First Family Hike of the Year: Middle Cottonwood Creek

It was nice.

Flowers, water, leaves, moss, bridges, kisses, and family. It's good to get out and play.

I know a small girl who played with a fly

Ellie isn't afraid of bugs. No, not at all. She takes joy in them, in looking at them, in talking about them, in touching them, in letting them crawl all over her, and in killing them. Yesterday she managed to swat a fly such that she broke one of its wings, preventing it from flying away. So she picked it up, brought it to us, and asked us why it wasn't flying.



Elizabeth explained that she'd broken it. That seemed like a pretty good explanation to her. She kept playing with it.



Playing with it involved letting it climb all the way up her arm, which she said tickled.

Conversations with Ellie

This is a yellow fish. You can't trust him because he's SO sleepy. He doesn't work any more.

This is the green fish. She needs to get her food. Uh oh! On your eyes! She ate your head! Now you need to say, "I need another head, please."

Breakfast in Bed

Today I was awakened by the sound of my name and a plate of eggs, toast, and blackberries with whipped cream. And a wooden piece of cake. 

I love having a thoughtful husband and an almost-3-year-old. =D

Happy Father's Day!!

We scored a Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera for Ellie on Freecycle yesterday. All it needed was some new batteries and it was ready to go! Ellie LOVES it, and it's even pink with flowers on it. So yesterday before she went to bed, she and Daddy took pictures with her new camera. It's a toddler camera, so the quality isn't great, but it's hers and she can't really kill it, unlike OUR cameras. =D So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, Leif! Here are pictures of the cutie-patooties above, and this is one of the first pictures Eliana took by herself with her new camera:

More with the big town news

* A window of a home on East Leisure Drive was broken when a bird flew into it.

* A dog bit an 11-year-old girl's ear.

* A homeless man was sitting in his car in a parking lot listening to a sermon around 9:30 p.m.

(all from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle today)

Today's quote from Ellie: Mommy, you're putting sun glop on my starfish!

A Picnic with the Allen Girls

While we were in Texas we had the priveledge of spending a day with my best friend, Charlotte, and her daughters. She has 3 little girls, Alyse (3), Alexa (almost 2), and Allie (almost 1) (and a 4th on the way, but we're rooting for a boy for them. =D) and Ellie just loves playing with them! We had a picnic outside and then the girls played in the yard. It was so much fun!

Texas in April

Wow! There's a lot of Texas in April that never made it onto the blog, either. I've been a bad blogger! And since we'll be going back to Texas in a month, I guess I should take a few moments now to share our last trip there. =D More ketchup, I suppose!

While we were in Texas, my mother demonstrated that her excellent mom skills are still as sharp as ever when she kept Ellie out of our way in the kitchen (while making Ellie thinking that the activity was all about her. =D). Here's what she did to keep Ellie busy:

My dad demonstrated his Ellie-occupying skills with a little help from the RC plane and an extra controller. Ellie thought she was flying the plane and LOVED it!

Ellie got her first moments in a real pool (I think) while we were in Texas, too. The water was chilly, so she just wanted to sit on my lap, but this is where Mommom and Ellie are going to spend 4 days straight while I am at a convention in Dallas next month! And by then it will feel like bath water...

The other place my parents are going to spend time with Eliana while I'm in Dallas is Kidsview, the community playground there in Longview. We went a couple times in April and Ellie loved it. I think it's even better than ours in Livingston... I tried to get a picture of Ellie and Mommom on the play equipment, but Ellie thought it was more fun to try to squish Mommom, and this is what I got:

Outside the park, though, there are beautiful azalea bushes, so these pictures were a little better:

Ellie also decided to be Poppy's little helper while we were there, watering the lawn and helping with the garden. I thought her choice of attire was particularly funny... no pants (where did they go, anyway?), Mommom's high heeled shoes, and Mommom's hat. Funny little helper!

There is more to the trip, but I think this is a picture-heavy enough post already. Still to come... a trip to Caldwell Zoo and our day with the Allen girls. =D