Vacation

Such a sweet picture of Claire with her daddy at the end of May.

Wow, there is so much to write about, and I haven't had great access to a computer to write it! We have been having a very busy and fun vacation. I'll try to share some of the highlights in chronological order. (That's just how my brain works.) I also have lots of really cute and fun pictures to share!

So our Arkansas trip was a lot of fun. We ate a lot of BBQ - my favorite being the pulled pork, sausage, baked potato salad (like a regular potato salad except with sour cream, chives, and bacon. Mmm!), and banana pudding. We also enjoyed Japanese, Mexican, Sonic, southern (fried catfish, mmm), fusion, and lots more. There's too much to write to go too much in detail; let's just say we pigged out and it was delicious!

We did a lot of fun things besides eat too. We went to the alligator farm and petting zoo. They had tons of alligators of all ages, lemurs, monkeys, deer, goats, turkeys, peacocks, cougars, wolves, turtles, emu, ducks, and geese. Here are a few pictures of our trip that day with Claire.




We also went shopping at the shops, mini golfing, and to the botanical gardens. When we went to the botanical gardens, Chris, Chris's mom, Claire, and I went while his dad took a nap in the van. Here are a few pictures I got at the botanical gardens. It was beautiful, and there were a lot of blue flowers which I think is cool. You don't see blue flowers very often. Chris's mom said it has to do with the acidity of the soil.

This is a beautiful wedding chapel in the woods at the botanical garden. It's hard to really see it with the trees in the way, but it's all glass except for the frame. It's absolutely beautiful, and even air conditioned inside.

The view of Hot Springs from the top of the mountain of Hot Springs National Park.

When we first got to the Hot Springs Music Festival, Chris jokingly asked if the mentor, Lowell Greer, was there yet, assuming that he would be. The last few years, he either couldn't come, or was late, so Chris had to take over in handing out music and taking charge. Well, the administrator said, "actually, I have to talk to you about that." It turns out that he had surgery and thought he'd be able to come, but then the doctor wouldn't let him. The mentor told them on Thursday that he couldn't come and everyone was getting there on Saturday. They got the principal horn player from the Memphis Symphony to come, but he couldn't get there until Monday, so Chris was the interim mentor and actually got paid for it. That was a huge blessing that helped with the expenses of the trip, and all that yummy eating! The mentor that came from Memphis was really cool. All the horn apprentices were really fun too, and we had a good time getting to know them.

Like I mentioned in the last post, Chris had a phone interview with the horn position search committee from West Texas A & M. Chris had assumed that job was already gone since he didn't hear anything from them. Well, apparently not. The phone interview went great! Then the next day they asked him to come to campus for an on campus interview. It was crazy trying to schedule it since we were supposed to be in Hot Springs for 2 weeks, then we were going to leave Sunday morning to get back to PA by Monday evening so Chris could go to an orchestra rehearsal in State College on Tuesday morning. He had the concert on Saturday, and we spent Father's Day at his parents' house. Monday morning, he had an 8AM flight to fly down to Kentucky for his Army Reserve active training. He'll be back the 5th of July. So, you can see that we (mostly he) had a very busy schedule.

Chris got permission to leave the festival a few days early to go to the on campus interview in Canyon, Texas (15 minutes south of Amarillo). He had a concert Thursday night, and then we left Friday morning for Dallas. We stayed at Chris's Aunt Shirley's house Friday night which was really fun. She got to meet Claire, and we got to visit with her. It's been 3 years since we've had the chance to go to her house, and it was a lot of fun.

Aunt Shirley with Claire

Then on Saturday morning, we headed to Amarillo. They had a hotel room reserved for us for Saturday and Sunday nights. We went out to dinner with the music department chair and his wife that night, and they showed us around Canyon. We were surprised that it is actually quite pretty. We were expecting desert, but there was green grass and trees, etc. Sunday was the crazy day. We got up early and rehearsed for his 20-30 minute recital he had later that day. We didn't have the chance to run through everything together until that point. In fact, I got the last piece of music that morning via e-mail. It was crazy coming up with the music he wanted while away from home, but we were thankfully able to do it thanks to a really helpful person at Robert King music. I practiced after our rehearsal because I hadn't had much of a chance to do that, and some of the music was kind of hard! Thankfully it was all music I had played before, but I still needed to practice it as it had been a while. After walking around campus, and a yummy Thai lunch, Chris had an interview with the dean. Then he taught 2 lessons, had his mini recital which I accompanied, and then met with the search committee where they asked him lots more questions. (If you're wondering, the music department chair's wife watched Claire, and their daughter turned pages for me. They were super nice!) I of course wasn't with Chris for every part of the day, but I thought it couldn't have gone any better. We were gone from 8AM and didn't get home until 8PM. Chris then met with human resources people on Monday morning.

