Life With Ella

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.

Today, Ella came home from camp with 136 pictures on her camera!  I narrowed it down to 17 here.  Ella had a great time today and her two highlights were watching a chinchilla run around the room and petting it and petting and feeding hamsters.  Here are her pics from today.

 Turtle up for adoption!

Chinchilla photo shoot.

Fun with the hamsters.

 Self portraits.

Ella is continuing to have a blast at SPCA camp.  She spent time with cats, kittens, rats, saw some mounted horses, dogs, puppies, made toy piñatas for rats, made cat toys, learned about the environment and is just having so much fun.  Here are her pictures from Tues and Weds.

 Here are some of Ella’s friends…Juliet, Emmi and Macy.

Ducks!

 Bug/Panda looking dog.

SPCA gang in the morning.

More hamsters or guinea pigs.  Not sure what they are.

 Ella took a picture of Juliet’s picture of the mounted horse.

 The art of love.

 Self portraits.I gave Panda a practice run of the drugs that I want to give him when we fly to NY.  It zonked him out!

 Took Ella and Emmi over to ACC after camp to see Pineapple and Becca.

 Dress up time!

Today was Ella’s first day at SPCA Camp.  She appropriately wore her ACC (Animal Care and Control) t-shirt.  Enough said.  Ella, Stella and Juliet are all attending SPCA camp.  Ella and Juliet are in the same group and Stella is in the older group.  We sent Ella to camp with the little camera this morning.  Tonight’s blog will be SPCA camp through the eyes of Ella…

First of all, happy father/papa’s day.  We love you so much.  You are the best dad and papa.  Can’t wait to see you next week!  Ella had a great week at golf camp.  Can’t wait to see you guys play a little together.

Here are a few pics from the past week.  It was Mommy’s birthday on Wednesday and she took the day off, played 9 holes (while Ella was at golf camp) we gave mommy a golf lesson for her birthday so then she had a golf lesson.  At night, we had dinner at Roy’s and then the Kim/Arena clan came over with delicious peach pie.  It was a beautiful day and night for mommy.

 We took Ella, Stella and Juliet to see Epic last Sunday and they were very excited to see this ad for the new Monsters University movie.

 Ella and mommy sharing the beautiful love at Roy’s.

 Panda loves sitting at the table with us!

Ella loved her second day of golf camp.  When we went to pick her up, she was in a classroom meeting and she was taking notes.  Here is a picture of the notes she was taking.

Believe in yourself, stay positive, concentrate, perseverance, Don’t give up!  Try, try again.  We love that she is learning this great stuff and LOVE that she was taking notes!

After golf camp, I took Ella to the zoo and we met up with Marlowe and her dad.  Ella and Marlowe had a blast. Our beautiful butterfly.

 Hanging out by the prairie dogs and meercats.

 Petting, feeding and brushing the goats…a favorite thing to do at the zoo.

 We saw the baby giraffe again…this time she was with her mommy.  So sweet.

Today is grandma and papa’s 50th Anniversary.  We love you guys so much and can’t wait to celebrate your amazing life together at the end of the month.  Here’s to 50 more!

Ella got her green belt with a black stripe today.  She was doing some amazing kicks today.  Mommy and I were watching and it blew us away.   Here are some shots of Ella at Taekwondo.

 This is the face of a very happy and excited child.

 THe big kids waiting to get their belts.

 Getting the promotions from Steven.

Putting on the new belt!

 The whole class.

 Ella and her very proud teacher.