Third Day of Kindergarten

On waking up: "Just one more minute mom."
On getting dressed: "I'm too cold to get dressed."
On going to school: "I have to go the next day and the next day, ugh?!?"
On homework: "That interrupted my TV."

Are you kidding me? Please say the entire year won't be like this. :)

First Day of Kindergarten

Summer break is over (although I still have a couple of summer stories to post) and today is officially Ellie's first day of Kindergarten. Last night I thought I would be more nervous, but I felt like we were just getting ready for another day of school. Ellie was excited and couldn't wait to wear her new uniform.

This morning the alarm went off at 7:30 am - Ellie had come to my bed in the night - so I rolled over and told Ellie it was time to get up and she said, "Well, c'mon then mom, get up." It's usually not so easy to get Ellie out of bed, but today she made us get right out and we started getting ready.

She looked cute as ever in her uniform. I'm glad she likes it because if she has to wear something she doesn't like, she's grumpy and it's not fun. (When I was a kid about Ellie's age, my mom said she bought me a new pair of pants....I didn't like them so I waited for garbage day and put them out in the trash before she could find out...I don't remember the event, but I also don't deny it happened. Fortunately, Ellie has some of her dad too so we probably won't get to that point. :))

As I left her at school, the feeling I expected last night set in. I hoped she felt comfortable there. I hoped she found some friends. I hoped her teachers are as nice as her preschool teachers. I hated that she wasn't at home this morning. It was so quiet. I am glad she's in school and learning all sorts of good things, but I'll miss her in the morning. I like the noises she makes. Luckily, kindergarten is only 3 hours...so she was home before I had time to do much missing.

And she loved her first day. She felt comfortable, she knew some kids from last year, she said her teachers were nice...she met new friends, Claire and Anya, and her friend Brady was there. She went through her bag to show me some things they had done and we both had homework! They get to have recess and do the weather - today it was sunny. She was also excited that they get to do art work first thing each day. Her only concern is that it is long...meaning 5 days a week. She came home and started making all the same noises. All is well.

My Dad

My dad died seven years ago today. I miss him. One of the things I miss the most is something I never got to have - him as a grandpa for Ellie. I know he would have been an excellent, quiet, gentle and sweet grandpa to his granddaughters.

When Garred and I were married we got a little kitten (Gus) and one weekend we went out of town and needed a sitter. My dad was not fond of cats, but my mom had agreed it would be okay, and Gus spent the majority of the weekend on my dad's lap - and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.

I also remember a time at one of our family reunions one of the little girl cousins finding his lap for the evening campfire.

I can see why both would find his lap welcoming and how I probably spent many hours in the same lap and wish Ellie had that opportunity.

There is so much more I remember and so many ways I know how great it would have been but I'll leave it there for now as this is something I will never get to see in this life and I am sad for it. I am sad for Ellie to not know him.

I miss a lot of things about my dad, but on Ellie's blog and today - that is what I miss the most.

New Bike and Ride

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to get Ellie a new bike. She loved hers, but had just outgrown it. We sold hers on KSL in July and then found the perfect one (now that they make 18 inch bikes - woo hoo) for her on August 7th.

We decided to test drive it the next day. We had to go get a new helmet and pads because she had outgrown them too!

I love the Jordan Parkway Trail so I found a section along the trail that was 1.5 miles long and had five parks along the ride. We started at one park and rode to each park, stopped to play, and then ended at the last park. We got rained out and didn't make it all the way back before sending Kevin for the car - but Ellie rode 2.5 miles!

I was amazed at how well she did up and down the hills. When we first started she kind-of tipped over on her new bike and I thought that was the end of it. She tends to be really reserved and does not like to feel uncomfortable - but she just got back on and rode the entire way! She was tentative down the first few hills, but got more comfortable and did every single one. It was also fun to watch her power her little legs up the steeper hills.

Ellie had a few tip overs...Kevin had one...and I almost had one...I think that made Ellie even more comfortable to know that she wasn't the only one that wasn't always 100% steady on the bike. :)

If the darn rain would stay away from Saturday this summer we could do it again!

