Spring vacation in February

A week and a half ago, Eva and I bid farewell to the five foot pile of snow in our front yard and headed West for a balmy vacation in Seattle. Matt flew out and met us a few days later.

The Pacific Northwest is having the warmest winter on record, which sounded more appealing than Washington DC’s snowiest winter on record. It was a spring vacation; bulbs were peeking out of the ground, trees were blooming, and we rarely needed coats (or pants, if you’re a baby).

I planned the vacation in part because the gap between December and May seemed too long for Eva to go without seeing her West Coast Uncle and Grandparents. Just two months after Christmas she’s a different person, and nine months is an exciting age. I watch her learn and grow every day, and she does it with cheer and giggles (most of the time). It is an age that is meant to be shared.

As is becoming tradition, my brother took me rock climbing. We went to Vertical World in Redmond, and I was pleased with my progress since my first climb last November.

If you’re a climber and look closely at the picture at left, you’ll see that I’m not following a route (my hands and feet are on different colors). I did, however, climb that wall a second time following a 5.6 route (beginner) without cheating. I managed to make my climber extraordinaire brother proud.

We planned the trip to coincide with the Kasdan’s trip to Seattle. Mitchell just turned one, and Eva had a lot to say to him. She likes to be around other babies, and is especially interested in babies that move independently (crawl or walk) like Mitchell can. It took him awhile to warm up to her, but they were batting each other on the head by the second visit.

Eva made great strides with her stranger anxiety on this trip. For the last three months she has taken days to get used to new people and situations, and often had to be attached to me. On this trip she immediately smiled and waved at everyone she met, and even allowed Marissa to carry her around at a crowded event.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip, and I was as thoroughly spoiled as Eva. I barely cooked, saw a movie, and came home with a suitcase of clean clothes I didn’t fold. If that’s not a good trip, I don’t know what is.

I have one more entry to post on this trip; in the meantime, there are more photos here.