Ella Turns THREE!

For Ella's birthday, we ventured into a land that knows no batteries: the family all went together on some great outdoor play equipment. She was absolutely speechless! 

June 13: A morning visit from both Mimi and Poppa Gary, lunch with Aunt Heidi, Fun times at the bounce-a-rama with Emily and Anne, brownie adventures with me, then finally dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, Chris, and Andrea. Sometimes I wonder if she'll remember days like this one. It was a day truly meant for a princess. (yep, that's lip gloss in her hand.) 

April/May

We took Ella out to a park that features a full array of farm animals, including the new spring babies. She loved chasing the baby chicks and petting the angora bunnies. We headed for Dairy Queen afterward and Ella practiced her favorite new facial expression to make in all photos. Nice. 

We've spent almost every weekend in April and May with Rick, Pam & Zoe, helping them get ready for baby #2. Willa Grace was born healthy, happy and perfectly adorable, so we decided to take Zoe to the park for the day. The image at the bottom is a painting/collage I made for Willa's room. 

The surprise was on US...

We got an invitation to Liz's surprise 30th birthday party. Brad had set the whole thing up and none of us could wait to attend the "cocktail party" at the Springfield Marriott and surprise her. She arrived and we all positioned ourselves to jump up and yell "surprise." The double doors to the ballroom opened and there she stood, in the most beautiful wedding gown. Brad took her arm, then they announced that there was a surprise indeed...the two of them were about to be married right there in front of us. Incredible!!! 

GIRLS WEEKEND!

I had some vacation days to burn and thought it might be fun to grab Ella and Heidi and get the heck outta dodge. We got a great hotel room in Indianapolis and spent the weekend touring chocolate factories, shopping, playing in the pool, and going to the Indianapolis Childrens Museum. 

Winter turns to spring

So what has miss Ella been up to, you ask? Well, I admit it's rude to use your kids as an excuse for your own procrastination. However, if you examine the fact that I have not done a post in three months...well, that sums up the crazy state of affairs at our house. No complaints though. We have been busy mixing a healthy dose of work and fun, and loving every minute of it. 

Ella learns to paint pottery...she insisted on one dab of every single color on the palette. My kinda gal. 

Then came easter, and mom passed down my very favorite thing from Grandma Erma's annual Easter table. No, not a casserole recipe. It's the glitter-laden hooker bunny, with bootie popped out and the fabulous false eyelashes. She's so fierce! 

Our Saturday morning routine: giggles in bed, followed by a cereal picnic on the living room floor. I spent 32 years of my life waking up at noon on Saturdays. Now, the best part of my weekend happens in those early hours when it's just us. 

Costa Del Sol, Spain

We had hoped to visit Cindy, Ben & Amblen in Sweden...but the group of us decided that meeting up on the Southern coast of Spain would be a whole lot sunnier in February. So we booked our flights and headed from Cincinnati to Paris (9 hour flight) then from Paris to Malaga, Spain (2.5 hours) Ella colored, slept, and charmed the flight attendants into bringing her a steady stream of cookies.

Ella and Amblen, after seeing each other for the first time in six months!

The Marriott Marbella Beach Resort...lovely!

We headed into downtown Marbella for our first venture into a small Spanish town.


No, we didn't plan their outfits ahead of time...

Dinner on the Meditteranean coast—sangria, freshly-baked bread, and seafood paella.


Spain is known for all the beautiful fountains. Some are very ornate, and some rather simple—but they are all dramatically lit and create instant romance in the evening. If we ever go back, I'll take a roll of pennies for the kids.

We rented a car and ventured on a loop through several beautiful small towns. English was hardly spoken, siesta was strictly observed, and afternoon tapas were a way of life.


Mijas, Spain

Donkey taxis!


We walked down the cobblestone street and heard the most beautiful song birds. I looked up to find their little homes mounted outside this woman's door. What a lovely gesture, I thought...until I started thinking about how the birds felt when she put them out there...

"Hey, we've escaped the house!! Let's fly FREE!!" ...or not.
Worse, the cages are glass. (Fried sparrow in July, anyone?)

Our first visit to an authentic Spanish bull ring. Imagine the history!

Matador "Derek the Dude"


We took a daytrip to Ronda, about an hour north into the mountains. The elevation gave us beautiful views. The culture, the drive, the country's first bull ring - all of it was spectacular.

We came up to the plaza from the parking garage below and stumbled upon a celebration—Spain's Independence Day. Kids played soccer on the plaza, while adults chatted at the various surrounding cafes.



In the bullring...Ella chases AMBLEN THE BULL!

I finally answered Ella's question about what a bullfight really was. This is how she felt about it. While I respected the significance of being there, I can't say I disagree with her view.


Typical front entrance of a local home.

Amazing terrain - this gorge went on forever.


We could look past the town's edge at fields of olive trees, framed in by a beautiful range of mountains. It hardly seemed real.

We spent our last day just relaxing at the resort, savoring our last hours together.


Amblen finally jumped into the pool! Yeah!



We made a game out of dodging the waves. The kids shrieked at every advance!

My beautiful sis and her sweet boy...

The six of us walked along the Meditteranean and watched the sun descend. The impact of that setting sun hit home, and hit hard. We all realized how precious and amazing that our time was together, and we knew that our 4am departure meant it was quickly coming to an end. We returned to the resort from the shore, and entered through the property gate. I looked back one last time, and this was what I saw:

Ben shot the image for me. It's my desktop wallpaper now, to remind me of one very important thing: beyond the boundaries of our everyday routines, lies a vast sea of new experiences so broad and so new that there's no horizon line.

Ciao!