family news (as written to c.)

We didn't get to church today. I got Ella up and was getting everyone ready when j. remembered that they have a different summer schedule that starts an hour earlier. So we totally missed it. And last week we didn't go because we'd gone to Maine for all of Saturday and j. doesn't like to fill up the weekends with two full days, and the week before that we didn't go to church because I was in VT. So we're not doing too good with the whole church thing.

So this morning Ella and I stopped downtown for an iced coffee and then went to that little park on the ocean again. h. met us there and we had a lovely morning just relaxing and playing. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day. Ella wore a dress that was Lorien's and I was just reminded of Lorien so much! Both Elenora and her cousin have this beautiful, curly, strawberry blonde hair, so it kind of brought me back to my times with Lorien when she was little.

Yesterday we took Elenora to the mall with momby and we got family photos. I'm so excited about them. We haven't ever gotten professional family photos before, so it is so special to have these photos. I love them. Ella is really smiling and so happy in them. And we got some nice photos of Ella with her mam-aw to give momby for her birthday.

Speaking of which, this month is ridiculously busy. Our anniversary, momby's birthday, Father's Day, j.'s birthday, my trip to NC, and a trip to VT for a wedding. So crazy.

We leave for NC this wednesday. I'm pretty excited about going. I found two books at the library that are for children and talk about flying on an airplane. One of them is called "my first airplane ride" and is about a boy going to see his grandma. So Ella is getting really familiar with what "going on an airplane ride" looks like and she knows we're going on an airplane to see her Mimi and Poppy.

As for Ella's new schedule, well, for two nights Ella seemed to fall asleep quickly. Then for a few nights she still stayed up and played for about 40 minutes. Tonight she fell asleep really quickly, though. So I think I'll stick with the 7 pm bedtime. It seems to give us more time to go out in the afternoon, and also lets us have dinners together.

Friday night I went to the mall with my friend s. and did all of the birthday shopping for j. and momby, and then we went to Barnes & Noble and looked at books (I got 3 for Ella and "Far From the Madding Crowd," by Thomas Hardy, for myself). I got a cinnamon latte with sugar substitute and it was the sweetest thing I've tasted in a week because I've been doing a sugar-free/carb-free diet since last Sunday. Mmmm. It tasted so decadent!

Last night j. and I had a date after the photos. momby took Ella home and j. and I ate dinner outside at the Cheesecake Factory and then went and hit golf balls. So much fun.

This afternoon we took Elenora golfing. Well, j. golfed and Ella and I rode in the golf cart and held the flags out of the holes when j. hit the balls in. I think Elenora really enjoyed herself.