Race Two

Ellie was excited for race two.  This one the boys joined her in the race and they are all very competitive.  She ended up not running with her running friend as she wanted to catch the boys.  She improved her time by 16 seconds to finish in 16:39.  Once again, it was hot and she still had plenty of energy after the race.

Water Play – Flash Tests

Ellie was helping test out some new photo techniques and giving my new assistant some real life practice.  She helped pose and show the other two girls what to do while we were busy setting things up.  Actually, Ellie would volunteer anytime if the beach or water was involved.

Skate Park Treat

At the skate park, the ice cream van comes around right before lunch time.  I normally don’t let the kids have an ice cream but this time was different, Ray was there with us.  He is a good friend and a Dad to the friends we were there with.  There hasn’t been a time we have been with him that he has passed up the opportunity to get ice cream if it is around.

We have been trying to go to the skate park at least every other week.  The kids are getting much better.  Cooper still rides his little pink 3 wheeler that he is too big for even though we bring his balance bike each time.  Ellie is riding her scooter very well and can now ride it around the bowl and up on the walls.  The first time there she would barely ride her scooter around the park and didn’t ride in the bowls. 

First Race of the Season

Ellie and I had our first race of the season.  She was very excited and ran with a friend during the race.  The boys that normally run the races with her were not able to make this race.  Her time was 16:55 for 2K, better than last year but she still had plenty of energy after the race.

Climbing Time

Ellie and a friend when to the climbing walls.  This was her friends first time, so Ellie volunteered to show her what to do.  After about 10 minutes both were climbing high. 

Ellie is much stronger now and can pull herself up just with her upper body.  It has been fun to see the progress.  This was my first time climbing there.  I choose a hard wall with Ellie on a hard wall next to me.  It was amazing that she went higher on this one wall than ever before just to try to be even with me.  It was funny though, since the first time being there, I have been encouraging Ellie from the safety of the ground to go higher and higher.  Once I was up there, I realized it was really high up and I am not scared of heights! 

Growing Toys

When Ellie and Cooper’s good friends returned from their Christmas holiday in South Africa they gave both of them little boxes filled with growing safari animals.  Cooper traded Ellie for the blue ones and each time they were surprised by the animal that appeared.

Family Beach Time

The kids had been asking to go to the beach before we left.  We packed up food, towels, sand toys, and headed off to the beach to enjoy a great sunny California day.  We even found a sand crab that spent some quality time in Ellie’s snack box.