Ella turns 3

Ella is officially 3! We had a nice little evening to celebrate Ella turning three this past Tues. Since we didn't have a party for her I let her pick out any cake she wanted at the store and get some special Cinderella plates, cups and party horns. I picked up the cake on Tues. afternoon, paid for her $41.00 cake and took it home. Yes, I too just about died when I heard the cost of the cake. Once you see it you will understand why. It was huge and very elaborate. That night we had a nice dinner and were preparing to put the candles in Ella's cake. Jake took it out of the huge box and the writing was on the side. Jake started reading the cake and instead of it saying, " Happy 3rd Birthday Ella," it said, "Happy 2nd Birthday Ella." I just about fell over, I was just slightly upset. Jake was able to drag some of the extra frosting from the 2 to make it a 3. The next morning I drove to the store which we bought the cake from and showed them the picture on my cell phone of the huge mistake they made. They gave a full refund plus a $20.00 gift card to the store. I'd say they made it right. Despite the major mistake on the cake Ella had a great birthday and received some wonderful presents. Thanks to everyone who made her 3rd birthday special!


Ella's new special talent: rolling her tongue.

Hello Belle!

Blowing out the candles! She got all but one.

This is the cake after fixing the 3.

Birthday girl eating her lunch wearing a Minnie Crown.

Forgot to add Ella's 3yr old check up stats:

Height- 34.5 inches tall 5-10%

Weight- 27.6lbs 5-10%

Basically she is small for her age!

The nurse and doctor were amazed at how well Ella could talk. She can speak in full paragraphs and can carry on huge conversation. She loves imaginary play and will play up in her room for hours with all her little toys and doll house. The only she needs to learn now is how to pedal her own bike. Just today she started pumping her legs the correct way when swinging. It was very exciting. Oh yea, and Ella had to have one shot during her doctor visit and she just laid there and didn't even shed a tear. She is was so brave,

Cannon Beach 2011

Our yearly trip to Cannon Beach was last weekend. We sort of turned it into a birthday weekend for Ella as well. The weather was decent sunshine the first day and clouds the second and third day. Every year we walk down to Haystack Rock but this was the first year that we actually planned the tides right and were able to see all the marine life in the tide pools at low tide. It was very COOL! Next we picked up two kites to fly. Luckily it was a little windy so we had no trouble flying the ones we got bought. One night we went out for Ella's birthday dinner and let her pick any desert she wanted. It was delicious. That night after dinner we promised Ella we could go roast marshmallow's over a campfire. It was getting late so we asked another family who had a campfire already going it we could use a flame to make some smores. We felt kinda funny bumming off another persons fire but we did offer for them to make smores too. While we were there we also went swimming in the pool our hotel had. Bridgette did great in the water and Ella was like a little fish. Jumping off the side into our arms and getting her face in the water. Overall, another wonderful trip to the Oregon Ocean. We are already making plans for next year.

Birthday desert! Ella is eating a white chocolate starfish.


Bridgette was not a happy camper that day, her teeth were really bothering her.

Playing in the sand.

Flying kites is easy!

Ella is flying two kites at once!

Getting our kites ready for flight.

Some of the starfish we got to see and touch at Haystack Rock.

My girls!

Date Night 2011

A couple weekends ago my parents were gracious enough to watch the girls overnight for me and Jake. This was the first time that we had stayed overnight alone since Bridgette was born. We started our evening with a great dinner on one of the Piers down on the water, followed by a Broadway show, Aladdin and off to bed for a peaceful nights sleep. We had a great night, thank you mom and dad!!!

Menard 1 and Menard 2

Ella and Bridgette's Grandma Menard bought these pj's for the girls and then with her special sewing machine was able to personalize them. The girls think it is so fun to wear them because they look like twins and they love being called Menard 1 and Menard 2.

After a bath Bridgette's hair is crazy curly.

I know this picture is slightly blurry but they both were smiling at the same time, doesn't happen very often.

Arts walk in bellevue

Last weekend was arts walk in bellevue.  It had tons of awesome vendors and the arts museum was open to the kids.  They had all sorts of cool art projects to do.  Ella worked on winding yarn through this spider web.  It was very cool.

Kids concert in the park

In the summer time on tuesdays in kirkland they have a free kids concert series.  This week was a local kids band called recess monkeys.  We went with friends who have kids too so it was fun to watch the kids dance around.  Even bridgette dances.