Sea World

Today we headed to Sea World to go to the water park... after a long prep of hair tying, sunscreening and swimsuiting, we got to Sea World only to find the water park area was closed due to the weather forecast. Yes, it was cloudy and it was definately sprinkling... but the forecast called for sunny and 92 degree weather by noon.

At least we have season passes and have plenty of time to enjoy them. In the meantime, Ella and her new friends found much to do at a water activity area, the orca show, a survivor challenge-looking cargo net playground and lots of other park attractions. We saw dolphins and belugas, and the new baby orca at the Shamu show - so cute! Ella and Kenzie even enjoyed the Shamu rollercoaster and we've learned that they are both tall enough to go on some of the rides with us. Here's some pictures from today... which was H-O-T and sunny by lunchtime :)

Austin Weekend

We went to Austin for the weekend and I have to say, it was about time! Yesterday we celebrated Ariah's 1st birthday, with an awesome BBQ spread at Josh and Jen's house. Then it was off to Georgetown, just north of Austin for the Poppy Festival and some live music. For you country fans, we saw Little Texas play, they were popular in the 90's and you may know their biggest hit, "God Bless Texas". It was so much fun! We brought our chairs and hung out with Cameron and Sara while Ryann and Ella danced the night away with their glow rings.
Georgetown is the quaintest little town, lots of cute stores, gorgeous old homes on tree lined boulevards, the exact look and feel of a small country town in every movie you've ever seen about quiet small town America. Cowboy hats, girls in sundresses, kids running around the festival grounds, families eating popcorn and cotton candy... I love Georgetown :)

Today, we met up with Cameron and Sara again, and they showed us around Austin. It is a fabulous city with a totally different vibe than San Antonio. It is very trendy, college town, lots to do, lots of culture and it reminded me of Victoria in so many ways. We believe the hype and yes, if you're going to live in Texas, Austin is the place to be... what a great city!! We had lunch at the Hula Hut, on the lake, complete with a boat dock...we drove, but many chose to come for lunch by boat - fabulous!

4 Years

Ella finally had her 4 -year well child check-up. We went last month but she was sick with the flu so they postponed it. She had an eye exam which she not only passed with 20/25 vision, but recognized almost all the letters on the chart, in random order and at random sizes. She's still in the 95th percentile for height, at almost 43 inches, and around the 75th for weight at 38.8 pounds.

This is Ella telling me her legs hurt and she wants to take a rest. She's somewhat limping around the house because she had 4 shots in the thighs, which the nurse said would hurt and the last one would sting... why she stated this out loud, I don't know. Ella said she didn't want the 'pokes' as she calls shots, but when she heard they would 'hurt' and 'sting', I had to hold her arms as she cried. Obviously the sign of a bad nurse if you can make the kid who usually cries because she DOESN'T get a shot, cry BEFORE you give it to her! It only lasted a few seconds, but her legs are stiff and sore so she's resting quietly in her room. Good news, no more shots until she's 11!

Canyon Lake Dam

We took a lazy Sunday drive north of San Antonio in hill country to Canyon Lake.

After the Rains

These are a couple of pics of the flooding that I took off my friend Laura's page who lives down the street:
It has been raining quite a bit, almost non-stop for the past 3-4 days. This morning, Ron woke up with Ella with the intention of letting me sleep in :) Sometime around 8:30 the skies opened up and the rain came in buckets, so much so that it woke me and I jumped out of bed... for those that know me, you KNOW I'm a slow and grumpy morning person. Our back yard looked like a swamp and no one has gutters so water was spilling and surging everywhere.
It finally stopped raining around noon so we decided to venture to the base pool for a swim at the rec center. The road out of our neighborhood was blocked due to flooding, and an atempt to exit via the back of the neighborhood proved unsuccessful as the usually dry riverbed was now a surging rapid, 15+ feet deep and had washed debris over the road. (It might look like a regular river, but this is a ranch and the "creek" is a dried up river bed - amazing to see it rushing with water!)

Instead of risking getting stuck, we came home and decided to take Ella out for a walk instead...This is the entrance into our neighborhood:

SA Children's Museum

We headed into downtown to see the San Antonio Children's Museum with Sara and Ryann. It was a lot smaller than the Hawaii one, and not as interesting but they did have this ball cage the girls liked the most. The object was to get as many balls as possible and put them through all sorts of tubes, pipes and mechanical paths that used suction and air flow to collect the balls in an overhead clear bin. A yellow light would start to flash and the bin would open dropping the balls onto the kids below. It was so fun, that the parents got into the collecting part so there were more balls to fall. Not a bad day at all, considering the overcast and now raining weather.

Texas Bluebonnets

After ballet class we met Sara and Ryann at a field behind the shopping complex to take some pictures. The bluebonnets are in full bloom and gorgeous!

Springtime Pictures of Ella

I have been getting into photography and re-acquainting myself with my camera and all it's feature. Ella is an enthusiastic model but for some reason will crinkle her nose and clench her teeth when she poses. You may note that many of the photos from the past couple of months look at little...shall we say "tense" :)

Coup d'etat

Well, it might have been a successful coup d'etat... Ron and I have overthrown "the blanket". But, like all good tactical thinkers, Ella might just be waiting until our defences are down to strike again. We had our third successful night without the blankets Ella normally needs to fall asleep. The first night, she cried and begged for a few minutes until exhaustion took over (thank goodness for a busy day and no more napping - she fell asleep more from a long day rather than the blanket meltdown).

The second night she went to bed, got up once to ask me for her blanket - we have 8 infant receiving blankets, the flannel ones that have been a staple since Ella was born, easily replaceable and a constant nighttime companion. She went back to bed with no fuss, but attempted to get her way with a look of utter heartbreak and despair, along with a dramatic sigh for good measure. I'm onto your antics, Miss Drama :)

And last night, she didn't even ask for her blanket and went right to sleep. Now, all that said, Ron and I are feeling pretty triumphant but we figure it is only one of the battles we have in store for us. We are sharpening our swords for the next big one, thumb sucking! Here are some pics of Ella and her beloved blankets...