Thursday November 11, 2004
Well, the big event to report is our mini-trip for Polly's Birthday. The very first time Princess Emily (she's gone from stinky monkey to princess this month) has slept away from home since leaving the hospital. Frankly, we were a bit concerned. The plan was to leave on Polly's birthday and stay at Marina Dunes for two nights. We were scared for our temporary neighbors and scared of having to come home in the middle of the very first night. We took off around 3 and made it to the resort around 4:30. A somewhat gloomy day, but that was fine with us since our plan was to do nothing. We were greeted in the driveway by our bell person in a golf cart - our ride for our stay there. What a pleasant surprise - since the hotel is on the dunes on the beach, no cars are allowed. When we get to our room, we realized that the resort is built like a campus with lots of 4 room cottages - we were psyched. At most, we would piss off 3 neighbors. Then, we were shown into the suite of our building - cha ching Priceline! (Emily, we do that a lot . . .)

Well, we kicked off our lap of luxury by changing Emily's diaper . . .



We finally got settled in, ordered room service (portions way too big, and menu way too Texas for us) and then had birthday cake! Princess Emily missed the whole thing by sleeping through it all.



Next morning, we took a walk on the beach (which was right outside our front porch!). We saw dolphins, surfers (waves were amazing . . .) and a paraglider.



But not Princess Emily, she was busy.



So, we decided to leave a mark for Emily on her behalf.



And I got about as close to surfing as I probably will for the next 18 years . . .



Back at our room, we finally took some family photos we've been meaning to do for some time. Okay, the original plan was to go to a studio, but that was too much trouble and plus that costs money . . .



In the afternoon, we decided to head out on the town! This after our original plan of staying in our room all weekend and doing nothing . . . What's wrong with us. So bundled Princess Emily up (in her cute coat that Grandma and Grandpa got for Halloween) and headed for Carmel (to see how rich people live). We parked at the top of downtown and walked all the way down to the state beach and caught the sunset.



By dinnertime, we had had enough of Carmel. We headed to Cannery Row in Monterrey where we always go. We headed straight for Bubba Gump, which is more our speed. The whole day, Princess Emily was so well behaved! Everytime she woke up, she was in a new place - new things to look at, new things to dumbfound her, new things to stick in her mouth.

After dinner, we headed to Ghiralldeli for a little treat - a banana split! And Emily joined us in her first high chair.



And we made faces at mommy . . .

that was fun.

Banana split wasn't the only thing Princess Emily had either. She had some hash browns and scrambled eggs from Denny's the first morning. The second morning, no. Mainly because she had some interesting poo the first day and she was a bad little princess on the second night - keeping mommy up, kinda stressful. So, the next morning, we decided to stay in bed a little longer.



Then we got dressed for another walk on the beach.



Then we went outlet shopping in Gilroy . . .

Finally back at home, we decided Emily's a big girl now! She should eat at the dinner table with mommy and daddy. And she should sleep through the night (which she's been doing, up to 10 hours straight this week, yipee!).



Yum, that rice cereal is some good stuff. But it turns out, she eats only to imitate us, not because she's hungry or because she likes it. So, one of us has to eat (accentuating our chewing), which then gets Emily's mouth started, then we have to sneak the spoon in there. 80% of what goes in comes back out, she pretty much wears her rice cereal, not eat it. Then after dinner, she screams for mommy to feed her. Geez. But we're trying to get her on a nightly routine, and so far so good. Rice cereal for dinner, bedtime story, bath, eat from mommy, burpie then sleepy (at least a 2 hour ritual). In the crib by nine and hopefully not out before 7, that's the goal. Here's what Princess Emily thinks of it.



Other times, she thinks . . .



Finally . . .