Life With Ella

Ella got right back into her routine this morning.  She seemed very excited to be at school, loved the Tree Frog Treks class…she met a giant tortoise and fed it some strawberries, and then had a super sweet ballet class.  I have pictures from ballet and a video from this weekend.  The video is of Ella swimming and playing in the water and the last part is of the lady making Ella’s silhouette.  It’s pretty funny.  At first she’s fine and then you can see Ella being totally uninterested in the whole thing!  OK – I’m tired. I love this one so much.  I have a feature on my new camera that does this.Now for the video…

We were out late last night(Sunday)  having a lot of fun and Ella didn’t get to sleep until after 10:00.  Waking up Ella at 7:00 this morning was not pleasant, but there were no tears and no yelling so it was all good.  Turns out that Ella had an amazing day at school.  She loved it.  When I picked her up from Tree Frog Treks, she was so excited to tell me that she touched a hissing Madagascar cockroach.   She said that they built a bridge for the cockroaches to crawl on.  I was happy that I got there on time and not early.  Ballet was beautiful.  There is a part in the video where Ella fell.  She was totally fine and don’t be embarrassed  if you laugh.  I did! I think Alicia outdid herself today.  What a gorgeous braid!  Ella couldn’t stop looking at it . Getting ready for class. A little stretching. Before dinner. Ella found her own ballet barre right here in our own building!Jesse and Heather’s dog Bob died today.  So sorry for such a huge loss.  He was a great little guy.  He will be missed.  We love you guys.

It’s super late so my words will be few.  This morning, Ella and I went on a bike ride along the water – we were looking for tsunamis. Thank goodness, we didn’t find any.  We had a lot of fun being outside.  We met mommy back at the house and then we all headed over to the ballpark in Noe Valley.  Ella had her first T Ball practice of the year today.  There was a small turnout but it was perfect to get to know some kids who we didn’t know.  Ella had a blast and also mastered the monkey bars before practice.  Tonight we met the Kim/Arena clan at Los Jarritos to celebrate Ron’s birthday.  Everyone had a great time.  Julie, Justin and Kate also joined us.  After dinner, everyone came back here where Helen and I watched Monster Inc with the kids and Sunny, Kate and Ron stayed downstairs and had adult conversations.  It was a wonderful night. On our ride this morning looking for tsunamis.mastering the monkey bars. Running the bases. Batting Fielding. A little more batting. Costume change…time to go to dinner. The girls having dinner at their own table.  They did a great job without us! Bubble fun. Sweet KJ> Happy Birthday ROn!  Hope you had a beautful day.

I think I waited too long to write this after taking my ambien so I”ll make this very short.  The video below is of Ella’s piano lesson today.  She did the twinkle duet with me and then learned Ode to Joy!  Ella is truly fantastic.  Here are a few pictures that AJ sent me.  Beautiful shots of Ella, papa and Milo.  Check Ella’s finger in the last shot.  We watched the Bee movie tonight because Ella is learning about and studying bees in class.  Ella is going to have a few more questions to ask Ms. Alicia about Bees on Monday.  Here are the pictures before I fall asleep. Nice finger big cuz! happiness after school on Thursday.  Alicia gave Ella a very special hair style that Ella loved. Talking to papa on the phone after school. My little serious student. My little goofy piano student.Sweet Towby hanging out with Lou Seal.

Today, we stayed around the house for most of the day.  Milo needed some rest and is really battling this cold so we decided that we didn’t have to take any field trips today.  We spent a great part of the morning playing down stairs.  Ella and Milo were playing with Legos and every time Ella began to build something, Milo would knock it over.  Ella was getting frustrated but instead of taking it out on Milo, she went over to her dry erase board easel thing and drew the following… This is Ella’s way of expressing her feelings.  There was a picture of Milo with a circle around it and a line through it and then there was a drawing of a leggo and all around it it said, “NO, NO, No, No:  I thought that was great way to get Ella to get her feelings off her chest!  It was also really funny.We had lunch at Crossroads Cafe which was a big success.  Ella had her usual bagel and some fruit and Milo had a bowl of mushroom barley soup.  By the end of lunch, Milo literally almost fell asleep in the soup!    After lunch, we came back here and Ella went over to see Stella and Juliet.  She has been dying to see them – they were out of town during the beginning part of the week.  The girls had a great time as always.  After that, We took Milo into the hall to play with the bubble machine.  Milo kept trying to eat the bubbles off the ground like a dog.  It was hysterical. Bubble fun for everyone!After the bubbles, Ella had a swimming lesson.  She was amazing.  I didn’t take any pictures, but you have to trust me. Ella’s backstroke is like she’s flying across the water.  Her freestyle has improved a billion percent and she’s really swimming like a swimmer…whatever that means. Here’s the gang on our way to Nama. Ella beat grandma at Tic Tac Toe about 8 times. Ella and grandma having a wonderful night together.Milo is so happy.  He’s watching every move that Ella makes. Milo and AJ dancing the night away.What a bunch of gooofy people!  Love is everything. Ella and Milo dancing.  Ella took this lovely picture of Michael and Milo. Finally home from all that dancing and eating,   Ella had a job…to feed Hanna’s fish Blue.  Ella did a great job

