Ahead of Halloween this year we took Neela to a magical place called Pumpkinville. There was an animal farm with a petting area, a hay ride, play areas, and (of course) pumpkins. Neela had a lot of fun with the animals, chasing the chickens and playing with a baby goat. And we found the perfect pumpkin for Neela.

Grant and family met us at Pumpkinville. We ended up exploring different parts of the place at different times, but we did make it out to dinner as a group. Grant and Neela actually had a lot of fun playing together, really playing together. They were sharing food and toys and then chased each other around the table for a while.

For trick-or-treat we went over to Sean and Katrina’s neighborhood. It was an exciting night for Neela, she really got into knocking on doors and saying “trick or treat.” The candy wasn’t even on her radar, she was more than happy to give her own away to anyone she happened to meet.

And finally, the pirate family in pose

Grant’s regular day-care wasn’t available and Lesli was looking for a temporary solution. Since Grandma already watches Neela on Mondays and Tuesdays she offered her services for those days. Grandma picked up Grant in the morning and brought him with her. Grant and Neela had a lot of fun playing at the park, eating lunch and snacks together, and “sharing” Neela’s toys.

Amy, Dave, and Fiona came for a visit. We went to Wheaton Regional Park. Both the girls had a lot of fun climbing around the play area. Neela even made an attempt at the balance beam. After we were done with the park we came home and Neela and Fiona played with the water table. We forgot the camera when we went to the park, so the only footage we have is of Neela and Fiona playing at the water table.

Here are a few short recent videos.  The first is Neela playing with Lucy.  The next are Neela with her new rides she got for Father’s Day. You’ll notice in the last video a hint of Neela’s stubborn streak.

Sean and Katrina were looking to spend some time at the beach. They had two suites at a timeshare resort to use and were looking for someone to join them. They invited us … how could we say no!

Being the height of the swine flu scare, Mexico had implemented some serious tech to guard against incoming illness. The exit from passport control was monitored by a camera system that displayed the temperature above the head of every person on screen. We were worried because Neela had been fighting off a cold. Luckily she hadn’t, as yet, developed a serious fever and we passed through immigration without issue. The day after we arrived I got sick and spent one whole day sleeping. Then Joyce got sick just before we left, but she insisted that she wasn’t going to miss any sun … and she didn’t.

Activity was pretty light for the trip since we were looking to relax more than anything. Most of the time we idled away at the pool. Our one big outing (besides Walmart for groceries) was for Cuban food. The food was good and we were serenaded by a local band, Raices Cubanas. Neela seemed to really enjoy watching the musicians perform, so we bought one of their CDs.

Raices Cubanas: Ven Micaela

Just a few days before we left Neela had her ear tubes put in. The thought of taking Neela on such a big trip right after her surgery was a bit stressful, but the doctor said she should do fine. As a matter of fact, the tubes help prevent equilibrium problems during flight and so Neela didn’t have any issues at all (besides boredom). And, perhaps by coincidence, Neela started to use her real first word while in Cancun … “no.”