Life With Ella

Wow – what a wild ride we have been on with the Giants.  In the middle of an intense playoff series, we had an amazing visit from the two most beautiful people in the world!  Grandma and Papa came to visit and it was terrific to have them here.  We hung out, went to Ella’s soccer game, went to the beach, mommy, Ella and papa played golf, we went to the Academy and of course, we watched baseball!  Here are some great shots from the weekend.

 First night here – walking to Nama.

 A little chilly waiting for Ella’s soccer game to start.

 Three beauties at the beach.

 Sweet love – soon Ella will be taller than grandma!

 So sweet!

 Now we can see their beautiful faces!

 Ella and the eel.

 Photo bombed!

 Ella and brave mommy climbed this bridge at the Japanese Tea Garden.

 Thank you for indulging me with the pics!

 Sweet family shot!

Grandma and papa had to go and we weren’t able to go to any of the games with them.  Here is a series of our play off photos…we had a blast at the games!

 Ella at game 3 against the Nationals.

 Can’t believe we’re all here together!

 Silliness in our seats!

 Look at this beautiful ballpark.  Notice the moon!

 Uh Oh – mommy looks a little nervous.

 Don’t worry mommy – we’re going to win this.

 Ella and her rally rags.

 Uh oh – can we do this?

 Oy – this game is too close!

 Yes!  They did it!

 Ok – why not go to another game?

 We can hardly stand it!

 Puttling our rally rags to good use.

 They did it again!

 OK – we could win the pennant tonight.  Let’s see what happens.

 We’re so excited!

 Pulling our hair out.  It’s Giants Torture!

They did it!  The Giants are going to the World Series!

Ella had a great week at circus camp and then had a great weekend with her cousins Georgia and Bronwen.  They had a sleep over on Friday night and we all went to the House of Air on Saturday.  I have made 2 small movies that show some of the fun.  Enjoy!

Photos will be posted tomorrow. 

The Black Widows played their last game of the spring on Saturday.  They won some games and lost some games, but as a team – they are kicking butt.  The girls are finally learning how to play the game and it’s really showing!  Ella goes back and forth about wanting to play goalie.  She’s great at the position, and tough – we’ll see what the future holds.  Here are some shots from Saturday’s game.

 Ella setting up the kick for Lexie the leg.

 Lexie is taking it and kicking it down the field.

 Ella throwing it out.

 What a team!

OK – Here’s Matilda…

A glimpse into Ella’s musical theatre class.

On Thursday, Sunny took Ella to the orthodontist for the first time.  Ella is beautiful in every way but her teeth could use a little help.  The tops have multiple teeth living in one space and the bottoms are very crowded.  These days, they use retainers to try to avoid pulling teeth to make room.  Ella chose a hot pink background with rainbow sparkles.  They should be ready in a few weeks.  Ella has to wear them all day and night and only take them out to brush her teeth.  Let the fun begin!

 What a beautiful sweet love.

Today was Ella’s first soccer game of the season.  We missed last week’s game because we were in Az.  The Black Widows lost but they just need a little more education on what they all need to do to win and they can totally do it!

Fun fun fun after the game.  Ella is sleeping over at Emmi’s tonight.  We love you Ella!

Today, Ella’s class did an activity during social studies.  I am going to use Colette’s description of the exercise in order to explain it…

Hello Parents,

Today in the Octopus classroom, as part of our Social Studies unit, Jasmin Hoo, our fantastic diversity director came in to lead an activity. She began by asking Ms. Kay to leave the room and then gave the Octopuses one simple direction. The direction was for the students to form a circle and then when Ms. Kay was asked to return, they were not to let her into the circle no matter what. They were told that they could do this in any way as long as they were still being safe with their bodies.

What followed was challenging to witness, but provided what we feel was a powerful learning opportunity. As Ms. Kay walked around and attempted to join the circle by asking students, many of our Octopuses began to laugh. Several students began to taunt her by chanting “Excluded, excluded” and pointing at her. Other students moved their bodies aside and told Ms. Kay that she could come over, but quickly moved their bodies back to block her when she would come over. Most of our students laughed and joined in on a variety of taunts. A few of our students did not laugh, but remained silent. When Ms. Kay asked those students if she could join their circle, they avoided eye contact with her but whispered “No” or shook their heads. As the activity progressed and Ms. Kay began to express frustration, sadness and finally resignation, those students and a few others began to look down at the floor and to show increasing discomfort. Then entire activity lasted for about five minutes before Jasmin and I stopped the activity and asked the group to reconvene.

Ella was one of the kids who was very upset – she remained silent – did not make eye contact.  She did tell Kay “no” when she asked to get into the circle but  Ella told me, “I thought we were playing a game and it turned out to be mean and I didn’t like it”.

The octopus class is working on bullying, being an advocate, being a good friend, how to take care of yourself etc.  This activity really shook Ella.

Later on during the day at free time, she sat down and wrote this card for Kay.

What a love!

We are continuing to have such a wonderful time with grandma and papa.  This past week has been terrific.  We’re doing crazy touristy things and that means large crowds and patience.  All of the adults are making sure that we don’t forget to breathe.  Ella is having a blast.  On Sunday, we went to Pier 39 to the Aquarium by the Bay.  We always have fun there and this time we watched a 3-D movie on sharks which was beautiful and very informative.  Today, mommy had to go to work, but Ella, grandma, papa and I were very brave and went to the Academy along with the 16,000 other families who were in SF for the holidays.  After the Academy we took a beautiful walk around Stowe Lake and tonight played some great games.

 Beautiful shot of Ella and papa.

 Ella picked out an oyster and got a silver pearl.

This is true love – grandma actually put her hands in the water!  What do you think of the photo bomber behind them?

 Classic shot in front of the giant wall of fish.

 Awesome trio of love.

 I photo bombed Ella!

Playing an amazing game – I forgot the name but it teaches all about the United States.

Ella went to her first day of golf camp today.  She said that she had a great time.  We are going to have to go and spy on her during the week!  Here is a picture of Ella at home this morning before camp.

Next, here is Ella’s first non-fiction book.  She did this over a period of a few weeks at school.  She came up with the idea on her own and did the whole thing by herself.  We love everything about this book!

So much to do!  Here is the next part of Passover.  Tomorrow night, I will post Ella’s fun filled weekend with lots of sports.

Mommy and Ella with the elephants at the Museum of Natural History.

 Ella in front of the scariest exhibit in the whale hall.  The sperm whale fighting a giant squid.  We were so afraid of this when we were younger.

 We met up with Jordin and Twyla and another one of their friends.  Notice how the girls are paying attention and looking at the camera and the boys are just doing their thing!

 Beautiful cousins.

Maybe one day…

 Mommy kvelling over Ella reading the Four Questions.

Georgia, Bronwen. Ella and Milo after finding the afikomen.  Milo found it!

 Sweet cousins at Fireman’s Park.

 Doing a little spring cleaning – I found my old brownie uniform!

 Fun at the museum of math.

These two love each other so much.

 Storytime with AJ.

Climbing right up to the sky.

Ella and Milo had a blast at this playground.

 Ella loves her papa so much.

 Hanging out with Milo and Zach.

 Last chance to touch the sky.  See you in the summer!