7 months and a last minute trip to Atlanta

This week we (Elena and I) took a last minute RV trip to Atlanta with mom and dad to visit my aunt DeAnn and her husband David (it seems a little weird to call him uncle since we've been married longer...). Chris stayed home and worked, so he and Elena are currently catching up while I'm blogging! It was a great trip, and included a trip to D and D's new house, Ikea, and Trader Joe's, plus some great food. And, RV is the way to travel with a 7 month old!

Before the trip, Leni playing with Jack. She pets him relatively nicely with her daddy, and just grabs him with me. Dad had me get a walker for his house, but I bought it and put it together at mine, so Elena was trying it out.

In the car on the many hours of driving in Atlanta traffic, Elena was biting this cactus tag so hard and yanking it out of her mouth. It was funny-her teeth must be bothering her. At their new house-Deedee hadn't seen her since she was 5 weeks old, and David hadn't ever seen her, so it was a fun time playing with the munchkin. Also, they have a dog, which Elena followed with her eyes everywhere. They just finished having this house redone, and it is so amazing. Their taste is similar to mine and Chris's-old houses, neutral colors-and it was so dangerous to be there. I've already been looking on ebay for light fixtures, etc. and tried to convince Chris that we need to paint all the wood white. They had finished their attic and added stairs, so it was good for me that Chris wasn't there since he jokes regularly about building a "master suite" in our attic. Anyway, it was lovely and has been the talk of the crew since visiting.
Elena had fun flinging this napkin around during dinner. While we loved the meal, it was the first time that she didn't try to get more from me-I let her try aged cheddar (which I could have eaten all of) and a lentil (which is about to become a staple in her diet). I think she didn't know what to do with the lentil, and the cheddar may be an acquired taste, though she has had plenty of it "processed" in her milk.
This little gnome on their front porch has a really similar expression to her "gremlin" face.
She wouldn't make the face, but this was close enough.
Trying to walk with Mimi in the RV-see her feet (or the missing one?)

This is the chipmunk face she makes when she's storing stuff in her cheeks. We had lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse, and she held pieces of bread in her cheeks.
Playing with a ride-on moose at Ikea. We went specifically to buy toys that are too old for her...they have stuff for so cheap. We got 10 finger puppets, a toy that rolls, and a wooden train and tracks, plus I got more of our glasses (which are 50 cents each!) so I can finally throw away the plastic ones! Or, as the case is, put them in the church garage sale!
We were in traffic forever yesterday, so we finally gave up and met Deedee and David for dinner at Copeland's instead of having them come to the RV park, and we waited at World Market to stretch our legs.

Watching out the RV window.
How Elena spent her entire trip home-in the middle of Mimi and Poppy's king size RV bed.
She took a nap at home, and woke up with one orange paci in each hand. She alternated putting them in her mouth.
That's it for the week. This week was a sad week for us also, as our next door neighbor Dave passed away Wednesday. He'd been ill for quite a while, and was 87, but he was a great neighbor who talked to us a lot and liked to talk to Elena. Keep his wife Polly in mind, as it has to be such a big time of change for her-they'd been married for 60 years, and have lived in the house next to us for over 40. We'll miss him.

This week Chris is going to Nashville for work, and we're going to go too, and it's his high school reunion in Chattanooga on Saturday, plus we're visiting his old church East Ridge Baptist on Sunday, so there should be lots to blog about next week.