Is Santa Real?

The other day Ellie and I were driving in the car when Ellie asked me about Santa.

"Mom, is Santa real or just a person?" (I was freaking out thinking oh no - not already!)
"I think he's real Ellie, why do you ask?"
"Because I've never seen those clothes in a store. (pause) So I think he changes them with his magic or something."

I love it. What a thinker. This kid may have been shopping one too many times.

Two of my Greatest Vacations Ever

If you know me, you know I love to travel and I love vacation. I always have. Ellie loves to travel too. She especially likes the plane ride and the hotel. This summer I wanted to take Ellie on a vacation so I asked her where she wanted to go. "Hawaii" - you've already been there Ellie, how about someplace new "Canada" - That is out of the country Ellie and you don't have a passport yet "Hawaii - just kidding mom, I was just tricking you." Where else? "South America."

I just started laughing at that point. As we didn't have time to get a passport I planned two vacations for Ellie and me - right here in Utah. We didn't have to travel far and we didn't even need a hotel.

Our first vacation day was on June 25th. We started with a breakfast on the run at McDonald's. We had to eat in the car because we needed to drive to SLC to start our day. We went to the Utah Museum of Natural History to see "Toadally Frogs" we planned it so we could be there for both story time and frog feeding. We were both wowed by how fast frogs can work their tongues, but the most memorable part for Ellie was when the frog pooped on the floor. That is the part she told over and over about her day.


We grabbed a sack lunch at Skool Lunch and headed to the Gallivan Center for the lunch bunch concert series. The single performer was great and we spent the entire hour there eating and people watching. This funny little man was out on the grass doing some kind of interpretive dancing on his own in the hour. Ellie and I were entertained by him.




That night after Kevin got off of work we all went to see Seussical the Musical in the Midvale City Park. It was so fun to see an open air musical. Ellie loved the entire thing and hopes we can find more things like this to do.



Our second day on vacation we spent the day at This Is The Place Heritage Park. We signed up for a day camp "Pioneer Tea Party" and planned to only spend half of the day there, but there is so much to do that we stayed from opening to closing. At our tea party (I was the only adult) Ellie dressed up as a pioneer and learned some dances, made candles, ate scones, skipped the pony ride, but spent a lot of time with the baby goats and bunnies. The rest of the afternoon we spent going around the park and doing other activities like making rag dolls and school bags as well as learning about the history of Utah. It was a fun afternoon. We met up with Kevin for dinner at Thai Village (Ellie's choice) and called it a night.





Our third day Kevin was able to join us as we went to the Farmer's Market. Ellie chose to buy a parasol and cherries. She and Kevin ate the cherries the entire day. For lunch I took them to Grove's Market - YUM - I hadn't been there in years and Ellie and Kevin never had. Ellie had a birthday party that afternoon so we dropped her off there and when we picked her up she was pretty much exhausted. So we all chilled out with some rented videos.




Our fourth and final day before going back to work we called Uncle Jed and we all headed to the zoo. It was such a fun and relaxing day. Ellie loves spending time with Uncle Jed as do I. In the afternoon Jed, Kevin and Ellie were all looking at the maps to see if we missed any of the animals. Someone said, looking at the map and an animal section...."Have we seen this?"...Ellie replied,"But have we seen all the bathrooms?" Cracked us all up.


We has such a great in-state at-home vacation, we did it again last week. But this time we started on Monday.

Monday we tried to go to story time at B&N, but it had been moved to Friday. So instead we read a few books and then bought a few books and did a little morning shopping. In the afternoon we had some of our friends over for a pool party. Ellie looked forward to it all day and kept asking if it was time to go to the pool. We were there for over two hours and it felt like minutes. Thanks to all of our friends that came...it was a fun party.


