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....

Spring... In a Nutshell

I've been busy with photography so here's a recap of our Spring in photos...

We went to the Helotes Cornyval for the local rodeo.  She sure makes a cute cowgirl!

Learning to snap...

 Playing soccer with Daddy...

Ella helps me scout locations for photo sessions and acts as my model while I test light and poses.  This is behind the San Antonio Museum of Art, a public park along the river walk.  We have come here often to take pictures because it's so pretty with all the brick.  I was testing light and finding out if it was going to work for our ballet portraits.  It was perfect!  Of course, when we returned the following Saturday with the ballerinas, we were asked to leave as we weren't allowed to take photos.  I got into an argument with the girl but ended up doing the photo sessions on the River walk anyway.  I contacted her boss, who wanted to charge me for photo-taking and when I came back on a Tuesday with one last ballerina, I was escorted off the grounds to the River walk.  Without signage or any website information stating photography was not allowed, I contacted the curator of the museum and received a profuse apology, a free family membership ($75), and the information I requested.  Photos are allowed at anytime on the grounds during public hours... it is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.  They only charge for commercial/ professional photography that requires a dedicated set up (lighting, assistants, etc.).  Me with a camera does not constitute any violation of a photography policy.   I firmly believe the young girl was trying to exercise some sort of power and was mistaken, but too prideful to apologize.  

 Ella running, dancing and being silly.  I call this her rain dance... 

A couple of photo outtakes from out ballet session on the River walk... where we were banned to after being asked to leave SAMA.  They turned out beautiful anyway! 

Ella and her friends, Bela and Paloma on the River walk ...

Bedtime stories..... 

My little poser on the patio.  We love our flower pots this year... 

Ella's last day of school.  With her teacher, Ms. Donna and her two besties, Alexia and Mia...

Ella had her second loose tooth and it had been loose for weeks and weeks!  Ron finally popped it out with some floss right before we were leaving for her ballet recital (hence the makeup).  Thank goodness!  I was worried she'd end up playing with it the whole time (fingers in her mouth or using her tongue which gave her this silly look) or worse yet, it would pop out mid-performance and she'd freak out on stage looking for it, possible crying that she couldn't find it, or crawling around the stage looking for it.... so I am very thankful Ron took care of it and her ballet performance went off perfectly.   

Waiting for the tooth fairy....

Preschool Field Day

Ella's last big school event was the Spring Field Day... a sports day for the kids.  I volunteered so was able to get some pictures while the kids rotated  through the stations...

Lining up for  a egg race...

With her best friend, Mia

Obstacle course...

Fishin'

Cheering on her classmates...

Duck, Duck, Goose...

Parachute...

Scooter Race...

Ballet Class

The girls are getting ready for their recital at the end of this month.  Each week they practice their routine and Ella is getting excited that she'll get to be on a 'real' stage soon.... and of course she's over the moon that Grandma will here to watch!

Kindergarten and Kite Flying

On the 19th, I registered Ella for kindergarten.  Her preschool classmate, Alexia, lives in our subdivision and Griselda and I took the girls to the elementary school for the Kinder Roundup.  We're not sure if they'll be in the same class, there are 3 or 4 classes, but the girls are excited and had fun visiting their new school and meeting a couple of the teachers. Me?  I'm still in shock she'll be in school full-time in August :(

I love the Spring in Texas, the wildflowers (which have been sparse this year so far for lack of rain) and the wind are amazing!  I'm used to winds and storms, but at home we were always worrying about power outages and downed trees.  A downed tree could take out a good part of your house.  Here, the winds are ferocious, but there is nothing around that could cause any damage.  So our house shakes and the windows whistle, you hope nothing in your backyard will blow away, but I still get anxious... weird.  Just a learned response from all my years on the island I guess.  What is really great?  Wide open ranch and a kite!  Look at her!  She didn't even have to run,  just let the kite go and it would take off... of course she can't contain her excitement so running it was... 

Happy Easter

Easter took up the whole week this year.  First was an Easter photo session in the park with our friends from ballet on Tuesday.....

Then an Easter egg hunt at Preschool on Wednesday... 

We visited the Easter Bunny on Thursday...

Dyed eggs and glittered some on Friday....

Wrote a letter for the Easter Bunny on Saturday.  Did you know the Easter Bunny recycles?  We put out our eggs in the basket and the Easter Bunny fills them :)

The Easter Bunny came!.....  Sunday morning, Ella bolted into our room at 7 and shrieked with glee, "Hey Guys!  I found an egg in my room! Guys?"  To say she was excited is an understatement... but she still managed to put on her Easter dress before coming downstairs :)

This was our first Easter with Cascarones (Mexican confetti eggs).  Ell got two from a teacher at school so while I took pictures, Ella and Ron each cracked one over the other's head.  It is said to bring good luck... had I know that before hand, I would have given Ron the camera and let Ella break some good luck on my head :)