Eliot's Summer Vacation 2006

I went on my first ever vacation to Leland, Michigan
from June 29th-July 9th, 2006. It is about an eight hour
drive, but we split it up each way, stopping to spend
the night at my Uncle Timmy's house, near Detroit, each way.
Here is the story of my vacation.

The first day of vacation, we drove to my Uncle Timmy's house. I had a nice visit with my uncle. He made us a nice barbeque for dinner and yummy smoothies in the morning.	I don't like being stuck in the car seat much. If you are a baby forced to travel in this barbaric way, here are my coping tips: lots of new toys (I especially liked my toothbrush, see above), eat apple slices and Oatio's, insist that your Mommy or Daddy stay in the backseat with you, and nap as much as possible (see illustration).
Here is a picture of my vacation house in Leland, taken from the beach.	And here is our Lake Leelanau, and our beach and dock.
I loved playing in my little pool on the beach.	It was filled with nice warm water.
I also liked to play in the sand.	I had plenty of toys to play with.
Sometimes Mommy took me swimming in the big lake. It made my 2 little teeth chatter cuz it was kinda cold, but I didn't mind. I brought my blue shovel with me. Yippee!	I really liked being pulled around in my own floating chair.
I played dress up in Daddy's hat.	Can I go out on the porch and play with my broom now?
I LOVED pushing my broom around on the big porch. I sweeped it up real good. Over and over and over and over and over and over again.	Who needs a bunch of lousy toys when you have a lovely broom to play with?
Mommy and Daddy decorated my stroller on my birthday and took me downtown to the big parade.	Everywhere I went, people waved at me and wished me a Happy Birthday.
There were some fire engines at the parade that were too noisy for Daddy, so I took him for a walk in the park next to where the parade was so he wouldn't be scared.	Here I am in my fancy 4th of July birthday suit that my Auntie gave me. I have a wonderful piece of cardboard in my hand. Isn't it the greatest?
Who needs birthday cake when you have fresh, locally grown strawberries, blueberries, and cherries?	Mmmmmmmm...strawberries!
My parents told me that the whole country was making pretty fireworks in the sky for my birthday. I got to stay up late to watch them. Doesn't my Mommy look like crap in this picture? At least I still look cute!	Even though I'm a big one year old now, I fell asleep on the way home from fireworks. It was way past my bedtime.
Mommy and Daddy also took me to play on the beach at the Lake Michigan ocean.	Boy, is that a lot of water!
The sand felt good on my fingers and toes.	Look at me! I'm flying!
Hurray! I got to go for a swing ride at the playground!	Thanks for the push Daddy!
I loved eating dinner on the porch. Quinoa & peas for dinner, cherries for desert. Mmmmmmmm...cherries!	Oops! I dropped one! Hey, who's that good lookin' baby down there?