Life With Ella

We just came home from such a wonderful vacation in Kauai.  We only had the iPad with us and I couldn’t figure out how to do this blog so now I have about 80 photos out of a pillion (Ella’s word) to download here.  I will narrate as I go.  We are going away for the weekend starting tomorrow so I will put in movies and all that stuff sometime next week. We flew round trip to Hawaii on United miles which meant that we had to fly through Los Angeles and also fly at crazy hours.  The first shot is of Ella at around 5:45 am.  She was such an amazing traveler.  The other shot is of Ella doing a mosaic project on the airplane. Ella was so excited to go swimming.  This is about 3 hours after we got off the plane.  The weather was a little overcast and rainy for the first few days but that didn’t stop any of us from swimming and having a blast. Ella remembered feeding the koi from last year and woke up at 6:00am the first morning, woke us up and told us that she had to go feed the koi.  She was only 3 1/2 hours early for the 9:30 feeding time.  Ella actually became friends with these 3 other kids from the last picture.  They all live in SF. They have surfing lessons at the hotel and Ella was so excited to try surfing.  She jumped on the board and hung ten!  She was so cute.  Stay tuned for the movie. They also had arts and crafts at the hotel.  Here is Ella making a red and white lei. Ella having a poolside lunch with her new friends.  Ella’s driink of choice is an Arnold Palmer.Ella’s first shave ice of the trip. I’m not sure what flavors she picked, but she loved it! Ella and mommy going down the water slide. On our way out to a local farmer’s market.This is day 3.  The sun was finally stronger than the rain and we hit Ke’e beach. Here are a few of the fish we saw while we were snorkeling.  The underwater camera was great! Ella and mommy always talk about flying a kite.  They usually aren’t very successful (although the effort is amazing).  Here they are, REALLY flying a kite.  Great job guys. Another morning of koi feeding.Here we are at Hanalei Bay.  After the first day at the beach, Ella complained that the beach had too much sand and that she liked the pool much better.  We told her that we didn’t come all the way to Hawaii to only sit by the pool.  She agreed that she would go to a few more beaches as long as we would hang out by the pool with her.  We got to the beach today and she said that she saw some crab holes and that she didn’t want to see any crabs.  We told her to write them a note.  Here is Ella’s note “NO CRABS”. Ella boogie boarding on Hanalei Bay.  The board has a window on the bottom so you can see what’s going on underneath you. Beautiful mommy and beautiful Ella on our way out to dinner. We met up with Evan and his family at a sushi restaurant.  Ella had Even’s mom tie her scarf around his head so that they matched.  He’s a sweet boy. “Come on in – the water is perfect!” Sweet Ella early in the morning getting ready to take on the day. I love these underwater shots.  The first group shot is of Ella and her friends Elsa and Rachel.  The next one is with Evan.  The last one was a request by Ella to have her picture taken alone. Ella having another longboard lesson. We went on a really sweet kayak trip down the Hanalei River.  Ella and I were both a little scared, but Sunny really took charge and made it a beautiful adventure.  Sunny was in the back facing Ella who was in the middle and then I was in the front steering the kayak.  I had enough exercise that day for a week! Shave ice after some hard work. Hanging out at dinner with Evan, Rachel and her sister (yes sister) Elsa.Beautiful Anini beach.We finally got Ella to play in the sand.  Here is a sandcastle that we were creating.  A long shot of our creation from down the beach. The ominous clouds above the sea.  It was a message for us to get the fuck out of there! Mommy took a shot at longboarding. Mommy zipped around the pool like nobody’s business. Ella on the long board again, Ella hanging loose with her instructor.Another happy shave ice. OUr little teenager. Another beautiful night on the compoind. Fun in the pool.  This pool was in our back yard. Ella so happy and comfortable under water. Acting goofy Sensitive mother daughter moment. More Koi feeding. Sweet Ella. Sweet Ella and another shave ice.  Ella’s new friend is munchette. Very happy mommy coming in from a great wave.  Go baby go! Cute Ella balancing on a big stick of bamboo. Prtoecting Ella from the bad waves. Love love love on Hanalei bay. Ella and a friendly cooud. Brilliant shot taken by Ella. PHyllis and mommy – best friends forever. Happy Birthday antee pie. Bye bye Westin Princeville. Back in SF.  11:55 pm.  Smile still on Ella’s face.  It was a fantastic trip and Ella deserves a metal for humoring us.I love you mommy and Ella.  Thanks for the incredible trip.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 at 8:31 am and is filed under pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.