Miriam's busy summer of traveling

Well, it has been a long time since I've posted, and a lot has happened.  Grab a cup of coffee, tea, or juice and a snack...this will be a long post! 

I last posted in early July, when we had a busy month coming up of weddings and traveling.  Shortly after my last post, Miriam got very sick.  She started spiking a high temperature (104.7) and was listless, not eating, not sleeping well, etc.  Her tonsils were very red and swollen, and the doctor said she didn't have strep, but that she did have tonsillitis.  Since it was a viral infection, we couldn't do anything but wait it out.  Her fever finally went away after 4 days, and she slowly started regaining energy and eating more.  It was nice to have our happy, smiling girl back, and I'm sure she was happy to be feeling better!

Mario's older brother, TJ, got married to Kristi in the middle of July.  The wedding was a beautiful ceremony outside, and the wedding festivities were a great time, filled with good food and fun socializing.  Miriam and I left several festivities early because of her illness (and early bedtime), but we thoroughly enjoyed the time we did get to spend with everyone! 

A week after TJ's wedding, Mario, Miriam and I headed to the airport for our annual summer trip to the Midwest.  We flew into Minneapolis and rented a car for the 3.5 hour drive up to the lake.  Nathan (my brother) and Megan (his wife) met us at the airport, and we all carpooled together up to the lake.  Miriam was quite unhappy the 2nd half of the car ride, and Nathan and Megan got to experience life with an unhappy 16 month old.  :) 

Once we got to the lake, Miriam loved it.  We spend about 1.5 weeks there, and she was constantly outside.  She was a bit hesitant about going in the water at first, and would lift her legs up (to try to keep them out of the water) when Mario took her in the water.  But after she got used to it, she stood in the shallow water, splashing around, picking up rocks, filling up her bucket, walking around.  She didn't go "swimming" by herself, but went out into deeper water in the company of an adult, and loved to be swung over the water so she could drag her hands and feet in the water. 

Other things she loved to do at the lake include filling up her swimming pool (she loved to control the hose) and sweep.  It was so hilarious.  She observed Grandpa sweeping outside one time, and then she went into the outside corner (where we keep the broom) and dragged out the broom and proceeded to "sweep" (push the broom back and forth).  And she LOVED it. She swept on the outside patio daily, many days multiple times a day.  Sometimes she had the small broom (the type that goes with a dustpan) in one hand at the large broom in the other hand. 

She also loved to be up on the front lawn playing croquet.  She would drag a mallet around, insist on picking up the balls and banging them together, then throw them back down again, and want to pick them up in the middle of a game. 

After we spent some time in Minnesota, we flew down to Chicago and drove to Indiana to visit my grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins.  My cousins (all elementary school age) were willing playmates for Miriam, and the girls loved to take her outside and play games to entertain her.  Miriam ate a whole tomato fresh out of the garden, and got to pet goats and look at the chickens.  It was a short trip, but it was good to see family and have Miriam spend some time at the farm.  Next time I'm hoping she'll get to ride on the tractor!

On the ride home, Miriam and I traveled alone, as Mario had returned to WA earlier to return to work.  Mom and I went to the airport together, but then Miriam and I went our own way to our gate and onto our flight.  This airline we took didn't do early boarding for kids, so we had to wait until the very end to board.  Miriam and I made our way down the aisle with a (very full) bag on one arm and a (very tired) Miriam (and her teddy!) on the other arm.  She slept for 2 hours on the flight, and then woke up and wanted to play.  She walked up and down the aisles, sat in my seat, waved to everybody, and even asked the woman sitting in front of us if she could have a piece of her orange.  She's definitely friendly when we are traveling, trying to make friends with strangers and other kids...it is pretty cute to watch!

I'm still going through our (many) photos from our trip, so I'll post those seperately, as well as an update on Miriam's growth and milestones soon, since she'll be 17 months this weekend!