"Untle Mital's" Visit

Elli was beyond thrilled that Uncle Michael came to visit.  She would have been happy if we had done absolutely nothing but play at home with him.  And we did a decent amount of just relaxing at home... although, if you've ever just played at home with a two-year-old, you know it's not really all that relaxing... but we also had a lot of fun showing Uncle Michael our favorite places and visiting some new ones too.

We took him to our beloved zoo, and with Elli as guide, we never got lost!  :)
We made a special point to visit the okapi, since Uncle Michael had never seen a live one.  This strange animal continues to be Elli's favorite.

Caroline spent most of her first trip to the zoo just like that.  Love how her hair gets little curls in the humidity.

Our zoo has an area where you can purchase a dish of bird food, and the birds will come and sit on your shoulder or hand (or head!) and eat it. Elli wants them to land on her, but I have a feeling she would kinda freak out if one actually did!  Uncle Michael showed her how it's done, and that was pretty awesome too.

And of course we visited the elephants, which Elli refers to as "awooooo's."  There are several animals that she still calls by the sound they make, like moo-moos and meows and tweet-tweets.
Elli prefers the brass statuette to the real thing.

Another day, we took Uncle Michael and Caroline on their first choo-choo ride.   

When did this kid get so big?  Seriously... she's quickly turning into a kid!

And when did that tummy get so big?  Oh, I need to go kiss it!

In our two years living in south Texas, we have always talked about driving out to Corpus Christi.  This weekend, we finally did it!  Oh my goodness!  Worth the few hours drive, worth missing a nap, worth the minor sunburns (not on the little people!), worth the sand everywhere (and it just keeps turning up!).  Despite my concerns about Elli and sand (she freaks out when there is one dog hair stuck to her hand), she loved the beach.  I mean LOVED.

 And not just building sand castles and wading along the shore, either.  After putting on her incredible life jacket, Elli was ready and excited to test out the waters.

This girl has no fear, I tell you!  Even when the saltwater got in her eyes, she did not want to stop.  Nor did she want to take that beauty off.  Ever.

 Between the saltwater, sand and sunscreen, her eyes were pretty irritated by the time we left, but that didn't slow her down for a minute!  She was running from the waves, looking for Nemo, jumping into her uncle's arms, and building sand turtles til the moment we left.

 Mommy is not quite so fearless  :)  Once we saw some sting rays swimming around, I wasn't about to go deeper than my knees.  (Just for clarification -  they were very small ones that I'm sure were harmless and more scared of me.  But still.)  So Elli and I dug for seashells. 

Even with our umbrella, the beach was a little bright for our Cara.  She slept most of the time and seemed to enjoy the breeze when she was awake.  Daniel and I got excited about making a trip when she is a little older and can enjoy it more.