Life With Ella

The weather hasn’t been so great here but we’re still having so much fun. Yesterday we took it easy and stayed around then house. We met up with my friend Cheryl and her kids and we played with them at the park. Then we had another barbeque with our family.

Today, Sunny had a meeting in NY so Ella and I drove Sunny into her meeting. After that, Ella and I went to a diner on the upper west side and had some lunch. After lunch we did a little shopping and Ella picked out a pair of purple crocs. She looked at them and said, “Juliet has them” with a big smile on her face. Now she has the same shoes as her buddy Juliet. After the crocs, I asked Ella if she wanted to see flowers. There is a beautiful community garden  in Riverside Park around 91st street. She said that she wanted to go see the flowers. As we were walking into the park, Ella spotted a playground. She quickly started saying “swings, swings”. I asked her if she wanted to go to the playground or see the flowers (duh)…of course we ended up at the playground.

After the park, we went up to 86th street to meet Sunny at Tasti delite. Sunny gave Ella an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. She loved it. She ate it all the way back to NJ. Today was a great day.

Does Ella look happy to be on the swings or what?

“Look mama – it’s a hippo tushie”

Brave Ella checking out the hippo’s teeth

Thanks for the ice cream mommy!

Sunny was gone doing work in the Westchester jails all day and grandma, Ella and I were planning on going swimming. That plan was squashed by the rain. We just hung around the house and the rain finally stopped. I took Ella into NY to meet my friends Rob and Diane. Right across the street from their apartment, in Central Park is this great kid’s park. Ella and I spotted it and spend a little time there before we went to their apartment. Ella had a blast – loved the swings – not a big surprise. She also wanted to run through the water but it just wasn’t happening since she had her out to dinner clothes on. We had fun with Diane and Robby and then went a little downtown to see Nikki B. Nikki has a cat named Mimi who Ella has been doing video chats with but they never met in person. Today they finally met and it was love at first sight. Mimi even got on her hind legs to get to see Ella better. Nikki B, Ella and I had dinner together and then headed downtown to hear AJ perform and to meet Sunny. The place was really crowded and there was nowhere for us to sit so we just hung around outside. I brought Ella in for 2 of AJ’s songs and Ella said “Yay AJ “Yay AJ”. Then Sunny took Ella in a little later and Ella began to scream “Huggy AJ” I guess she didn’t realize that AJ was working. AJ came running out at the end of her set to give little Ella a huggy. It was a sweet night. Ella spent some quality time on Mommy’s shoulders so she got to see the world way up high.

Ella found her dream park!

Ella about to brush Mimi

Making friends forever

Watching the show from Mommy’s shoulders

Today we drove up the Palisades to go visit Sunny’s dad. We brought some lunch and hung around for the afternoon. Ella was really sweet and tried to share her cookie with grandpa Seymour. It was a sweet afternoon. Later in the afternoon, we spent some time at the park.

Huggy mommy!

Sharing a kiss with grandpa Seymour

It was a beautiful day today. Sunny flew in from Chicago in the afternoon and now we are all together again. Sunny couldn’t believe how much Ella has grown up in the past week. Ella was really happy to see Sunny. She looked over at Sunny at one point and said, “I love you mommy”…words to melt your heart. We had some fun at the park and on a little slide that we put in front of the house. Tonight we had a bar-b-que with Cliff, Kim, Sam and Jack.

Lucy and Ethel. Ella loves grandma’s shower caps.

Reunited and it feels so good.

Always hold hands when you cross the street.

Ella on her little slide.

Hanging on the front lawn with mama.

What a face!

Cliff and his beautiful boys Jack and Sam

Today was a great day. Ella started her day brushing her teeth with papa. After breakfast she had a visit with two of her cousins Jack and Sammy. Ella really liked both of them and hopefully they will get to hang out more. Then grandma and I took Ella to papa’s club (where he was playing golf) and we hung out at the pool. Ella had a great time in the kiddie pool – she walked around like she owned it. She also asked me to take her into the big pool and we had fun swimming. I can’t really tell you about the rest of Ella’s night because I went to the Mets game with Nikki B and Ella had alone time with her grandparents. I’m sure they had an amazing time. Sunny is flying in tomorrow. It’s about time!

Brushing teeth with papa

Kissing grandma

Kissing Jack

Getting to know Sammy

Having a serious conversation with Sammy

Climbing out of the kiddie pool

Fun in the water with mama

This afternoon, Ella, Nikki B and I went to hang out with Nicoles brother’s family in NJ. Ella had an incredible time hanging out with the kids. She played on swings, went down the slide, played a little wiffle ball, picked tomatoes from the garden, ran under the sprinkler, played with the guinea pig – wow, I’m geting tired writing all of this! Peter cooked up the hamburgers and hot dogs, Lynne prepared the rest of the great dinner and then we went to Dairy Queen for dessert. We had a really fun evening. Thank you Barsamians!

Ella going down the slide

Picking (and eating) fresh tomatoes from the garden.

Ella meeting Trixie the guinea pig

Emily supervising Ella feeding Trixie

Batter up! Gotta start them young.

Nikki B

Chef Peter

Nikki B with David and Emily

Back with grandma and papa. Uh oh – Ella looks a little hyper.