My parents continue to spoil these girls. I am coming to the realization that there is no stopping them. The latest acquisition? A pink Barbie Jeep. Ella already has the "diva" look down.
Anna, as usual, wants to be the daredevil. She stomps the gas and just goes, dogs, trees, other cars be damned.
Thanks Nana and Papaw!

Ella and Anna's Birthday Party 2009!

Before the party, the girls wanted to goof off with a little spinning and floor rolling.

After all the kids arrived, we made princess and pirate accessories. It was a little crazy, but it gave the kiddos something to do besides run wild through the house.
...and Sam was just so darn cute in his pirate hat!
Anna sported the eye-patch,
while Ella wore her "Birthday Girl" crown and sash.And then we opened presents. I had no idea this would be such a fiasco! I had no idea who gave what to whom, but I think I got most of it sorted out after the fact. I still don't know who gave Anna the kissing Elmo or from whom most of the books and coloring books came.
Presents, presents, everywhere!
Finally, the cakes!! I made Anna and Elmo cake and Ella a Kai Lan cake. The Kai Lan cake was my first experience using fondant, and I was quite pleased with the results. While the Kai Lan cake looked nice, I'll admit the icing on the Elmo cake was tastier!
Blow out the candles! Anna is TWO!
Ella is FOUR!
The party was a huge success. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I know the girls couldn't be happier. Thanks to everyone who attended! These girls are so lucky to have so many people who care about them!

Anna's first haircut was exactly one week before her 2nd birthday, August 28, 2009.

The endeavor didn't start out so well, she cried incessantly.

But brushing and styling her hair was becoming impossible, so the curls had to go.
Fortunately, the result is adorable!
From the back - cute!
Oh yeah, this angle is pretty adorable, too.

Here is the video of the task. Much crying ensued, but it eventually died down to a few hiccups.

Ella's First Day of Pre-School at St. James School, August 7, 2009.

Streeeeetch! "Morning sleepy head! It's the first day of school!"

Here she is eating a nutritious granola bar for breakfast while wearing her uniform blue dress, socks, and chucks.
It's off to school we go!
"Okay, Nana, I know I'm cute, but cut it out!"
In front of the school with her BoBo sister, Anna.
Her Kai Lan backpack hanging neatly in her cubby and she is already off to play...
Unfortunately, I didn't get to take her or see her off on her first day; Nana earned that privilege. However, seeing as I felt tears welling up in my eyes just from looking at the pictures, it is probably a good thing I didn't take her. I don't even know why I cried. Maybe because my baby is growing up, but I really think it is because I'm just so excited for her. School is awesome, it really is. It was so awesome for me and for Chuck that we decided to stay there forever! Just think about all the cool things she is going to experience this year alone...Sure, later on school can get tough, but it is still awesome because with all that hard work comes learning! But right now, Ella gets to learn by playing, making new friends, and creating glorious messes. What could be better than that?

Vacation: Planet Hollywood.

Exchanging some love at Planet Hollywood.

Me with "Jenny", the boat from my favorite movie!

This was the last day before the endless drive home, so we were pretty wiped out by this time. I'm still wiped out, which is why these last posts are so short!

Vacation: Beach Day!





We all had loads of fun, but the sand got a little ridiculous. It was a fairly miserable ride home because we couldn't thoroughly rid ourselves of the sand until we were back at the condo. And, even under the umbrella, wearing a T-shirt, and donning SPF 70 sunscreen, I got a sunburn.

Vacation Day 4: Downtown Disney and Sea World take 2

These lego sculptures were impressive. And the girls liked the puppies.
Anna and I with Pooh and friends. Ella refused to come sit with us.
Ella likes the RED present.
Ella's incredibly fake smile at TREX.
I touched a sting ray! Lots of them, actually. You see, they sell food for $5 a tray; however, you can just stick your hand in the water and pretend you have food and they come right to you. Silly sting rays.
A manatee eating lettuce, or maybe cabbage...
A really great picture of the girls watching the manatees.

I had to get this hat for Anna. It fits her personality perfectly. And, they were selling the swords at the same vendor, so I got those, too. Sucker.We shopped quite a bit today: Jasmine, Squirt, Woolly Mammoth, 8 little dinosaurs, 2 bigger dinosaurs, 2 swords, 3 lolly pops (one eaten), a Shamu flag, a Minnie Mouse cap, a silly hat, and the girls names painted as art. This doesn't count the spoils from day 1 at Sea World: a dolphin and a penguin for Ella and Anna, respectively. Think what you want, they need every bit of this stuff.

Vacation Day 3: Aquatica! These two pictures sum up the day.



We arrived at the park around 10am, and left around 4. The girls absolutely LOVED the park. They have a couple of great places just for little ones, and they swam, slid down water slides, and floated on the lazy river until they were exhausted. They were asleep almost before we pulled out of our parking space, and slept for about 3-4 hours. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but camera's just don't go well with water parks.

Here is an unexpected show from yesterday at Sea World, the "Stilt Drummers". These guys are living out the dream of many marching band drum-line veterans...

Vacation Day 2: Sea World!

Anna loves whales!
I'll admit, they are magnificent!
She also loves to smile for the camera. She was excited to see Elmo and Abby!
Penguins are cool, too.
So is Daddy and blue whales.
We had a caricature drawn of the girls. It is really cute!
The dolphin show, "Blue Horizons", was one of Ella's favorites.
"Clyde and Semore Take Pirate Island" was cute and funny.
Anna and the seals - harbor and leapord.
Two sleeping girls at the end of the day.
Good thing they woke up in time to see "Shamu Rocks!"