Life With Ella

Today was a great day.  In the morning, we went over to Phyllis’ house so that we could spend some time with her mom, grandma Alice and her sister and brother in law before they headed back to LA.  Alice is 93 years old is as sharp as a whip.  She is an amazing inspiration to make you want to live a long beautiful life.  After Phyllis’ house, we headed over to Debby and Toby’s to celebrate Rachel’s 21st birthday.  Rachel was in town for the long weekend from Sarah Lawernce College.  It was great to see all of them and get to spend some time together.  Ella really loves Rachel and you can tell how special she feels hanging out with a “big” girl.  After Debby and Toby’s we came back here and spent the rest of the day here just hanging out, doing puzzles, teaching my mom how to use her iPad etc…We had dinner at Public House again and grandma and papa have to leave in the morning.  We love you guys – we will miss you – can’t wait to see you in about 3 weeks. Beautiful Ella and beautiful grandma Alice. Ella at Rachel’s party.  Ella fit right into the party. Ella helped Rachel blow out the candles…they were those kind of candles that keep re-lighting.  Ella thought that was pretty cool. Ella introducing papa to Luca – her lizard that she made at tree frog trecks. Pure happiness and love. Love, love love. 2 happy grandparents and one happy crazy grand daughter.

We have had a great Thanksgiving weekend so far.  On Thursday, we went on a walk/bike ride and then made it down to Pier 39 for a great lunch/dinner at the Crab House.  After the Crab House, we went downtown to see Tangled.  We saw it in XD 3-D.  Not sure how necessary any of the D’s were, but it was a really sweet movie.  Ella loved it.  She laughed out loud a lot and was not scared in the “scary” scenes at all!  It was great for us all to experience the movie with her.  Today we had an easy morning and then we went to a bike store on Valencia and grandma and papa got a new bicycle for Ella for her birthday.  Ella was so lucky to get a great bike from Juliet, but then she outgrew it.  She picked her new bike out all by herself and then picked out the accessories.  Of course we had to go on another bike ride/walk when we got home, so Ella could test out her new bike.  Tonight we had dinner at Nama.  We all laughed a lot.  It’s been really great having grandma and papa here and having mommy home and not working. Ella’s last ride on her old bike.  Check out her new cool helmet. Hanging with Lou Seal. Ella having fun in the park by our house. Guess what we just saw?! Mommy and Ella holding up the HUGE beach ball in the movie theater. Sweet Ella. Ella and her new bike – poppin’ a wheelie. Getting the tires filled up. Cruisin’ down Valencia on her new tricked out bike. Ella playing around at the sand volleyball court. Playing hangman with grandma at Nama. Sweet and fun moments with papa. Heading home.

Today was the beginning of Ella’s Thanksgiving break.  My parents flew in last night and came to Grandparent and Special Friends day at Ella’s school.  This year is their third year attending and from observing Ella and my parents, it was a totally different experience.  Ella was interactive in the class activity, she showed my parents around every corner of the room, describing what she did there and she pointed out her artwork and classwork on the walls.  We left and had lunch at Nordstrom.  We came home and hung out at the house – Ella, grandma and papa watched Finding Nemo and then the 5 of us went to the Public House for dinner.  It was a great day and night.  So happy to have grandma and papa here!  Tomorrow we are going to hang out here in the morning, watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, have a late lunch/early dinner, and then go see Tangled.  I hope that you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving and that we can all reach out and help people who may not be as fortunate as we are.  Even a smile makes a difference! Grandma and Ella were playing Spanish Bingo!  I think grandma was making sure that Ms. Gladys wasn’t cheating! A shot of the whole class playing Bingo. Ella showing grandma and papa some of her work on the walls. Ella showing grandma and papa some more of her work. THe traditional walking shots.

Ballet class was sweet today.  There were only 4 girls in the class and the regular teacher, Laura is taking off for a month because she’s on tour with The Nutcracker. For the next 4 weeks, Ella has Miss Alice who was her teacher last year, so the transition from Miss Laura to Miss Alice was very smooth and easy. This was taken before ballet today.  It was pretty cold out and we had to break out Ella’s real winter coat!

We started today off at a pizza party for the Black Widows (the soccer team that Ella is on).  Although their last game was cancelled, the team still got together at a pizza place by Golden Gate Park and celebrated a great season.  The girls got medals and all had a fun time.  Ella had her TaeKwonDo class this afternoon.  I didn’t go to the class but Sunny said that Ella did a great job.  Sunny and Ella made some sugar cookies when they came home.  Tonight, we had dinner with Hannah, Max and Ilene.  There was a huge rain/thunder/lightning storm tonight.  We ate at Amici’s.  Ella had fun running in the rain.  They came back here after dinner and the kids played together.  What a full beautiful day.  I forgot to mention yesterday, Sunny and I had a great parent/teacher meeting with Alicia and her team.  Ella is doing incredibly well at school.  We are so happy that she is a 3 year pre-schooler and has been with Alicia for 3 years.  I feel like we dropped off a baby at the school 2 years ago and now in her third year, she’s a solid, confident wonderful kid. Ella and Emmi at the pizza party. Most of the incredible Black Widows and their fantastic coaches. Practicing at home before class. Making sugar cookies. The nudnik family getting ready to go out in the rain. Running in crazy weather. Standing up crayons at Amici’s with Hannah and Max. Ella and Max are really sweet together.  Check out Ella’s crossed legs.  They were doing a hidden object search. Playing the Toy Story alien game.

Ella had a great time at the sleepover and we didn’t pick her up until 2:00 today!  Today after they woke up and had breakfast, Kristen (Emmi’s mom) took Emmi, Sadie (Emmi’s older sister) and Ella to this place in Daly City that has a huge indoor climbing and sliding structure.  When we picked up Ella, she was exhausted and I think she just wanted to stay forever but when we told her that we had to go, she went crazy!  The girls were also watching Hannah Montana on TV and Ella just wasn’t having it.  Unfortunately, Ella left her amazing sleepover kicking and screaming.  She was nuts in the car and then after about 5 minutes, she passed out.  Ella slept from about 2:30 – 5:00.  She must have been playing so hard with the girls. Kristen sent us these pictures last night.  The girls all made their own pizzas.  I guess Ella has been watching the guys at Amici’s make their pizzas really closely because she made a hell of a pizza.  We were so happy that Ella had a great time. Phyllis came over for dinner tonight and dropped off some birthday presents for Ella.  When Ella saw these Hannah Montana pajamas, she threw herself on the ground and then she got up, ran to Towby’s bed, put the bed over her head, screamed and I don’t even remember what happened next.  She loves her new pajamas a lot.

Ella has her 6 month check up tomorrow.  She is usually really nervous and resistant about going to the dentist but this time she’s totally fine about it.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but I think it’s going to be a good visit.  She’s looking forward to getting presents from the treasure chest.  It’s funny, ever since her birthday, Ella has been acting a little older.  I love watching her evolution. Morning hug. Heather gave Ella this Hannah Montana snuggie.  Ella decided to wear it backwards.  She just can’t get over all the Hannah Montana stuff that she scored from Heather.  Thank you Heather.  You made Ella so happy!