Elia is so cute.

I have posted a lot of the funny things Gianna does here and here. I need to dedicate a post to Elia, because she is doing really cute things right now. And I need to remember these cute things, right?

Exhibit A:

How cute is she in this swimsuit? It really accentuates her thunder thighs and belly. She loves to go swimming, and I am so sad that our pool is already closing! The summer is hardly over as far as the heat goes, so I don't know what we are going to do outside and keep cool from here until November. Yeah, it won't be bearable until November.

Exhibit B:

OBSESSED with her daddy. While we were in Napa, she saw Chris pretty much 24/7 for a week and a half, which is such a treat, and boy oh boy. She preferred Chris to me hands down.

Here are some of her cute quirks:

Time Out

Gianna is in time out at least once per day, and Elia has always tried to sit next to her or mess with her during TO. Last week, Elia kept hitting Gianna on the head with a hairbrush, and I kept telling her NO and she wasn't listening. So I put her in time out. I think she was there for 30 seconds, but I hope it got the point across to her. Now, she goes in the time out spot on her own and cries for a little bit. All for attention. Sometimes if I just tell her no, she automatically runs over to the spot and sits there and cries. It takes everything in me not to laugh and smile at her so that she doesn't think TO is a game.

Prayers

When we tell Gianna and Elia it is time to say prayers, Elia stops whatever she is doing and folds her hands together and babbles. She doesn't do it as much anymore, probably because we have asked her to do it so much it has lost its appeal to her.

Dancing Diva

G was a dancing diva around this age too. She dances whenever she hears music she likes, or if you ask her to. She puts her arm up like this:

And then she turns around and around and around and around. Until she is dizzy and falls over. So stinking cute!

Accessories

She is a girly girl to the max. I don't think Gianna was ever like this, but Elia LOVES to wear bracelets, necklaces, hats, you name it. Even her backpack is an accessory she can't pass up when she see it lying around. She gets really creative about it too. I have a steamer in the bottom drawer in the kitchen, and one of the attachments for it is just a plastic tube. She always finds it and puts it on as a bracelet. We were at the pool a few days ago, and she went through

my beach bag and pulled out G's undies and put them on as a bracelet. Hilarious!

Seriously, love her!

Camping

I know you have all been waiting, so here is my recount of our wonderful camping trip to Rock Creek.

The trip started early Sunday morning with a 6 hour drive to Rock Creek, a campsite on the

other side of Yosemite. The drive had lots of wonderful scenery, as we drove through the mountains. We arrived in the early evening to our tents already set up. (you see, at 2am that morning, Grandpa took some of the boys early to scout out a good camp site and set up camp- having teenage boys to do anything at your beck and call is awesome!) This is Chris and I's tent, which basically became Gianna and Elia's tent as well.

We took the girls all around the campsite to explore. Our campsite was nestled between two mountains with a large creek (small river?) running behind us. With the river drowning out any noises from other nearby campers and with the wall of mountains, it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. These were all taken not 10 steps away from our site.

It got dark quickly and as soon as the sun went over the mountain, it got cold. We were feeling 85 during the day when the sun was out and in the dead of the morning it was getting down to 40/45. Bone-chilling for what this Texas girl is used to!

Monday we did some small hikes near a town called Mammoth. We saw an earthquake fault, which was pretty cool. There was a place where you could climb down into it and there was snow down there. We also went to a June Lake, which was so cold, but the water was as clear as glass. It was gorgeous. Of course, I have no pictures from that day. We came home to a wonderful dinner of Mary's chili. I could probably dedicate a whole post to the food that we had. For some reason, camping makes food taste better. We also had a lot of fun each night sitting around the campfire. Elia learned to put her hands up when we were holding her and say no to the fire.

Tuesday was amazing. We went on a 4 mile hike- 2 miles up and 2 miles down the mountain. Our campsite was at about 8ooo feet and at the highest point in our hike I think we got up to 10200 feet. So beautiful. Only pictures can really tell you how beautiful it was, and even pictures don't do it justice. We bought another baby carrier through craigslist so now Chris and I I have matchy matchy backpacks. Its nice to have those teenage boys (and Chris) around to help carry the babies.

It was a wonderful day, but sadly Ana developed elevation sickness from this hike. Well, we don't really know if the hike actually did it or if the hike just exacerbated what she already had, but nonetheless, Mary, Jenny and Phoebe spent the night in a hotel with Ana at 4000 feet just to make sure. And she got better right away, so alls well.

