Life With Ella

Well…today was the last day of our 21 day visit.  The time went by so quickly.  We will really miss being here, but always look forward to coming back.  We love you grandma and papa.  Thanks so much for making everything so beautiful and easy.  These are really special times for us.  Today we went to the pool with a lot of the family.  It was the first time that papa was at the Leonia pool in 30 years – the last time we were all on the swim team!  Today Vaughn, Carolyn, Wayne and Jay met us at the pool.  We all had a lot of fun.  Ella did some swimming in 12 feet of water.  She was not scared at all and really did a great job.  Tonight, we had dinner at home and just hung out and had sweet, funny times.  I think Ella is so excited to go back to San Francisco, but really sad to leave.  Totally normal feelings that will work themselves out.  Ella and AJ especially had fun with each other tonight.  So Sunny/mommy – we’re coming home.  Get ready for lots of love.  We missed you.  Grandma, papa, AJ, Michael, Milo – we love you guys so much and had such an amazing 3 weeks with you.

Ella and papa walking into the pool.

Notice Ella in the water without her bathing cap or goggles.

Papa settling in at the pool.

Here come Carolyn, Vaughn and Wayne.

Kiddie pool fun for AJ and Milo.

Carolyn and Wayne doing some relaxing at the Leonia pool.

Vaughn is going to be a great swimmer.

Now papa is super comfortable.

Fun in the pool.

AJ and Milo poolside.

Happy kid.

Ella, Carolyn and Vaughn right before we were getting ready to leave.

One parent per kid.

Beautiful shot but it would have been gorgeous if you were there Sunny!

AJ and Ella doing some serious loving and bonding.

Some beautiful family shots.

Ella took all these shots with my fancy camera.  She’s getting good!

What a beauty.

Looking for fireflies one last time – we didn’t find anything.

We’ve had an amazing 3 weeks here.  It’s been great to catch up with old friends, (sorry we missed seeing a bunch of people), and it was wonderful to spend some great time with grandma, papa, AJ and Milo.  It’s been so incredible to watch Milo grow up over these past 3 weeks and Ella has been so wonderful with him.  I can’t wait to watch their relationship grow.  Tonight, Ella, grandma, papa and I went into NY to go see AJ sing at a club.  AJ was incredible and Ella was star struck.  Her heart was beating so fast and she just kept smiling.  At one point, AJ looked over at Ella and said, “Ella – this is for you” and performed, “Take Your Time”…that’s one of AJ’s songs that Ella started singing when she was around 20 months old.  Ella pretty much melted.  It was a beautiful night.  See you in 2 days Sunny/mommy.  We love you!

Our little mermaid.

Grandma and Milo at papa’s club.

Having lots of fun together!

On the Lower East Side heading over to AJ’s gig.

Very excited before the show.

Huge smile during the show.

Michael and AJ making beautiful music together.

Watching the show and feelin’ groovy.

Ella took all of these shots.

Ella really didn’t stop smiling.

After the show – Ella couldn’t wait to go and give AJ and Michael hugs and kisses.

Ever since we arrived, Ella has been asking to go to Central Park.  We have gone to different parts of Central Park over the years, but Ella’s favorite part of the park is the water aspect.  Some of the little parks in Central Park have water squirting from the ground or tubes or hippos or whatever.  On Wednesday, Ella and I went into NY and met up with an old friend of mine, Karen.  First we went to a fun park with lots of water that Ella loved and then we went to a little amusement park in Central Park.  The amusement park is where the Wolman Rink is during the winter.  It was pretty much the same as the fair at AT&T park and in Calistoga.  Ella loved that too.  She went on a bunch of rides and Karen went on some with her.  We had a terrific day – spent about 4 hours in Central Park.  We came home and grandma had picked up Milo in the afternoon.  We had a lot of fun playing with grandma, papa and Milo.  In the evening, we were all a little wiped out.  My friend Adam came over for dinner – it was great catching up.  Today was a great day with some beautiful old friends.  Sunny/mommy – we love you and miss you and wish you were still here with us!

Ella having a blast.  She was running, galloping (ballet style), jumping, covering the water spouts, playing with the other kids without talking to them…just being a really cool and fun kid.

Karen and Ella became fast friends.

Flying on a little plane.

Karen and Ella went on this crazy boat ride.  Ell was scared but thrilled and then totally brave.

A sweet and easy boat ride.

Ella took this shot of us.

Ella told us that this would be a perfect tree for her to climb.

Back at home with Milo.

Ella’s vantage point.

I look a little bit like a shark, but look at how Milo was looking at papa.  Pure happiness.  Ella is getting to be a wonderful photographer.

Milo about to give Ella a big kiss.

Proud papa and his beautiful grandchildren.

Yesterday, Ella, grandma and I went to the Liberty Science Museum in Jersey City.  It was a pretty cool place – I like the Exploratorium in San Francisco much better, but Ella had a lot of fun.  I am going to post lots of pictures and explain along the way when necessary.

Pretty self explanatory…LOVE.

Ella did a great job on this challenging rock climbing wall.

Exploring.

