Spring Break - iFly

At the very end of March, we headed down to Florida a day early for Ella and Jack’s spring break vacation.  We had to get there with a weekday to spare to make sure to fit in a super-extra special activity, something Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Randy had given to the kids for Christmas and planned for them—indoor skydiving! Ella and Jack could hardly contain themselves with excitement.  These two are totally adrenaline junkies and this Christmas gift for them was the perfect fit.  They.loved.every.minute.

{they volunteered to go first, of course.  could hardly wait.  all of these pictures were, of course, taken through lots of glass.}

{getting pointers from the instructor.}

{she was a natural. it was actually pretty tricky—some people really couldn’t keep their bodies in the right formation to stay steady in the wind tunnel. go ella!}



{superman.}

{waiting for their second go-round.}

{hard to capture, but, at the end of their second time in the iFly wind tunnel, the kids got to spin around and around while flying to the top with the instructor.  ella said it was slightly scary, but super fun.}


{pretty sure he had fun. :) }

{all smiles afterwards.}

{thanks aunt jacqui and uncle randy for such an awesome gift! …gotta’ love the hair coming out of their helmets—can you say windblown??}

Ella’s Birthday

Ella turned 9 on March 21st, which is crazy-town to me.  She’s becoming quite the young lady.  I’m not sure what the technical range of “tween-age” is (be-“tween” little kid and teenager), but Ella’s definitely starting to show some of that tweenage angst and sass—still in a cute way, though.  A world of new activities are opening up to us as she grows up—I see us becoming tennis and shopping buddies over this next year, not to mention the responsibilities around the house she’s able to take on—which is definitely the silver lining to the knowledge that our sweet little girl has gotten one step closer to growing up and moving out of our everyday lives.  But, back to the present—my mind tends to count the summers we have left with them at home whenever I think about birthdays—Ella is 9.  She’s sweet, confident, artistic, cuddly, very athletic, and nice (that was Jack’s input to the list).  Ella loves to read, loves listening to audiobooks even more, and spends a lot of time drawing in her sketchbook.  She’s very crafty, but definitely forgets to go back to projects (cross-stitching, rainbow loom, friendship bracelets, etc.) if she isn’t prompted about them.  She readily gets along well with other kids, makes friends easily, but has stayed loyal to her best friends (Julianna and Baden).  Ella has done extremely well in school—all-A honor roll, math acceleration, and always in a good relationship with her teacher.  Ella is a joy.  We’re so proud of her and love her to pieces.  9!


{ella and her BFF julianna—at her school lunch birthday celebration.}

{ella wanted to pass out school cupcakes to her classmates again this year.}

{ella has been friends with this kid, tim, since kindergarten.  he’s so sweet and funny, and especially nice to ella.}

{the at-home celebration, after a dinner at brixx.}







{and, the iphone pics because i guess i never took a picture with my big camera of the shirt she wore all day with a big ‘9’ on it.}

{she got a kindle fire for her birthday, along with a new bike around that time and a room update (more on that later because, well, we didn’t finish it until july.}

Instagrammin’ in March

It’s been a busy month!

they think they’re ready to walk to the bus stop without us…i’m not so ready. | in like a lion. | over his aversion to the orange ball. | found a sign the boy’s been making. | first soccer practice in the pouring rain. | the haircut club. | sally ride at her living museum project. | donning the headphones to keep from waking us up. | i am the egg man. | first soccer game of the season—two goals and a win! | fun opening of hubee d’s | jack’s fairy tale | flag football | she made me a healthy lunch. | tennis starts. | a perk to doing food photography | guess how old somebody’s turning today. :) | celebrating at school | the gift of the day, a kindle fire | a dough candle at brixx | blowing out the real thing at home on a cookie cake. | on the lamb | mother-son date | spring break! | ella flying high! | grinning from ear to ear. | easter egg | decorating eggs with the cousins and aunt chrissy. | gator tried to wander off again. | an easter festival with the cousins | cheering uncle randy on at his orlando rage game. | touchdown!  one of many. | easter at the beach