Off to See the Wizard!

Near the end of September Nate, Stella, and I ventured north...to the Emerald City (and beyond!). Nate's extended family is mostly in Washington, and we had been planning on making a fall trip to show her off when Nate's maternal grandmother passed away. It was decided to have her memorial service and celebrate her life up in the mountains she loved near where she grew up. And so the trip was booked and off we went on our northwestern adventure!

The trip began with Stella's first airplane trip. My dad, the pilot, would have been so proud of her if he could have seen her just relax and enjoy the flight. She's a natural traveler, just like me. Why is this the caption under a naked baby picture? Well, it has to do with the shock to the system I received on the flight from the disposable diapers! We use cloth diapers at home, and I was just mentally unprepared for the switch while traveling. I have never had poo leak from a cloth diaper much less be expelled from one with great force! Needless to say, I was glad to be able to give her her very first sink bath in Great Aunt Sabra's kitchen when we arrived.

Here Stella is with her namesake, Great Grandma Pearl!

Stella enjoys her Uncle Jack tremendously. He is gonna be a great dad in a few months!

Dad was so excited to introduce the baby to one of his favorite places ever!  

Stella wrapped 3 generations of Simons men around her finger simultaneously!  Great grandpa was smitten with her, "she's a born winner!" and "that's one cute baby!" he exclaimed.  They cooed at each other for a little while...what a treasure to witness! 

I loved watching all the wonderful people in her life getting to love on her, including Great Aunt Lucy and Cousin Paloma!

Baby's first mountains!  Here we are near Snoqualmie Pass.  My outdoor-lovin' baby was in heaven.

 

This was at a cabin in the Cascades where Great Grandma Reynolds' memorial service was held.  It was a beautiful place to spend time together remembering how blessed we all are to have had such a wonderful woman in our lives.  Stella is enjoying getting to know Great Aunt Teresa in this picture.

Here are a couple of sweet baby and daddy moments I snuck up on while they were out on the deck enjoying the view.  Priceless.

Stella with two of her very favorite people - Mimi and Grandpa!  She is such a lucky girl to have such awesome grandparents.

Aunt Lael and Uncle Jack (and baby Nora - yay!!!) traveled back to Seattle with us via Chinook Pass.  I love that drive, and I loooove these two crazy kids.

Here we are...gorillas in the mist.

Lael finds a tree that's just her size! Then later, so does Stella!

We always like to prowl around the market when we are in town.   We enjoyed some delicious gelato which Lael is nicely modeling.  I have no recollection of what was actually being said...but I love this picture because it features a classic Jack-in-response-to-Lael face, equal parts surprise/delight/intrigue/confusion.  Hilarious. 

Here Stella sleeps through a street concert, vendors yelling, cars honking, gulls gulling (or whatever those terrifying birds do), a Breast Cancer 5K, and mommy laughing and moving around.  She is at one with the universe.

One last family dinner before heading back to Texas.  Stella enjoys some more bonding with Great Aunts Sabra, Tory (below...the infamous stink-eye!) and Leslie!  She has no shortage of awesome aunts, that is for sure. 

And I will close this post with a slightly blurry parting shot of the Oklahoma branch of the Simons clan (minus sleeping Stella) with Great Grandpa.