Life With Ella

We went to Disneyland this past weekend to celebrate my birthday and because we wanted to go to Disneyland!  We went with the Kim/Arena clan, Jesse and Heather joined us and so did Emily.  We had such a fantastic weekend.  For anyone who was there who is reading this, it was so great to get to hang out.  This was the first time that Ella was at Disneyland with other kids.  Although she had a great time with the adults, she had such an amazing time being there with Stella, Juliet, KJ and Isaac.  Ella went on some rides she was never on before.  She went on Space Mountain – sat next to Heather and had her head buried in Heather for the whole ride.  She made it through and actually said she liked it!  Ella also went on Indiana Jones for the first time…she has been looking forward to doing this ride for a while.  The last new ride that Ella went on was Splash Mountain.  She did not like it at all and cried from the first big drop to the last one.  She is not interested in going back on that one.  Here are some pics from our weekend.

 Getting ready to go on the Star Wars ride.

 On line for Autopia.

 Ella drove me around on Autopia.  She’s not the greatest driver!

 Ella right before we blasted off on Space Mountain.

 Here is a picture of our picture on Space Mountain.  Stella and I were in the front and a very crouched down Ella was next to Heather!

 Ella and Jesse on Buzz Blasters.

 Ella and Juliet caught up with Alice who was kind of a jerk.

 Jesse, Heather and I on Splash Mountain.

 Ella after Splash Mountain.

 Jesse and Heather treated us to a very special birthday dinner at Club 33 – a fantastic private restaurant in Disneyland.  It’s wonderful to have friends in high places!  Notice the fancy toilet…

 Sunny and I on the Cars ride the first time around.

 Our car raced against Jesse, Ron and the kids.  They beat us!

 Here’s the “Disney shot” of Sunny and me on Radiator Springs racers.

 Here’s the Disney shot of Ella’s car.

 Jesse and his posse.  The kids LOVED Jesse and all of the Disney stories that he shared.

Radiator Springs second time around.

 This shot really made Sunny laugh.  Check out my hair.

 Snack break!

 Ella and Juliet reading the Disneyland newspaper.

 Heading back in to DCA!

 Ella is checking off rides from her list.

Ella is such a joy and pleasure to be around.  Her zest for life is incredible.  This week, her class went bird watching in Dolores Park.  She saw sparrows, crows and robin redbreasts.  She had a lot of fun.  There is a very special bird named Pineapple who was rescued by SFACC a month or so ago.  Ella goes to Becca’s work and visits Pineapple.  Pineapple also came to Ella’s class with Becca last week.  Pineapple is Ella’s new buddy.  Ella has learned some new tricks on the monkey bars.  Take a deep breath Papa – she is now hanging upside down like a bat.  She is very careful when she’s on the monkey bars – not careless and I think we have sufficiently put plenty of fear in her about head and neck injuries.  Love you papa.

 Ella birding in Dolores Park.

 Ella and Pineapple.

Ella the bat.

 I love my students!  I took them to play at a fundraiser on Thursday night.  They had a blast and their music sounded incredible.  I am a lucky teacher.