It's Maya Time: July 2008

This little cutie pie is Maya's cousin Liam. He is Angela's nephew, and lives in Tennessee. . . . Liam will be 1 on August 25. How cute is he? Taken July 2008. Photo credit: Astrid Davis

My Aunt Birgit and Uncle Roland come from Germany for a 4 week vacation. . . they flew in to NYC, and spent four days there, then they were to drive to my parents house in Clarksville, TN. Since Philadelphia was on the way, we thought it would be great if they stayed a few days with us. It was Maya's first time meeting them, and my first time seeing them since I was 14.
These pictures were taken at the shore in NJ and in center city Philadelphia.

Adam and Angela took a trip to Ithaca, NY over the weekend. We went to a Brewery and tasted some local beers, then went to Buttermilk Falls (where the pictures are taken), and then hung out downtown in the commons and shopped and ate Thai food. Maya stayed with her grandparents in Scranton.

Maya has recently learned to eat with a fork. Taken Friday, July 25, 2008

Pictures of Maya at the shore. June 2008
Long Beach Island, NJ

Adam carrying Maya in the baby-backpack during a 4 mile hike. This was taken halfway through the hike and Maya was starting to squirm around and putting a nice strain on Daddy's back. I think the backpack carrier had it's last hurrah.

Maya sitting in the new chair Charles gave her. We (Adam, me, and Maya) went camping at Blue Rocks with my Aunt Birgit and Uncle Roland from Germany, and a friend named Charles(and his son Cullen, and their dog Fritz).
This wasn't Maya's first camping trip, but it's her first camping trip since she's been mobile. What a difference it is going camping with a walking baby. By the time we got home, Maya had all kinds of scratches and bumps on her.

Maya. Two days after getting her ears pierced. She was okay after the first ear, but the girl missed the mark (because Maya flinched) on the second ear, so we had to take that earring out and redo it. . . That was a huge ordeal. Maya kicked and screamed and head butted all of us. Once the second ear was finally done, the piercer held out a purple lollipop and Maya calmed down instantly.

Midnight in Alaska. It looks like 8:30 p.m. in the "lower 48". You can see it in our eyes that we were leaving in a few hours.

Maya playing in the dirt with a pretty dress on at the Fairbanks Folk Festival. Our last day there (sniff, sniff).

The gang at a bar/restaurant celebrating Dale and Laura's anniversary. I had a portebella mushroom sandwich and an Aventinus to drink! Yum.

Adam and Maya. We took a riverboat tour that day, we stopped and toured an Athabascan Indian village. June 13, 2008.

Adam took this picture of me. Just having fun!

There's the bull moose again!

A big bull moose Adam and I saw during our overnight stay at the Chena Hot Springs. Dale and Laura baby-sat Maya, which was really nice!

Angela, Adam and Maya
Stopped at a park on the way home from the town of North Pole.

Snowy owls. Aren't they beautiful?

A glacier fed stream, trees, mountains, what more could you ask for? Hmm, maybe a nice cold beer. :-)

Our tour bus we took through the park.

June 8, 2008
We didn't actually get to see Mt. McKinley (Denali) that day. There were too many clouds in the sky for us to see her, but that's okay. Just another excuse to go back.

Maya running off to play. Daddy is smiling. What a view!
This place certainly gave me a new outlook on life. I'm just one little infinitesimal speck in the vast universe.

Maya and her daddy looking at me from the inside of the bus as I take a picture of them.

A ptarmigan we saw while on the bus tour though the park. Alaska's state bird.

Like a true nature child. She was born to be wild.

Maya was playing with stones before this picture was taken, and as you can see we were on our way to the next thing but Maya wanted to stay behind and play. (See Laura in the background laughing? hehe)

The Denali Park entrance! This park is one of the most beautiful, majestic places I have ever been in my life. A piece of my heart stayed there when we left, but we will be back. It's so refreshing to see all the wildlife actually living in the wild. We saw grizzly bears, moose, owls, ground squirrels, a fox, ptarmigans, golden eagles, and much much more.

Laura (Adam's step-mom), Adam, and Dale (Adam's dad)
Picture taken at a scenic stop on the drive to Denali National Park.

Angela and Adam . . . in ALASKA! June 2008

We went on our first real family vacation to Fairbanks, AK. We stayed with Adam's dad and stepmom. Mine and Maya's first time meeting them. They were friendly, down to earth folks, and I felt like I had known them all my life after the first minutes of talking to them.