Independence Day?

There's nothing like a holiday called "Independence Day" to remind you that, when you have children, there's no such thing as "independence." Parents are virtual slaves to their adorable little trouble-making children!

Ella wanted to be sure we had plenty of time to celebrate the 4th of July, so she woke up extra early on Friday- 5:45 am to be exact!

We spent Friday morning coloring with Ella . . .













playing with playdough . . .

and playing at the watertable on the deck. All before 7:30am!












Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the time lunch rolled around.

Our most fun adventure of the weekend was definitely our trip to the playground. Here, Ella doesn't even know yet what a "playground" is but she's still excited to go! See her shaking her hands (the sign for "outside"), and patting her head (the sigh for hat). You can also hear her saying "outside, ball, hat, shoe, and please" if you listen carefully.

Ella climbed on the structures some . . .













but mostly she wanted to go up and down the slide.












It was extremely hot and humid but Ella's wearing her "Pirate's Booty" pants (thank you, Auntie Sara) because pants are good for sliding.










Here's a video of her enjoying the slide:

She didn't like the "fancy" slide nearly as much:




This is Ella's version of "red, white, and blue."

This weekend was a celebration of hand-me-downs. To see this red skort in its previous life with cousin Baikal, go to http://www.erinlouisemiller.blogspot.com/ and check out the entry for Friday, May 18, 2007. The little orange shorts in the water table photos were also Baikals!