Elijah's First Hiking Trip

Elijah is 2 1/2 years old right now, so we thought it might be a nice little adventure to take him downstate for the weekend and do some hiking at Starved Rock State Park. We had no idea how fun it would actually turn out to be! Elijah hiked four separate trails for a total of almost 4 or 5 miles, all in one day! He let us carry him when we needed to jump over streams, but otherwise his little legs hiked up and down through the canyons all by themselves. After we were through with the two morning trails, he caught sight of a bench and said with all seriousness, "Ji-jah tired. I sit down now." Once we set him up with his blanket, he took a power nap and then was ready to go again.


The highlight for us was the last hike into St. Louis Canyon. It had a white sandy beach next to the waterfall, so we got to relax and play there for a good while.

After a full day, we got to enjoy a picnic dinner under the big oak trees along the Illinois River. It was a just a beautiful day. We enjoyed every second of it.

After all that, Elijah still had enough energy to check out a local classic auto show (the serious shopper made sure to investigate all the engines thoroughly) and then he finally ended the day with a swim before bed.

The following day was Father's Day. We enjoyed a breakfast brunch together and then headed for a ferryboat ride along the river. On our way home, we drove through the small town of Mendota and made a pit stop at their Railway Museum. This enormous black steam engine dates back to 1907. When I snapped this picture, I thought Elijah was smiling, but when I zoomed in on the photo later, I see that he was pooping his pants. Luckily, he's still in diapers.

I hope we can do this trip all over again before the summer is up. It sure makes good practice for those big road trips that we plan to take all around the country when he's a little bit older. The way things are going, he may be ready sooner than I expected. ~Nasreen

Postcards from the Edge of France

(As you can see this post is a long one...mainly for Rob and I because we'd like to remember this trip as best as we can later.)

We finally did it. Rob and I took our first extended trip without Elijah. I remember before we even planned to have Elijah how I used to spout the virtues of parents leaving parenthood behind and enjoying a trip alone from time to time. Having finally done it, I can now say with experience that it is indeed very important. We had a fun, romantic and relaxing time. It basically felt like a second honeymoon. Our batteries are fully recharged.

But let me just say, I was not prepared for the amount of anxiety I would feel about being away from Elijah for almost an entire week. Of course, it sure did help that we were heading to the south of France. But that was also part of the problem...if something (God forbid) happened, we'd be so far away. The fact that he was in my mom's care certainly helped though, especially because she's a nurse. So then the only other problem I had was that, being only 2 1/2 years old, maybe Elijah wouldn't understand why we weren't around anymore and would feel abandoned or something. I know, I know, I was being melodramatic, which is easy for me to say now because I learned after-the-fact that he loved every minute of his time alone with his Nana.

Apparently, we did a darn good job explaining to him beforehand that mama and papa were going on "vacation" (we were careful not to mention that airplanes were involved because then he'd have a fit about coming along. Anytime he sees or hears an airplane it's, "Ji-jah fly airpane, toooo!") We left right before he was about to take a nap. We explained to him that we'd be gone when he woke up. My mom said that when he did finally wake up, he cried a good cry as the vague concept of "vacation" actually sunk in for him. But then that was it. After that, it was all about Nana, Nana, Nana. In fact, when we got back, he called me "Nana" for a few days. I'd say, "I'm not Nana!" And then he'd smile a wicked smile and call me "Papa" instead. Such a jokester. While on our trip, we called him once a day at the same time (okay, so maybe I called twice some days) and he sounded like his normal happy-go-lucky self. That really helped us enjoy our vacation. That, and the fact that we were in Nice, alone, with no toddler-duties.

Needless to say, we were extremely excited on the plane ride back home. It almost reached the level of anticipation we felt when I went into labor, and so without the labor pains, you could just imagine how excited we were to see him. We thought he might be in the middle of his nap when we reached home, but nope, to our great surprise, he was standing in the window waiting for us! There was lots and lots of hooting and hollering and hugging and kissing all around.

He looked and acted older than when we first left. Apparently, he had a crash course in Phonics while we were away. Thanks to being around my mom who didn't quite pick up most of what he was saying at first, he was forced to really pronounce his words. It kinda freaked us out actually. He seemed almost a year older.

Well, it was so beautiful in Nice that I just had to post a few pictures...knowing me, I'll never get around to developing them, so at least this way, there's a mini-album somewhere.

We took a short trip to Monaco as well (see down below.) I never knew it was a country that was nestled in the mountains, much like San Francisco. All the roads are basically switchbacks that zig zag up and down the mountain sides. It's just beautiful and makes for breathtaking views everywhere you look.

Of course, we had to check out Monte Carlo while we were there...

Monaco is insane. Beyond even "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Yep, that about sums it up. C'est la vie. ~Nasreen

P.S. I'm finally catching up on some posts that I've been meaning to make on this blog, so in case you haven't seen it yet, scroll down below to my posting from earlier today to see some latest pictures of Elijah...

Zoo Monkey

This next picture is one of my mom's favorites...he's at the zoo playground trying to slide down a climbing wall. He looks right at us and says, "NOT WORKING!", with this look that says, "who the heck built a stupid slide like this?"

"Ah, now this is what I'm talking about!":

It's not even summer yet and Elijah has been to the zoo about three times already. Actually, these pictures are about a month old now, so we're due for another trip. We'd be there more often except that it's a far drive, unfortunately. Elijah knows the place so well that he's become our personal tour guide. He'll grab the map, point to the dolphins, for example, and say, "This way!", and then march ahead of us. One thing I've noticed about Elijah is that he's true to what they say about Sagittarians...they always walks with a purpose. He rarely takes a leisurely stroll. If we lag behind, he'll turn around and yell, "Come on, buddies!!" Yep, he calls me and Rob, "buddies." Not sure where he got that from, but it's the cutest thing. Now that he's talking more, it's amazing to hear the thoughts that come out of his head.

Speaking of walking with a purpose, Rob and I just got back from taking Elijah on a hiking trip. Whoa! That was one of the best weekend getaways I've ever had. I'll post some pictures of that next with some more details about the trip. Love, Nasreen