Green Acres Farm

This past Sunday we went to Green Acres Farm for some fall fun. It was a beautiful day and we had such a fun afternoon. Ella is crazy about all things Halloween and was so excited for the trip.

Big girl!!


Climbing on hay bales


Ringing the bell at the top of the net ladder


Having fun






My scarecrows


Ella riding a pony by herself!


Climbing on the tractors




We had intended to pick pumpkins as well but unfortunately the pumpkins were not good at all, so we need still to go somewhere else to get pumpkins!

Preschool Block Party

This past Friday was Ella's school block party and her class was finally going to perform the planets song after practicing it for several weeks! I was so excited to see Ella sing it. She gave me a scare a few days before because when I mentioned to her how I couldn't wait to watch her sing it she said to me, "oh no, I'm not going to sing, I'm just going to sit with you instead" -- aahhh, no!! So I got a little nervous when before it was time for the big performance there was a lot of "one more hug and kiss" instead of sitting with her group...



But when it was time to sing she got in her spot and was ready to go!





The kids did great. They all really knew the song and everyone sang it, it was precious!






Here is a video of the big performance - it's actually several different clips stuck together which is why there it skips it several places, but you can definitely get the gist!



Besides the 3-year old classes singing about the planets, the Pre-K class did a cute little skit, the 2-year olds did a dance, and the babies had a costume parade, it was all so cute to watch.

With Daddy in her new classroom


Getting her face painted



Going down the slide on the playground


With Gillian - two happy little kitty cats!


With my sweet girl


Ella was so happy with her painted face that she wanted to keep it the rest of the night. We went out to dinner and she asked no less than 5 strangers, "hey, did you see my kitty cat face?" Ha!

Trip to Las Vegas

Steve and I went on vacation to Las Vegas for a long weekend a few weeks ago. We went for the wedding of one of the girls in my department at work. I never had much interest in a trip to Vegas before, but this was the perfect chance to go and we had such a great time, I'd love to go back again!



We stayed at the Wynn, I loved the hotel, it's definitely the nicest hotel we've stayed at and everything from the lobby, restaurants & bars, our room, was just awesome.

Steve in the lobby of our hotel




The wedding was on the rooftop terrace at the Rio. Steve & I in the casino before the wedding-



And a few pics of the view from the rooftop where the ceremony was held-




With Julia at their reception. She looked beautiful and it was a great evening, it was great to meet her family and friends and I am so glad we were able to be there.



On Saturday night, we saw the show La Reve. It was an incredible water acrobatics show, I've never seen anything like it. This is a picture of the theater at the end of the show.




During the days we spent a lot of time at the pools at our hotel, lots of relaxing, good food and drinks, and some time in the casino (at one point I turned $5 into $15 - high roller!!).

We did a lot of walking and sightseeing of all the casinos and hotels on the strip, unfortunately I'm missing a bunch of pictures because they're on Steve's computer and I need to get them so I'll add them later.



We ended up at the pool of the Luxor the last day of the trip -




While we were having a great time on vacation, Ella was with Mom and Glenn. The first day went great but Ella woke up sick on Saturday morning and ended up with strep throat. Mom and Glenn took great care of her and she was feeling better in a few days. I felt so sorry for her to be sick while I was gone but I know she was in great hands. Although they didn't get to all the fun things they had planned, here are a few pics Mom sent me from the weekend -

Painting


Doing crafts


Decorating the windows


Before Ella, there was always a feeling of dread when a long-awaited vacation ended because I wasn't ready to go back to the 'real world'. Although I was sad our vacation was over, getting to see Ella again is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was so happy to get back to my baby!

Gymnastics Videos

I haven't taken any picture at gymnastics in a while, so I took some videos with my phone of Ella last night. Some are from pretty far away so aren't great, but she's in the bright green leotard.

Hanging from the bar

Doing her little circuit

Back flip on the rings...but she lets go!

Jump roll - she wouldn't do it until she was positive she had Miss Dallas's attention

I love watching her at her class each week. It's amazing to see how much she enjoys it, and how much more confidence she has in the class than when she began in January.

As an added bonus, one of her best friends, Gillian, signed up for the class this session, and Ella was very happily surprised when another friend from school (who no longer goes to the school and Ella had asked where she was) joined the class a few weeks ago. So Ella gets to have gymnastics class plus social hour at the same time - she loves it!!

Weekend in Charlotte

The weekend after Labor Day, Kelly flew in from Boston on Thursday afternoon, and the next afternoon we headed to Charlotte. Kelly hadn't met Cameron yet, and Gee Gee flew in from Ocean City for the weekend as well. We were really excited for the trip and it was so great to see everyone for a fun weekend.

Ella reunited at last with "her baby Cammy"


Could he be any cuter??


Ella and Gee-Gee


Kelly with snuggly Cameron


Erin with Cameron and Ella


Josh and Cameron


Grammy and Cameron


Grampy G and Cameron


On Saturday afternoon we went to a local winery. Glenn drove all of us there in the van, and hung out with Ella so we could fully focus on the wine! The wines were good but the best part were wine slushies that are frozen drinks made with wine - they were delicious!!









Lucky Kelly!!





Mom and Gee-Gee - Plus Ella - she was not supposed to be in this picture but ran in because no photo could possibly be complete without this lovely little lady!








Kelly, Mom and Gee-Gee all flew out on Sunday, I was not ready for the weekend to end, but so, so glad we all got together!




On Sunday afternoon, Erin, Josh and Cameron and Ella and I met up with Dad and Donna for lunch at a restaurant nearby

Granddad and Cameron


Grandma with 2 wild grand-kiddos


My sweet girl