Disney, The Ohlone Museum and Thanksgiving with Grandma and Papa

So much has gone on since Ella turned 9!  Two days after Ella’s birthday, we went to uncle Jesse and aunt Heather’s place and spent the weekend with them and at Disney.  Needless to say, Ella was in heaven.  She loves being with Jesse and Heather and loves Disney.  Here are some pics from our Disney weekend with our 9 year old.

1a.jpg Sweet Ella on our first morning in LA…getting ready to go to Disney.

1b1.jpg1c1.jpg On the monorail heading towards the Magic Kingdom.

2a.jpg62.jpgFirst ride, Star Tours!  Ella was the spy on our ship!

72.jpg82.jpg Next, Space Mountain.  Ella’s face is finally in the Space Mountain photo.

210.jpg310.jpgThe Matterhorn was our next stop.  Ella LOVED it.

311.jpgNext up, Alice in Wonderland.  They redid the ride and it was so much fun.

410.jpg4a.jpg52.jpgThunder Mountain was our next ride.  It was a blast!

92.jpg102.jpg112.jpgA fun birthday call from Goofy and a celebration with a Disney cupcake.

122.jpg Family pic on Main Street!

132.jpg On line for the Pirates of the Caribbean.

142.jpgWe were stuck on line in the basement of the Indiana Jones ride.

152.jpg Ella and her buddy Olaf.

162.jpg172.jpg Day two – now we are complete…Heather joined us today!

211.jpgFamily photo on line for Toy Story.

201.jpgFirst show taken on Soarin’.  This is our favorite ride asa a family.  It’s not great, but it’s a first!

231.jpg241.jpgStill smiling on a very long line for the “single rider” Radiator Springs line.

181.jpg221.jpg Mater and walking the streets of Cars Land!

191.jpgLast pic of our Disney adventure.  Fun on the Little Mermaid ride.

Here is a list of the rides and attractions that we did on each day.

11/14/14

1.  Star Tours – Ella was the spy

2. Space Mountain

3. Matterhorn

4. Alice in Wonderland

5. Thunder Mountain

6. Mickey’s Maps

7. Peter Pan

8. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

9. Pirates of the Caribbean

10. Indiana Jones

11. Winnie The Pooh (mommy and Ella)

12. Splash Mountain (mama and Jesse)

11/15/14

1. Toy Story

2. Soarin’

3. Radiator Springs

4. Mater

5. Little Mermaid

6. Monsters Inc

7. Abe Lincoln

8. Pinocchio

9. Soarin’

251.jpg261.jpg Panda and his cousins!

Thank you Jesse and Heather for another amazing weekend.  We love you guys.

We came back from Disney heaven and then Sunny and I were treated to our own version of heaven – watching Ella thrive at school.  Ella’s class had an assembly and then treated us to an amazing project on the Ohlone people.  Ella’s class turned their classroom into a museum and all of the students acted as docents.  Ella was an amazing docent.

Here are some shots from the assembly and the classroom museum.

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351.jpg Ella and her buddy Cecilia on some “lounge chairs” that they built.

Grandma arrived on Monday night so that she could go to Grandparents and special friends day at CDS.  Ella sang in the chorus for the grandparents.  Here is a great shot that grandma took of Ella and Emmi before they went on.

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Here are some great shots that Colette took of Ella and grandma in the classroom.

212.jpg313.jpg Grandma was the first person outside of Ella’s classroom to read her non-fiction book on Disney.  We are going to get to read it on Friday when Ella’s class has their publishing party.

Papa arrived on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, the four of us (mommy had to go to work) went to the Lawrence Science Center.  It was a beautiful day and it’s so great to have grandma and papa here.

361.jpg The smile says it all – Ella couldn’t be happier that grandma and papa are here.

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Ella loved trying all of the different activities…

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40.jpg These guys are quite a trio!

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We’ve had some pretty fun games of Bananagrams.  The one above shows the creativity that Papa and Ella were exuding.  Not quite sure what a “fairice” is.

431.jpgWe had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Crab House.  We love this tradition!

441.jpg451.jpg461.jpg471.jpg481.jpg491.jpg50.jpg511.jpg521.jpgElla was flipping like nobody’s business.  She was flipping forward and backward.  She was amazing!

52a.jpg Thanksgiving selfie!

52b.jpg52c.jpg Cool piano steps.

53.jpgOff to the movies.

53a.jpg We saw Big Hero 6.  We all loved it.

53b.jpg Ella is super excited for this movie in July!

54a.jpgWe got Ella this difficult puzzle for her birthday.  We all have been working really hard on it.  Ella solved it 3 levels high on Tuesday.  By Thursday, Mommy did it!

54.jpg55.jpgFantastic job mommy!  You’re a genius.

56.jpg Papa and Panda during a game of Clue.

57.jpg58.jpg Something seems very funny!

Today we went to the De Young Museum to see the Keith Haring exhibit.  It was a really cool exhibit.

59.jpg60.jpgThree amazing people. Love you guys!

621.jpg Ella kept saying, “I need that neon paint!”

63.jpg Deep.

611.jpg True love.  We love you guys!  See you in three weeks.

One Response to “Disney, The Ohlone Museum and Thanksgiving with Grandma and Papa”

  1. Grandma says:

    Wonderful visit with you. So grateful that we feel so welcomed. Beautiful pictures. Next year at Disney World together! Love you. Mom

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