Letters to Gabriella

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Spring Break: Day 5

Dear Ella,

We spent the last day of Spring Break at the beach. This was the first time you had been to the beach since you could walk, and I must say you enjoyed it much more this time.

The first thing you did was play with the beach toys in the sand. You love putting things in and taking things out of containers, so you had a great time putting sand and rocks in the buckets.

Then your cousin Lynlee showed you how to make a sand castle.

Then we went to the shore to look for sand crabs and play in the mud.

Then we fed the Seagulls.

I love this picture. It looks like the seagull is going to carry you away.

Then you thought you'd try some sand to see how it tasted.

Lastly, you lounged around in the beach chair looking at the waves.

That evening, we went to the park with Tara, Trisha, and their nephews Ethan and Gavan. Tara let you have some licorice, some mardi gras beads, and some cheese puffs. You liked her instantly.

After the park we went to McDonalds, and you had fun playing in the playground there.

When we got home from meeting with Tara and Trisha, Grammy had set up an Easter egg hunt, even though it wasn't Easter. We were going to be leaving the next morning, and she wanted a chance to let you hunt for Easter eggs.

Having access to so much chocolate was a great treat for you.

We're so lucky to have your grandparents so close to us. We will hopefully back there to have another great time soon.

Love,
Mom

Spring Break: Day 4

Dear Ella,

Day 4 of Spring Break was not as action-packed as the other days, so I think I will highlight some of the fun you had at Grammy's house during the week.

Probably one of your favorite things to do was to go in and out of the doggy door. You found it so liberating to be able to enter and exit the backyard whenever you felt like it.

One night, you and Lyla got to take a bath together. You both liked to chew on the bath toys and drink the water out of them. Gross!

Your Grammy has a little playhouse in the backyard that you love to play in. These were some of my favorite pictures just because you were so happy and smiley.

Your cousins Alex and Lynlee were so sweet to you while you were on the trampoline. They would jump very softly when you were on it, and you would laugh if they would bounce you so high you would fall over.

Grammy also had some sidewalk chalk that you and your cousins would color on your feet and then jump on the trampoline. It would make little chalky colored footprints all over it. You had tons of fun coloring all over yourself with the chalk.

Grammy's house is full of fun things to do. Who needs the zoo, the beach, the park, or the mall when you've got Grammy's house to play at? Although, those places are fun too.

Love,
Mom

Spring Break: Day 3

Dear Ella,

Your Auntie Jani told me that the Easter Bunny was at the North County Fair Mall, so we decided to get all of you kids dressed up to go meet the Easter Bunny. There were only two other little girls in front of us in line, and they were screaming and crying, terrified of the Easter bunny. You, however, thought he was so fun. You smiled and waved at him, so the mother of the two histerical girls let us go first.

After we met the Easter bunny, we went to the turtle pond so that you could feed the ducks and turtles. Well, technically you are not supposed to feed the ducks, but they always take the food away from the turtles. You LOVE ducks, and so you had a good time feeding them the turtles' food.

You stopped and made time to give Charlie and Lyla some love.

You were pretty wiped out from a full day of fun, so we went home and you took a nap when we got back from the turtle pond. A visit to the turtle pond will have to be on the agenda every time we go to visit Grammy because you love to feed the "turtles."

Love you,

Mom

Monday, April 16, 2012

Spring Break: Day 2

Dear Ella,

The day after we went to the WAP, we stopped and visited your Nana Platt. She has abeautiful backyard with lots of greenery that you loved to play in. Of course, all of the grandparents wanted their picture with you.

You and Nana Platt

You sure do love your Grammy

And your Pa

It was very hard for you not to break everything in your Nana's house, so Alex was nice enough to share his MobiGo with you and Lyla.

I think your favorite part of being at your Nana's was getting to play in her back yard. You just love being outside, and I can't wait to have a backyard for you to play in some day.

Love,
Mom

Spring Break: Day 1

Dear Ella,

For Spring Break this year, we headed out to San Diego to spend time at your Grammy's house. Your Auntie Jani and cousins were there too, and we had so much fun!

The first day we were there, we went to the Wild Animal Park (WAP). You got to do some things there that you didn't get to do the first time you went. One of those was feeding the lorikeets, which you LOVED! Many of the children were scared because the birds were so used to being fed by humans that they would just come and land on you, but you couldn't get enough of it.

During a few special weeks each year, the WAP has a room filled with thousands of butterflies. Walking into this room reminds me of an enchanted forest. You were kind of unhappy at that time, but you perked up when you got to hold the butterflies.

We were not allowed to touch the butterflies, but it was okay if one landed on us. Your cousin Lynlee is very clever. She found a butterfly with a broken wing and coerced it onto this flower, then we were able to look at the butterfly up close without it flying away.