Stephen and Heidi got hitched!

On Saturday, we headed to Galesburg to attend my cousin Stephen and Heidi's wedding.  It was a beautiful backyard garden wedding, with so many neat rustic, romantic and homemade touches.  From the garden to the candlelight, to the flowers to the clawfoot tub holding beverages, to the kerosene lanterns on each table, the quilts as table coverings, and food all made with love by Heidi's family and cupcakes by my cousin Shannon, it was a spectacular event.  Even their first song was original - they sang a duet together while Stephen played the guitar.  Here we are waiting for the ceremony to begin!

Here are the girls having a little snack before dinner.

Had to get a picture of my table - Adam and Caleb entertain themselves at the table!

Here are my mom and dad, enjoying the wedding and visiting with their friends!

This might be my favorite photo from the weekend.  Elaine LOVED being on her daddy's shoulders, and was doing her hand flailing excitement move.  It just so happened to bonk daddy on the head, which only adds to the entertainment factor.

Here is a photo of the bride and groom as they were announced coming into the reception - we love you both!

Here are Missy and Connor at our table as the night went on.

The next morning, we had to squeeze in just a little more time with the cousins before we hit the road.  Elaine and Lauren love each other!  They would do a squealing screeching sound back and forth - whatever they were saying, it was pretty cute!

One last photo with Adam before we hit the road back to Des Moines!

We managed to stop for a brief visit to see Ashley and Mike Merrill's baby boy, Brooks Michael, who was born 3 weeks ago.  It was exciting to see such an adorable little guy!  Congrats to the Merrills!

Of course the weekend to Peoria would simply not have been complete without a stop at Steak N Shake!  For the first time I ordered Elaine's dinner off the menu!  (Kind of.)  She had mandarin oranges and some other goodies from the mama stash.  What a wonderful weekend with family! 

Thirty and Thankful

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 30th birthday by taking Friday off and going to Peoria to do some of my favorite things! First order of business was a swim at the pool!  We headed to Willow Knolls which is now a YMCA.  I spent many MANY hours at this pool, probably ever day of the summer as a kid growing up.  Here is her short visit to the baby pool.

We then headed to the adult pool, where we all enjoyed a splash and some sunshine.  Here are my parents with Elaine in the pool.

After we got home, we had everyone over for some dinner, and my birthday celebration.  Here is a self-photo.

Here is me while getting Happy Birthday sung to me.  Not sure what I wished for, because I really can't ask for anything else in my life!

Here is Missy and Elaine.  I have yet to meet a baby that didn't LOVE Missy - she just has that special quality that kids love.  I love seeing her with Elaine.

Here are the two girl cousins giving each other love.  Lauren would point at Elaine and say "baby", and immediately hold her hand or hug her.  Melt my heart! 

The next morning, we visited my grandma and grandpa.  It was a short visit, since we needed to get to a wedding... to be continued!

Eric's 1st Father's Day

This weekend Eric got to celebrate his first official Father's Day!  And celebrate we did!  The day started with Donut King donuts on the "You Are Special Today" plate.  This photo was taken Saturday, but I liked it so it gets a random spot on the blog.

After Elaine's morning nap, we headed to none other than Eric's favorite, the Cheesecake Factory.  We had a nice lunch and they even brought a plate of kid friendly banana slices and bread. 

On our way out, Eric HAD to show Elaine all the cheesecake options that make this place one of his favorites.

When we got home, Eric got to open his gift from Elaine, which was a Pinterest-inspired frame of her in 3 photos holding the letters to spell DAD.  This frame already has a prominent spot on his desk at work - he loved it!

Here is a picture of Elaine mid-giggle.  She is really too much fun, we love every second hearing that laugh.

Here is a video I took earlier in the week - highlighting some of her recent tricks, like standing up and crawling for the cabinets.  Throw in Eric tickling her, and it makes for a fun little video.  Happy Father's Day to the best dad I know!

Elaine's New Tricks!

Elaine never ceases to amaze us!  Here are some of her newest tricks!  Eric discovered that at daycare, Elaine feeds herself her own bottle - twice every day!  This is NOT something she has done at home, so we were pretty surprised, and excited!  Here she is showing off.

Here is Elaine trying out the whole "walking" thing.  She requires quite a bit of prodding, but we are happy to oblige. 

Another recent favorite of Elaine's is none other than Elmo.  Elaine lights up and even "sings along" from time to time.  Here she is watching Elmo's Song.

