Walter Dances

Documentation of firsts....
Walter may have danced before, but this morning was the first clear moment. He crawled over to the stereo and rocked back and forth to non other than Madonna, who else?

State College!

We made it to State College last night on schedule and collapsed together on Walter's sheepskin on the floor to sleep.

Here we are bright eyed in the morning at the great cafe just down the block from our new home.

Grandparents arriving soon to occupy W. during the unpacking! Thank you!!

A few things to remember for us....

Great romance story of the trip: Anna and W. were listening to a dark and stormy book on tape, just as the devil appears and follows the young protagonist Anna got a sick feeling and realized her ring finger was empty. She suddenly remembered waking up and taking her wedding ring off in the night.... Dan was further back in Indiana and went back...W and Anna spent a lot of time tossing balls around Ohio service plazas. Amazingly we all got to State College within minutes of each other.

Carbon footprints:

Toyota: 30 gallons of gas

Moving van: 100 gallons of gas

Last day of MN: Drove past St. Joe's where W was born. Bfast at Common Roots. Drove past Lake Calhoun and Isles. Waved goodbye to Colin and Colfax. Slept on air mattress in W's room. Hot cocoa with Colin, Jane, Nick, Felicia - a great surprise. Dinner at C&J's, an oasis of peace, real dishes and eating at a table. Cleaning with help of friend's holding and walking W. A coffee at Gigi's.

State of things now: We all smell like spit up.

Update

I stepped on the camera a month ago so we are at a hiatus in documentation.
Over the weekend, with a lot of Rob and Jane's help, we packed. Then some friends came by and held Walter and we packed some more....
Last night we packed the moving van with everything big and heavy. It is amazing how many folks came over to carry things or to watch Walter while we carried things. For odd moments it felt like a birthday party. We had a big pot of chili going on the stove, toppings, beer, lots of laughter and chatting.
The state of things today: a sea of chaos covers the floors. We need to pack that. And clean. And sleep.
Stress level: pretty high.
ETA in State College: Saturday night.
What we are crossing our fingers about: Friends come by and hold W. Fin and we get to hug them goodbye.
What we hope to do, but probably wont have time for before leaving: Run around Lake Harriet one more time.
Last thing we will do before driving away: eat a croissant at Patisserie 46.
Who we will miss like crazy: Everyone!!!!!
What you should think if you have not heard from us in a while: Our thoughts and our actions are not inline, but we are thinking of you as we chase W.Fin under tables and across playgrounds ( while we are dizzy with sleep deprivation and cleaning floors...as the case may be).

Labor Day Wedding

Lets take our blog time machine back to labor day when we joined Ben and Maggie in western Mass. for their wedding!

vintage-looking family photos

Matching outfits!

The bride approaches the barn. Dan is up in the hay-loft playing some old-time tunes.

There we are.

On a nature walk the next day.

Western Adventure

It is a year with many changes. Two PhDs, a baby, and an upcoming move to a new state. To celebrate, and to make sure to prioritize some time away from phones, computers and work we took a two week trip to some geological hotspots of the southwest that we have never been to: Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon.

Anna and Walter posing together at a rooftop coffee bar in the charming town of Springdale, just outside of Zion. (We were in Zion for a good portion of the annual rainfall there, we saw many waterfalls that aren't around all the time.)

Walter snacking in his clip-on chair.

Windswept.

Bryce family photo.

Enjoying the ride in the backpack.

Bryce Canyon at Sunset.

Exploring.

We were the envy of sunrise watchers with our hot cereal and hot drinks. It pays to bring the cook kit.

Sunset at the Grand Canyon North Rim.

We were the only people at the North Rim to make the 45 minute drive to the end of the paved road for sunrise and were rewarded with beautiful views all to ourselves.

Carrots make great toys.

Picnic at the wedding chapel.

Trail snack: peach.

Wanting something.

Happy and keeping warm.

Somebody was sleepy for the family photo.

Walter enjoying his first pancake at the Grand Canyon Lodge.

Anna sherpa.

Dan and Walter on overhanging ledge.

Travels

Backyard of a B&B in PA. (freshly mowed grass)

Exploring Cambridge, MA

Harvard Natural History Museum

Swings are a big hit these days.

Great play area at Logan airport.

Happy to share the cockpit.

Espresso

Walter was not involved with this project, but I thought I would share a photo of the ultimate retrofitting of an old espresso machine that a lab-mate designed (my contributions were minor).

You pour already heated water into the reservoir and then flow compressed air at 120 psi up the steamer tube, which forces the water through the grounds. This way you can get what a fancy espresso machine has, which is higher pressure than you can get from just steam and a brew with water at the ideal temperature just below the boiling point.

Cousin Eden

Walter got to meet his cousin, Eden, who is only 6 days older than he is.

Babies at the beach.

Backyard fun.

Double stroller.

Happy Guy

Making friends.

Bathtime!

Welcome to Minneapolis Aunt Alex (she just moved here). Thanks for the help with the watermelon, Walter.

Rapidly improving crawling skills.

Playing with Ruby.

Crawler

No video yet, but today Walter did his first true crawling. He has been doing the 'army crawl' for a while now, but now he's figured out the real deal with alternating knees and hands.

When Mom hands you a lemon, chew on it.

Wiggly guy.