We attended a party at a friend’s house over the weekend.  Many of the people there were French, so we were actually preparing Ella for the fact that a lot of the kids would speak English as a second language so she would be understanding if they didn’t understand her right away, but it seems as though we should have prepared her for more mundane things.  A couple hours into the party the host found us and said that Ella was, “Having trouble in the bathroom.”

Turns out she wanted to wash her hands but, seeing no soap, wasn’t sure what to do.  Well, there was soap, but she had never seen *bar* soap before and had no idea what it was.  Poor Ella!

Here is a pic of the girls looking cute in their Easter dresses. There are lots more in the photo gallery here.

Jeremy and I both took pics with our phones since our regular camera battery was charging.  He already posted his pics and here are mine …

Ella and Abby searched for eggs this afternoon.

Last week Jeremy was out of town for work. When I put Ella down for bed on Sunday night I told her that I was going to go work out in the basement and I wouldn’t hear her if she called from her bed which she does sometimes. I told her if it was really important she could come downstairs and get me. After going over what would be something really important I went down and exercised. Well come Wednesday night I was a tired and a little sore so i decided to read for a little bit and go to bed early. At about 8:00 Ella comes into my room and states “I noticed that you didn’t go in the basement to work out tonight”. I told her that my muscles were tired and sore so i decided not to lift weights. Her response was “So … no exercise today?”. I explained that I did get some exercise (playing chase, pulling her and her sister in a wagon while walking the dogs) and she eventually went back to bed. I didn’t realize I had to clear my exercise plans with my 5 year old.

Ella got a bike a couple weeks ago and the weather has been nice enough to play outside for a bit.  I could take a video but you might not be able to tell she is moving, at one point Abby was scootering faster than Ella.  Ella is just overly cautious about certain things, others not so much.  Yesterday she was climbing on top of her playhouse outside and was thinking about climbing from there onto her swingset.

Over February school break we braved the crowds at the children’s museum. We met Crystal and her 2 girls Sasha (5) and Molly (3 months). Here are a few pictures of the older girls Crystal took. (You can click on a picture to see the larger image).

Ella and Abby’s combined Mermaid and Pirates party was a big success this past Sunday. We had make your own crowns and pirate hats, a treasure hunt (thanks to Daddy for making the treasure boxes), and make your own ice cream sundaes. Ella planned the activities and food for the party. I was leaning toward having it someplace to avoid having 30+ people cooped up in our house but Ella really wanted a treasure hunt. Here are a couple pictures of the birthday girls. There are lots more party pics here in the photo gallery. We have already tried out all the new toys, except the seeds. And Ella wanted to do those but I told her it was too soon to start seedlings that will go outside.

Ella did great at her checkup this week. Her emotional meltdowns are normal for the age. Luckily they don’t happen too often. She did have to get 3 shots in preparation for kindergarten. Poor Ella! But she did get 2 stickers instead of just 1 for her pain.

Height – 43″ – 62%
Weight – 42.5lbs – 67%