Ella was so excited when she was going to sleep yesterday morning because she knew that she was going to wake up and then  a few hours later, Ella would be with some of her favorite peeps.  So cute to see Milo come off the plane and immediately see Ella in give her one of those heart melting smiles.  We spent most of the day hanging around, letting Milo check the place out and for all of us  to reconnect and enjoy our beautiful time together.   Ella and Milo are the cutest together.  They are going to have a bast this week.  Ella is having a sleepover with grandma for the next 2 nights and Ella can’ be happier.  I’m sure my mom is having a blast too.  We love having everyone here.  The guys will join us on Thursday.  Tomorrow we will go do something fun.  Here are a few pics from today. Ella practicing her letters before breakfast the other morning. So excited to see grandma, AJ and Milo. Holding hands in the back seat of the car.  True love. It warms my heart to see these two playing together.My very serious piano stuent. Chocolate with Grandma = pure heaven on so many levels.

Ella was doing a lot of water ballet and some old school swimming.  I loved editing the video and watching Ella thrive in the pool.  For my visitors next week…don’t forget your bathing suits!  Not too much to say.  I’m heading towards that sleepy place.  Can’t wait for everyone to be here next week.  I love you guys.

Ella had a great day at school and tonight Stella, Juliet and KJ came over for dinner so they had a special night together.  Sunny made a great dinner and then for dessert, we had a repeat of last night…melted chocolate and strawberries.  All of us enjoyed this decadent dessert.  Tonight was a fun night. After Ella’s bath, she chose this outfit to greet her dinner guests. Taking turns on the piano. Yummy chocolate!  It was a hit.

Today, Ella and I were driving from school to ballet.  Ella said that she had a great day and then told me that she had a boyfriend.  I asked her who her boyfriend is and she said, “Dillon”.  I asked her what gave her the idea that she had a boyfriend and she said, “Emmi”.  Then I said, “weren’t you chasing Dillon the other day on the playground?”  Ella said, “Yes.  I was trying to kiss him”.  I asked her if he wanted to be her boyfriend and she said, “yes, he does”.  I asked if anyone else had a boyfriend or a girlfriend and she said, “I have a girlfriend too”.  I asked her who it was and she said, “Brickelle”.  I’m so happy that Ella is having so much fun at school!  Ella was great in ballet today.  She was also really excited about Valentines Day.  Sunny and I got Ella chocolate, balloons and flowers.  Ella was so happy.  After a delicious dinner at home, Sunny melted chocolate and we all dipped fruit in the chocolate.  Ella was in heaven – I was a close second.Tiny dancer. A lot of chocolate before dinner! Ella loved her balloons. Fruit and marshmallows (don’t worry grandma – we would lose the bananas if you were here. YUM!

I’m going to make this short because I took my ambien.  Sunny and I had a beautiful day at Golden Gate Park with Ella.  We walked around Stowe Lake, fed some birds, ducks, geese, seagulls…we were trying to feed the koi but they never really came up.  We had a sweet day, it was nice to be in nature.  Ella had a great TaeKwondo class.  Tonight Naomi and Phyllis came here for dinner and to hang out with Ella. Sunny and I went out to celebrate Becca’s 40th birthday.  Happy Birthday ET!  We had a fun time being out. Thanks Ella! Beautiful flower blossoms.Throwing bread for the ducks, fish and seagullsNotice Ella’s taekwondo footwear! This morning, Ella took a bike ride along with dogdog around the ballpark.  We ended up on the slides and playing on the small field.  Ella can now go on the guzzler – the big slide at the ballpark.  She is “officially” 42 inches.  Ella loved the slide.weeeeeeeeeee!  There are some great movies of Ella hitting and sliding at the end of this post.This afternoon, the Kim/Arena clan and me and Ella met Sunny and some of her staff at Alcatraz.  Sunny was there earlier giving a presentation to the Rangers.  If there was a vote tonight, Sunny would have been made president of Alcatraz  The rangers love her and they sell her book in the gift shop there!  We were treated to a special tour at night.  The kids did a great job but it wasn’t really a kids tour.  Ella was pretty mesmerized about the whole thing.  She followed the guide and was very curious about what was going on…at least in the beginning of the tour, Ella and Juliet have a hot chocolate on the way over. Mommy waiting us to arrive at Alcatraz!  What a beautiful sight. Ella checking out one of the old cells – more like a torture chamber. OUr ranger guide and Ella ready to go up to the top. KJ did such a great job today.  It was really cold out there. Friends forever. I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. I guess she didn’t take my advice. The kids with their angry faces pretending that they were going to get locked up. Yay!  They were freed. Uh oh – busted again.Listening to the audio tour.