Fun in the Sun!

Although the summer weather has been brief so far this season, we have had some fun playing outside, going to the pool and visiting the beach. Ella seems to really love being outside so we try to get outside to play when we can. Here are some pics of some fun in the sun!Brad blowing bubbles and Ella giggling when they popElla showing off her standing skills on the front lawn:)Ella playing in the front yard in her kiddy pool...she was a little more interested in picking the grass and grabbing the leaves outside of the pool than the actual water but whatever works:)Ella chillin at the pool at the gym (we need to put our gym membership to good use somehow:)Ella at Holland Beach...we went to visit Great Grandpa/ma Essenburg when they were camping at the state park...a little dipping in the water, a little sun bathing, and a little sand eating. (I don't know if you know my husband well or not but the above picture proves that Ella takes after her daddy with her facial expressions...he seriously makes that exact face sometimes!) The family in Saugatuck taking a stroll Ella and Mommy at the Grand Haven pier

The Windy City

This past week Brad, Ella, and I went to Chicago for a couple of days because Brad had to work at the Neocon trade show there at the Merchandise Mart downtown. We left Sunday morning so we could get some good ole family time in before Monday. We made it down there in record time but once we got there we had quite a time! We accidentally got lost because we veered from directions a bit and it took several pedestrians to explain how to find the Lincoln Park Zoo. Once we did finally find the zoo they had closed the parking lot and there was no parking in like a mile radius or so - yikes. We finally gave up and tooled around until we found out how to get to our hotel and boy was that a good move. When we got up to our room we realized that our poor little girl, because of being in the car so long traveling, had pooped through her diaper and it was all over her waist down to her feet - it was awful! Lets just say that we had to call housekeeping to get us several more towels and to get rid of the dirty ones:) It was a blessing that we didn't show up at the zoo and have to change her there! Later on that day we did end up going to the zoo which was a very nice place to walk even though there weren't many animals out...Ella did get a glimpse of a tiger and a monkey before she fell asleep:) We finished off the day by going to the Cheesecake Factory which was awesome - we had never been there and boy was the food and cheesecake good!
Monday Ella and I spend the day with my mother in law going around the city in trolleys checking out the city. My in-laws tend to visit there a lot and she thought it would be fun to do the trolley thing since she had never done it. It was kinda cool seeing the city from that viewpoint...Chicago is huge...I never realized how much there really is to do there! Here is a picture of Ella and I in front of Oprah's talk show studio:) Thankfully Ella enjoyed the rides for the most part and made friends with some Australian kids on the trolley which kept her preoccupied. It was a nice way to spend the day. FYI - if anyone ever plans to do trolley rides with lots of stops, I wouldn't recommend taking your jogging stroller...it gets annoying and heavy really fast going up and down the aisles:) Tuesday night we met up with Brad and my father in law at a steakhouse for dinner - it was a good ending to our busy day.Here are a couple of pics of Ella enjoying the hotel room...she has a little bit of a mischievous side to her, wanting to get into everything :) Brad, Ella and I before we went to dinner.

Tuesday Ella, Jodi and I went shopping a bit and then took a lovely stroll around town. Although it did rain, we actually had a really nice time walking to and along the beach...I was shocked to see what a cool beach they have downtown there...palm trees, beachside restaurant, and a walking/biking path. Anyways, we finished our little getaway with going to Ginos Pizza...a Koning tradition...we can't go to Chicago with them without going there:) Although going to Chicago was really busy having Ella along (and having some other mishaps...the poop incident, the issues with the stroller, oh and I forgot, Brad getting into a mild car accident in heavy traffic - he is fine:) it was really nice getting out of town for a couple of days and trying a new adventure with little miss Ella!

Lil' Lil and Big Red:)

It has been a fun weekend so far! Friday night we had the honor of babysitting our 2 month old baby niece Lily while her parents went to a wedding. The first 15 minutes were a little rough since Brad was still at work when Lily arrived and she was crying - no biggie - but then when Auntie Betsy left without holding Ella, Ella had an absolute crying fit! It was a little difficult trying to comfort them both - I got a little taste of what it would be like if we had 2:) After a little bit both were just fine and we had a great rest of the evening taking a walk and of course cuddling:) She is so darling and just settling into the smiling phase which just melted our hearts. There is nothing sweeter than having a tiny baby look at you and return your smile. We always think Ella is our little baby but after holding and spending time with Lily, it made us realize that Ella is not so much a little baby anymore:) Ella didn't pay much attention to Lily but she was curious when I held Lily and she was crying - otherwise she barely even noticed she was there. It was a great night with the two little sweeties!

Tonight, Saturday, we decided to head out to Holland beach for a walk and boy was it lovely out! We walked down the boardwalk and enjoyed watching the boats come through the channel - Ella was pretty sleepy all evening so it was just a nice quiet pieceful walk for mom and dad. Of course, we had to take the standard picture in front of the great Big Red lighthouse:)

The Konings go Camping

This past weekend we went camping with our friends to Hoffmaster campgrounds. We had a great time! We borrowed my parents pop up and it worked out really well, keeping us warm and housing all of our stuff...and let me tell you we brought a ton of stuff...it is so hard to pack when you have never done it with a kid before -yikes! The kids were so good and played so well together - it was so cute seeing them crawling around sharing (& stealing) toys with eachother. Mere and Joe brought a screened in tent so that the kids could play semi-dirt free, be away from mosquitos, and play in a secured area - it worked wonderful. Because the kids played hard Saturday, they also slept hard so us girls were able to hang out and do some girl talk while the guys went fishing. Later on that day we went for a hike with the Geurinks to the beach and we ended the evening celebrating Layla's 1st Birthday - it was a fun party - Tropical Minnie Mouse theme:) Packing for the weekend was tons of work with all the kids stuff, etc but it was a ton of fun and well worth it for the time with our friends and sharing in our kids 1st camping experience!

Mere and Joe

Darrell and Lindsey

Jane and Drew

Jamie and Curt

Ella, Brad and Jill Ella and Layla
Jonathan and Ella
Alden and Ella

Jill, Brad & Ella
Happy 1st Birthday Layla!

8 months old!

Our little Ella turned 8 months today - our little big girl:) I feel like she has grown up so much over this past month - her demeanor and capabilities are really changing. She is looking so grown up to us - her hair filling out and growing even taller. She now has 5 teeth coming working their way through and loves to babble all day long "dadadada" (I am jealous because none of her babblings sounds like mamamma:) I have really enjoyed meal times and seeing her expressions change with each new food - she makes some funny faces- so far I have made all her food at home which has been surprisingly fun! Her crawling and standing up along everything makes her days as a baby seem like a while ago...I know that 8 months isn't that old but boy she doesn't seem like a little infant anymore. She still loves to sit and play with toys but she would rather spend her days getting into our electronics (radio, computer, DVD player), pulling things off our shelves, opening drawers and following us around slowly but surely. Our house is sort of baby proof but we have a little ways to go yet. She loves spending time outdoors and being around lots of people. Ella is such a sweet and friendly little girl and it has been such a joy being her parent over the past 8 months.

Here are some pics from the past month...



Spending time with some of her favorite people...

Listening to Daddy play guitar and sing to herHanging out with Great Grandpa RotmanGrandma Rotman & MommyGrandma Koning, Great Grandma Essenburg & Mommy

Random pics...

Ella at the beach tasting the sand (a little date night with her and Daddy)Ella thinking she is a big girl standing up on her ownAt a park near our house trying out the slide and swing Being a little mischievious in the kitchen:)Our happy little family:)