Pics from our long weekend in indiana. see susan's blog for details and more. the last photo is eleri in the jeep on the drive to the airport-- a little sleepy, a little breezy, a lot of snuggly.

Here's some pics from the second half of the trip. You may notice a lot of pool pictures, that is representative. There are a few videos on youtube as well.

At the house in Sayulita

In a store in Sayulita, that inexplicably had a floor of sand. On purpose.

Pouring with the cups, probably her most favorite activity in all the world. Well, maybe after eating ice cream.

beach bum

The aforementioned most favorite activity, which was enjoyed every morning at the beach, and always, an ice cream sandwich was chosen from the freezer.

again at the house in sayulita. You can see the waterfall in the background, and the noodles in the armpits.

This is at the aguas termales (hot springs pools) in San Juan Cosala, near Ajijic. There were several different pools of different temperatures, a vapor cave, and a very sweet set of kiddie pools, connected by a river channel. We spent a long time here, wearing lots of sunscreen.

Pumping up at the park by the lake in Ajijic

Feeding the giraffe on safari at the Guadalajara zoo

At the Museo de Cultural Cabanas in Guadalajara, a very cool modern art museum

Participating in an art installation in Guadalajara

In front of a beautiful fountain in Guadalajara with Grandma

goofin' off in the car on the way to Guadalajara

Back from the beach

Holding the 2 week old jaguar baby at the Puerto Vallarta zoo.

Moving the furniture around in a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta

After 24 hours back in the country, time to make a blog post. We just returnd from a 2 week trip to Mexico, visiting Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, Ajijic, and Sayulita, and having a grand time. Lots and lots of pictures taken, many of which will be posted. Videos will be on Youtube in the next few days. Eleri is really an aquaphile, and enjoyed lots of swimming on the trip. She also very much enjoys the giant sandbox called the beach. The mexicans were very doting on the little guera, and I'm sure we got star treatment because of her. More photos to come.....

Eleri's still fighting off the puky bug, which has now added the diarrhea bug as well, poor thing. We went to the zoo with Zach today, and she stayed in her stroller the whole time, which she has never before done. She produced a huge waterfall of puke and two explosive liquid diarrheas before we packed up and left. Finally toward the end of the day she perked up a little bit, and Zach even got her to laugh. I had been thinking she was on the upswing, but today she had a bit of a backslide. Hopefully tomorrow she's on the road to recovery. How she's managing to stay hydrated is beyond me, but she is. She's been taking it like a trooper, and has been very snuggly, which is a nice and sweet byproduct. That said, I'd rather see her tearing around than feeling so crummy :-(

So....

The kid learned a new word today, "puky". As in, "do you feel puky?", or "Do you need your puky bucket?" All in all a pretty long and tiring day of puking. Hopefully things are looking up tomorrow. Zach and Becky are coming to visit this weekend and it is supposed to be HOT! Maybe we'll get our swim on or have some good times at the aquarium to cool off. No photos today -- puke is just not that photogenic.

bricks

Here's the kid doin' her fair share of work on the brick patio. She's been excited to help in the backyard ever since Samuel showed her how to pick up garbage. After she hands Susan the brick, she's doing the sign for "more".

kanyeleri

After trying several times to get this video on using Blogger's upload and failing, I've bitten the bullet and signed up for youtube. The bigger/longer videos we will put up there, and it makes posting to the blog a snap. Not sure how you find them there, maybe you can search for eleri videos? or our account name is samandmeganeleri.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!

We just returned from a great, long weekend in SLC. Had a chance to catch up with friends, enjoy the gorgeous mountains and just relax. Special thanks to Chris and Stefani for opening their home to our messy selves, and to Rob and Rina for their hospitality in the face of major construction. Here's some photos:

Climbing the big tree on the patio at Ruth's diner in Emigration Canyon. We had a great al fresco breakfast with An, Rob and Rina.

Going for a walk at Tanner park with Rob, Rina and Lucy

Eleri and Lucy regarding each other

Hanging out with the big frog at the SLC Aquarium. We went with Rob, Rina, Pete and Dina. This aquarium is temporary, but was still cool-- we saw drawings for the proposed building which looks very fancy.

Eleri's favorite spot in all the yards

the new sandbox we made last weekend with Becky's help

18 mo birthday party outfit

Here's a post of all photos taken by Becky, pictured below. She's in town this weekend for a work conference tomorrow. This morning we went to the zoo, aquarium and botanical gardens, which resulted in lots of great photos.

Eleri and I inside the eggs at the Rotary Children's Garden

This looks like a paparrazzi shot of us feeding the ducks

Watching the giraffes

Sitting in the big chair in the Africa part of the zoo. She's getting better and better with pointing out different colors. Pretty soon she'll be able to distinguish the mauve from the rose tiles....

She's pointing at her distant cousin the koala bear

Here's a good photo from Easter weekend, when we went to Ouray to celebrate Becky's birthday. This year we did some much less sketchy skiing at a nice, free, groomed cross country area about 9 miles from town.

Here's a sleepy baby being serenaded by Becky.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Hans! Here's some recent photos. In other news, Susan reported that today she asked Eleri, "Where's your shoes?". To which Eleri replied after finding and presenting them, "these my shoes". She continues to do new things all the time, most recent achievements include: drawing a pretty respectable fish (with a pincer grasp and delicate wrist movement); making it up and down stairs with a minimal amount of help -- walking upright like a big girl; and seeming to understand everything you say and ask of her, including learning some colors. Just a few weeks until she turns 18 mo, but seems so big already!


Helping mommy with the workout

With daddy on the way to Durango last weekend at sunset

This one's dedicated to James, who's on his way to England in search of fame, fortune and romance.

This is a fun game we invented in wisconsin that involved sliding down the stairs on the mattress more times than you could count.

Here's two favorite things at once; wearing the big people shoes, and being naked

With daddy in the bathtub

quickest video ever

Contrast this video with the one not too long ago. notice what a big girl she is now when she's on the phone.

I thought I'd make a post updating what i think are a few of Eleri's favorite things.

Favorite Food: Strawberries & Cheese
Favorite Musician: Boowa Kwaala
Favorite Dance: Twirley Dance Game
Favorite Toys: Tupperware, gravel, pens & paper, cell phone, magnets, mattresses
Favorite Clothes: Winter coat (brown suede) & hat (pink & brown)
Favorite Drink: Strawberry & Banana Smoothie
Favorite mode of eating: the Dip
Favorite Books: Good Night Moon, Waltzing Matilda, the Hungry Caterpillar, & anything with Horses
Best Friends: Cosmo, the Goats, the Horses
Favorite Hot Spot: the Aquarium
Favorite Words to Say: Fish!, Cheese!, Hot!
Other sweet words: Da (Daddy), Mu (Mommy), Ti (Tio & Tia), Eri (Eleri - which means "Hey you") , Jace (James), Hat, Fish (all animals), Hi, Avi-avi-avi (get off your rumpus and play with me), yugudugudugu - yosh (what big people say)
Favorite Signs: Light!, Cheese!, milk, fish, the wave hi & bye

This is me singing her favorite Boowa Kwaala song.

Here she is moving her magnets from her spot under the kitchen island.