Ella, Stella and Juliet are at rock climbing camp this week. They are having so much fun together. Tonight, we went to see the movie “Inside Out”. It was a hit with everyone.
Planet Granite is located in a beautiful spot right near the Golden Gate Bridge. Not a bad place to hang out!
All of the kids are having a blast!
Ella can’t wait for this movie to come out!
Acting aout all of the different emotions. The movie had joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust.
Very clever movie ad!
Ella had an amazing week at Camp Winnarainbow – her first time at sleep away camp, and her moms made it through the week without missing her too much! The pictures in the first part of this blog were taken by Ella. She took a camera with her to camp and took some sweet shots and fun videos. Here are the pics.
The teepee circle
Tight rope practice place.
Aerial practice place.
Nurse’s dome.
Dinner menu!
Chocolate pudding.
Turquoise teepee (the place where Ella slept for the week!)
The rainbow stage.
Another look at the tightrope area.
Another shot of the turquoise tent.
The road to the lake.
The lake – Ella passed the difficult swim test.
The campfire!
Great shot.
Looks like a selfie to me!
Ella explained her teepee experience as a group of girls who were sisters for the week. She said that they felt like a family. I know that she loved being there with Stella and Juliet and that she also made some new friends. The counselors told us that they were the best group of girls that they ever had. Ella even bragged about the teepee winning the cleanest tent award! They were rewarded with M&M’s. Here are a few more pics from Ella’s camera.
The next group of pics are taken from my perspective. The shots of Sunny, Ella and I were taken by Karen who was visiting from NY. Thank you for taking these pics!
Not exactly your “traditional” camp!
Reunited and it feels so good! We love you so much Ella!
A little unicycle action.
A new friend Cadence.
Very sweet closing show. I have videos that I will throw together which show Ella doing gymnastics and some aerial stuff.
Back in SF, Ella started rock climbing camp today. She successfully did the purple path today!
Well – today Helen and I dropped off Ella, Stella and Juliet to Camp Winnarainbow. Ella was sooooooo excited to go. Last night, Sunny, Ella and I were talking and we asked her how she was feeling about going to camp. She said, “I’m really excited, and a little scared”. We told her that it was natural to be scared. Then she said, “Do you want to know why I’m scared?” We said “sure”. She then told us that she was afraid that she had lice and would not be able to go to camp. Here’s the back story – the camp has a zero lice policy. When you check in, you have to go and get your head checked and if you have lice, you have to go home until you get rid of them. Ella had lice in the second grade – over a year ago, and I think it traumatized her. Needless to say, she did not have lice and at this moment, is hopefully sound asleep in the Turquoise teepee! Here are some pics from today.
Last family selfie until Saturday.
Hugs and kisses for mommy who had to work today!
Excited girls on a lunch break from our road trip.
In the parking lot headed over to camp. It was a HOT day!
Glamorous Stella!
Such happiness!
This X means that she has NO LICE!
Talking to the nurse.
So wonderful to see Ella so excited!
One more selfie.
Checking out the teepee and meeting a new friend.
Now it’s getting really exciting. This was about 5 minutes before the girls told us to leave!
This is Cadence. She’s also in the turquoise teepee. I think the counselor was making funny faces behind my back while I was taking this.
The Teepee panorama style. Ella will be sleeping between Stella and Juliet.
Ella and her “adult” counselors Xanthia and Josie. An adult at Camp Winnarainbow is someone who is over 18.
Helen and I are about to be evicted!
This is the life!
This is the teepee village.
I think Ella is going to have an amazing week. We will miss her but are so happy for her!
So since my last post, Ella has moved on from being a 3rd grader to a 4th grader! It seems like it all happened so quickly. Grandma and Papa came to visit and got to see the “passing of the torch” ceremony at Ella’s school. It was so great to have them here with us. While they were here, we celebrated their 52nd anniversary, Ella’s promotion, and Sunny’s birthday. Tomorrow, Ella leaves for sleep away camp for 5 nights and 5 days. She is so excited to go! We can’t wait to hear all about her adventures.
Ella met Kristi Yamaguchi a few weeks ago at the gym.
Ella had a haircut during the first week of June. This was the first time that she had her hair blown out straight. She really liked the way it looked and felt. Her haircut was on a Wednesday and she rocked the straight hair look all the way until Sunday! She also loves her natural hair and has been practicing different ways to put it up for camp.
Picking up Ella on the last day of school!
Ella’s promotion dessert.
3 beauties at Golden Gate Park.
Ella helping KJ tie his new white belt with a yellow stripe.
Tai Kwon Do group shot.
Grandma out for a stroll in front of AT&T Park
Love these 3 Musketeers!
Ella had a sweet visit with Ms. Kay’s daughter Gabriella.
On Wednesday, Ella and Juliet gave Panda a bath. They did a terrific job and deep down, Panda loved it!
Ella and Emmi had a fun day together on Thursday – bowling and fooling around at AT&T Park.
On Friday, I took Ella and of my students to the Oakland Animal Care and Control that Becca now runs. Ella was so happy to be reunited with Pineapple!
We took out the duffle bag to get Ella ready for camp this weekend and Panda decided that he wanted to get into it!
Ella stopped by a birthday party for her buddy Sophie today. When Sophie saw Ella she said, “My buddy is here!” She was so happy to see Ella!
Tonight, we celebrated Mommy’s birthday at the Slanted Door. The dessert was Ella’s favorite – Lychee cotton candy! Happy birthday Mommy! We love you so much.
Ella has had 3 weeks full of so much fun. I will illustrate her fun with photos…
Ella and I took our first adventure on the Cal Train. We were heading to the Makers Faire somewhere on the way to San Jose. We even sat on the top deck. It was really fun and much better than getting stuck in traffic.
While we were looking for Heather, Andy, Elaine, Chloe, Oscar, Heather’s dad and uncle. Wow – we were looking for a lot of people! And we finally found them…
Ella had a blast and really loved seeing Heather and hanging out with the kids.
Ella and her friend Marlowe after pajama day at school.
There’s a big election coming up in San Francisco. Ella has joined on our quest to get Vicki Hennessy elected!
My beauties on the morning of my birthday. Chocolate croissant birthday treat!
The three of us on the morning of my birthday.
Birthday fun at Benihana.
Sweet Ella waiting for the train.
So much fun with cousins Izze and India at Dim Sum.
Ella went rock climbing with Izze and India. All of the girls did a great job. Ella loved it so much that she is going to go to this place for camp for a week!
Fun with Stella and Juliet. This picture looks like I probably said something inappropriate.
Ella took Juliet to iFly SF – indoor skydiving, for her birthday. The girls were amazing, fearless flyers! I will post some movies tomorrow.
This past Saturday, we volunteered for the Giants Community fund glove drive. Ella collected glove, counted money, and loaded all of the gloves on the table.
Sunny and I had a sweet Sunday afternoon baseball date. The Giants lost, but we had so much fun.
Ella spent Friday night and Saturday with her friends at Lexy’s sleepover party. Looks like the girls had a blast!