Happy 4th of July

We love going to the beach on the the fourth of July but do not love fighting for a parking space. To avoid that Todd went super early to surf and park while Ela and I rode the Sprinter over at a more decent hour. Ela really likes trains and was so excited to buy her ticket and hop on for a ride. She climbed into her seat and started giggling. It was a pretty good experience overall, only one smelly b.o. passenger who luckily didn't ride very long.

She's got a ticket to ride :)
At the beach. We had lots of family there but I always forget to take pictures of people other than my girl.
Another reason I love America. Thrifty ice cream.

We drug Ela out to watch fireworks. Half way through she said "I want to go home" and fell asleep before the Grand Finale even started. They were beautiful as always though and overall we had an excellent Independence Day.

Baby Love

I'm pretty sure most people already know but I'm officially announcing that I am pregnant. I'm due December 25th (who does that?!) so in August we'll find out if we're getting a baby Noel or a Jesus (with a "h"). We are very excited and I know it will be the best Christmas gift ever!

The Wilmar Fair

I know its now called the SD County Fair but I still call it the Del Mar Fair and Ela calls it the Wilmar Fair so there you go. We went with Grandma Shell and had a great time.
If Ela ever tells you she rode a bunny rabbit it was not a real one but one on the carousel.
Her Pina Colada (white so it won't stain) shaved ice. She threw the straw and chug alugged!
Finishing up with our favorite ride, the foot massager.

Horses, horses, horses

We went to an old school horse ranch in El Cajon last weekend with my mom & Dave and it was so fun! They just hand you a horse and let you take it to a corral where you ride until you or the horse is done.

Giving the horse Roxy some nourishment before the ride. We were very careful not to let the carrots get confused with fingers.
It looks like they're going really fast in this picture but she's just leaning into it.

Patting Roxy. Pat pat pat.

At the top of the hay bales. They were pretty far up there and I wished she still had that massive helmet on.

Walking off into the sunset with daddy.

Too much time out?

Since my previous post Ela's time out spot has been relocated and she has been spending so much time there! I'm thinking maybe its a bit much since today she put her juice cup, Cinderalla's prince and an old container all on time out.

I know why the juice is there because I heard her scold it for falling off of the tiny ledge she kept trying to set it on but I'm not sure what the others did...

I hear you knocking but you can't come in

Ela is getting sassier & sassier everyday and I can't believe some of the things she says to me. Today she was being extra "spirited" and ended up on time out which is a stool in the bathroom. I'm thinking she's doing well actually staying put when I hear the door slam and click. Sure enough she has locked herself in! I ask her calmly to please unlock the door several times. I try to explain how the lock works to get her to open up but to no avail. Everytime I ask she says "I can't mama" eventhough I hear no effort on her end being made to unlock the door. This lasted many minutes and I finally gave up and broke out the screwdriver when she said "I can't unlock it mama, I'm on time out." So sassy!

and on this farm he had a shark?

Ela's favorite song lately had been old MacDonald and she sings it all the time about everything. Old MacDonald had a mommy, had a shopping cart, it is adorable and I love it. Last week Auntie Rabeka was kind enough to share Sea World passes with us so we went and had lots of fun. And of course Old MacDonald had everything on his farm from sharks to shamu.

Her favorite part of the Penguin Encounter? The moving walkway and stuffed penguins...we could have gone to the airport and she'd have been happy.
She really liked touching the star fish.

Waiting to roll with cousin Xander.

Ending the day with a big smile.