You say it's your Birthday! (And End of the Year Wrap-Up)

Well, well, well....Summer has arrived and we are SO ready for some fun in the sun!  And no homework!!  And no spelling words!  Hip hip hurray!

All of the end of the school year papers came home and I found this treasure in there.  It's a bit hard to read, but it says (fill in the blank):  

One of my talents is _____ and Ella wrote "I am good at helping people." 

I will use that talent when I become a "doctor"

I just thought that was so sweet that she wrote she is good at helping people. She is such a kindhearted little girl and so sweet (most of the time!!)  HA!

End of the school year also meant the Meadowview Elementary Track Meet!  Ella was NOT thrilled to have to participate after her fall a week before the big day, but she did so great, and I think she ended up having a so-so fun time.  Jay and I were both able to leave work early to attend. It was on her birthday of all days!

We got birthday cake ice cream (duh!) for dessert that day!!

Our neighbors across the street are so sweet and brought Ella some fresh flowers from their garden for her birthday!

We had Ella's "friend" birthday party on June 4th at the dance studio!  

The obligatory birthday balloon picture (with Elsa)! Isn't her outfit awesome?!

And, with Anna!

Learning their FASHION dance at the party!

Crazy hair!

Dancing in the black lights...

  The girls all had a great time, Ella got some super fun gifts from her friends, and it was so nice to not have to host and plan the party!!

I can't believe Ella is done with first grade and SEVEN years old!

Another visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Ella lost her 5th tooth on May 15 (lower left incisor).  So, she's missing her top two teeth and now another lower tooth!  Those top ones are taking FOREVER to come in!

Mother's Day 2016

It was a low key Mother's Day this year!  My mom was in town on Saturday because of the Grand Day festivities at school with Ella, so it was nice to hang out with her (we did lunch before she left town Saturday afternoon).  Sunday, Ms. Ella had a birthday party to attend, so I spent some time at the Eagan outlets shopping and enjoying some beautiful weather.  We all went out for dinner (Red Robin).

And, I made a delicious strawberry dessert!

Can't remember what it's called, but it was pretty simple and the house smelled amazing!

Track and Field Mishap!

Meadowview is having its spring Track and Field day this week.  The kids have been practicing during gym class.  Well, Ms. Ella fell last week and biffed up her sweet face pretty good (and her knee too).  I got the call from the nurse's office and poor Ella was crying in the background!  Break my heart!  But, she is doing better.  Nothing was broken, all seem to be healing well.  Hoping she will do alright this week and at the actual event on Friday!  She keeps telling me she doesn't like gym anymore and doesn't want to be in the track and field meet!  Oh boy...

This was the day it happened shortly after she got home....

And this was later....

Still red, just not as "raw" looking.  

Hoping it will heal quick!  We've got birthday parties and dance recital coming up!!

Grand Day (First Grade Celebration of Grandparents)

Our elementary school has an annual event for first graders called Grand Day, which is a celebration of the grandparents. Ella had a great time and was joined at the event by Grandma Jolyn, Papa Paul, Grandma Deb and Randy.  It was a special day for all of them!  The "preview" concert was held for parents on May 5 with the "real" Grand Day on May 6.  Here are a few pictures from both the preview and the real event!

 Ella is in the top row.  :)

 Showing off some of her work...

The kids all answered a page of questions about each grandparent that attended.  Things like, what is your favorite thing to do with your grandma, etc.  Ella's were hilarious!  She said Papa Paul liked to mow the grass.  HA!  And apparently Grandma Deb is good at snowblowing and Ella thinks she should go on vacation to Wisconsin Dells. 

 Ella and Ms. Wicklund, her first grade teacher!

Riding the Bike!

So, we're trying to help Ella get a handle on her bike riding skills.  It's time for those training wheels to come off!  The main problem:  She has no real interest in riding bike.  I find this mind boggling because I recall back in the day how much I loved to ride my banana seat bike.  LOVED IT!  I would tootle around the block pretending I was on a big trip or some other adventure.  I wish I still had that banana seat bike.  I bet I looked so cool riding it!  :)  Anyway, we've been trekking her bike up to the school parking lot to give her some more space in a less busy area (she freaks when cars are near).  And P.S. I am pretty sure she is too tall for her current bike, which she's ridden like 10 times.  Kids grow so fast!!

See....she's more interested in how cute the streamers are....couldn't care less about watching where she is going!!

She would rather just dance around the parking lot and leave the bike....

We've got some work to do!!

SPRING BREAK!!!!

Let's catch up shall we?  I started a Spring Break post way back when.  Oops!  And now we're counting down to the last day of school!  Where in the world does the time go?

Spring Break 2016.  Jay and Ella kept busy!!

Monday - it was a trip to the grocery store and in the afternoon they explored 2 parks in our area.  Apparently I have zero pictures of this day.  :)  Maybe because it was a trip to the grocery store?!?  HA!


Tuesday - they headed to the MN Zoo and met Annie there with Grandma Jolyn and Harrison and Franklin!  Ella had a good time.  She told me she had to keep chasing Harrison to make sure he didn't get into trouble.  Ella does not mess around with this older kid role.

And later that day...our house turned into Ella's zoo.  Pretty cute.

The animals were spread out all over the house and each had a pot of food/water!

She even used books for outlining the cages/animal area.  My favorite was Horton the elephant with his trunk in the water cup.  Hilarious!

In other Spring Break happenings....

The dandelions started to pop up

We saw the movie Zootopia!

And we spent some more time at the park!