Tuesday Ellie spent one of her two final days with her cousins before school starts. I was going to plan something different, but she likes the time. It was also her final day of summer gymnastics. That night we went to the Bee's game. The Snuggle Bear, the Jazz Bear, and the Bee were all there that night so it was a fun night for kids....plus, it was kids eat free night! When the game started Ellie was watching...looked at the catcher for the other team and said, "He looks like Spiderman sort of." I couldn't get a picture of him all crouched down like Spiderman, but even standing up you can see where she saw the resemblance. Ellie was pretty tired and feel asleep before it was over. The next morning she asked me if I put the PJ's on her. :) She was out.



Wednesday we went to see Princess Amerah tell her story and song. Ellie was glued the entire hour. We met some friends at the West Jordan park across the street for lunch and play-time and then we were off to Gardner Village for Barnyard Buddies. Ellie loves petting the animals. We've done it a few times this summer and she always loves the goats. One tried to eat my dress and we both thought that was hilarious. He is in the bottom picture. The rest of the afternoon we spent shopping for winter clothes for Ellie. I love shopping with Ellie (as long as she's not tired.) She loves to try stuff on and goes through the clothes picking out stuff she likes. It's pretty cute. We ended up successful buying all the things we set out to buy. Ellie even found shoes she liked (this can be a challenge as she is pretty particular about the shoes she wears - I'm not sure where she gets this stuff.)






Thursday Kevin took the day off and we all went to The Lagoon. On the way there we were playing 20 questions and most of our things were about Lagoon. We started talking about rides and Kevin said "That ride was awesome." Just then Kevin had to slam on his brakes and Ellie said "That ride is awesome" referring to the jolt we got in the car. We all busted up. We ran into my friend Kimese and so we spent an hour or so riding rides with her girls. Ellie didn't want to ride Puff and then she loved it so much we went on it two more times. You can tell from the first picture below that neither Ellie nor I were big fans of the Tidal Wave. This year Ellie's favorite ride was either the Octopus - where she successfully planned to get Kevin wet, the Firefly or the Tilt-a-Whirl. We rode them over and over. Kevin had to just watch the last couple on the Tilt-a-Whirl or it would have been Tilt-a-Hurl. We had another amazing day together.



Friday was our last day. We had to go the Dr in the morning as Ellie somehow got a UTI. We didn't let that stop us though. We caught story and craft time at Barnes & Noble since we missed it Monday and then in the afternoon went to see G-Force in 3D. And then that was it. Our fun summer vacation time was over.


So what made these the greatest ever? One on one time with Ellie. I enjoyed spending time with Ellie more than anything I've ever done. She is just fun to be with, says funny things, is good natured, well behaved and not at all grumpy or sassy when she is getting one on one time. It was great to take a break from work and just focus on her in the day. I can't wait to do it again! (Although our next few vacations will require a hotel.)

Debbie Comes to Visit

A great part of summer is summer vacation. Not only ours, but when other people take a vacation to come visit us! In July, we were really excited to have Debbie (Kevin's mom) all the way from Ohio come to visit us in Utah for the first time!

We met Debbie for dinner at Rumbi - last year Carrie (Kevin's sister) was in Utah and loved Rumbi. Debbie and Carrie have similar tastes so she knew she wanted to try it. After a successful dinner Debbie, Kevin and Ellie headed off to the pool. (I had to work - curse - curse.)

Debbie, like my mom, LOVES the sun. They will be lizards together in the next life. So the next day was all the sun we could handle. We went to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in the morning. It is so beautiful there. We were by the ponds and Ellie told us that is where she went to look for frogs with her summer camp. Debbie has an incredible eye for frogs. She found one and then another. I think the rest of us would have just stood there looking at lily pads all day. A few weeks after Debbie left Ellie was looking for little wet spots on my car for Kevin to dry and Kevin said..."You're so good at finding the spots" Ellie said, "I am good at looking for spots, but your mom is good at looking for frogs!"


Being a little bold for lunch we took Debbie to Cafe Rio. It's bold because she's not particularly fond of Mexican food. She loved it (how can you not...it's Cafe Rio!) and we were glad because it's one of our favorites.


