cousins

At the end of May, Travis's older brother, Todd, and his family came to visit. Lucie met her cousin Isabelle! We took the ferry to SF with Todd, Emily, Isabelle Saturday morning for Farmer's Market. Todd got his mandatory fish tacos (I guess they don't make them the same out in MO). Isabelle enjoyed the ferry ride, or at least jumping around on the ferry! And I found the secret bathroom that has no line in the ferry building. Successes all around!
We celebrated Memorial Day with a big bash at Trav's Aunt Cathy's house with BOTH sets of grandparents AND all three of Lucie's cousins! We swam, BBQed, and had a really good time with the parachute. And somehow we managed to get a group shot with everyone looking!

Baptisms and birthdays

Lucie was baptized at Marin Lutheran Church on May 23rd. The weekend was fun, since a lot of family came up for the baptism and it was Trav's birthday the day before.
For Travis's birthday, we hiked (read: drove) to the Tourist's Club again. This time, our friends from San Clemente, Rod and Sarah, and their two year old Kiera, came along. Tyler and Michelle also joined in the festivities. Later that evening, we had a proper sausage roast with the parents and even Grandma Rosetta. We wrapped up the night with a homemade icebox cake. Yum!!


The next day, even more family came to Marin for the baptism. Lucie wore the very same dress my mom made for my sister and me for our baptism. And booties, though they didn't fit. My mom bought Lucie frilly white church socks with little crosses on them too! The service was really nice; we really like the pastors. Mark and Megan served as Lucie's godparents. God-sister Mirabelle did a good job holding the lit baptism candle for the ceremony. God-sister Mayanna perfected her pose for the pictures afterwards...


We had a picnic at Gerstle Park in San Rafael following the service. I decorated with a butterfly theme. I don't usually like butterflies, but thought it was a fitting theme (baptism=new life, get it?). We served pulled pork sandwiches and sliders. Everyone was awesome and brought side dishes and snacks. I made butterfly cookies for dessert. Everything was yummy. All the cousins had a good time together playing basketball and hanging out. The adults did too (well, not the basketball part, except for Chuck and Joel).

Prost!

Prost (which means Cheers! in German)! The three of us hiked along the beautiful Panoramic Highway to the Tourist Club in celebration of Maifest, which is like Oktoberfest but in May! How ingenious! With one stop for nursing along the trail, we made it to the Tourist Club which sits high above Muir Woods and has an incredible view of the redwood trees out to the ocean. There was a live Polka band, Polka dancing, sausages, and of course, beer! We can't wait to come again next year when Lucie can wear her little German dress that used to be mine and Megan's. Spitzle!

Nothing stopping her!

Someone likes the bottle! In an attempt to acclimate Lucie to the bottle before I go back to work, we wanted to try out the bottle early. Lucie didn't blink once, but took the bottle from Trav and sucked it dry. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a very nice meal (eating with a fork and knife!) while Trav's meal got cold...

Happy Mother's Day!

It worked out that I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year! Being a mom is so fun, especially with a little love bug like Lucie! Plus she's been learning how to smile, which makes Motherhood even better. I beginning to to think the little peanut actually likes me!
We spent a nice, relaxing day up at Grandma and Grandpa's in Napa with the cousins. We had lots of good food and plenty of fun talking, lounging around, and making sure "Princess Aurora" didn't get too close to Lucie with her magic wand!