We went to a wedding on Orcas Island this weekend and Elsie had her first ferry boat ride!  Bob and Lisa Rivers' son, Keith, married his girl, Leanne and we were among the fortunate few to be invited to attend.  We left at 6 am on Saturday morning to catch an early ferry out of Anacortes.  It was a beautiful, clear day for the crossing.  When we arrived on Orcas the sky was overcast a bit and there was a chill in the air.  By the time the wedding began at 4, the clouds had disappeared and it had warmed up nicely.  They exchanged their vows in a romantic ceremony at the Rivers' house with an amazing view of the water framing them and large pine trees rising up behind us as we watched.  The reception that followed was on the beach near the small airport on Orcas.  The sunset was absolutely amazing, turning the sky to the west bright orange, then red.  Breathtaking.  We turned in early and rose at 5 to catch the 7:15 ferry home.  We pulled in to our driveway at 10.....just in time to watch the Seahawks game.  Should've slept in!  The kicker of the whole weekend - we forgot to bring our camera.  Fortunately, my phone doesn't take horrible pictures so I've put together a little slideshow:

She let me take a picture of her teeth!

Two teeth now, and here they are!  

We've been so busy...

...over the last week so I'll try to keep it short.  Elsie went to her first wedding with us on Saturday and she was a great kid, only fussed toward the end of the ceremony, which was just about an hour long.  Sadly, we had to leave the reception early but she certainly enjoyed the attention she got while we were there, being the only baby in the place!

Elsie's now holding her own bottle!  Very exciting, though it takes longer for her to eat now.  She doesn't always want to do this herself, and that's fine because I still enjoy feeding her.

Grandma and Grandpa B bought her a jumper, too.  

She had to scope it out closely before deciding to like it.

Yep, she likes it.

Just had to share this picture.  I could not be more in love...

What is this funny stuff?

It's grass....and she loves it!  Another first for our girl.

First Tooth!

Like a little razor blade poking ever so slightly from her bottom gum, Elsie has her first tooth!

Finally, Elsie's Blog!

Here's our girl!  Six months old now...I can't believe it.  We wanted to get this blog going much sooner so that we could capture and share everything about her as it came at us, but figuring out how to be her mom was all I wanted to focus on for a while.

We've just returned from our annual family vacation to Long Beach with the Searings - Elsie's first BEACH TRIP.  Lots of firsts for our girl on this trip: first road trip, first time seeing the ocean, first time feeling the wind on her face, first overnight away from her own room. She was a champ.  Happy all the time, she fully enjoyed everything we threw at her - even the beach fires!

The three of us in the cold wind on the beach.  Is it really July?

With her daddy.

At the Jetty.

With her....uh, second cousins?  Maybe it's first cousins, once removed.  

I don't know, we'll have to ask Katie.