In the afternoon we headed off to the lake. This is the trip Ellie earned the Hubba Bubba and I earned the black eye. I am proud to say that both Debbie and my mom water-skied. Debbie hadn't in several years and my mom hadn't since her shoulder surgery. All I have to say is I hope I'm as hip as them when I'm a grandma.



Saturday we headed to Park City to ride the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster. Ellie was a little nervous at first and while we were waiting in the line for the coaster said - "This is lamo-brothers." But after the ride she LOVED it and said... "It was just the line that was lamo-brothers." I have to agree...the line in the hot sun was lamo-brothers.




There was a giant bounce house nearby so we let Ellie play in it while we cooled off in the shade with lemonade. I can't believe how much energy a kid has. Ellie just kept going!


Sunday my mom had us all over for dinner and crafts. Ellie loves crafts at my mom's and I think it's something she will always remember. I remember playing cards and Yahtzee at my Grandma and Grandpa Casto's house and Pick-Up Sticks and Jacks at my Grandma Heath's. Things I will never forget. Thanks mom for always planning fun memories.


And thanks to Debbie for coming to visit! Come back soon!

The School Bus

Driving to summer camp one morning we passed a yellow school bus. Ellie asked me why they say 'School Bus.' I answered so that you know it's a school bus.

Ellie then said, "Well, they are yellow, so you KNOW - and they don't need that sign (writing.)"

I guess the big and yellow bus is obvious enough, don't you think?

And while we are on the subject of school buses - Ellie wishes she could ride one to school next year. I told her maybe when she's in 9th grade. (When she will for sure have no interest in one!)

Summer Camps

In an attempt to fill the summer with something other than "nothing days" I signed Ellie up for a series of day camps, a dance camp, and some gymnastics. Shortly after we signed up, the dance camp was canceled, but the others were a HUGE success.

I was a little nervous about sending Ellie to a three hour camp by herself without friends that she knew, but I was amazed at how quickly she made friends and luckily many of the same kids attended each week. I love how quick kids are to befriend one another. I wish we were more like that as adults. I'm not sure when we become more reserved - but all of the time I think how Christ told us to be like little children and Ellie shows me all of the time many ways I think He meant that.

I wasn't at the camps, but Ellie always had a lot to say about them...here are some of the things I captured.

The first camp was Horsing around. She got to go on a pony ride, brush the pony, go on a horse-drawn wagon ride, play horse-shoes, learn all about horses and ponies and make several craft projects. Ellie was so excited after her first camp she kept asking what and when her next one was.




Fairytale - She watched a fun Rapunzel movie, made a crown and a Rapunzel tower, played with dragon bubbles, and went on a carriage ride.



Starry Night -Ellie toured the tunnel of stars, learned about the solar system, and went to space in her new space suit.


Frogs - A wagon took the group down to a new classroom and location where they could go on a search for frogs at the garden ponds where they found a huge frog! (This picture isn't from the camp, but it's a fun search for a frog.)


Underwater Wonder - Cousin Mason got to go with Ellie to this camp, so that made it extra fun. When I went to pick them up they were both standing there with little bags of water with a goldfish in them! They had named them Ellie and Mason after one another. Poor little fish died the next day but the camp was successful with shark tooth necklaces, and a tour of fish and sharks in the museum.


Dinosaurs - Originally Ellie did not want to attend dinosaurs, but since cousin Mason was still here I signed them both up and they had a blast. They visited the dinosaur museum, decorated and ate cookies, and made fossils.


Art Smart - Ellie learned about all different types of art and materials. They painted with brushes and fingers, made clay, watch glassed art being blown, and came home with great artwork!


Art Smart was the last day camp and the first thing Ellie said when I picked her up was, "Mom, can we sign me up for next summer?" - "Sure Ellie, that will be fun." "Mom, when is next summer?"

Gymnastics has also been great. I love to go each week and watch Ellie. We took gymnastics a couple of years ago and it's fun to see the difference. She is not afraid of the beams and bars and is really getting good at tuck jumps, cartwheels, and other fun gymnastics moves. She also enjoys it because she gets time with cousin Kamri.




I love the summer!