Ella was on this centrifugal force chair – the woman was spinning her around and gave her an assignment…to put all the red squares in a row while spinning pretty quickly…

As you can see, Ella did a fantastic job!  She can now be an astronaut.

Ella got to build her own rocket which she launched.

If you can believe it, these fish live in the Hudson River.

Ella was playing a game where she was making the balls go up on a pulley.

Water graffiti.

Playing on a stone xylophone.

Grandma and Ella saying hello to a friendly python.

“I want you to clean this dump ’til it shines like the top of the Chrylser Building!”

This is a mangled steel beam from the World Trade Center.

Ella loved operating the digger.

A really cool outdoor obstacle course where the kids were supposed to be different animals in their habitats.

The adventures continue…we have been going to the pool every day and Ella is doing so well with side and front breathing.  She is even spending about 15 – 20 minutes each day swimming without goggles.  Yesterday, we went swimming for about an hour and then Ella and I headed into New York to the Planetarium and The Museum of Natural History.  Ella has been wanting to go to the Planetarium because of the Eloise movie – the prince ends up at the Planetarium to see the stars.  We watched the Journey to the Stars movie in the special theater.  Ella LOVED it – she was blown away.  “Mama- it felt like the theater was moving and that we were in the sky”.  After the movie, we went around a small part of the museum – we saw the African mammals and North American mammals and then we went into the room where the big blue whale is.  Ella has been into angler fish lately – the ugly fish who live deep down in the sea.  There were quite a few angler fish at the museum and there was even a video.  Ella was completely riveted by all of this.  After the museum, we met AJ for some ice cream and then did a little shoe shopping at Harry’s.  Then we met Nikki B for dinner.  AJ and Michael met us and then we all headed back to NJ.  What a beautiful fun filled day and night.

What a big beautiful girl.

Fun at old and new parks.  Ella did a great job on the balance beam.

Running up the steps of the planetarium.

Half way there…

Ella wanted me to take this shot of the planets.  Pretty cool.

This is how much Ella weighs on the moon – 6.1 lbs…in order to find out your earth weight, you multiply your moon weight by 6.

I snuck this picture of Ella in the planetarium just before the movie started.

Check out how huge this dinosaur skeleton is!  Fantastic.

Ella loved this wall of insects and fish and other stuff.

Ella with the big blue whale in the background.

Uncle Jesse – I took this shot for you.  They took the glass away from this exhibit and it’s still dark, but with the flash, it’s less ominous.

Meeting AJ after the planetarium.  So much beautiful love.

One of Ella’s shots.

The gang walking to the car.

Ella and uncle Michael in the middle of Broadway.

Ella and her new red dressy shoes.

New sneakers for school – Ella’s wonderful photography.

Ella took this beautiful shot of grandma and papa.

Ella is such a lover of life.  She manages to throw herself into everything that she is doing and she really loves every individual thing.  On Saturday, Ella swam, took a ride in the golf cart, drove the golf cart (on papa’s lap), putted a little bit, ran through the sprinkler, found a leaf bug and took lots of pictures.  She loved each thing.  The only thing that is missing is mommy.  We love you and miss you so much.  Today (Sunday) we all went to the cemetery for the unveiling of my grandmother’s head stone.  Before Sunny left, we explained to Ella that the cemetery is a place to go to remember people who have died.  We told her that the stones represented the people.  We did not tell her that the bodies were buried in the ground.  This morning while we were having breakfast, I was explaining to Ella about the unveiling again, telling her that a rabbi was going to speak and that there would be some family members there and that they were going to take a veil or scarf off the stone.  Ella asked if she could bring a stone…I told her that was a beautiful idea and that she could put it on my grandma’s stone.  She went outside with my dad and found a little stone.  She then drew a heart on it.  She said that she would put it on my grandma’s head stone.  She did just that today and it was beautiful.  Obviously, I didn’t take pictures, but it was just so pure and “Ella”.

Milo and Iya loving each other at papa’s club.

Happy boy!

The beginning out our golf cart journey.

Ella checking out the water trap at papa’s club.  She was pointing at the bubbles where there were fish.

Sweet love.

Papa and Ella driving me around.

The golf course is really beautiful.

Ella’s first golf lesson…she’s not exactly a natural, but she can learn if the spirit moves her.

Ella frolicking through the sprinkler.  She couldn’t stop giggling.  Such a sweet scene.

Ella and I found this leaf bug outside of my parent’s house.  I took the first shot, Ella took the second.

Ella and Milo holding hands in the back seat on the way to dinner.

Ella took this of grandma and papa.

Beautiful grandparents and their grandchildren.

Another one of Ella’s masterpieces.

I took this one – Milo has a thing for the garbage can in the kitchen.  He can stand there talking to it for like 15 minutes!

Last night was mommy’s last night in NJ – we love you – see you in a week!  It was wonderful being here with you.  We all went to the River Palm last night for a family dinner.  The dinner was great, Ella was fantastic, and Milo was terrific.  Here are some great shots from last night.

Before we all went out to dinner Ella helped grandma and papa water the flowers and clean off a little slide for Milo.

