But Why?

Laughter is like medicine.  No matter your mood, or what you are doing, if you start to laugh you automatically start to feel better.  I'm finding that is my favorite part of spending time with the girls.  They make me laugh, constantly, every day.  And you never know when it's coming...

Ella:  Mommy, I want milk...NOW.
Me:   Yes, ma'am
Ella:  I'm not a man, I'm a girl!

Me:   Here are some cheerios
Ella:  Cherrios?...You're kidding me.  (It was a good thing, she ate them up).

Ella:  Mommy, sit on your bottom, your making me nervous.  (I think I may have said this a few times to her before...)

Playing "Hide & Seek", upon finding Ella "hiding" in the middle of the living room floor:
Ella:  Who are you and how did you find me?  (We have been watching a lot of Tangled recently).

But alas, I fear we are also entering "why" territory.  Which is funny in it's own way...you never know when it is going to end...


Me:   Ella, it's time to turn off the TV.
Ella:  But Why?
Me:   Because it's time to eat dinner.
Ella:  But Why?
Me:   Because we need dinner to grow up strong and healthy.
Ella:  But Why?
Me:   Because we want to do fun things like paint, and ride our bikes.
Ella:  But Why?
Me:   Because riding our bikes is fun.
Ella:  Oh.

And even better then Elanor's hilarious new words is the laughter that comes from Lydia whenever she sees her sister trying to push her in the swing, bounce her in the chair, or hand her toys on the floor mat.  Lydia gets the BIGGEST smile ever and starts giggling...the best and most adorable giggle I have ever heard.

And in between all the smiles we have been having a lot of fun...

hanging out at home

playing at the park

trying to avoid water at the water park

shopping

racing with our friend Molly

learning to roll over

eating broccoli (yummy!)

getting our first hair cut

and painting

Sparkling Good Times

We are really starting this summer off with a bang.  We have been up to so much that I feel we have hardly been home...it's nice to be out of the house and enjoying what our beautiful town has to offer.

We started off with a trip to a baseball game (a Father's Day gift to Dan from Ella and Liddy).  We went to the San Rafael Pacifics game on one of the hottest days of the summer at the time (we soon found out that 95 really isn't that hot!).  Liddy figured out how to the handle the situation quite well...just fall asleep.  The rest of us were pretty miserable ...  and when the Pacifics were up 8 to 1 after the end of the 5th inning, we called it a night.  It was a blast though and Elanor loved to see Sir Francis the Drake (the Pacifics mascot) running around.  She actually went and gave him a hug which is unusual for our shy little girl.  

The next day we spent in downtown San Anselmo at the Art and Wine festival.  After this year, I'd have to say it is now a tradition for us to walk around and end with a train ride.  Ella seemed to enjoy it a lot more this year then last.

And we visited our new park downtown which was just unveiled about a week ago.  The land and construction of the park was donated by George Lucas (he lives in town with us).  Imagination Park has some grass, benches and a fountain with Yoda and Indiana Jones.  Dan's stoked.

And then there was 4th of July weekend, and we made sure to pack it full of fun.  We started out with 110 degree heat in Sacramento.  Sound fun yet?  Well, after running through the sprinklers for a while and spending most of the day inside with the AC on, we ventured out for some early fireworks.  Elanor held her first sparkler.  Amazing.  We then lit the fireworks.  Ella said her favorites were the snakes...

The next morning we went to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.  I wish we would have ventured up here sooner, it was so much fun.  We fed both Trout and Salmon but all liked the trout the best, mainly because they were larger and easier to see.   Although, really, we basically just had a blast watching the fish fight over the food.  We'll be back later this year when they are climbing the ladder.

And then later that day was the County Fair.  We rode the airplanes about 5 times in a row, but we had to venture over to see the pig races and baby chicks...and we were really excited when our pig, Britney Spareribs, won the race!

I hope the rest of the summer is as fun and eventful as it has started off.  I don't know if Ella will remember a lot of this as she grows up, but I know I will.  And they will be great memories.