My dad accompanied us to Lethbridge on Sunday, June 19th for Mayley's baby blessing.
Afterwards, there was a luncheon at Lindsay and Kyle's home. Behind their backyard was a playground that kept the children occupied. None more than Ella, who was discovered, still wearing her Sunday finery, in a large puddle.
She didn't just sit in it. She jumped, twirled, rolled and DID THE BREASTSTROKE in it!!
Here is some footage that was caught, though it doesn't show the full theatrics that Ella displayed earlier.
I have quite a bit to catch up on... Mostly, our big trip to Victoria, Boise, Rexburg and Bear Lake. But, since I'm a chronological freak, I need to throw in a quick couple of posts first.
Daddy must be so much more patient than I to be able to get cooking pictures with the girls...
This photo reminds me of another with an Ella-aged Averi doing the same thing (can't find it on the blog though I'm POSITIVE I posted it on here)... Dunno why Taylor never had his day at the stove... ;)
If you couldn't view the videos in the last post, it was due to the privacy setting I selected. Hopefully, I have fixed it! Feel free to view the videos now, if you didn't get a chance to before.
This video clip was taken yesterday morning, as part of her birthday "documentation." ;) It's a little long but there's some good stuff in here. :D
Ella found a toque on its way to the winter clothing bin and decided it would make a terrific birthday hat???
She's so adorable!!
Here are the kids, plus a friend of Taylor's, jumping on our relatively new trampoline.
Ella's birthday cake! A delicious vegan recipe, perfect for if you don't have eggs or milk (I did have milk and eggs, just touting uses of a vegan recipe for those reluctant to try). I doubled the recipe and used 2 circle pans for only 30 minutes (lots of helpful hints in the comments)! I put some strawberry jam in the middle and made up some vegan "buttercream" frosting for the top. Yum!!
I will often take the kids to play at the Burger King play place nearby. I usually buy a small drink or something so I don't feel guilty about just dropping in (I don't care for their food).
Ella has never seemed to have difficulty going up or down the play place, perhaps because Taylor is usually around. This past weekend, Taylor went to Bellevue with Daddy, and Averi deemed herself incapable of aiding Ella when she started crying from the top of the play place.
Hm.
I had no intention of climbing to the top to retrieve her. I had had to do that once when Averi was little, being grossly pregnant with Ella at the time. I strained something or other, only uncomfortably so.
I listened as Ella kept calling for me.
The young fathers that were also with children at the play place kept trying to decide which of their children was calling out. I had to clarify:
That's actually my kid... She calls me "Daddy!"
Since I finally decided that Averi was absolutely helpless and the other children too young to give me a hand, I once again climbed up to retrieve a child. It wasn't difficult, just a little embarrassing.
I continue to correct Ella's use of "Daddy" when calling me...
If Taylor doesn't arise by 7:30, I have to help him along. Today, he was quite diligent about getting dressed in a hurry and then going downstairs to get his breakfast.
When I went downstairs a bit later, I noticed that his cereal bowl hadn't been touched yet. It wasn't a huge deal because he still had a bit of time left before we had to leave for school, but I wondered why he hadn't eaten yet.
He had been UNLOADING the dishwasher!!! My stars (I've never used that one before...)!! He stated that he hadn't been able to do the "high up" stuff but that didn't matter in the least, of course!!
*sigh* Could a "little" 5-year-old boy be more perfect?? ;)
I've been wanting to take Taylor to Day Out With Thomas since he first showed interest in trains! The day finally arrived... Shawn said I could take our boy!!!
We went with my friend and neighbor, Stefanie, and her son, Seth.
Taylor was quite content to play with all the Thomas toy train tracks that were around...
...while I stood in line for face-painting...
Taylor chose to have his face painted as Thomas before I even read the options to him.
They did such an amazing job!!!
(That bandana around his neck is one that Stef bought to scrapbook but she let Taylor wear it because Seth had a shirt and he didn't... So sweet!)
They had Sir Topham Hat around for photos but, just like with Santa Claus, Taylor was too scared to go through with it. So I got his photo with the backdrop later on.
And then, of course, there was THOMAS!!!
I forgot to mention that this whole thing was a SURPRISE for Taylor! I kind of expected a little more enthusiasm but I guess he's getting kind of old for Thomas. Though he's never stopped asking to ride Thomas... Perhaps he had a different idea of the whole experience. We have, after all, ridden the train at Heritage Park quite a bit.
After getting teeny, tiny ice cream cones, there was a little maze that Taylor and I went through...
This may be just a new addition to Heritage Park rather than associated with Thomas the Train...
Taylor made me a wonderful Mother's Day present at school: a water-drop necklace. It came with a little bucket card that said "You fill my bucket."
This stems from a story the class read about everyone having "buckets" with water in them. Some people fill them with more water and some people take water out of our buckets. It was, of course, a metaphor for self-esteem so it was really a special card and present.
Taylor was very diligent about helping me to tidy up on Mother's day as well.
Today, Taylor said the kindest words about how much work I do around the house. When I thanked him, he said that he liked to make people happy! How sweet is that!
