Izzy's Birthday Party

We finally had Izzy's cake party on Monday night after our vacation. I made a monkey cake for her, and we hung up everyone's pictures. The pictures are pretty self explanatory.

I'm a cute monkey cake.


Half me mouf ith gone...but I'm sthill cute.


nnn mmmm...buu immm stii cuuu.


bbbbblllllllhhhhhhhhnmmmm.


After some initial reticence, Izzy really dug in. She had both hands going, and by the end, I think she had some frosting in her hair and cake shoved in her ear.



Here's a pic of Chris with Izzy, and all the party-goers.


And a family shot.


p.s. on a sad note, the cute monkey cake was burned to death after I forgot I was storing it in the oven, and preheated it. Also burned in the sad conflagration, the orange plate that the monkey cake was living on.

Izzy's Grand Canyon Adventure

Because I am ultra-organized (some people are snickering...), Chris and I planned out things that we wanted to do, and when we were going to do them. Obviously, with a 1-year old, the plan was flexible. But for the most part, we stuck to it.

I have no idea when this picture was taken. Sometime in between Thursday night's ice cream, and Friday morning's hike down Bright Angel Trail. But, she was enjoying a banana with Chris, and also having fun with the sticker on her head (and then on the floor, and then on her knee, etc.)


Here we are, hiking down Bright Angel Trail. It was really fun! People would do a triple take when they realized that Chris did not just have a backpack, but had a BABY in the backpack. We got lots of smiles. We hiked 1 1/2 miles down, and then turn around and came back. It took us about an hour down, and an hour fifteen minutes back, so we were making good time. Izzy fell asleep on the way back, and then flopped around, hanging out of the pack. Good thing she's bendy. But here are Chris and Izzy walking through one of the two tunnels on the path. Bright Angel trail actually goes all they way into the canyon (9 miles). You can camp down there, too. Chris and I want to do that once Izzy is old enough to do it.


Here, Chris is tickling Izzy's feet. Her newest trick is to say "tickle, tickle, tickle" and tickle the nearest person, whether it be Chris, me (usually while I'm nursing), Raisin, or herself. Pretty much whatever is convenient. During the hike, she kept tickling Chris's shoulders, saying "tickle, tickle, tickle."


This is one of the few pictures we have as a family. It was taken at the top of the trailhead when we got done hiking. A nice couple up there offered to take some for us. Note Izzy, sleeping and flopped over.


This is one of the few pictures of Izzy and I. It was taken at Desert View Watchtower, where we went Saturday afternoon. To fill in the blanks, after the Friday morning hike, we napped, then we walked along the rim trail, which was right along the rim of Grand Canyon. Then Izzy napped and we had dinner at the fancy Arizona room, where Izzy was pretty well behaved. Then we walked around and went to bed. But here are Izzy and I.


We were supposed to go running on Saturday morning, but Chris wasn't feeling great, so instead we went to National Geographic Imax, and saw the movie there. It was fun, and Izzy ended up with a Burro and a Howling Coyote (both fun stuffed animals). Then, she napped and we headed over to Desert View Watchtower. At the end of the Watchtower event, Izzy began to lose it. But we always love it when she gets so cuddly.


She perked up when we got some ice cream. She has this thing with her feet, where she loves them to be at the same height as her hands. She loves to prop them up on things. Often, when we're running, I'll look down, and see her foot poking out from underneath the stroller cover.


After the Watchtower, we went back to our room, Izzy pretended to nap, and then we went to dinner at Maswik Cafeteria. And so began the evening of weirdness. It began when Chris chose a table by the cleaning/bussing station, where a woman talked to herself. Talked is an overstatement. It was really more like psychotic serial killer mumbling. So we moved to another table, pretending that the one he picked was too big. There, we kept getting "visited" by the cashier, who kept poking and talking to Isabelle, who kept trying to wiggle away. We couldn't blame her for that. Then, as we were finishing eating, a guy walked by who was giggling and mumbling and may have cackled...all to himself. At that point, we decided dinner was over, and that if we ever stayed at Grand Canyon again, it would not be at Maswik Lodge, home of the weirdos. Of course, the weirdness continued when we got farted at by the mule sign (discussed in a previous post). So, we walked around and called it a night. Of course, Izzy didn't, and refused to sleep in her pack n play, and wanted to sleep sideways in our bed. Ugh. But before we headed to bed, Izzy helped us pack up. What a sweetheart...occasionally.

Izzy's Actual Birthday

Izzy may have had the worst first birthday EVER. It involved a seven hour car ride to Grand Canyon ("they" don't like it when you call it 'the' Grand Canyon, though it would be proper english, I think). She slept for 2 1/2 of the first 3 1/2 hours (yay!), but was a bear for the third hour, while we were trying to get into Phoenix for lunch. Then we played and walked around MetroCenter Mall. Then, back into the car for another 3 1/2 hours. Again, she slept for the first 2 hours, and the last bit was pretty sucky. But in the end, we got there, we got checked in and settled, and we went to dinner. For our first night, we went to Bright Angel Restaurant in the Bright Angel Lodge, where we were staying. It was pretty family friendly. I had the worst spaghetti ever. I didn't realize it was possible to overcook noodles so much that they were mushy. Yuk. But the meatballs were good. And Chris liked his trout. And everyone thought that Izzy was cute!

Here she is, looking one year old!


For dessert, instead of traditional cake (we did that when we got home), we had ice cream (of course, since we were in Grand Canyon National Park, haven of tourism, we paid $2.50 for a tiny scoop...but we splurged on her birthday). Izzy was all about the ice cream!


I've figured out why Chris is clearly the fun parent...


And here she is, totally engrossed in ice cream.

