Another B-Day Present for Eliot

Thanks Dave and Kim!

B-day visit to Speyer's Technik Museum

Sorry Dad. We didn't get through it all and are looking forward to going back in October.

Happy 2 Eliot!
Toni and Ed made Eliot this awesome train cake. THANKS!

Eliot and Michael thoroughly enjoyed the Air Force's 60th birthday celebration at Ramstein Airforce Base this afternoon.

It's a ...................
(Clues in slideshow)

Happy Birthday Eliot !

ok. This box is empty of presents. Thanks everyone.

What do you mean my present is in there?

Here's a picture of Eliot saying goodbye to his new friend, Ernie, as he went back off to war in Afghanistan.



I'm not sure who's missing him more... Eliot or Andy! Let's just say the two of them really hit it off. Who said anything about "don't ask, don't tell"?

Playtime with Michael

More of Ireland

Ruedesheim, Germany

Ireland

We stayed at this wonderful thatched roof cottage about 20 miles North of Dublin. The cottage in the back is that of the owner. Ours was just a little ways up the path.
Beautiful day, but just the night before there was a constant 20-30 mph wind along the beach. It was amazing how fast the weather could change in Ireland.

Time for a beach walk.

This is the jellyfish that Eliot stepped on while coming back from his beach time with Mom. I watched him do it. It was intentional. I thought to myself, "Surely, he wouldn't step on that would he." I was wrong. Didn't seem to phase him though.

Yeah, we were just as amazed as you. (Usually, he spells it with two Ts)

If you look real closely, you can see a stringer from Eliot to the top of my head. Now, that's some quality father son bonding.

The StorehouseIt wouldn't have been a true trip to Dublin if we missed the tour of the Guinness Brewery (i.e. The Storehouse)

Enjoying our complimentary brew at the 7th story gravity bar. The 360 degree view of Dublin was very cool. We had a hard time convincing Eliot that they were now making orange Guinness, but he eventually believed us. If you can't trust your parents, who can you trust, right?

Digger

I wonder where Eliot ever got the idea that digging could be fun.?

Maybe it's even better to manage other diggers.

We'll see.

Happy Day

Today, Eliot made his first poo on the potty. We've had a couple of successful pee pee trips, but this was the first productive #2 on the potty. Such a proud day in a parent's life :) For all of you waiting on more pictures, we thought we'd omit this one. Some things are just not made to be Kodak moments.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

I must say, I am truly impressed with Dave's investigational skills. He even beat out our resident entomologist, "the golden child" by a few minutes. However, Scott did provide a link to a very nice website with a description of these interesting moths: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae

First Beaver Blog Competition!









So we had this really cool bug in the backyard, and Andy decided to get all fancy with the camera. The little critter was fast though, so these are the best photos he got. I am offering up some good German chocolate to the first person who can correctly identify the genus and species (and common name for those of us not so scientific). There should be a certain member of the audience with a distinct advantage... no pressure :)

Aquarium Trip

Eliot likes to drive, whether it is cars, his tricycle, or this boat. Let's just say he likes to be in charge. Don't know where he gets that from...

Aquarium petting zoo - Eliot got to touch a starfish, sea anemone, and spiny urchin (OUCH!)

Dad and Eliot wowed by the shark and ray tank.

Fishbowl

Such a boy (or should I say, such BOYS!)

Eliot has been recently fascinated by all of the following things: Trucks, Bulldozers, Excavators, Tractors, and Dirt Diggers. Let's just say that yellow is certainly the favored color, and John Deere is a dirty word in this house. Once a CAT family, always a CAT family.

Sometimes it's hard to get the monkey off your back.

OK, if you want to be academic about it, it's not just any monkey, it's a Lemur. And it's not just any Lemur, it's a Duke Lemur. This Lemur traveled all the way from North Carolina with the help of Aunt Onika first to Maryland, then with mom over the Atlantic, to find it's way on Eliot's back. For even more academic information about Duke Lemurs, click here.

Eliot (Randy Beazdan the first), Andy, and I would like to introduce you to Randy Beazdan, Jr.

Eliot's little sister or brother is due to join us on January 2nd, 2008, and we're going to do our best to keep her/him in for a full 40 weeks this time! OK, if Andy gets his way, we'll have a 2007 baby (for tax purposes, of course!) We are all very excited about our new member of the family :)