Hocking Hills

 David is on vacation this week, so our little family took a quick trip to Hocking Hills in south east Ohio.  We left Monday evening as soon as I got off of work to go to a cabin near the park.  The cabin was so peaceful!  We were out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees, chipmunks, birds, and a small creek.  It was a small bit of paradise to sit on the porch looking out on the trees, sipping a cup of coffee and listening to the babbling brook and my babbling daughter.  Eliana had a blast in the cabin, running around checking out all of the cabinets and nicknacks.  She really liked rocking in the rocking chair next to me this morning.  I can't even tell you in this post how beautiful it was!  We had a relaxed morning then went to Old Man's Cave to go hiking.  We recently purchased a Kelty KIDS hiking toddler carrier just for this trip.  Eliana was less than happy to be hauled around in the backpack, but she did ok.  Then for some reason about halfway through our hike, she decided the trip on my back was the most fun thing ever!  She started kicking her legs (ouch!) and giggling with joy.  So I would definitely consider the hike a success!  We really had a blast.  It was a wonderful little mini vacation.  I took so many pictures, so I really had a hard time cutting the number down for this post.  I hope you enjoy!

The view from our cabin porch.

Eliana sharing a peaceful morning with me.

On our hike at Old Man's Cave.  The backpack wasn't too uncomfortable and actually worked pretty well for carrying a toddler around.

Waterfall

A bridge we took over Hocking River

It was a beautiful hike!

You can see Eliana is having a great time back there.

We took a break in this clearing for lunch and to let Eliana run around for a while.

She found lots of things to explore.

We continued on our hike to Lower Falls.  Eliana wasn't so sure about the water at first.

But then David showed her how to skip rocks.

She thought that was amazing!

Now she kinda likes the water.

Eliana's eyes are closed, but it was the best we could do.

So I was about to publish this post when I realized that I didn't have any pictures of Eliana smiling.  I didn't want you to think she had a bad time, so I had to throw in one more picture.  She had a great time too!

Nice weather

Eliana and I spent an afternoon at Goodale Park a couple weeks ago when the weather was nice.

We went down the slide together.  Eliana was a little scared.

She thought this would be a better way to use the slide.

She ran up and down the sidewalk.

At first she wasn't so sure, but then she decided that she loved the wood chips

She loved them so much we had to take a few home with us in the stroller.  As we walked, she would drop them on the ground one by one, just like Hansel and Gretal and their bread crumbs.

After the park, we went to North Market for a treat.  I had a nutella crepe and she had cheddar bunnies (after she had a bite of nutella and decided it was gross).

As the weather gets nice, I think we will be spending a lot of time outside!  Eliana really likes to play with rocks, and even has a red one that she carries all over the porch.  Usually she will play with a rock and then move on to the next one pretty quickly.  Not this red rock.  She always likes to keep tabs on it.  So we call it her pet rock.  How funny the things kids really love!
And her stats, which I didn't post from earlier this month.  She had her 15month check-up.  Everything looked good.  She weighed in at 23lbs 9oz and was 30.5in tall.  That puts her in the 50th percentile.  She got more shots but did great with them.  Her 18 month appointment will be the last time she gets shots until kindergarten.  I'm sure Eliana will be happy about that!

Eliana's Second Easter

Hopefully you haven't been too worried about Eliana and her fever, since I didn't ever tell you she was feeling better.  She had a fever as high as 102.7 off and on for three days.  The poor thing looked so miserable.  She had a very runny nose and seemed wiped out.  Tuesday evening we were just sitting on the couch and she was laying on my chest.  Her eyes were watering, her nose was running, and she was drooling from mouth breathing.  She was a wet wet mess.  I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and make her feel all better.  Just as we were getting ready to take her to the pediatrician, she made a turn around and started doing better.  Eliana was able to go back to daycare on Friday (much to my relief and the relief of my coworkers) where she will probably pick up more germs and be sick another day.  It was good that this was a short lived illness because last Sunday was Easter and we had plans to go to Indy to celebrate with my family.  David had to work on Easter, so we left him here in Columbus to care for his patients.

Eliana had a great time celebrating!  She loved hunting Easter eggs.  Each time she grabbed one, she would giggle with joy.  In fact, she just loved to be outside and would laugh just from walking around in the grass. I also had a good time making a basket for her (along with a little help from Grandma Flanigan).  I think you might see my nursing background reflected in her basket.  Probably not too many Easter baskets have a toothbrush in them!

Eliana had so many things, she needed two baskets!

Two toothbrushes and toothpaste.  What a great Easter basket!

Easter morning

Checking out her gifts.

Eliana with her mommy

Eliana in her pretty Easter dress.

Easter Egg hunting!

 Happy Easter!  I hope you can celebrate the joy of Christ's resurrection every day, not just on Easter.  We are truly blessed!