Scales Lake

Today Ella and I met up with Joan and her kids again at Scales Lake. I had never been there, and Ella and I both really enjoyed it. We went to the petting zoo, played on the playground, and had a picnic lunch. It was a great day. 

Autumn is 3!

Today we celebrated Autumn's 3rd Birthday!

I can not believe Autumn is 3 already. Time is flying by. Autumn is such a special little girl. She is constantly talking about something. Even if no one is listening you better believe she is jabbering about something. She has a huge imagination. I love to listen to the stories she makes up while she is playing. It's so entertaining. She brings lots of laughter to our family. 

Autumn loves Lalaloopsy and Doc McStuffins. She received lots of Lalaloopsy stuff for her birthday today.  Penny made her a Doc McStuffins doctor bag cake. I have to commend her for taking that on, because I don't think I would have even attempted it. She did a really good job, and Autumn loved it. Ella was of course only concerned with eating cake. We heard about it all day. 

It was a beautiful day. Terry and Penny have a really nice shaded back yard so we spent quite a bit of time outside. 

We are so happy we were able to share in Autumn's special day!

Holiday World with Daddy!

Yesterday we went to Holiday World, but daddy came with us this time. Ella was so excited about that. We are putting our season passes to good use already. Adam even drove his truck there, because Ella loves riding in his truck. Yesterday was the first time Ella has worn panties to Holiday World. I usually put her in a pull up just in case. She stayed dry all day, and even went potty in the restroom there. She has been terrified of public restrooms until recently, and now she goes in like it's nothing. It finally clicked! I was really proud of her yesterday. She is getting to be such a big girl. 

Ella had to show Adam the ropes since he hadn't been in over a year. He got a kick out of the fact she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and exactly where to go. She is getting to be an old pro. First up was the "fishies."  Ella rode it five or six times in a row. She had to make sure she rode each color fish. 

Then we headed over to the carousel and cars. Ella had to be sure to ride on the dolphin. 

 After she picked a duck we headed back to Holidog's funtown. This is definitely Ella's favorite part. She loves the playground. It's hard to keep track of her, because she is constantly climbing, running, and sliding. 

She wanted to hug Holidog so bad, but they were putting on a little show. 

After riding a few more rides we went to watch the dive show. Ella had never seen it before, and she LOVED it. It was so cute to see her clap after each dive. 

Next up was the water park. Ella enjoyed the water park last summer, but she was very unsure of it this summer. I tried my best to show her how fun it was, but she was not having it. Hopefully she will get used to it again. 

Easy to see she is not happy!

I enjoyed it. The water felt really good. 

Two peas in a pod. And I wonder where she gets it!?! 

 After some ice cream and a few more rides on the carousel it was time to go home!

It was a great day at Holiday World. Ella really loved having both mommy and daddy there with her. Thanks Adam for taking the day off to go with us. I know your geek skin appreciated some sun! :) 

Zoo with friends

Yesterday Ella and I met up with my friend Joan and her three kids. A few months ago Joan had her third child and decided to stay home with them. They are ages 4, 2, and 3 months. Joan made it look so easy having three kids.  

We had our first "play date" yesterday at the zoo. Ella was a little shy at first, but she warmed up to them pretty quickly. Rose seemed to really like Ella. She wanted to hold her hand a lot, and Ella actually let her a few times. With four kids in tow I think it was a pretty successful zoo trip. We are looking forward to getting together with them more often in the future!