Beach house

Ah, the glory of cousins. Isabella would disappear, off to play with cousins or grandmas, aunts and uncles... It was very odd to be able to work on a puzzle without constant interruption. She had a great time with the plastic armor, helmet and sword. She terrified the cousins by threatening to brush their hair (they all went off and hid so she couldn't find them). And, of course, there was the crate. Apparently Calin, Alexander, and Isabella will fit in Casper's crate. Who knew. Even more remarkable, Calin, Alexander, and Manny also fit in the crate. There was also fun to be had with lego trucks and scattering wooden caterpillars across the floor.

We had a bit of a snafu getting out on Saturday since they cancelled my flight. But Isabella and Bill had a great time hanging out at the Jamtgaard's, looking at the pussy cat and eating lots and lots of food, and playing the piano. I brought back some "swag" from siggraph for Isabella, which kept her entertained for a few minutes. Fortunately, she didn't seem to really take to the whistle...

We ended up getting out really late (around 7pm) after discovering that the car we rented wasn't big enough. So the Jamtgaard's kindly let us borrow the Suburban, into which we could have put most of the beach house...

 

Ok, these pictures are a bit out of order, but here we are in Portland airport on the way home. They actually had a little play area complete with lego. Since we'd gotten to the airport plenty early, this was a good thing. The flight back involved Isabella jumping up and down on mom quite a lot. Perhaps because grandma fed her lots of cookie just before the flight. Apparently Isabella was an angel on the flight out, but perhaps this was because dad was sitting in first class with the bulkhead seat... The second part of the flight was pretty much empty, which of course meant that Isabella only jumped up and down on mom half the time - the rest of the time she was playing in the empty seat. We did have someone behind us on the first flight who kept making faces at Isabella and talking to her, which kept both Isabella and the 15 yr old entertained. 

Here is the infamous crate. We decided to try the tunnel tonight (9 ft tunnel, gift from grandma) and that was a big hit as well. She spent quite a lot of time sitting in the crate and opening and closing the door and playing peek a boo. Fortunately, Casper didn't mind.

Isabella also had a grand time tromping across the tiny creeks on the beach and wriggling her toes in the waves. Fortunately, we brought lots of extra pairs of pants, because with her little short legs the waves kept getting more than her toes wet. Not that she seemed to care - she would be covered in goose bumps and still asking to go in the water.

She's still asking where Magic the Doggie is. She started off scared if Magic so much as looked at her. But by the end she was brave enough to pet Magic and even demand that he sit (lie down, come here, pet Magic...). She still wasn't very keen on Kesha (sp?) or Casper (big galumphing dog) but Calin was very good about keeping Casper from accidentally running her over. First thing she said when we got home: "Want to pet magic doggy. Find big doggy." Tonight she was asking to play in the water and build sand castles. She laid down on the thermarest and said "Isabella swimming. Mommy lie down and go swimming". Guess the thermarests look kinda like boogie boards.

Bill had her carrying the kite around under her arm at the airport. He balanced it and tucked it under her arm. Now she picks up long skinny things and says "Put under Isabella's elbow".