why Anna loves her daddy

One of my favorite things to do is watch Anna with her daddy. Most of the time, Anna is a mama's girl-- she clings to my leg like I was her lifeline in a flooded river. Richard sometimes gets jealous that even when he picks her up, she holds her hands out to me. I told him that is what he gets for choosing not to breastfeed.
I may be the source of food, but Richard knows how to make Anna laugh. They are best buddies (as long as Anna is not tired or hungry).

But every once in awhile, Anna has to show Richard who the REAL boss is. So while we were playing by the Oregon coast, she whipped him into shape by making him run laps in the sand.

There is nothing Anna likes more than being taller than her daddy. Lets hope it is not a foreshadowing of things to come. Being 6 foot 7 would make it awfully hard for her to find a date someday.
"Faster, faster.......and I want to see those knees up!"
"thats right....Ramming speed!"
My goal for Anna is that she will compare every other man in her life to her daddy, and every other guy will come up short....well, except for one (but hopefully, that day is about 24 years away).

For Richard, Happiness is a laughing baby, a little sunshine, and a good pair of sunglasses.
For Anna, Happiness is being 6 feet above the ground, a full stomach, and a daddy who loves her.
note to self: do not apply sunscreen stick right before playing in the sand. I might as well have just smeared a glue stick across her face.

Anna for President!

The Lion King

A lot of stuff has happened in the last week, so I thought I would update the blog a little bit at a time, with both thoughts on our last vacation as well as general thoughts I have had lately.

Richard, Anna, and I went to Oregon for the week, but our vacation was truly kicked off when Richard and I saw the Lion King on our first night. Not only was it a night without the kid (we love you Anna), but it was a spectacular play. We spent the first half in the third to last row, and the second half in the third row-- essentially going from seeing the big picture to seeing the characters spit as they were singing.

For Richard, the Lion King has always been very personal. In fact, I think he has always thought of himself as "simba." He too lost his father when he was very young, and he too adopted the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" to help him get through some hard times. And his kingdom also covers everything the light touches....

Sometimes I think about things too much, like the fact that the lions rule over the animals that they eat. So in the first scene, every animal comes to praise and adore and bow down to their new heir, who essentially can eat them at any time and justify it by saying that its just the circle of life.

Rule of life #1: Never be in subjection to someone that can eat you. It only works out for one of you.

Advice Time: Summer vacation!

We need help finding and planning a summer vacation for our family. A lot of times we just figure it out ourselves, but I don't want to be thinking 6 months from now "gee, I wish I had just asked some people for some suggestions before we started making plans." We can travel pretty much anytime June or July and we have a moderate budget for our endeavors. Suggestions can include cruises (if you have info as to websites, cruiselines, travel agencies, or secret passwords, all would be helpful as we have never been on a cruise), particular cities in Canada, the Pacific Northwest, or anywhere in California, or any other fun vacation you have had with your family on a budget. Alternatively, if your great uncle has a cabin in Canada/Oregon/California that remains empty most of the time and he loves to lend it to wonderful young couples with charisma...

The criteria:

1. family friendly (Anna will be about a year old)
2. Reasonably priced
3. west coast (including canada)
4. maximum enjoyment
5. good food

okay....GO!