Elliott’s first Christmas was very special, spent with all his grandparents and aunt, uncles and cousins. He received lots of thoughtful and special presents — even some beautiful handmade stuff. He got lots of cute, fun little toys for us to look forward to playing with. And he was an angel on his airplane trips and at two churches and a couple of restaurants. Here’s hoping the next trip goes as smoothly.

I had not had the opportunity to see my extended family in years. For some it had been more than four years. There were four “babies” (who are no longer babies) for me to meet. So I am so grateful to all who made the trip to Batesville and spent part of their holiday weekend with us. I so appreciated the time for many of us to be together — those who couldn’t join us, know that you were missed!

My parents threw such a GREAT party — complete with, yes, a bouncy house. I now think that every party should have a bouncy house. I want them to rent it next time I’m there so I can actually jump in it. [No pregnant girls allowed in the bouncy house. :( ] Dad grilled all day, and mom exhausted herself in the kitchen — they were so busy I didn’t get any pictures of them all day!

Sunday we had a Cincy baby shower for a few folks, mostly family on Mike’s side. Rosie and Laura also threw a great party, and went above and beyond on all the details. Everyone was super-generous, and we were overwhelmed with all the nice things we walked away with from the entire weekend — this is one spoiled baby. I don’t know how these little things always end up with so many presents! I guess that’s what being small and cute will get ya.

Pictures from our fun weekend:

There’s a new airport satellite garage we’ve been using. It’s pretty sweet for a parking garage, they really try to make it a high end experience. In a parking garage. Anyway, this time I tested out the toilets — you never know how long you’re going to be in airport security and I can’t make it very long while standing these days.

It’s a beautiful restroom, as if it were in a fancy restaurant. But it’s… weird. First of all, there are three waist-high hooks outside the women’s restroom door. Why? I do not know. Then, you walk through the doorway, next to which is a narrower doorway. (As if there’s supposed to be a door and a window next to it, but it’s not there yet.) Your instincts tell you that one of these openings is glass, so you put your hand through the space, just to make sure…

So, the thing I had to photograph was this stall door. The purse hook is at the top. The location of my hand is as far as I can reach. The hook was about 8 feet high. This, by the way, is the handicapped stall. Wha?

So, I do my thing (which includes the usual fight with the damn toilet seat cover). Time to wash up, and I use the official looking soap dispenser. Nope! Not soap. Mouthwash. Yes, there were tiny cups, I realized. But this was the appropriate looking soap dispenser, not the little store-bought container. Shockingly, the restroom “designers” did not install soap dispensers in this restroom. I do appreciate the thoughtful addition of the mouthwash…

Not surprisingly, I had to stop in again on our return trip. (This time I let Mike hold my purse.) This dispenser now has a little label that says “MOUTHWASH.” Hilarious! I look forward to my next visit to this perplexing toilet. I may discover something else unusual. That being said, they are super nice and super clean. I’ve been seeing all kinds lately.

Friday: Santiago and Santa Cruz Islands.

View Santiago in a larger map

Morning: Walk on Santiago, James Bay, exploring Puerto Egas. This was a really cool area with a variety of wildlife and landscape. After the walk we had an amazing snorkel — we swam with sea turtles and a young sea lion! Sea lions are very playful and like to show off.

Terrain: Wet landing on a black-sand beach, and a 2 ki walk across dry interior and then into a costal area with lava terrain.

Guide: Jorge

Sightings: Sea Lions, Galapagos Fur “Seals” (seals by name but are sea lions), Sally lightfoot crabs, finches, introduced birds (which are being eradicated,) herrons, pelicans, sea turtles.

 
*****

View Santa Cruz in a larger map

Afternoon: Hike on Santa Cruz, one of the inhabited islands. Rough wet landing, hike through the island and up a hill to look for iguanas and see the view. Area is called Dragon Hill. This was the last chance to see flamingos, but still none.

Terrain: Hot and dusty! Rocks, dry vegetation, a couple of rather dry brackish pond areas.

Guide: Fred

Sightings: Land iguanas, finches, lava gulls (rare!), other birds.

Thursday we visited Isabela and Fernandina Island.

Isabela

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Morning: Easy walk on Isabela. Isabela is the largest island (and shaped like a seahorse). This island is the first opportunity to see tortoises, and was also one of the places visited by Darwin.

Terrain: Beach, Small rocks, trees.

Guide: David

Sightings: Land Iguanas, Finches, Tortoises! (We spotted one mature tortoise and one small, young one!)

Late morning: Boating on Urbina bay.

The most amazing thing happened after this walk. We boated around the coast to look for dolphins, and boy, did we find them! We boated with this huge pod of dolphins for probably 10 minutes.

*****

Fernandina

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Afternoon: Long walk on Fernandina, one of my favorite spots. This is the only place on the trip to spot the flightless Cormorants, which are fascinating birds with these tiny little wings who do not fly (like penguins, although they look more like ducks.) They have evolved-away their flight, but are excellent swimmers.

Terrain: Lava, rough.

Guide: David

Sightings: Marine iguanas, sea lions, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, sea turtles, and marine iguanas. (It was extremely rare to see this young sea turtle out of the water.)