's roaring flames).

Both Nonna and GG were amazed at how much Adelaida changed just in the few days they were with her--most notably, she really increased her vocabulary (adding "goo" "gaa" "uhh" "ohh" and "baa" to her previously limited vocabulary of "caa" and "ahh"). Adelaida really enjoyed making sounds this week and would lay on her changing table or turtle play mat and "talk" for ten minutes at a time.

Nonna and GG also provided Dale and me with a much-appreciated evening out. We went to see Comedy of Errors on Sunday afternoon, then stayed out for a wonderful dinner of prosciutto-wrapped scallops at Artichoke Cafe. Thanks GG and Nonna!

The highlight of the visit was our opportunity to take a picture of four generations of first-born daughters--a pretty special picture!