Life With Ella

Today was the day of Ella’s group performance.  She was very excited.  Cousin Clara, Dan and Cindy are visiting SF for the weekend, so Clara came to the show.  Ella was so happy to have her there.  They played around in the playground before the performance.  Ella did a great job.  This year, she was a singer, not a drummer.  I think she may have had more fun playing drums, but she was so sweet singing.  The movie is at the end.  The camera is focused on Ella but there is very loud music coming from the whole group.  After the show, Dan, Clara and Cindy came back here and we ate a great meal at Koh Samui and The Monkey.  The food and company was great.  Tomorrow we head to the exploratorium.

Ella at the airport in Cabo with her Lauren and Sunny tattoo.

 Snack before the show.

Sweet, loving cousins.

 Ella in action.

 Getting ready for the song to begin.

 Oh yeah – rock on,

 And that’s the show!.

We have actually landed at home for more than a week!  Ella has been having fun catching up with Stella, Juliet, KJ and Isaac, seeing some other friends, visiting ACC, and this past week she has been at Rock Band Land at CDS.  The final performance is tomorrow (Friday).  Ella decided that she wanted to sing this time.  I will film the song and post it tomorrow.

Ella and her buddy pineapple.

 The perfect pyramid of love and friendship.

 Touching the rays at the Aquarium by the Bay.

Ella and a drop of water at the Exploratorium.

On Sunday, Ella and Sunny’s scooters were taken from our garbage chute room.  Here is Ella with her new scooter.

Here is a video of Ella making a basket this morning at camp…

We had a fun and relaxing week in Cabo this past week.  The trip was totally different than our amazing adventures in the Southwest the week before!  On this trip, we laid in the pool or next to the pool, went to the beach and swam in the ocean, ate some good meals and…Ella was able to live out a dream of hers.  Ella swam with dolphins.  She did a little class with about 7 other kids.  She was so excited and a little nervous.  While she was waiting for her class to start, she was standing in front of a  huge port hole looking for the dolphins.  She found a few and they swam right up to her beautiful face.  Ella was so focused as if she were communicating with them with her eyes and smile.  It was fantastic to watch Ella and her magic.

 Ella was so happy and excited.  She was so focused on getting to know the dolphins.

 Right before she got into the water.

 Having fun with the other kids.

 Look at Ella riding that dolphin like a pro!

 Shaking hands and kissing.

 The dolphin was super sweet.

 Relaxing in Cabo.

We just came back from Cabo San Lucas and I have some photos to post from that trip, but I don’t want to do that until I finish the Southwest trip.  I am still in awe of all that we did, all that we experienced together and how truly incredible that week was for all of us.  I left off in Bryce Canyon and will now continue in Bryce on our horse/mule ride down the canyon.  We were all a little nervous and hesitant to do this ride but we did it and conquered our fears and tried to let go of control…this can be pretty hard for this crew!

 Sisters!

 I love my peeps!

Me and the two loves of my life.

Enjoy the next several shots of our ride.  Ella was in the front with the cowboy – Ella’s mule was tied to the cowboy so that he could help the mule along and Ella didn’t have to do anything except focus on staying on the mule (which was tricky).

The evening in Bryce…

 Magnificent in every way!

 Love with the in-laws.

The next several shots are of the whole family in a hike in the Zion narrows.  Everyone did an amazing job staying safe, having fun, and being super adventurous.  We were the most impressed with grandma, papa and Milo.  This was an incredible day.

Thank you again, grandma and papa, for the experience of a lifetime.  We love you guys.

There are so many words to describe our week in the southwest…love, fun, adventure, risks, fear, conquering fear, laughter, happiness, closeness, wonder, pushing the limits and heat!  We had two guides, Eric and Heather and they were amazing.  They took great care of us, helped to keep us safe, made sure that we had a lot of fun and a lot of challenges, and became part of our family for the week.  I am going to put in around 93 pictures.  I am just going to name the place where we were and then put the pics.  If you have any questions, please ask me!  One thing that is missing is footage from the pink coral sand dunes where we boogie boarded and almost fell face down due to heat exhaustion.  Thank you mom and dad for them most loving and wonderful adventure.  I don’t think that any of us will ever forget this trip!

 Watching mom and dad watch their special happy anniversary video.

Our first lunch stop.

The experienced loving married couple sharing a chocolate shake!

These next several shots were taken at the GRAND CANYON

 Ella is becoming quite a photographer.

 Ella papa love.

 Climbing a very tall fire tower.

Now we’re on our way to  Willis Creek

At the Cowboy Cookout in Bryce

OK – I am fading.  That’s all for now.  Hopefully I can finish this in the morning. Otherwise, I will have it done by next week.