Halloween

Ellie was a witch this year and she won the costume contest at her school's fall festival. I was way more excited that she was. She just wanted to know if her friends had won the contest also. The other pictures are of her dancing with her friend, Nadine. They danced non-stop the entire night. It was exhausting just to watch them.

San Diego

We had a chance to go to San Diego during Ellie's fall break. It was so nice to have a few days together without worrying about school. We went to Sea World, the Cabrillo tide pools, the beach, and of course, Point Loma Seafood.

One of the highlights, petting a pig at Sea World.

Ellie as Uncle Scott, circa 2004.

Sunset Crater

Ellie is really into volcanoes so we decided to take her to Sunset Crater in Flagstaff. I couldn't believe how fascinated she was. She kept saying, "I can't believe I'm walking inside a volcano!" We took a short hike down the Lava Flow Trail which was really fun. Next, she wants to go the the meteor crater so we will be doing that soon.

Ellie's 5th Birthday Party

Ellie's official birthday is today, but we had her party on Tuesday. She had a Hannah Montana swimming party and it was tons of fun! She invited her friends Riley, Emmy, Gracie, and Nicole, and her cousins Rachel, Amy, Kate, and Molly. I was trying to make things easy by having a party at my mom's house, but in the end it was a lot more stressful and expensive. I think it was worth it though because Ellie had a great time.

Green Notes

Ellie's class started a new discipline program where the kids get green notes for good behavior. Anyone who gets their name on the board gets a red note. Ellie has gotten a green note every day since they started the program. Everyday she runs out of the school with a huge smile on her face and her note held over her head. Today we celebrated her 7th straight green note with Jamba Juice. The first picture is not really relevant but it's a classic Ellie face so I had to include it.