Life With Ella

Here are a few shots from over the weekend.  It rained all weekend.  We needed the rain and it didn’t keep us from going outside and having fun.  On Sunday, we went to Pier 39 and the Aquarium by the bay.  Ella never gets tired of that place!  Afterwards, we came home and built a cool building while watching the football game.

 I’m running in the rain!

 Patiently waiting to pet the ray.

 Settling and petting an anemone.

 Our leaning tower of King Street.

Our days and nights have been so full!  Ella is still loving life so much.  She is doing wonderful work at school, her friendships are tight and real, she is funny, she is a bit defiant, she’s beautiful, she’s enthusiastic about everything that she does…what a great person.  Last week, we participated in a CDS walk to honor Dr. Martin Luther King.  We made a sign together for Ella to hold.  Ella asked me to write, “Love and Peace” Dr. Martin Luther King.  I did it in my old school bubble letters, and Ella colored them in.  Sunny made a Let Freedom Ring-Equality for all on the other side of the poster.  It was a sweet march.  The kids are all learning at their own pace.  Ella had a sleep over on Friday night at Stella and Juliet’s and loved every minute of it.  Mommy and I went out with some friends from Ella’s school.  Stella spend most of the day with us on Saturday and then some of our friends and their daughter came over on Saturday night.  We had a lot of fun.  On Sunday, we did a video chat with grandma and papa and then watched the NY Giants win!  What an exciting weekend. Here are some pictures from the parade and from ballet today.

 The beginning of the “march”.

So sorry for the space between blogs.  Re-entry was pretty busy!  Ella is back at school doing great, I’m back at work trying to motivate my students and Sunny is back at work… read the SF papers if you want info on what’s going on with the new sheriff.  Sunny continues to do her magic!  OK – so back to Anguilla (I wish we were really back there!), on Christmas day, we were invited to our friend Claudius’ family Christmas celebration.  It was really wonderful and those of us who made it (Michael was back at the house sick and grandma and papa stayed with a napping Milo) we were so grateful that we got to experience the Richardson family Christmas.  Amazing people, amazing food and an amazing bouncy house and kids for Ella to play with!  We literally pulled up to the house, Ella saw the bouncy house and the kids and said,  “A bouncy house, kids, can I unbuckle please?”  She was out of the car and into the bouncy house within 10 seconds.  Here are some shots from that day and then many others of the family and the beach.

 Ella made herself right at home!

 Ella, mommy and our beautiful friend Claudius.

 Claudius’ brother.  You can see the tent and all the people in the background.  Claudius – if you see this, thank you so much for including us with your family.  Sending lots of love.

 Back at the house, we just delivered some delicious food from the party to grandma, papa and Milo.

 These two love each other so much.

 Papa wasn’t relaxed at all!

 Dinner at Picante.

 Hanging around the house.

 What a beautiful shot!  Pure happiness.

 Dinner at Veya.  Ella and Milo were dancing a little to the live entertainment.

 Ella was acting goofy so grandma joined in.

 Checking out the koi pond at Veya.

 Papa sporting grandma’s stylish reading sunglasses.

The beautiful place where we stayed, Villa Gardenia.

 AJ got a hold of the camera.  This is just a beautiful morning by the pool.

 I took the camera back!

 Cannonball!

 Here are the beach shots.  Our favorite beach this time was the beach at the Great House.  The sand was perfect, the sea was calm, and it wasn’t crowded.  Ella and Milo did some serious digging and looking for shells and we loved swimming in the sea.

 Papa in paradise.

Almost got the shot right!  We had a lot of fun taking this.

 Lunch time!

 Milo making himself very comfortable with his mama.

 Best friends.

 Papa teaching Ella how to make music with a glass.

 Beach snuggles.

 Mommy and Ella paling around in the ocean.

 Beautiful grandma and papa.

 Our beautiful threesome.

 The most amazing aunt and uncle.

 The Leonhart’s new album cover?

 Ella and her AJ.

 More fun in the ocean with mommy.

 One of the sand castles that we built.

 Ella and Jesse played some great Kadima together.

 Last dip in the sea for 2011.  Look at the amazing clear water.

The celebration of my dad’s 70th birthday and Jamie’s 40th birthday was amazing.  The week in Anguilla was wonderful on so many levels.  It was so great to be with the whole family for a week. Ella and Milo were in heaven with each other, their grandparents and loved being able to spend so much time with Jesse and Heather.  Dad and mom – thanks for an amazing week!  We love you guys.  I’m now going to post some pics…there are a lot so I’m going to have many posts.

 Very first night…playing a heated game of Go Fish.

Ella was in the pool every day.  It wasn’t heated so most of us had to ease our way in, but Ella was in the pool every morning.

Our first dinner out.  We went to Smokey’s on the beach.  Food was great and we all had a wonderful evening.

Here we are in the morning checking something out on the iPad.  I can’t remember the last time we call had breakfast together in our PJ’s!

 Our little mermaid.

 Ella and Milo are in love with their grandma and papa.

Ella and Heather playing around in the pool.

 Mommy getting a splinter out of AJ’s foot.

 Beauty.

 Sweetness.

 Ella loved reading to Milo.

 This was the main house where grandma and papa stayed upstairs.  The bottom floor was where we all hung out.  The house that we all stayed in was right next to the main building.

 True love.  Grandma can’t stand bananas and yet she peeled one for Milo!

 Ella “reading” the Fantastic Flying books of Morris Lessmore.  What an amazing book.

 One of the friendly Anguilla Lizards who lived in our yard.

 Ella was not alone in the pool!  We all went in on this beautiful afternoon.

 I love this shot!  It’s all about love and fun and being in the moment.

I have so much to catch up on but instead of trying to do it all at once, I’m going to do a little at a time.  We came back from our winter trip to NY and to Anguilla on Friday night.  We had an incredible time.  We started out in NY and had a very special day with grandma and papa.  We went in early, saw the tree at Rock Center, walked along the beautifully decorated Fifth Ave and then went to an early dinner near Lincoln Center.  After dinner, we went across the street to see the Nutcracker.  The ballet was magical and Ella was mesmerized.  After the ballet, we had a very special backstage tour by one of papa’s patients who is in charge of all of the children in the ballet.  She runs the ballet school for the New York City Ballet.  She was so wonderful and welcoming and Ella experienced the magic of being on the stage at the Nutcracker.  She had a once in a lifetime backstage tour.  I took a lot of pics!  On Tuesday, we went to KK’s to celebrate the first night of Chanukah and to see KK, Jordin, Kevin and Twyla.  It was a really sweet night.  On Wednesday, we left for Anguilla…I will post those pics tomorrow.

 Beautiful Ella getting ready to go into NY.

 The 5 of us on the way out the door.

 The Rock Center Tree!

 Lincoln Center.

 The Mouse king’s crown.

 Sitting on the main stage!

 The skirt where all the kids come running out of.

 The sleigh from the end of the show.

 Ella taking a little rest…it was all so exciting!

 Holding a wooden rifle.

 Ella looks like a natural on stage!

 The walnut boat.

 Ella and our incredible host.

 The first night of Chanukah with mommy.

 Twyla and Jor.

 Holiday fun with KK!