Elio's First Allen Wrench

Before I post pictures from our time in Texas, I want to get caught up with the pre-evacuation photos...

So, while we were in California, Elio had his first trip to Ikea. He seemed to tolerate it just fine.

One of the Ikea purchases was this super cute little Elio-sized lounge chair.

Charmingly, the Captain seems to love the chair even more than Elio. 

For even more Ikea fun, our friend Leora came to visit (yay!) and brought us a table from the Ikea in Houston. Elio was extremely helpful in putting together. Thus begins a lifetime of assembling Ikea furniture.

And, here are some random cutie shots...

Safe and sound

Just a quick post to let you know that we left New Orleans for Austin well before the hurricane hit, and, as far as we can tell from vigilantly scouring the internet, our house appears to be safe. We're enjoying our time in Austin so much that we're going to stay here for a couple more days, giving New Orleans a chance to clean up and get the power back on. Elio's been having a great time, meeting tons of people, going swimming, and eating good food. I have lots of good photos to post, but, silly me, I didn't bring the cable to connect the camera to the computer with us in the evacuation packing rush. Next time (?!) I'll be better prepared. Thanks for all the well-wishes and checking in -- we certainly appreciate the concern and love. Cross your fingers that things look good when we get home!

Fun with water!

Ocean and dirt!

Elio got his first view of the Pacific Ocean the other day. We met up with Peter and Maren in Santa Cruz to go look at some dolphins. How beautiful is California?? So lovely.

Elio resisted having his hand held by Maren. I think he'll get over that pretty quick -- look how cute she is?!

We spent a nice afternoon over at Meredith's house. Elio tried to keep up with Susie and Maren, but coloring is pretty advanced.

Favorite new activity? Playing in the dirt. My dad showed Elio how to dig a hole in the ground. The boy is now in love with the dirt. AND, he even said "dirt" a bunch of times.

More mess.

Favorite bedtime activity at Grandma and Grandpa's? Crawling up into the chair and reading about architecture. He's fascinated by this book. Fascinated, as in spending 45 minutes flipping through the pages intently. Combined with the hole digging, maybe he'll be an architect?

California

Here we are in sunny California, visiting Elio's grandparents. Elio loves being outside.

Fun times at the park.

Fascinated with the carousel.

Eliovision... watching clothes tumble in the washer.

Sidewalks

You know you live someplace humid when you step outside and your camera lens immediately fogs up.

Here's Elio cruising off down some sidewalks.

Sno-bliz!

I know there are many reasons not to visit us in New Orleans during the summer. But here is one mighty powerful reason why you should: Hansen's Sno-Bliz. They're only open during the summer, this is their 69th year in business, and they still shave their ice on a machine built by Ernest Hansen in the 30s. These are nothing like a snow cone; the ice in a Hansen's sno-bliz is light and airy, and the syrups are made in-house, using Mary Hansen's original recipes, and they are just heavenly.

Elio loved his first New Orleans sno-ball. He made a face every time he tasted mine because it was so cold, but he kept reaching for more.