Life With Ella

We arrived on Monday at around 6:30, went out to dinner and then back to grandma and papa’s house.  We got back to the house at prime firefly catching time…around 8:30.  Ella was not only so happy to be here, but she was really excited to see fireflies.  Today, we went into NY, met AJ and Milo at Milo’s Music Together class and also got to see Twyla, Jordin and Kevin.  Ella was so excited to see Milo and AJ.  We can’t wait for them to sleep over at grandma and papa’s house.  We went out to lunch at PQ and got to see Iya.  After lunch, Ella read Green Eggs and Ham to Milo and then he took a little nap.  Grandma, AJ and Milo rested and Ella and I went to Washington Square Park to meet Brickelle, Akilah, Brooke and Brooklyn who are spending the month of July in NY.  It was so much fun to see our SF peeps in NYC!  Ella and Brickelle ran off and played in the water and at the park.  After the park, we came back to NJ and had Chinese food with grandma and papa.  Once again, Ella ran around chasing fireflies tonight.  It’s so great to be here.  We miss mommy a lot but we have been doing facetime with her and it’s been terrific.  We love you and miss you Sunny/mommy.Catching fireflies our first night here.  Ella has become an amazing firefly catcher.  Here, she’s teaching grandma her special technique. Here’s Milo entertaining all of us at Music Together.Twyla and Jordin in class today.  We hear that rhythm eggs are Twyla’s favorite instrument. Sweet Twyla.  She celebrated her 1st birthday on July 4.  Happy Birthday Twyla. Jordin dipping Ella. Milo, the ultimate charmer.  Milo is turning 2 today!  (July 13).  Happy Birthday beautiful Milo! Ella doing some hard core drumming on her little red drum. I love this picture of Ella and grandma. I took this picture of Kevin while Twyla and I were looking through the camera viewer.  I’d say that this great shot was taken through Twyla’s eyes.  Back out on the hot streets of New York City! Milo and Ella love each other so much. It was wonderful to see Normyn on the mend.Milo, Ella Brickelle and AJ in Washington Square Park. Brickelle sliding down the fire pole as Ella waits her turn. A very hot Milo on top of the little slide. Ella and Brickelle were so happy to see each other and hang out. Beautiful Brooklyn had so much fun at the park too!  He was so sweet.  He walked up to me and said, “Lauren, I like NY.” Catching fireflies tonight.  That’s a firefly on Ella’s sleeve.  I had her change into a long sleeve shirt and leggings to reduce the chance of getting mosquito bites. 

I can’t believe we were in Hawaii a little more than a week ago.  On Tuesday, Ella went to the dentist for her 6 month check up.  Ella is usually really nervous before she goes to the dentist.  This time, she seemed really calm on totally fine with going.  We went in and she began to draw on a blackboard in the waiting room.  When we were called in, she went right to the chair and sat down.  The lady asked her if she wanted to pick a movie, and she asked what her choices were.  She chose Cars.  She was great during the check up.  The good news about her check up is that 6 months ago, the dentist saw a cavity forming.  She gave us fluoride to use every night and said she would check it again in 6 months.  Mommy and Ella have done such a great job brushing that there was no change in the forming cavity.  Great job guys!  We have been spending some great evenings with Stella, Juliet, KJ and Helen.  On Wednesday night, we had Blush, on Thursday night we had Thursday night movie night and watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and tonight we watched Cars.  The girls and KJ have been having a lot of fun together. Ella drawing away in the waiting room. Ella getting her teeth painted. The dark purple shows where there’s plaque.  Ella hardly had any. Clean white sparkly teeth. New sneakers that light up. Going for a ride on a beautiful San Francisco day.Ella wearing one of our friend’s World Series rings.  That bling looks pretty good on Ella.

On Saturday morning we drove to Calistoga for the July 4th weekend.  One of Ella’s classmates has a family vineyard in Calistoga and every year they invite a bunch of families from school up there for the July 4th weekend.  We had a great time.  Ella had a blast!  While we were there she said, “I love this weekend in Calistoga.  I think I love it more this year than I did last year!”  It’s so cool watching Ella grow up.  I could see how the experience was different for her this year.  She is really growing up socially and intellectually and it’s great to see that when we’re around such a large group of kids.  It was a really sweet weekend full of lots of kids.  We are all very happy to be back in our own beds though.  We “camped out” on their lawn.  There were 13 families in tents all around.  We had air mattresses in our tent and used comforters and pillows and it was nice and cozy, but there’s nothing like your own bed after a weekend “camping”! Ella LOVES swimming! Dinner time! Sometimes Ella can be a close talker.  Luckily, her friend Luke is used to her! Ellal and her friend Fiona hanging out on the tire swing.  Ella spent a lot of time on the tire swing. We went to the county fair.  It was about 102 degrees outside.  Ella went on the bumper cars with Tess, one of the older kids who is just wonderful with Ella. Ella really wanted to ride this pony.  She said that she loved it but her face is saying maybe she was a little nervous. I love this shot of Ella. All the kids back at the pool after the county fair. Ella and Tess in the pool. A brownie on a stick.  Ella was in heaven. Ella wasn’t into being a part of the water balloon fight that the kids had, but she loved walking around with her own little pet water balloon. The kids were all watching a Charlie Brown 4th Of July special on a giant screen that they put up. Mommy pushing Ella on the tire swing. We were in beautiful nature this weekend. Mommy and Ella hanging out by the pool. Ella helping to fill up water balloons. Ella swinging on the tire swing with her friend Tessa. The whole gang!

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.

Today we did some last minute errands and then had some fun in the hot SF sun.  We played catch with water balloons and squirted Ella with a spray bottle.  I can’t wait to have so much more fun in Hawaii.  We leave in the morning and then Towby’s babysitters and their dogs move in here.  Everyone will be taken care of.  Here are some beautiful shots from today. This one was actually from yesterday…running errands in the neighborhood.Pure happiness.