One other new development at the Morse house is the introduction to Elaine's first toothbrush.  This one's for you DAD!

I like it!

New beginnings!

What a week of firsts!!  Here is Elaine getting fitted for her new big girl carseat!  So far, so good!

I couldn't resist sharing this photo of her at the park in her favorite swing.  I guess the "first" in this picture is that her hair is now long enough its blowing in the breeze! 

First time on some other playground equipment!  She wasn't sure what to think about this one!

How can you not love this little grin and face??

Here are Elaine and I on our first day - my first day at EMC, and her first official day in her new room at daycare!  SUCCESS!!

Here is a photo of the three of us - I recently realized we have NONE of these!  You can guarantee I will be making another appointment with our favorite Lemon Tree photographer soon!

Elaine enjoyed her first time in her very own new backyard pool!  Gotta love the kiddie pool. 

All in all, a really big week for us, and we both seemed to manage just great!

Vacation Part 2 - Hilton Head Island, SC

On our way to Hilton Head Island, we stopped at the Outlet Mall for some shopping and a late lunch at the Sea Grass Grille, where I had an obsess-worthy shrimp melt and my first (local favorite) she-crab soup of the trip.  I am still fantasizing about the crunch and fresh taste of this heirloom tomato stuffed with a crunchy creamy shimp salad, covered in cheese and broiled so the top was melty, the tomato was slightly softened, but the inside was still crunchy.  You better believe when our tomatoes come up i the garden I will be trying to recreate this treat!

Eric's vote for the culinary highlight of the trip was none other than his favorite Food Network star, Robert Irvine's restaurant EAT!  Here is Eric and I as we entered the restaurant.

The restaurant had a very seductive decor, consisting of dark paneled walls, lots of red accents and unique light fixture sculptures, and we just happened to eat there on 1/2 price tapas night - so in the interest of trying as many dishes as possible and also taking advantage of this promotion, we had as many tapas as we could possibly eat!  We started with bacon and shallot compote topped oysters (roasted, parmesan finished) and a chorizo pizzetta (roasted garlic, provolone, chorizo, caramelized onion) pictured here.

The highlight for both Eric and I were the prime beef sliders (brie, pickle, blue cheese tossed romaine).  This is actually our SECOND round of these - they were possibly the best sliders we've ever had. 

The food just kept coming!  We also had crabcakes, gnocchi, and fried green tomatoes.

And of course, Eric had to have the "Chocolate Ridiculous Cake".  Shocker, right?  He enjoyed this dessert with his dramatic eye closing/rolling bliss.  His mouth was definately in a happy place.

We fell fast asleep after dinner in our first floor beachfront hotel room at the Westin with the balcony door open to the REAL sound of waves.  (Sorry Sleep Sheep - this was WAY better.)  This was our view when we woke up the next morning.

After breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe, we went straight to the pool.  Here is Eric by the pool enjoying our morning of relaxation.

Here I am also finding a great deal of relaxation poolside.

That afternoon, we gave up our pool chairs for a couple chairs and umbrella on the beach.  We loved watching the waves roll in and all the cute kids on the beach.

For dinner, we headed to the Old Fort Pub, and ate on the patio overlooking the water.  It was like being in a treehouse!  More she-crab soup, fish, and deliciousness was enjoyed here!

Here is a neat picture of the sun as it was setting over the water.  We got to watch from our table - pretty as a picture!

Good morning,  and Happy 4 year Anniversary to us!   We indulged that morning at the spa with a couples massage/scrub/tub.  It was WONDERFUL!!!  After our treatments, we grabbed a bite at a nearby deli and headed back to the beach!

 

Here is another shot of my delicious husband by (one of the three) pools.

For dinner on our anniversary, we had reservations at the Jazz Corner, coincidentally next to EAT!  It was a very intimate restaurant, with wall to wall people - not a seat to spare, and we soon learned why. 

We started with this fun dish of mussels - delish!

About this time, the lights were dimmed, and the jazz band started to play.  Very fun piano player.

Here were our main entrees, mine was prociutto wrapped shallots, and risotto in the center.  Eric enjoyed the bison burger.

This grasshopper was perfect for my radiating sunburn! 

They brought us a candle-lit dessert to wish us a Happy Anniversary and the audience clapped for us - what a great exclamation point ending to a WONDERFUL trip!!!