Swimming Lessons

Despite the craziness of moving into the new house, we have tried to keep up normal activities for Ellie. The move and lack of attention from her parents (our energy has been put into unpacking boxes and the logistics with moving) has stressed Ellie out. But yesterday, she had swimming lessons.

Usually she is super pumped about swimming or swimming lessons. However, yesterday when I explained that I wouldn't be in the pool with her, she would be with a teacher, she flipped out. She had no idea what to expect and I think was shy about meeting someone new.

Ellie is signed up for preschool beginner swim lessons at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. There are supposed to be two kids to every teacher. Yesterday, the other kid didn't show up do Ellie ended up with a private lesson.

She was VERY hesitant to get into the pool without me and weary of this new teacher. But within minutes she was fine. I think the teacher won her over when she said her hair looked pretty. And letting her play with a toy didn't hurt either.






She practiced pancake floats (on your back) and turtle floats (on your stomach) and her scoops and kicks.












At the end of the lesson, Ellie was supposed to practice putting her face in the water with the objective of getting a sunken toy. They started at the top step and then worked their way down. Ellie was not afraid at all. In the end, Ellie was diving to the bottom
of the shallow end to pick up the toy (with help of course). The teacher was VERY impressed with how comfortable Ellie was in the water. I don't know if you can tell in the photo below, but Ellie is at the bottom of the shallow end.



Nick usually takes Ellie to swim lessons and started getting her ice cream after at the little swim shack/snack bar at the center. Yesterday, because Ellie was such a trooper...I let her get ice cream too. A strawberry popsicle.









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The Big Truck Arrived!

Yesterday the big truck arrived from Boston with all our belongings. When we moved out to California, everyone got a suitcase and we all carefully selected clothes and stuff (toys) to pack. We kept all our belongings in the house until it sold, then everything was packed and put into storage until we found a house out here. Now that we have a house...the big truck arrived and everything was unloaded.

Ellie has anxiously been awaiting the big truck. She has a terrific memory and mentally cataloged all her toys which were back in Boston. She knew exactly what was on that truck and had been asking about when it would come for a while now.

To keep Ellie entertained, and away from the men carrying heavy boxes and furniture, we handed her new Disney figurines (an Alice and Wonderland and Rapunzel set) which made her VERY happy and kept her busy while Nick and I were directing the location of boxes and furniture. The whole day Ellie was a real trooper. She stayed out of the way, was nice to the movers, kept herself entertained...more than I could have asked for from her.

Of course, she was very excited to be reunited with her stuff.

She was so excited to see her kitchen on the big truck. However, she had specific toys which she wanted to get her hands on as soon as possible. She kept asking the movers if they had her baby stroller or if they had seen her kitchen. She tried to use her telepathic skills to pick the boxes with her baby stroller and crib. She wanted to peek in the truck every now and then to see if she could see anything that was hers.

And now that everything is off the truck...all that is left is to unpack everything...

Of course, Ellie got a head start on that...

She is so happy to have that baby stroller back. She only let it out of her sight to leave for school this morning, and that was after trying to find a way to convince me to take it to school.

New House in Pasadena!

 



We bought a house in Pasadena! We have closed and haven't moved in yet because we are taking care of a few updates and getting it just how we want it before we move in. The house is in a great neighborhood and is a perfect fit for us.

It has a large front yard with a very mature spruce (Nick says its some kind of spruce) tree. The yard is big enough for games of tag.

 

 

Ellie pointed out that this house has a red door, just like our old house in Boston. Nick and I actually both neglected to notice that, until Ellie mentioned it. The house was originally built in the 1940s and still has some of the original 1940s characteristics, like a mail slot and a large cast iron laundry sink.

 

The back yard is huge. There is another very mature tree, not sure what kind yet, which is perfect for swings. There is a lot of space for running in sprinklers, gardening, BBQs and al fresco dining...We have a garage and a guest house (which is actually really common in the Los Angeles area, I guess people expect lots of visitors!). The previous owners actually had a little swing that their grandkids had used. They found it and hung it up for Ellie, knowing that she was really excited to have a swing in the backyard.

 

 

 

When we get is all set up and after we move in we will post more photos. We are super excited about the new house and can't wait to be completely settled in Pasadena!

Endeavour's Final Flight

It really does seem, to me anyway, that all the cool stuff *does* happen in California.

On the same day I got to meet Elmo.. I saw this awesome sight.

The final flight of any space shuttle in NASA's fleet. Endeavour carried over La Canada-Flintridge, home of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that's been in the news so much for landing the latest rover on Mars. Prior to the 747 banking around that power pole you see at the beginning I shot some stills. The fighter jets escorting the piggy-backed tandem even set off somebody's car alarm.

This was part of the shuttle's tour of the Los Angeles area. It's actually a sort of homecoming for Endeavour, as it was built out in the nearby Antelope Valley. Its eventual home will be at the California Science Center in Los Angeles' Expedition Park neighborhood. After landing at LAX today it will be removed from the plane, placed in a shuttle where the aerodynamic done will be removed and replaced by the usual rocket boosters you see on the backs of shuttles, and towed through the streets of L.A. to the museum. That leg of its journey will happen next month.. and I do hope to catch some of that one, too.

 
Update: Ellie did see the shuttle as it flew over her school. When she came home I asked her if she saw the big airplane fly over Pasadena. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, it wasn't an airplane, it was a space ship". I guess we are both right. Apparently they also talked about the purpose of the shuttle and how it went out into outer space.