Chris and the boys spent Wednesday morning hiking up the mountain that overlooked our campsite. Once they got back, we packed up and headed home. Such a wonderful trip! Can't wait for our next camping trip!

Top 10 of our California Trip

Ah, California. So beautiful and amazing. Can't wait to go back in November! In no particualr order, here is my top 10 of our trip!

1. Camping outside of Yosemite.

This was probably the highlight of our trip. It deserves its own post with lots of pictures. Stay tuned for that!

2. The Giants Game

The Giants played the Dodgers, so it was a pretty exciting game. We seriously almost died of the cold though. San Francisco is frigid in the summer!

3. Fresno

Visiting Fresno to see Nichole and Max. So good to meet him and let the little ones play!

4. Wine tasting.

It is quite possibly the perfect date. Lots to see and talk about and the wine is so good! Quite possibly the most expensive date ever though!

5. Aunties.

G and E are so lucky to have them to play with and dote on them all the time. We miss them already!

6. DOG

Elia called everything dog. And since there were at least 2 dogs with us at all times, she said dog a whole heck of a lot. So cute. She would sometimes walk behind one of the dogs and just say dogdogdogdogdog! She is learning a few other words but dog is just so stinking cute.

7. Getting my baby fix.

Chris' uncle Eric has a 4 week old and his aunt Erin has a 6 month old. Add to that Phoebe who is 8 months and Chris has a cousin who is pregnant. I could never have a baby again and still get enough baby in my life! (don't worry people, I'm sure there are more McHugh-Rowles babies down the line)

8. Poker and Potluck

These are always fun events- never a dull moment and it is so great to catch up with Chris' extended family. Aunt Erin, Jenny, and Mary made the most amazing cupcakes too.

9. Babysitters

Chris and I went out quite a bit. We celebrated his birthday at a bar, and went to lunch quite a few times. Sans babies. It was awesome. It is so great to get out!

10. Phoebe

She is the cutest little asian version of Jenny ever. She took to Uncle Chris more than Aunt Moe, but thats ok. I still like her. Gianna is obsessed. Loved to giver her kisses. Here she is driving the car.

There is much much more, but I have stuff to do. Stay tuned for that camping post! Love and miss you all!

Dooooooog

Elia's latest and greatest word is DOG. About a week before we left for California, we saw a very big dog at the pool. G and I repeated DOG to her a few times. And then the pool entrance actually has a stuffed dog that "guards" the cash register. So I kept repeating DOG to her. Well, here in Napa, Chris' family has 2 dogs running around at home AND while we were camping, Jenny and Vince had their 2 dogs. So we have been in dog heaven these past 2 weeks. And every time Elia sees one of them, I mean EVERY TIME, she says dooooog. At one point while we were camping the dogs were running around with their frisbee and she just said dogdogdogdogdogdog. It really is so cute. But now she is calling everything DOG. Cousin Phoebe was a dog, any animal she sees in a book or outside is a dog, etc. I will have pictures maybe a video to post soonly.

G's First Stitch

Gianna has sort of always been prone to falling on her head. Here is probably her first scary fall: Oh Girl. She also has a tendency to fall straight onto her head when getting off chairs, couches, bathtubs, etc. The night before we left for California, I was about to pour myself a glass of wine and relax while Chris rough housed with the girls. Neither of us saw how it happened, but somehow her forehead met the edge of the fireplace. Chris sprang into action, and immediately got the bleeding to stop. But when we looked at the cut, it was just so deep. Thank goodness Mary was there to watch Elia so Chris and I could go to Urgent Care together with Gianna. She needed to have the cut cleaned out and, eek, one stitch to hold it together as it heals. Of course, this just happens to be the night before we leave to go to California on a 2 week trip. Vince was able to take the stitch out in California, and it has healed VERY well. Gianna was quite the trooper during the whole ordeal. She can whine all day about silly little things, but she only screamed while they were stitching her up. On the way to the hospital, and in between getting cleaned and stitched, she was laughing and talking and pretty much being a delightful child. I was so surprised that she didn't take this oppurtunity to get as much attention as possible and wail and gnash her teeth.
The little cut is hardly noticeable now, but the band-aid surely is. Unfortunately in a lot of the CA pictures (soon to come) you can see a big old bandage across her forehead. I was so very proud of G. A fireplace guard is on top of my to-do list when we get home.