It's a lot of pressure and stress to have all those different parts of an interview all day long, but Chris did an amazing job. I know they would not be disappointed in the least if they hired him. We both felt really good about everything, but we are still waiting to find out if he got the job again. They said they're hoping to finish up the search by July 1st, so we will hopefully know soon. If he doesn't get the job, we will go to Penn State where he will teach for a sabbatical replacement for the fall semester. We're really hoping he gets the job though. I'll keep you posted!

So since Chris had interview stuff through Monday morning, and had to be in PA by Tuesday morning, he flew back from the Amarillo airport. He was concerned about me driving across the country alone with a baby, so his mom graciously flew out to drive back with me. This was a huge sacrifice because they had just gotten back from a trip to Texas and back (driving) on Wednesday or Thursday, and then she flew out early Monday morning. I picked her up at the airport at 4 on Monday, and we drove straight to Tulsa, OK. Chris booked us a hotel room there. We got up early the next morning and left around 6:45AM to head toward Dayton, Ohio. We got there around 9:45PM. It was a very long day! We visited with Jamie and Kendra some, and then left on Wednesday, getting back to Montoursville around 7PM. Tuesday was an especially long day of driving, and Claire did great! I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to have her as my daughter. She's so easy. She's a busy girl, but happy. She cried a little here and there, but it was never prolonged. I love that little girl. And I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful mother in-law too. We had such great conversation and talked almost the whole way. She's great!

Claire ready to drive instead of being stuck in her car seat. :)

So Chris and I stayed at his parents' house while he drove to State College every day for his orchestra rehearsal. I went to the concert Saturday night which was wonderful! We had a good day together for Chris's first father's day. Unfortunately, his main gift that I ordered didn't come in on time like it was supposed to! I was very disappointed, but I can't say what the gift was because he'll read this. We got home around 3:30 on Sunday afternoon to unpack and repack for him. He's now suffering in the heat and humidity in Kentucky. He did get to go horse back riding for the first time though. I thought that was cool! Oh, and he found a picture at Fort Campbell of the jazz band playing at a jazz festival in 1964, and he swore one of the guys in the picture was my dad. Well, it turns out, it was! How cool is that?!? So, hopefully, he'll get a picture or copy of it or something so dad can have it. My dad was apparently there from 1962-1965.

While Chris is away, I am staying at my parents' house and Lori and her kids are here, and Wendy and her kids will be here later this afternoon. It's a girl party! This is a great opportunity to enjoy time together, and have cousins enjoy time together, especially if we are going to move to Texas. I'm excited to see how Claire and Megan are together now that they are both a little older and more active. It should be fun. We are planning on helping Grandpa in his garden, visiting grandma, and doing projects around the house for mom, including cleaning, painting, and rearranging mom and dad's bedroom.

Ok, now on to the little girl. She had her 6 month check up last Tuesday. She is now 16 lbs. 11 oz. (75th percentile) and is 27.5" long (95th percentile). Her head is 17" around (75th percentile.) She is tall, and still has chunky legs, but her belly is pretty skinny. She is in perfect health, and the doctor said that she is more like a 9 month old both physically and socially. She's getting really close to crawling. She can scoot backwards, but not forward yet. She can turn all around though. This was Claire's last appointment with Dr. Price. We were really sad because she is so good with Claire, so comfortable to talk with, and always gives me the time I want to ask questions and talk. If anyone is looking for a pediatrician in the Rochester area, I would highly recommend her - Dr. Laura Price - Pathway Pediatrics. She's on the corner of S. Clinton and Westfall. I told her she'd just have to move with us, whereever we end up. Anyway, Claire had her rotovirus vaccine and 2 shots. She did great and cried for only about 3 seconds for each shot. She was totally her happy self for the rest of the day too. I was very impressed. I have never had to give her medicine for shots. She's just so easy going about everything!

Claire at 6 months

Claire on her tummy. She pushes her stomach off the floor now. Crawling will be soon!

She is very good at sitting up now.
Claire seems to like dogs a lot. She is up close and personal to Duffy, Chris's parents' dog.
Claire eating

Claire has been making some really funny faces lately. She scrunches up her nose, squints her eyes, smiles, and breathes quickly and heavily through her nose. It's pretty funny.

She's also started making what Lori calls a "Popeye" face where her lips are closed except on one side of her mouth. It's pretty funny. That picture is on Lori's camera, so I'll post that later.

Claire eating - she often makes this face when she is ready to finish eating. It's pretty funny.

She is quite entertaining for us all. I love spending every day with her, and it's fun to share her with my family as well. She is a busy girl though, and will keep me running once she starts moving. Sometimes my mom tries to hold her while she stands, and Claire tries to push her hands away, like she can stand on her own, but she can't! She often leans and contorts herself to try to get to where she wants too. You just have to hold on tight to make sure she doesn't hurt herself!

Claire with Chris's dad.

Oma reading to Claire, or attempting to anyway. It's hard to see the words when Claire is eating the book!

Claire with her cousins