The End of Summer

Over the summer we had the joy of having Brad's cousin, Bree, be our Thursday babysitter.  Ella loved having her over - their favorite activity was bike riding to the park and feeding the "nice" ducks and "mean" geese.  We were so thankful to have such a sweet babysitter who gave such TLC to Ella and we will miss her as she goes back to college!

 

After finding a little stool to put in the bathroom, Ella has developed a new fascination of washing her hands by herself - she enjoys her independence.  It comes in really handy when we are done playing outside...no arguments to wash her patties!

Ever since we have moved into our house, Ella has just loved our neighbor, Jay, across the street.  Even when she didn't really know him, she would look out the window all the time and ask about him and would yell hi whenever she saw him whether we were in the house or outside.  One night we had Jay and his wife, Sandy, over for dinner to get to know them better.  After supper they brought over their ice cream maker and made us home made ice cream - it was a lot of work to make but very much worth it.  They are super sweet and I am so glad we have such nice new neighbors (ones that don't mind our daughter spying on them all the time:).

Once a week I babysit my niece, Lily, and quite often we bike down the street and go see the donkeys.  Ella loves to see them but is a little afraid to actually feed them but Lily is totally fearless.  It is so cute to see them call the donkeys over by clapping and yelling and watch them try to interact with them - they get all giddy. 

Just chillin' having a snack after their busy morning outside

We took a little trip to Teusink's farm one night to see all the animals.  Ella is a fanatic about farm animals and thought she would love seeing all the animals up close, riding the ponies, and taking a hayride.  Although she was a little too timid to feed the animals, she had so much fun going through the barn and seemed to love riding the ponies the most.  Watching her ride the horse made her seem so grown up!

I went through all of my toys from when I was a child to give to Ella and found this tea set that I always played with my dolls.  She has loved playing with it ever since...it is sweet and nostalgic to watch her play with my toys and it makes me glad that my mom and I kept them to be used again.

I had the privilage of throwing my best friend since elementary school a baby shower...for her TWINS!  She is due on October 23 with a boy and a girl.  We have been looking forward to raising our kids together for years so I am so excited to share with her this exciting time!  Can't wait to meet those little tooters Lisa!

Before the summer drew to a close and school started up, we had my nephew, Reed, and my niece, Carley, over to play.  We had such a fun time - biking to the donkeys, playing ball, running through the sprinklers, playing on the swingset, playing Wii, and "house".  Brad happened to have that day off so it was extra special being able to spend that time together.  The summer had gone by so fast and didn't get to see much of them so it was awesome having some good quality time with them. 

As Ella is fast approaching 2 years old and showing some interest in "the potty", we decided to get her one of her own.  Ella was pumped when she seen it and decided to carry it directly onto the porch and try it out...taking a book to keep her company.  I don't know how long the novelty on this will last, but at least she can get used to the idea.

This is just a random pic of Ella who feel asleep watching Elmo...she never just falls asleep like this so I wanted to capture this cute little moment.  She just looked so sweet and innocent.