Ella's 4th Birthday

Ella had her 4th Birthday Party at The Jumpy Place ( a warehouse full of inflatable moonwalks, slides and obstacle courses). This was her first indoor party, which was a good thing because we received some much needed rain during the party. So much rain in fact, it was difficult to get the Hannah Montana cake inside safely. Thanks to Kim for all of her hard work on the "best birthday cake ever". We were so happy to have our family and closest friends there to celebrate with us. This was also Ella's first party with friends from school. All in all, we had a great turn out and a great time. Someone even thanked me for the "healthy food" that I served. (notice it pictured below). What isn't picture is all of the ranch and other creamy dips to make that stuff taste good.

Summer Dance Class

Ella finished up her last hip hop dance class yesterday. They put on a mini performance for the parents.

Basketball Season #2

We began Ella's second Season of Basketball a few weeks ago, she is on the Dream team. Unfortunatley, Things didn't work out just right this season, so Holly is not her coach. But she is having a great time with her new coach and teammates. She even remembers a few of the Fundamentals Coach Holly instilled last season. She has really improved. Her attention span is much better, and she loves to rebound.

Conquering Fears

Ella had a lot of firsts and conquered a few fears on our Vacation.

As you may know Ella has a healthy fear of "Big Fuzzy Things". This fear includes dressed up characters (like Mascots), large animals (alive or stuffed) and Santa Claus, among other things. I can't tell you how many pony rides I have shelled out for, only to walk away with bruised arms where she pinched me until we were a safe distance away. (Please don't think I force her, she always says she wants to until the moment I try to actually put her on the horse.)

We spent some time at my Uncle's Cabin on Armenia Mountain when we were in Pennsylvania. This is a hunting cabin by the way. In one of the rooms Ella found this hanging on the wall.

This definitely met the criteria of big and fuzzy. She had to walk right under it to get in the room, not realizing it was there. As you can see by her expression it was not easy to talk her in to leaving the room. We had to run through the doorway.

Ella did take a step in the right direction while were were away. She had her first pony ride. The man at the animal farm even let me lead Sunny around. (Or maybe Sunny was leading me.)

Summer Vacation

My Mom Ella, and I spent the last week and a half in Pennsylvania enjoying the cool weather and lots of Friends and Family. We had a great time. It has been 3 years since we were there last. I am hopeful that Ella may remember some of this trip.

Sum... Sum... Summertime

Ella and I spent last Sunday afternoon hanging out in the front yard. The weather was nice, so we busted out the good old slip and slide. This one is a little fancier than last years, it comes with an inflatable boogie board. She had a ton of fun. Summertime is our favorite time of year, she loves the water and playing outside.