The trip was a great opportunity for Eva to spend a few days with her great-grandfather, [...]]]> Remember when I mentioned we took a baby to Quebec City? Less than month later we took a toddler – and not just any toddler, one that was teething – to Princeton, North Carolina for the annual Hartley reunion.

The trip was a great opportunity for Eva to spend a few days with her great-grandfather, Pop-Pop. They have a special connection – Eva spent the whole weekend giving Pop-Pop this smile:

And then she would remember she was cutting molars, and she would look more like this:

She was up, she was down, she was carsick… really, you have to look through the whole gallery (and read all of my crazier than usual captions) to get the sense of how much toddler-chasing Matt and I managed.

But in the end, look at this bond. Isn’t it beautiful?

Quebec City is the type of place we love [...]]]> Over Fourth of July weekend, Matt surprised me with a trip to Quebec City as a slightly belated 30th birthday present. And by “surprise” I mean he told me two days in advance. That’s about as surprising as you can get when traveling with a 13-month-old.

Quebec City is the type of place we love to visit – it’s international, a short flight away, and the kind of place that has a European feel to it. And, as it turns out, had incredible luck at our hotel, the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.

The night we checked in it was late – and way past Eva’s bedtime – and the woman behind the counter said, “Mr. Hartley, we have a surprise for you tonight.” Matt and I made eye contact, both thinking, I hope we have a room. The hotel clerk continued, “We’ve upgraded you to the presidential suite.” It is nearly impossible to surprise Matt, and Matt was surprised that night. The room we had reserved was nowhere near presidential suite level, and we have no idea why we received the upgrade.

I think Eva thought we had moved to a new, much more exciting dwelling. The suite was nearly as big as our house, complete with a living room, dining room, and kitchenette, and Eva crawled laps. She slept in a real crib in the bedroom closet – a closet which was nearly as large as her tiny nursery at home.

Aside from the most amazing accommodations we’ve experienced, Quebec City also turned out to be a great place to take a baby. (Yes, Eva was still a baby then. More on that when I write about the next trip.) There weren’t many museums in the area, and we spent most of the trip walking. Eva loves to walk, and had a great time sitting in her stroller watching crowds of people walk by.

Eva’s hair, courtesy of the wind in the Outer Banks.

The Pacific Northwest is having the warmest winter on record, which sounded more appealing [...]]]> 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.

There were so [...]]]> We flew to Seattle on Thanksgiving morning – it was wonderful to have a relatively quiet airport experience and fly on a half full plane. If you look at our pictures, it looks like all we did that weekend was bathe and feed a baby… well, maybe that’s kind of accurate.

There were so many baths, many directly after feedings. This is my favorite bath picture, though don’t be fooled by the peacefulness of the shot. A few minutes later, the scene looked like this.

We were so excited to introduce Eva to the Rutledges, my friend Marissa’s family (sadly, Marissa was not there). We’ve known each other for 20 years now, so it was fun to watch Eva play with Calvin, Marissa’s nephew.

One of my biggest highlights was rock climbing. My brother Austin is an avid climber, and took me to his favorite gym. He taught me the basics, and after a few tries I found myself at the top of a 20-foot vertical wall, and then hanging upside down. It was exhilarating, and I hope to find a gym in D.C. so I can go again soon.

Eva and her grandparents had tons of quality time together. Grandpa taught Eva to play peek-a-boo actively, and Grandma spent time reading to Eva and showing her how to turn the pages of her books. My mother now has what I call “Happy Grandma” face – you can see it here, as Eva gives my mom a hug.

On our last day in town, we all went for a walk along the Redmond Slough. Matt took a series of nature shots that turned out beautifully – start here and click next for eight shots total.

As always, the trip was way too short, and Eva is already looking forward to seeing her West Coast grandparents and uncle in a few weeks. All of the pictures are here, complete with captions.

We started out with a trip to Northern California at the end of October to visit my mom’s side of the family. While [...]]]> November was a great month. I could write ten entries about November and still have more to say. But now it’s snowing and I’m excited about Christmas, so I’ll write just one.

We started out with a trip to Northern California at the end of October to visit my mom’s side of the family. While we were there Eva met two great grandparents, five great aunts and uncles, and nine cousins (first, second, and then some). We took walks in the woods, drove on windy country roads, and made big pots of chili. It was a wonderful trip.

We have a whole gallery of pictures, but this is one of my favorites – Eva’s cousin Emma loved to read to Eva. And if you look carefully you’ll see this picture was taken on Halloween – Emma is not reading just to Eva, but to a baby flower.

Eva and I spend a lot of time running the Mt. Vernon Trail. We start at Gravelly Park, which is next door to National Airport, and often see planes that are about this far away. Eva is not convinced she likes this activity, but we keep going because the view is amazing. We have more airplane, foliage, and disgruntled baby pictures here.

We closed up our family garden plot for the year. Though it’s late in the game, I was able to freeze a ton of parsley and hung some oregano and thyme to dry in the basement. I wish I had been photo documenting all along – the garden plot produced huge quantities of vegetables this year, and I’ve been refining my food preservation skills.

And, of course, there’s the November gallery, which has the usual baby head shots to keep the West Coast grandparents up on Eva’s every development. Like the one at left, showing how well Eva can sit on her own.

I lied, there will be two November entries. I just can’t get Thanksgiving into a thumbnail and two sentences. Stay tuned!

I’m not sure when I’ll get through the other 413 (!) pictures from our trip to Northern California, as it’s NaNoWriMo time now, but I’ll post a few [...]]]> I love generation photos – and by some miracle we’re all smiling in this one. You don’t know how unusual that is for this particular group.

I’m not sure when I’ll get through the other 413 (!) pictures from our trip to Northern California, as it’s NaNoWriMo time now, but I’ll post a few on the blog in the interim.

Matt’s grandparents live in the Albany area, and we were able to [...]]]> A few weeks ago Matt, Eva, and I flew up to Albany for an event at RPI, Matt’s alma mater. Yes, we have returned to our former life as traveling fools. The flight up was a success, as you can see below.

Matt’s grandparents live in the Albany area, and we were able to stay with them the whole weekend. The leaves were almost to peak fall color, and it was beautiful.

Matt’s grandparents have my ideal property, which includes a field just for garlic and a 19th century cemetery. Here we are walking around their pond:

And visiting their latest addition, the Hoophouse (hopefully I’m spelling that right). Lucky people – they can garden year round!

Here we are before the main event that weekend. Turns out we clean up well every now and then.

We don’t jet-set as effortlessly as we used to, but it’s nice to know it can still be done. All of the pictures from our New York visit – including more fall color and farm photos – are up in our photo gallery.