Hope's Visit

In May I attended a photography workshop and my friend, Michelle and her daughter, Hope came for the weekend.  Michelle is a photographer I knew in Hawaii and she's since moved to Arizona.  It was so nice to hang out with an old friend who shares the same passion of photography.  The girls had so much fun playing and hanging out for 4 days.  It was great!!!

At the Japanese Tea Gardens...

At the Alamo....

Sea World

We have season passes to Sea World and Ella and I enjoy going during the week.  This year, she's been able to ride all the rides in the kids area herself and even wanted to try the bog water shoot ride, Journey to Atlantis...

Here she is waiting in line for the 'big' ride...

Going up for the first time.....

And after... she had so much fun we did it 3 times in a row (she was soooo proud!)  and then she watched mesmerized at the towering fall while enjoying the splash...

Playing at the new Sesame Street Bay of Play

The Pool

We caved in April and bought a pool.  It was great for almost three months and then the inflatable ring that holds all 3700 gallons of water in began to deflate.  Slowly some water gushed out, but we were unable to keep it inflated enough to keep the pool up for more than half a day.  So, reluctantly and sadly, we drained it over 2 days.  Ella wasn't too upset because she determined that meant we could now go to Sea World more.

Ever wonder if your kids are smarter than you? :)

 And speaking of Sea World....