Easter Weekend

On Saturday, Amber and Ella came down to the city park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. She was not thrilled to see Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny among the 0-3 year olds, but we stayed a on the other side, strategically placing Ella where there were very few other kids. The wind was wicked but it didn't stop all those kids from cleaning up all the candy in about 5 minutes. I had to laugh at all the bubble gum on the ground in the baby area - what baby can chew gum?







BRRRRR!



On Sunday, everyone made it for breakfast, except Justin who was at work, and Carson who had just been called to North Dakota to take care of the state's latest electricity emergency.

Ella zeroed in on the Easter baskets as soon as she walked into the room. It was a little insulting to her to be given a basket with just a jacket in it when there were 9 other baskets full of candy that she could see. After breakfast, we went outside so she could have her own personal Easter egg hunt - which was ruined by the dogs next door scaring her. We finally got her to pick up her goodies and she was a happy camper with her basket of fruit snacks.





Once everyone was settled in for their post breakfast nap, Brooke and I cleaned up a couple of our old Fisher Price toys. The look on the kids' faces was priceless as they recalled all the times they played with those very toys.

Ella's Sleepover

Last weekend we were able to convince Drew and Amber to leave Ella with us overnight. Little did we know the weekend would be a little crazy with Brooke and Justin trying to move into their house they just bought (and Ken spending the weekend trying to replace their water pipes, water heater, etc, etc, etc...) But, we eventually got to settle down and play.



We read lots and lots of books, played with the Little Tykes kitchen, heavily stocked with Fisher Price food (vintage 1990's), played with the animals outside and met Brynn's new dog Dottie. Feeding horses, corraling 3 dogs and holding a two-year old that it still a little afraid of all the dogs at once is a little crazy!



Self-taken picture of one cute Ella and grandma (currently known as Edna from the Incredibles, minus the glasses!)



Getting ready for bed - brushing my teeth.

First words out of her mouth at 7:00 am when she woke up with a huge smile? Horseys, Doggies and POPPA!!!!



I love pancakes and current jelly.



Hanging out with grandpa before it's time to go home. Hope we get to do this all over again soon.

Roller Coaster Heaven

Ken had to go back to Florida again in January so I went with him on one of his three or four trips. (I lost count, he just kept going back and forth across the country.) We decided to try Busch Gardens this time and what a great choice that was. Not only was the weather iffy, so the park was pretty empty, it was unseasonably cool so the animals were in fine form.



We were unaware of the conservation programs going on in the park and spent a lot of hours in the animal education area. There is a train that goes right through the middle of the animal park and there were times that the train had to slow down and wait for animals to get off the train tracks. On a jeep ride, we were about 30 feet from a male white rhinocerous - how cool is that?




New baby white rhino - she was only about 2 months old - weighed 120 at birth and gains 5 lbs a day. She moved pretty quickly and mom was having a hard time keeping up with her as she was running through the preserve. I couldn't get a good picture because she was running away from the train.





Busch Gardens has some fabulous roller coasters and I rode all of them - some of them three or four times! By Sunday morning when it was time to leave Tampa Bay, I was one pretty sore girl. Their newest coaster climbs 200 feet right out of the gate, turns a corner, drops you over the edge, but comes to a complete stop for 10 or 15 seconds (maybe only 5 but it seems like an eternity) before letting you go and sending you on your way.

Miller Family Christmas Party

Ken, Brynn, Carson, Ella and I braved the snow and the hill up to Rick and Mindy's house for the annual Christmas party. We got in a little trouble because we kept Ella out past her curfew! But, she had a blast with all the Miller cousins!



Kim and Ella enjoying their dinner. I think Ella ate almost a cup of barbeque beef!




Ella and Keeley. They may be 4 months apart, but pretty close in most statistics.



Time for presents!



What's in mine?



Ella got a cute toy dog that can have her clothes changed and hair/tail brushed. She brushed a few people's hair in addition to the dog's. Thanks for playing Todd!

And Just a LIttle More Christmas Frivolity

Drew had to stay close to work on Christmas morning so we all headed to his house for breakfast and presents. Amber did a great job with the sticky buns - her first try, and we brought over the strata and Mountain Man breakfast. That's a lot of hungry people to squeeze in around the tree and just presents in general.

Here's a few pictures of the morning.



Ella on her new interactive horse.



Drew trying out Ella's new skirt



Drew and Jason having a good laugh (probably over something dumb I said)



Brooke and Justin checking out the cow with the missing leg. Brooke had fallen in love with this cow costume at our Trunk or Treat, so I was able to find one and was planning on waiting until they had a baby to give it to her. Since they were getting 1/4 beef for Christmas from us, I took the costume, tied one of the legs up inside it, and attached a picture of a cow minus a leg to it for their present. It took a minute to figure out what the costume was all about, but it was pretty funny once they did.



Chase and Jessica. It wouldn't be Christmas morning without Chase's Mickey Mouse santa hat.



Jason, Brynn, Jess and Chase

All Aboard!

We waited until the Sunday after Christmas to go to my mom and dad's with the kids. We didn't get everyone there, but most of us made it. Grandpa gave all the kids wooden puzzles to do (Carson still hasn't quite figured his out... and I broke mine right out of the box.)

Ella, got the granddaddy of all presents! They had bought this for her for her birthday/Christmas, but waited until Christmas to give it to her so she would be old enough to 'get it'. And did she ever! She's so tiny, though, that she would have to put her foot in the window of the engine, and pull herself over the top to climb aboard. This train is seriously about 10 feet long and quite an accomplishment to get all the pieces around a corner without losing one or having a serious derailment!

What a Funny Baby

Ella came to play one evening just before Christmas and I decided to put her in some Christmas jammies I had bought earlier in the year. Amber had once wanted some red flannel drop-drawer jammies for her, these aren't quite the same, but cute anyways.




We were watching Ever After and she was mesmerized by the big musical number in the park.



This is Ella's "on top of the world' look - and my current screen saver at work. It makes me smile everytime I look at it.




Playing with grandpa (see Amber's blog for the John Deere hat picture from that night)





She has now discovered the play room built under our stairs in the kitchen/great room. Yesterday she zipped in there as soon as her mom put her down and she was busy playing with all the food toys in the kitchen. Ken used to think I was nutso for keeping all the Little Tykes kitchen toys along with all the Fisher Price food that the girls used to play with when they were little. He doesn't think that now - and the memories we all have of the FP food whenver she (or the Miller neices and nephews) plays with it are worth storing them for about 20 years!