Mommy and Ella outside of the restaurant.  A beautiful embrace.

Cousins!

Our big girl…nothing spilled and nothing broke.

Ella loves her grandma and papa so much.

A serious shot.

Our beautiful family.

Milo and whipped cream – a beautiful combination.

Ella digging into her dessert.  I think she liked the ice cream as much as the chocolate lava cake!

Milo and AJ sporting the adorable stripes.

This is one of those self-portraits – thought this came out pretty well.

Sisters and cousins.  AJ – I think this is right before you fell asleep!  (Just kidding).

Ella took this one of Milo and AJ.

Ella standing on top of the old slide that she cleaned off  for Milo.

Visiting day.

Yesterday, it rained a lot during the day, but when the sun came out, we brought the kids to the park.  Ella tried everything and Milo pretty much stuck to the slide and the bouncy thing.  Ella brought her basketball and did some serious dribbling.

Milo and grandma own that slide.

Milo thinking about something good.

Ella showing off her basketball skills.

Fancy footwork on the balance beam.

On the bouncy bunny.

A big jump.

Ella and Milo hanging out.

Such a beautiful scene.

Mommy reading to the kids before we go into NY.

A “self portrait” of me and Normyn.

On Wednesday, grandma, mommy, Ella and I went into NY and saw a matinee of Mary Poppins on Broadway.  This was Ella’s first Broadway show.  We were sitting center orchestra, row J.  When the curtain went up, Ella began to shake and was overwhelmed.  She jumped onto mommy’s lap.  After about 10 minutes, she was in her own seat thoroughly loving the show.  It was so much fun to be with Ella to experience something so magical.  After the show, we waited at the stage door for the actors to come out.  The only actor who didn’t make it out was Mary Poppins, but Ella got autographs and photos with the other main characters.  Ella also got the Mary Poppins umbrella and purse and she said, “Why don’t we get an umbrella for Stella and Juliet?”  We asked her if this would be their present from NY, and she said, “yes” so we did.  In the evening, Emma and James came over and Ella had a blast with them.

Grandma, Ella and mommy outside of the theater.

About to go into the theater.  It’s getting exciting.

The show is about to start.

Ella and grandma during the intermission.

I snuck this shot during the show when Mary Poppins was flying away and the entire theater was filled with stars.

Ella with the actor who played Michael.

Ella with the actor who played Jane.

Ella with the actor who played Burt.

Ella with the actor who played Mr. Banks…Jane and Michael’s dad.

Walking back to the garage.

Ella with Emma and James – such sweet kids.  Ella really loves them.

Finding fireflies with Emma and James.

We have been swimming almost every day since we arrived and Ella is getting stronger every day.  On Monday and Tuesday, we mixed it up after swimming.  On Monday afternoon, we took a hike in a nature reserve right by grandma and papa’s house.  Ella loves to explore the great outdoors and we had a nice little hike.  The only thing that creeped me out was a deer tick warning.  We did tick checks after the hike.  On Tuesday, we went to papa’s club to swim and Ella took a swimming lesson.  The teacher worked on side and front breathing and Ella did a fantastic job.  After the club, we went into NY and met KK at the Plaza Hotel for an “Eloise Tea”.  Ella walked into the Plaza and she lit up like Annie at Daddy Warbucks’ house.  Her eyes got huge and she just took it all in.  We all had white napkins and they gave Ella a special pink napkin which she cherished.  Ella ordered the Eloise Tea (so did I) which had grilled cheese, cucumber, strawberry and cream cheese and peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches.  Then there were 2 scones, and after that, chocolate dipped strawberries, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, mini cupcakes, and more stuff that I can’t even remember.  After the tea, we went to the Eloise store and we bought a DVD of the Disney Eloise movie.  After that, we went to FAO Schwarz where Ella ran back and forth on the giant piano.  Then we told her she could get one thing from the store and out of all of these amazing toys, she chose a fancy purple leotard.  We kissed KK goodbye and took one of those bike things down 59th street to meet Nikki B in the Time Warner Building.  We had a great dinner and finished it off with Ella having ice cream from Mr. Softee.  Wow!  What a day.  Today grandma, mommy, Ella and I are going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.  Ella is just a little bit excited.

Ella doing ballet while mommy and Milo tap the ball keeping rhythm.

Some shots from our nature hike.

Ella and her swimming teacher Sarah.  Ella is such an amazing listener in her one-on-one lessons.

Ella and KK in front of the original Eloise painting.

Mommy and Ella showing us the poster to the Eloise store.

Ella stirring two cubes of sugar into her chamomile tea.

The food has arrived!  Look at this happy beauty.

This is the Palm Court where we had the Eloise Tea.

Ella strolling into the Eloise store.

Getting very comfortable in the Eloise chill spot.  Of course there was a giant TV screen in front of her playing an Eloise cartoon.

Walking towards FAO Schwarz.

Arriving at FAO Schwarz.

Fun on the “Big” piano.

Ella’s new leotard.

Playing around in a fun mirrored room.

Posing in front of the man and woman statues in the Time Warner Building.

Ice cream with mommy and Nikki B.