And here is a picture of Nick and Elmo, yes he really met the little red fuzzy guy.

 

Girls Weekend!

Nick went to Phoenix to meet up with some friends and go to the ASU - Illini game. So it was me and Ellie all weekend! We had a blast!!

Friday I picked Ellie up from school a little early to take her to the first in a series of swim classes. She was in a great mood. She was so excited about how well she had written her name and that she had drawn herself as a princess.

Also, it had been a friends birthday and she had had pizza, cupcakes, and there had been a balloon artist that came to the school. Ellie got a crown and a Sleeping Beauty balloons. So she was a very happy kid leaving school, especially knowing she was going to a swimming lesson.


The swim lesson itself went well...but leaving the pool was a disaster! She threw a tantrum about how she didn't want to leave. She broke all three rules about going to the pool (1. Don't run, 2. Don't throw a tantrum when its time to leave and 3. Always listen to mommy/daddy's words). Needless to say...she was that kid and we got lots of looks as we left. She was in big trouble and had to go to her room. She cried through an appology...








But then I got dressed to and we went out to a restaurant for pizza and all was well.

Saturday was a lot of fun. It started off great when we both slept in till 8am! Then we got dressed and headed to the "coffee restaurant" for a special breakfast. We walked down Colorado Blvd both in our sunglasses and Ellie actually got a lot of compliments (most were from Nebraska fans who were in town to play UCLA at the Rose Bowl). She did look adorable!

We then headed to Vromans Bookstore because they were having a very special storytime for the launch of a new children's book. We haven't really gotten into the Olivia series. But its a good series about a pig who wants to stand out and be unique and has lots of different adventures. Well, Olivia herself came to the bookstore for the book launch! There was also coloring and all sorts of fun!

It was interesting watching Ellie. There were A LOT of kids at the story time and Ellie was content to sit and listen to the story, but then...she wanted nothing to do with all the kids or going to give Olivia a hug or anything. She wanted to browse through the books and stay away from the crowd. I didn't blame her...

Then we headed out and started our trek home (we did quite a bit of walking on Saturday morning). Just about the point when Ellie started to complain about how she was tired, her feet hurt, and she was hungry we happened upon the Good Eats Pasadena festival. This was a single day, free event with lots of fancy food vendors, a couple food trucks, hands-on food activities and music. So we wandered in. Immediately, students from Le Cordon Bleu asked Ellie if she wanted to decorate her own cookie...ummm yes! Well, I decorated it for her.

Snack time solved!

Now before you get all judgey on me for giving Ellie a giant sugar cookie for a morning snack...we then found another kids hands-on activity which involved cutting up fruit and making your own fruit ka-bob. At first, I was a little freaked out that they just handed Ellie some fruit and a knife and a pointy stick. But then I realized...hey, Ellie is really good at this, I gotta give her credit, she's not a baby anymore! So she also had a great fruit snack as well.

It was really hot and there wasn't a lot of shade, so we were finding little pockets wherever we could. As we were exploring corners of shade, Ellie got asked if she wanted to decorate her own cupcake. Of course!! Ellie picked the cupcake flavor and the color frosting, which the baker put on for her. Then Ellie got all creative with the sprinkles.

 

 

Now you can judge...she did have a cookie and a cupcake at the same snacktime...

Did I mention it was hot? Well, we walked home and both fell sound asleep for a long nap. It was very nice. Upon waking up, Ellie spent about an hour making a book. We picked up a blank Golden Book at the bookstore (ellie picked it our herself) and it came with some stickers, stencils, markers, and crayons. The intent is to make your own story. I pulled out a lot of our other stickers and craft supplies so she could be really creative. Well, Ellie worked very hard focusing on using the stencils and doing theme pages...princess, magic garden (unicorns), ocean, and drawing her family. I really was impressed with her focus and work ethic. Its definitely a keeper!

Teh rest of our afternoon included some shopping at Target where Ellie picked out sheets for her new big girl bed. Then we went grocery shopping. I have to admit, those were the two most fun shopping trips I have ever had. Definitely a bonding experience for both of us. After dinner, we had a fantastic Disney dance party which lots of singing. That girl loves to sing and dance!

Sunday, we had a relaxing morning that involved some swimming at the apartment pool. I made sure to remind her of the pool rules before we got there and she promised to be a good girl and not throw a tantrum. She was very well behave. She was awesome. She swam by herself for the first time! She swam (kicks and scoops, with her face in the water) for about 5 feet to the wall. Not with my hands supporting her stomach or holding her. All by herself! I was so impressed!

We had to have a relaxing morning because she had a birthday party which started at 1, which meant...no nap. So we spent the rest of the morning cleaning, dancing, reading, and staying in the apartment. We then went to the birthday party, which Ellie was super excited about. I'm not sure if it was the party or the fact that she got to wear her favority fancy dress. The party had a carnival theme which was really cute. There were games for all the kids to play. In the photo below, Ellie and one of her friends are in the photo booth.

The party was a lot of fun. There were a couple grumpy Ellie moments...but then she would settle down. It was interesting to me that she wanted to know I was there, but not have me adjacent to her or "watching" her. She wanted to be a big kid with the other big kids and run and play with them. Which was nice, it gave me a moment to meet the other parents from school. Some of which had great advice about living in Pasadena as well as were scientists or engineers. I had a blast!

However, the best part of the weekend happened Sunday evening. Nick got back from Phoenix and met us at the new house to meet our realtor to pick up the keys. We have a home in Pasadena!

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