auntie julie

in-motion portrait, originally uploaded by Kristy and Eva.

eva and i just dropped julie off at the airport. we had a fun but quick four days (plus a few hours) together. things don't always go according to plan -- in fact, things can go totally opposite to the plan -- and yet you find in the end that your enjoyment wasn't diminished at all.

the running joke is that it rains everywhere julie goes to visit. this all started when it rained on her (outdoor) wedding day, some of the most torrential rain i've seen in a while. then it rained for basically her entire honeymoon trip to playa del carmen. she came to visit us last june, and we spent a long weekend at the beach, with approximately two hours of beach sun and a whole lot of rain (and highway flooding as we went through houston). it rained on her vacation to winnepeg last summer, too. so, when i told her not to bother packing long sleeved shirts, let alone coats (because it's april in texas, of course!) -- i guess i momentarily forgot to whom i was speaking. oops.

we had been enjoying seasonal weather in the 80s, but the day she arrived it started cooling off. by saturday, it was 34 degrees (a new record low) and *sleeting*, ice freezing under our feet. seriously. that's an impressive change in the weather even for julie's proven powers. i've never seen such a thing. true to the pattern, she left today and it's supposed to be around 80 degrees tomorrow. perfect! (she was a good sport, saying at least it was warmer than the 10 degree weather when she left fargo, but sadly it was warmer in alaska than austin this weekend. i guess she flew the wrong direction.)

the other little wrench in the works was that eva was (is?) sick. she started getting sick the day before julie arrived, and while i thought she was pulling through (and that we could actually do pur planned easter activities) , it turns out she was the most sick of all yesterday (easter). i haven't seen eva that lethargic and sick for a long time. she spent three hours writhing around on my lap, half asleep and half crying, saying "mama hold me, please mama". poor baby. she slept a bit and the fever broke, and she was bright and perky for a few hours. that's been her pattern the whole five days that she's been sick. so, julie still got to play with eva, but she wasn't quite her usual self.

in spite of illness (did i mention julie was getting over being sick, too?) and the weather, we still had so much fun. we bundled up and played at the park (mmm, amy's ice cream!), went shopping, made easter eggs and easter bread (how much easter bread can you eat before feeling ill? i'm not sure exactly, but it's some amount less than what i ate), took bluebonnet photos and went for a walk in the wagon. mostly, we just played around the house -- eva coerced julie into reading nearly every book we own at least twice, we played goofy games of hide-and-seek, and listened to eva jabber away nonstop to "ahn duey"...

it's sad to see julie go, but at least the next time we see her, it won't have been as long (six months feels like forever at this age, but hopefully we'll see her in ND this summer).

oh, eva's new trick this week is counting. it generally goes: one two three four five eight nine ten four eleven, but the ten is optional. she's obsessed with eleven (from a page in a dr. seuss book where the guy has eleven fingers). one two three four eleven!

generalized cuteness

horsey, originally uploaded by Kristy and Eva.

this is eva enjoying a round of "ride the horsey" with gram on larry's birthday. she knows it's almost time for "the horsey falls down"... and look at that anticipation! too cute. i managed to get her face in focus but keep the telling motion blur in her arms. we'll pretend that was skill rather than luck.

eva's been telling me the story of how "mama go airplane, fly 'way. eva stay papa." what did you do with papa? "eat food. play toys." after mama flew away, then what did mama do? "mama come back! find eva!" she seems to have a handle on this, but is still processing my overnight absense. i reassure her that i'm not going away again for a long time, and that mama always comes back.

last night i was telling eva more about the fact that auntie julie will be arriving today on an airplane. i said that she'll ride home with us in mama's car, then stay at our house and play with us. she thought for a minute, then said (pointing next to her), "julie sleep right there, little bed!" oh, you want auntie julie to sleep here next to you? sure, maybe she'll do that sometime. eva thougth for a minute more, then declaired "julie come house, lemma bark a julie." yes, eva, i think you know your dog pretty well. (last week every time lemma barked, eva said "lemma bark a man, man bring pizza!" i promise, we don't even get pizza that often!)

too cute. she's sick as of yesterday (just in time for julie's four day trip), so i need to go try this absorb-garlic-through-your-feet toddler natural rememdy i just heard about.