Happiness in Seattle

Since my parents are traveling in Europe for a few weeks, Brian and I decided to take advantage of their gracious hospitality and took a little mini-vacation in Seattle with the wee peanut. For three days, we lounged, we lazed, we played and we laughed. And it was spectacular. It was a fabulous break from an already wonderful life. Brian and I kept repeating the same mantra over and over - Man, do we love this girl or what? Oh and this one popped up several times too - We are so stinkin' lucky.

Stella loves her Papa.

This is an understatement. Stella adores her Papa. She and I are beyond tight and there are moments when nobody will do but Mama. But Brian and Stella have a love thing goin' on, and it totally kills me seeing these two play and love with such unabashed joy. Lucky kid. Lucky Papa.

We spent two gloriously sunny mornings soaking up the Woodland Park Zoo since. Stella was in heaven. While she's always been into the zoo, she was literally screaming "Otters!" and "Bears!" on the drive south. And we had an extraordinary treat when we arrived. We got to feed a giraffe. And dude - yes, this merits a dude - our peanut was so brave. She was quiet and focused and totally courageous as this enormous and otherworldly creature slowly ambled toward her tiny little fingers. When it was all over, she turned to both of us and said, "Again?" Needless to say, Brian and I were equally enamored and didn't want to leave our new gorgeous friend.

The first nibble...

...Angelina, eat your heart out...

...and a final happy munch.

Amazing.

We spent a good stretch watching the gorillas as well. Stella has been talking about the gorillas for days now and occasionally asks Brian to carry her like a monkey. As we were leaving the gorilla exhibit, we caught Stella sticking her well-worn blanket ("Cuddle") into the baby gorilla statue's nose. Don't be alarmed. She's normal. Or, at least we think she is. This is how Stella comforts herself. Oddly enough, she finds immense happiness in stuffing the corner of her blanket into her little nostril. I imagine she just wanted to comfort this little guy amidst all the crowds. That's our sweet, empathetic babe.

We topped it all off with a lovely visit with Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindie. (Stella loves these guys. She talks about them constantly and loved playing football with "Bop" and examining glass ladybugs with Cindie.) It was one of those vacations that reminded us of how fortunate we are with all that we have - a happy and healthy kid and a rockin' little family unit.