Strollin'

A few weeks ago Ella brought the umbrella stroller in from the garage and had been playing with it in the house. We were getting ready to go on a walk one afternoon and she wanted to push her stroller.



All business, pushing her way down the sidewalk


Close-up of her passenger


Kitty is a faithful companion!



Unfortunately, I learned my lesson on these walks as more often than not, they ended like this...and lucky me with Cory, Ella and Kitty to get home!

Myrtle Beach

Mom left the beach on Saturday morning, and the 3 of us headed down to Myrtle Beach for the rest of the weekend.

Some cute pics of Steve and Ella on the beach






We walked down the boardwalk and went to an arcade, Ella's first. Here she is trying Skee Ball for the first time. We played air hockey, she went in a little rocket ship ride, and Steve and I won some tickets playing some games. At the end she got to pick out some prizes with the tickets and she got a handful of dress-up rings that she wore very faithfully for a few days until they all broke!



We ended up having dinner at a restaurant that was a lot nicer than we were expecting and it was Ella's first dinner in such a nice restaurant - we got her first Shirley Temple to celebrate, and she loved it! Luckily we were in a high-backed booth in a quiet part of the restaurant (I'm sure that was no coincidence when they decided where to seat us!) and Ella did great.

In the lazy river at our hotel pool on Sunday


I cannot believe it took me a month to get all these pictures up but glad I finally did - phew!!

Broadway at the Beach

Steve arrived at the beach on Friday and that night Mom, Steve, Ella and I went to Broadway at the Beach. Ella had such a great time on the rides at the Pavilion and was very excited for more rides!!





Balloon ride - they were in the green car, I could see Ella's face sticking out most of the time :)


I was surprised how fast these cars went around the curves but Ella loved it and went on this ride twice



And a big treat at the end of the night - cotton candy!


I have purposely avoided the state fair every year, but after seeing how excited Ella was about rides at the beach, we will definitely be going this year for the first time!

Pavilion

After our dinner out we went to the Pavilion which is basically a boardwalk area with lots of rides and games, and was a great time.

Ella pushing Cameron in the stroller - she will take any opportunity to help with him!


Ella, Josh, Cameron and I on the Merry Go Round


Learning the ropes of the crane machine game - she managed to 'win' 2 balls with some professional positioning from Grampy G


A very flattering self-portrait of the 3 of us on the Ferris Wheel but I just had to throw it in there!


View from the Ferris Wheel


Ella on the teacup - she loved this ride, I spun our cup so fast and she just laughed and laughed


My favorite ride was the Tilt-a-Whirl. When we were younger, Mom took us to the beach every year and she, Erin and I would always go on the Tilt-a-Whirl, we just loved it. Well there was one here and we managed to squeeze Ella in there with us so it was the 4 of us. It went so fast and was so much fun, and Ella absolutely loved it!

Fishing game - she caught a fish and was the proud winner of a very cool light-up sword as a result


With Aunt Erin on the train ride


Look at that sweet face!

Restaurant Pics

I love these pictures from Ella and Cameron at dinner at Fuddrucker's -







Such a smiley handsome boy!!




Being silly with Grampy G


Ella <3 Aunt Erin!!

Photoshoot Attempt

Before dinner one night we wanted to get some pictures of Ella and Cameron together. Of course the hope was that they'd sit nicely together, look at the camera, smile like the little cherubs they are, etc - but, since we're talking about a 7 month old and a 3 year old, we'll take whatever we can get!

Looking good!


Hey, this is more fun than sitting still!


Ella's had enough!


Could they be any cuter??

Vacation!

We took a trip to the beach a few weeks ago for vacation, Mom and Glenn rented a condo in North Myrtle Beach and we all met there. Ella was beyond excited for the trip and had been asking every day for many weeks when it was going to be time for vacation.

Although I definitely love all the vacation and beach stuff, it's also just such a treat to have so many days in a row with Ella just being able to hang out and have fun without having to stick to a routine, off to school/work, etc, but instead just enjoy her company and have fun together.

Ella just couldn't wait to get her hands on Cameron, and he was of course a good sport with all her affection!



Such a big helper, helping Grammy to feed the adorable little guy



Ella took this picture of Grampy G



On the deck



Ella loved it when Erin would read to her and Cameron at night



My sweet angel fast asleep


Playing in the sand


Building with Grampy G


With Grammy


I get such a kick out of her poses for pictures!


And a bunch of pictures from the pool, where we spent tons of time -






So much fun!!




Little cuties


Cameron loved playing with the water from this watering can, and did not like it one bit when the water stopped!


More to come!