A Very, Merry Christmas

Merry, merry Christmas everyone! (I'm posting this a little early because tomorrow we're headed up to Niceville for a Lusk family Christmas.)

Tracy took these absolutely adorable Christmas photos of Amelia Marie a few weeks ago in nearby downtown Winter Garden, which has an excellent Christmas display. As you can see, Amelia LOVES having her picture taken by Tracy. She was not crazy about getting dressed up in her turtle neck and courdoroy Christmas dress on a warm Florida evening, though. She was sweating by the end of the photo shoot!

These photos say it all. Here's hoping that Christmas this year brings you as much joy and happiness as Amelia brings us every day. We can't imagine life without our little girl who has a smile as big as her heart.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Baby!

On Saturday we went to see Santa at the mall and we weren't exactly sure how this would go. Before the visit we knew that Amelia LOVED Santa in two dimensions - in books, on Christmas decorations, on lawn decorations - but we weren't quite sure how she would handle him IN PERSON. Of course, she was a champ. She had to sit on his lap for what seemed like forever while we waited for the guy to fiddle with his camera. She just sat there patiently like such a big girl while Santa talked to her and managed a small smile when it came time for the photo. Later, when I asked what Santa had talked to her about she said, "Elmo!" No wonder she smiled for the camera.

Ready for My Close-Up!

Dear Auntie Tracy,

Thank you for showing me this cute pose. I'm going to do it in all my pictures now! You photographers have such great ideas sometimes.

Love, Amelia

Baby, It's Cold Outside. Sort of.

The closest thing Amelia has gotten to snow in her short life is a little hill of crushed ice thanks to the folks at Barnes & Nobles and their annual "Snow Day." We went Saturday and it was "snow" much fun! We got there early before all the snow melted (I think it was actually in the 80s that day) and Amelia and Daddy went sledding. Once. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

We also saw Curious George, who have Amelia a hug huge. She was fascinated by him, calling out over and over: "Curious George the monkey! Curious George the monkey!" That morning, she had just read her Curious George book so she must have been thinking, "Wow! He's actually REAL!"

Happy Turkey Day!

Guess who loves pumpkin pie? Especially homemade pumpkin pie. You guessed it. Amelia.
She wasn't so crazy about the turkey or mashed potatoes. And once again, she dramatically threw her green beans on the floor. Had she tasted them, she would have loved them, I'm sure!

All this delicious home cooking was courtesy of Jason's parents, Meemaw Barbara and Grandpa Larry, who came to visit for Thanksgiving weekend. We had a wonderful time and Grandpa Larry got to read SO MANY books to Amelia, which she LOVED. She also showed off her mad sliding skills at the park and celebrated Meemaw's birthday with a singing Elmo balloon and red velvet cake. Oh, and guess who loves red velvet cake? Yup. Our little sweetie pie.

We'll see them again at Christmas at their house in Niceville and something tells me their will be no shortage of holiday goodies there!

Hello, Mickey! (And Minnie and Donald and Goofy!)

It has been SUCH a busy, happy month for little Miss Amelia - full of adventures, celebrations and generally a good time. Thus, the lack of new entries on the blog.

Last month, we went to Disney's World Magic Kingdom with friends Maite and Cha Cha (who kindly invited us) Kristin and Ava and Julie and Haley. Amelia is at the age where she can finally enjoy a few hours with her Disney friends! We got to see Mickey Mouse and friends dance and sing in front of Cinderella's castle (or "big house" as Amelia calls it) and ride several rides.

Among Amelia's favorite rides were "It's a Small World," which actually has some dolls from Thailand - pictured here - and the Dumbo ride where she and I flew in an elephant. Amelia loves elephants and loves flying so of course she loved a flying elephant ride! (I took the photo here after we landed. Don't worry. She didn't go alone.)

All the girls were so patient waiting in the lines to get on the rides and walking around in the heat. They seemed to notice the characters, too, but we didn't get close enough to get any pictures with them.

To round out the day, on our way back to the car, we saw the space shuttle racing across the clear, blue sky. It had launched just seconds earlier from the Kennedy Space Center. It's so cool to see the shuttle when it goes up and was a perfect way to end our totally tourist day in Central Florida!

Thanksgiving Came Early

For about a dozen of Amelia's little friends, Thanksgiving came early this year. On Sunday, Erin Chambers, mommy of Charlotte, hosted a "Teeny Tiny Toddler Thanksgiving" party and it was a blast! Erin thought of every detail - hayrides, crafts, gift bags - and, of course, food. We all pitched in for a traditional Thanksgiving spread. The kiddos didn't eat much, which meant more for us grown ups!

For Amelia, it was the first time she has seen her friends in a couple of months because of our trip to Thailand. And it was like she had never left! She threw herself into the playground and preferred to push the wagon for the hayride rather than actually RIDE in the wagon. (She has always loved pushing things, even before she could walk on her own!)

Toward the end of the party, us parents pulled off a stunning accomplishment. We got ALL the toddlers to sit STILL for a picture. Those of you with toddlers will truly appreciate how it is nearly impossible to get them to sit still. Our secret - a rousing rendition of "Wheels on the Bus" sung chorus-style by the parents. That's why in the group picture, many of the little ones looked stunned. But at least they are still. And we got the shot.

Will the REAL Abby Cadabby Please Step Forward?