Grand Canyon Mule Jokes

Well, the Grand Canyon has these mule tours, where people ride them to the bottom of the canyon. And that left a lot of jokes for Chris and I to come up with.

First of all, this was a joke in itself: We pondered the difference between a mule, a burro, and a horse. I told Chris that a mule was like an Eeyore, and a burro was a spanish Eeyore. I was wrong. (here comes the joke...) At the top of Bright Angel trail, there is a sign that explains the difference. As Chris and I (and Izzy) were walking over to read it, the woman sitting by it LEANED FORWARD and audibly farted. The joke was on us. And she was just one of the many weirdos that we encountered that evening. But what the sign told us before we were chased away was that a male burro + a female horse = mule of any sex.

And since mules are also called Jackasses or asses, there were jokes aplenty. Here they come...


Hey, get your asses out of the way!

There sure are a lot of asses in the Grand Canyon.

That woman has a HUGE ass.

Nice ass.

Move it, jackass.

Stop hitting your ass.

Stop hitting my ass.

Your ass stinks.

Watch out...big ass coming through.

Do these pants make my ass look big? (Thanks to Chris for that little gem.)

Four asses walked into a bar...(just kidding).

I am sure there are many more mule jokes, but this was just a taste of our humor. (Boy, it tasted like ASS...hehehe).

And here are some mules lined up on the side of the trail.


And this is...well, you know.

Giant TV, broken = New places to hang out

So, for most people, the title would imply that the Pack Family has decided to get out and do something better than sit in front of the tv. For everyone who actually knows us, they know that it just means we've moved to the other room. Boring, I know, but football season is upon us, and after all, we DID pay for our college gameday...waste not, want not.

But let's start at the beginning, Sunday, August 31, when after a large popping noise, our big screen tv started to sound like our vacuum cleaner, and look like we were crossing our eyes. So we turned it off and began the search for the warranty. Alas, it was not where it was supposed to be, so I lost my temper (I have a short fuse when it comes to not being able to find things, and when electronics don't work the way they're supposed to...so lost things and electronics, beware), and Chris quickly took over the search. (He's a good and patient man.) He found it in a place that had a logical connection, but it was NOT WHERE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. So, I called the warranty department, and they gave me an appointment for the next day with the repair company. When I called the repair place the next day, they said they first had to order the part, and then wait for the part to come in, and then call to set up an appointment, so it would most likely be at least a week. I figured, oh well, what can you do...but the next day, I got a voicemail from the repair company saying that they called to order the part, and it was on back order, so it may be at least 14 days until the part is even available. Long story short (this is the short version?), if our tv can't be fixed within 14 business days, the repair company is pretty sure that Best Buy will replace our TV! Which is great, because our tv is so old (a whopping 3 years), that Best Buy doesn't sell it anymore, and the one that they do which is comparable is WAY fancier! Whoo-hoo! So, keep your fingers crossed that the part DOESN'T come in soon, and that we score a new tv!

But since we love our TV and our football, we have all moved into the office for the time being. That includes the dogs! We sit on the bed and in the papasan chair, and watch tv and read and hang out. And Izzy is loving being on the bed, because she seriously flops around. And she especially loves to "chill" and lounge. She is clearly our child.

Here are some pics of Izzy doing some power lounging.

Play Group!!!

A few weeks ago, Mommy and I started going to play group. We found the group through meetup.com. Almost every day, there is something to do, but mostly, me and Mommy go to Kindermusik (our version), and other fun baby things. When I get older, there will be other things for me to do, but for now, mostly kindermusik. There are other kids there to play with, and I like them a lot, but they are all older than me, so sometimes they can do things I can't. That's okay, though. I'll grow up eventually.

Here I am at our first group. It was a get together to make the instruments for kindermusik. I couldn't really decorate anything, but I had fun playing with the other kids.


And this when we all met at the park to play with bubbles. It was the park near our house, so Mommy and me just walked over. Bubbles were fun, and I got to crawl on the ground and get all dirty!


This picture was taken at one of our kindermusik play groups. I had lots of fun banging things and playing piano. Those other kids have great rhythm!!!


And then, I just couldn't help myself. That boy was sooooo cute!

Isabelly Topknot, by Eden Pack

Woof...excuse me while I clear my throat...woof, growl, woof...Okay, let's begin. Now, my sister, Izzy doesn't have a lot of hair, compared to me and my little bro. We beautiful specimens are covered from ear to claw with glorious fur. Izzy only has a little on her head, and let me tell you, I've checked everywhere. I've sniffed her toes and licked her face, and no where but on the top of her head, can you find hair. At first, it laid flat on her head, like a little black hat. But, as she got older, it stood up, as if she was a little baby Ridgeback who was excited. But alas, she is but a human baby. Well, I've noticed recently that her hair has begun to lay flat and get in her eyes. I'm not sure she notices, but maybe she does, because she sure does fall a lot. Anyways, I got a big surprise recently when I looked, and she had some sort of hair tree sprouting from the top of her head. It was definitely her hair, because I sniffed it good, but it was held in place by a band. And I could finally see her face again. I had forgotten how fun it is to lick all the leftover food off of her face.

Here she is, wearing her hair-tree hat (Dad and Mom call it a Topknot, after Tasselhoff Burrfoot, someone from a book they both read.)


She's such a pretty pup. Here, she looks like she's modeling.


And who is that gorgeous creature? Oh, it's me! I'm sniffing her topknot, to make sure it's her hair.


This is what Dad calls her "Ed Grimley" look. I don't know who that is, but I don't care because my Mom didn't know who that was either, and had to look it up on the internet.


And here's Daddy and Izzy. There so cute when they get ready for bed!