More July

Maddy's last day 

Dottie looking so adorable on the monitor 

Ella wanted to try on glasses and then asked me to take a picture :) 

Having a "slumber", according to Ella 

She made this "solar powered oven" in camp at NASA. They cooked s'mores in the oven and she was so excited about the project. She loved her week at this camp, learned a ton and had so much fun. 

Red Sox - Astros Game

In what has now become a fun tradition for us, we went to our annual Red Sox - Astros game at Minute Maid Stadium for the third year. We left Dottie home with Myranda and had a great night out, it was so much fun!

Home run by Big Papi

Ella's new trick

Ella has been trying for months to learn a back kickover and she's been able to do it on an incline in tumbling class, but not able to do it from the ground. She's out of gymnastics for the summer so hasn't had any classes since May but is still practicing her tricks all the time. The other night she finally got it!! I'm really proud of her and more importantly, she is very proud of herself!

She loves the camera

Little sweetness!!

July Pics

Dottie and her puppy

She loves water and is so cute chugging from her sippy cup 

Beautiful girl ready to hit the pool

Playing with the Barbie remote car together 

Every meal is an adventure 

Helping us set up for a game of Clue 

Cory tucked into Ella's bed 

Having fun with Grammy 

Cutest sisters ever :) 

Mom, Ella and I went to see Inside Out at the movies for a fun night out. Ella wanted a picture of herself on this chaise in front of the big print on the wall. Fancy lady :) 

Dottie absolutely cannot resist Ella's hair - it's like a magnet to her that she just can't keep her hands out of it...much to Ella's dismay 

Beautiful sunrise 

Sweet little dollbaby in her stroller

Fun at the playground 

Dottie at 11 months! 

I am on my 4th week of working out in the mornings before Ella wakes up and she has been really eager for a chance to come with me. So this morning I woke her up early, she was so excited and bounded out of bed and got dressed even before I did. We did a run / walk around the neighborhood for 30 minutes, and she did great :) 

We did it! 

My laundry helpers 

4th of July weekend at the beach

We decided to take a last minute trip to the beach for 4th of July weekend. We arrived midday Saturday and the beach was beautiful - no seaweed, clear sand, warm water, plenty of sun. 

Steve mastered the logistics and we had quite the set-up. We tried to keep Dottie in the center of the blanket as far from the sand as possible. She really enjoyed being on the beach and was happy to play with her toys on the blanket.

Beautiful girl ready for some fun 

She's not crawling yet but getting SOOOO close 

Ella and Steve spent lots of time in the water boogie boarding 

We had a really nice dinner at a restaurant on the seawall, listened to music, and just enjoyed being out on a beautiful night. As usual, Dottie was the first one eating and the last one finished :).

Sweet patriotic girls 

We had a great view for the fireworks that night, and we were able to see them from several different spots at once

 

Pool on Sunday morning

 

Back at the beach

Steve and Ella went jet skiing

 

Ella was really looking forward to a sand crab hunt on Sunday night. She and I headed down to the beach that night. We collected a bunch of shells and saw several really pretty jellyfish like this - fortunately we had flash lights so we could avoid stepping on any of them.

 

Ella on the "hunt"

 

We looked and looked for crabs but didn't see any. After our walk and shell collecting, we headed back up the beach toward the hotel. I was a step or two in front of Ella and all of a sudden she said "I see one!" I stopped and looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. She said "I think you stepped on him!" Wouldn't you know, she was right and the poor guy was under my shoe. Sheesh!

 

We woke up early this morning to get home in time for work and camp, and had an easy drive back.

It was such a wonderful weekend - relaxing and fun family time, really like a little mini vacation. Perfect way to spend July 4th!