To the Zoo!

Last week, Greg's parents and my mom came to spend Eliana's 2nd birthday here with her in Portland. Greg took Friday off and they all headed to the zoo. They rode the train out to the zoo which was possibly Eli's favorite part of the whole day! She was also super excited about the goats, elephants and lions.

Checking out the elephants with Daddo
Climbing, climbing and more climbing
Hitching a ride on a hippo
Goats!
Goat hugs

A couple of random shots...

She is almost 2. I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around this unavoidable fact. However, as much as I miss the cuddly, agreeable baby, there's no denying that having a mini-kid is an amazing adventure.

My mom took all of the pictures in this post over the last few weeks. Thanks, Mom!

Making pancakes.

A walk in the park with Dad-O.
STICK!
Bubbles yesterday on the porch.

As I was browsing through my mom's photos, this one caught my eye. I don't know what it is. The placement of her foot, maybe, that makes her look more like a kid than a toddler. Charging off, looking for adventure and not checking behind her to see if anyone is watching.

Whistler = Amazing

I'll spare you the minor details and give you the big ideas. Great snow. Blue sky. Family. Friends. Our week in Whistler was amazing. We rode 4 days and had childcare each of those days. Getting to ride together was even better than I remember it being pre-Eliana. Team Stiles played hard, slept hard and just enjoyed being a family. Blessed. That's all. Totally blessed.

Headed home after a visit to the playground

Eli's first ride in the Gondola. I think here she's saying, "Oh, man!"
Hooray for blue sky and snow!
Happy kid! First day on the snow.
Uh-mazing!

St. Patrick's Day

Thanks to Nana in Maine, Eliana had everything an Irish girl could need.

Amigos!

Our friends, the Youngbloods, joined us for pancakes (reoccurring theme) on Sunday morning. Eliana waited on the back of the couch looking out the window, anxiously waiting for them to arrive. When they pulled up to the house, she freaked out and commenced squealing, "Amigos! Amigos! AAMMIIGGGOOOOOOS!" It was fantastic. She was so happy for them to be here. Later, she and Parker, her almost birthday twin, posed for a quick shot. Aren't they lovely?

Pancakes

Eliana loves to make pancakes. She knows the names of the ingredients and pretends to read the recipe by pointing to the words on the canister and saying, "Eggs. Milk. Mix." This morning, I threw in some chocolate chips. I think she liked them.

Utah

The rainy weather in Oregon doesn't normally get me down. I've always been able to appreciate the rain by thinking that as long as it's raining down in the city, we're getting snow in the mountains. Sadly, that has NOT been the case this year. It's often raining at the mountain as well. Depressing.

Greg recently had a trip planned to Salt Lake City for work and we took advantage. Nana came from Maine to watch Eliana for the weekend so that we could have a getaway just for us. It was fantastic.

We rode Snowbird on Saturday and the weather was pretty bad with lots of fog and snow. The tram was closed due to high winds. We didn't care too much. At least it was soft, fluffy Utah snow and not heavy, wet Oregon snain. I'd like to go back to Snowbird on a powder day. There's no doubt that the steep bowls would be fantastic, but with the fog and our lack of familiarity with the mountain, it was too sketchy. Going off a cliff would have been a bad thing.

Dinner on Saturday night was in the "hip" (quotes intentional) section of SLC at a restaurant called Pago. It was so good. We sat at the chef's counter, which is our favorite place to sit at fancy restaurants because you can strike up a conversation with the chefs and they generally pass extra little treats for you to try. This was no exception. Greg lucked out with a special sample of pork cheeks that were so tender you needed to eat them with a spoon.

Brighton on Sunday was one of my top three snowboarding experiences EVER. Powder, sun, and riding with my favorite snowboarding buddy. We hiked into bowls, rode in the trees, searched out little powder stashes and dreamt about going out of bounds to some of the prettiest terrain I've ever seen. Someday we will get split boards and really go earn our turns.

It was an amazing weekend and I'm already looking forward to a return trip.