Its Christmas Time

To get festive, the "Mishamaries" helped us decorate our tree and Ela put the star on top. She was super excited and had been asking when Thanksgiving would be over so we could do it. I think she thinks Thanksgiving symbolizes Christmas tree decorating so maybe next year we'll tell her about the pilgrims and indians.
We also went to Escondido Center for the Arts festival with some friends. Todd has been helping Tasha learn to walk and here she actually looks happy about it. Normally she's so happy crawling she will fall to her knees dramatically when we try to get her to walk.

An artist set up a blanket fort that the kids could play in. They loved it and played for a long time in there until we finally lured them out with cookies. Dean and Ela decorating cookies. Everywhere we went someone had a basket of cookies and was handing them out. It seemed to be the theme of the evening which was fine with me.

Can you believe this was Ela's first snow encounter? I felt kind of bad since it was really just a pile of ice but she thought it was cool and was a natural snow ball thrower. Ela also saw Santa and this time she was ready. She told him she wanted a princess doll and anything with princesses on it. It was a fun evening and it is definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas to me.

Tide Pool Time

We took the girls to the Encinitas Tide pools this weekend. Ela was super excited until we got there and she realized we had to walk around and look for the "creatures".

The giant crab we found.

We actually found a few starfish. There was a group of 3; small, medium and large and they kept crawling around. Ela was not afraid to touch them either. Although she was not a fan of the anenome, they were too "yucky".

Todd on the other hand couldn't get enough of poking the anenome. We had so much fun and it was another beautiful day in December in San Diego.

Vegas Baby

Last weekend we took a last minute trip to Vegas (or Begas as E calls it) to visit my sister in law and her family. It was a great little break from reality and so much fun spending time with our family.

Tasha was ready as soon as I opened the suitcase. If only she knew then that it meant her spending 4 hours in the dreaded carseat.

We visited the Hoover Dam where the "dam" jokes never got old. We wanted to get a treat but the "dam" ice cream was a rip off.

The M&M factory was a hit with the kids. Although Ela could go anywhere with her cousins and have a blast she loves them so much.

The mermaid in the aquarium at Silverton was by far the biggest hit. The kids were mesmorized and anytime we asked them what they wanted to do they'd answer "see the mermaid!" Even Tasha got in on the fun and put her little hands on the glass to say hi.

No trip to Vegas would be complete without a visit to Santa Claus. Luckily he was visiting his home at The Bass Pro Shops. Ela told him she didn't know what she wanted for Christmas but Tasha told him she wanted off of his lap!

Halloween Time

Halloween lasted all weekend this year. Ela attended a Halloween/Birthday party as Cinderella then changed into a beautiful butterfly for our church Trunk or treat that night.

Our spooky family. Todd found this mask at his shop and went with it (how and why it got there we don't know).
Ela does not enjoy pumpkin carving due to the "stinky guts" so she used bling instead. Gathering eggs with uncle Cory in her Cinderella dress. Afterwards we trick or treated in his neighborhood and collected lots of candy. Ela did such a great job saying trick or treat and thank you and had no time for any other chit chat. Tasha was so "stinkin" cute people kept trying to give her candy too.

The skunk and the Zebra. Isn't that one of Aesop's fables?

Ela dancing with Gpa Dave and Tasha with Ggma Jerre. We're so glad they could come visit and help Trick or Treat!

Pumpkin Patch Party

We went to a pumpkin patch in Rancho Bernardo this year with friends. The weather of course was the same it is every year we visit a pumpkin patch, sunny and hot but we still had lots of fun.

Ela is showing us exactly how she feels about all the staged photos.
All the kids on the hay ride.

Picking a pumpkin from an actual patch. We usually pick our pumpkins from a box at Ralphs so this was really cool. We finally got a good picture of Ela smiling and Tasha saying "hi."

Rasberries for Breakfast

This is how baby speaks these days =) Ela is pretty cute too.

First Day of School...Sniff Sniff

For the last few weeks Ela has been telling everyone (Vons checkers, bank tellers, strangers on the street...) that she starts school on Tuesday September 7th! She woke up ready to go, picked out her outfit and wolfed down her breakfast. She asked every minute if it was time to go until I finally took her. We got there 15 minutes early and she waited with her little face pressed against the glass door eager to learn. She had surprisingly little to say about the whole experience when I picked her up but I know she had fun because she is already asking when she can go back. She did remember Miss Hamburger (Amber) though.

Ela found her cubby and posed very patiently while I took pictures. It was definitely harder for me to leave than I had expected. I will admit I kind of choked up a little. My little girl is so grown up!