As you can all see, Amelia ABSOLUTELY LOVED being Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street for Halloween. (For anyone who doesn't know, Abby is a fairy-in-training with PURPLE hair and PURPLE freckles. What could be a better costume for a little girl who loves purple? Abby carries a wand and has wings, two words Amelia has learned to say very well.) We had a wonderful time trick-or-treating at two different locations this year. First, we hit an outdoor mall area near us, then we came back home and went door-to-door in our neighborhood. At the mall, people literally stopped in their tracks to tell us how adorable Amelia looked. Later in our neighborhood, Ava, who lives across the street and is about a year older than Amelia dressed as Tinker Bell and the two girls, um, I mean fairies, looked so cute sitting in Ava's red wagon as they circled the block. Amelia took the whole thing very seriously, as she tends to do with new experiences that she senses are very important. She tried a LITTLE chocolate candy, but thankfully wasn't crazy about it. Now we have a whole lot of candy and not enough people around to eat it!

Elephants, Elephants Everywhere!

As everyone knows by now, Amelia loves elephants or "chang" (as they are called in Thai) and on Monday she got to see a lot of the big, gentle creatures up close and personal. We traveled to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, part of the National Elephant Institute in Lampang, which is a city about an hour away. It's a beautiful drive through the rolling hills of Northern Thailand and it was a sunny, clear morning before the heat of the day descended and when the clouds were still low enough to cover the mountain tops.

When we first got there, we fed the elephants banana and sugar cane, the first of many times we fed them that day. Amelia liked the idea of it, but when it came time to actually put the food in the elephant's trunk, she squirmed away. She did NOT like being so close to the trunks!

Next, we watched the elephants take a bath and Amelia thought that was funny, especially when their mahouts dunked their heads under water. She liked seeing the elephants get wet, too. And on their way out of the water, one of the BIG elephants sprayed us with its trunk! We didn't get too wet and Amelia LOVES telling the story about what the elephant after its bath. But she still didn't want to get too close for pictures. (That's why she's pointing at the ground, wanting to get DOWN in one of the pictures where I'm holding her.)

After the bath was the elephant show, during which the elephants demonstrate all the skills they have such as rolling logs, showing off how they sleep and even painting pictures. The show was a bit long for a toddler and she didn't want to sit still very much, preferring to wander around and look at everyone's shoes. She loves shoes. Even when there are elephants around.

There's also an elephant hospital at the conservation center where vets treat elephants with severe injuries. Some of the elephants are pretty badly hurt from stepping on land mines planted in the border regions (which I'm pretty sure is a illegal.) A few months ago, one elephant at this very hospial was fitted with a prosthetic leg - the first of its kind in the world for an elephant. We rode by the hospital but didn't walk around it because I was afraid Amelia would be upset to see elephants with big "boo boos."

After a little lunch, we did some shopping and Amelia picked out this elephant hat, which she loves wearing. She was so worn out from our elephant adventure that she fell asleep before we even left the parking lot to head home. It was a great day and Amelia will tell you all about it when she sees you again!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

On October 15, we celebrated my Dad's 70th birthday! (The big day was the main reason Amelia and I came to Thailand this year.) For the special day, Amelia wore a red and white check dress that I wore 36 years ago on my second birthday. And my Mom found a picture of me wearing the dress. So I took a picture of Amelia wearing the dress holding the picture of me wearing the dress. Pretty cool, huh?

We started the day with a lovely brunch at the Meridien hotel in Chiang Mai, thanks to Uncle B (who knows all the good restaurants in town.) In the evening, we had about 15 friends and family members over for dinner. Because Amelia goes to bed about 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m., we sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out the candles BEFORE dinner, which everyone thought was fun. Amelia especially liked it because 1) She loves blowing out candles and 2) She got to eat birthday cake (a slice Boston cream pie) for dinner. YUMMY!

It was so special to be able to celebrate this milestone with my Dad. He and Amelia are having so much fun together. She calls him "Papa," though it sounds more like "Baba" and LOVES it when he sings songs to her and tells stories. Seeing them together is as sweet as a slice of his delicious birthday cake.

The BEACH!

In our short visit to Hua Hin, we went to several different parts of the beach. When my Mom was little, she and her family would spend several weeks a year in Hua Hin during their summer break. There was only one hotel then and virtually no tourists. Now, luxury hotels line the beach and there are restaurants, shops, malls and yes, a Starbucks and McDonalds in town.

Right in front of our hotel, the beach was a bit crowded, but there was still plenty of sand for digging. Uncle B took us to two other parts of the beach - one where Amelia saw horses up close for the first time. (Notice how the horse and Amelia have the same hairstyle.) She really thought it was cool to see the horse's nose go in and out while breathing. The third beach was much wider and not as crowded and Amelia, Grandma and Grandpa had so much fun digging in the sand and going in the water! I didn't go in the water as much as I would have liked to because the sandy bottom is so uneven I was afraid I would injure my foot again. Plus, it's hard to navigate the beach with a cane.

Amelia absolutely loved all the new things that came with going to a Thai beach - the horses, the sand, the calm water (although she didn't put her head under water in the sea, only in the pool.) The one thing she didn't like was sand in her shoes. (I understand why.) She was quite bothered by it and was only satisfied when her feet and sandals were completely clean at the end of the day!

Here are just a few pictures of our stay in Hua Hin, one we will always remember!

The Hua Hin Hilton

At the hotel, our 11th floor room had a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Siam and in the distance was Khao Yai, a famous mountain. It was just beautiful. One morning, it was clear enough to see the sun rise over the water and Amelia loved shouting out all the different colors in the sky: PINK! YELLOW! BLUE! (Yes, we were up before sunrise every morning. Even on vacation, there's no sleeping in with a toddler.)

We began the day with a scrumptious breakfast buffet overlooking the swimming pool and the beach. Usually, we made it to the pool twice a day, which Amelia loved because she could stand in the kiddie pool. She still dunked her head under water, but she did it while standing up. So cute. Most folks sitting around the pool were so surprised to see someone so little happily going under water. And there were BIG elephant statues near the pool which provided endless conversation for Amelia.

In the group picture, you'll see Uncle B and Auntie Pusadee, who was able to get away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok for a night. It was great having her along, too!