sure enough

ella slept over at her mam-aw's house last night and we went to weathervane for dinner and then met up with the hutsons. they're having a boy--just found out. jude harvey.

i woke up early today and for a moment i lay there thinking "i have to get up and go to work or care for ella" and then i sank back into a deep sleep as i remembered that i had no obligations this morning. lovely. when i woke up it was almost 9 and j. suggested that we go out to breakfast and then head out on a road trip to ME. it was the most perfect day of the summer--warm with a cool breeze and no humidity at all. the sky was blue and you could walk at a brisk pace without sweating at all. we hit traffic in NH and decided to take the exit for portsmouth, which was beautiful. we window shopped and walked and split an iced coffee and ate sandwiches at a harbor restaurant. we got elenora a kazoo and a book about using the potty and a frisbee.

when we got home we relaxed for awhile and then i heard ella outside our building and i ran down and played with her in the yard. it was so nice to see her. she loved her kazoo and the book, and before dinner j. and i took her back outside and took advantage of the gorgeous weather by throwing the frisbee while ella wandered the yard after a black and white cat that likes to visit us.

i know i've been brutal about writing lately. i told j. that it's partly from a lack of being able to upload photos onto our new computer, so i think he's going to give me a new camera for my birthday. i'm really excited about that prospect.

i was looking into taking a russian course at gordon, but they're not offering this semester. i just figured that with all the thick literature i love reading i might as well do it for some credit. i'll have to see. i finished cancer ward and i'm now reading "a day in the life of ivan denisovich," by the same author. it's a short book. i'll finish it soon.

last night a. asked me what is new in our lives, and j. and i found we had a hard time explaining. it's not that nothing is happening. it's just that what is happening is mostly the little every-day things of life that keep us happy and busy, but that seem so unimportant when we tell them to people.

elenora sang the entire alphabet song this week several times.

also, we took a trip to beverly to walk with k. to a cafe for ice cream and coffees. on our way back we stopped by k.'s neighbor's yard to look at 2 dogs in their yard. one was named precious, and ella said "hello little precious!" k. asked her a question and elenora responded "sure enough!" which made me laugh so hard, as i've never heard her say that before.

frannie gave ella a stack of books last week, including 2 "angelina ballerina" books that ella is just in love with. and e. recommended the book "the littlest matryoshka," which we got from the library this week and are loving.

elenora doesn't really say the "s" combination sound ("sm-" "st-" etc.) so when she says "smiling" it sounds like "miling" and when she says "making a stack" it sounds like "making a dack." which gets kind of interesting when we're outside and she picks up a little or big stick. (i'll let everyone figure that out themselves.)

we've had lots of play dates since there's been such lovely weather. that's another factor that has led to a dearth of writing. we've seen e. and penelope twice in the last two weeks. we went to their house last week, and e. and i had a great time catching up while the girls so sweetly played together.

tomorrow momby and r., and j. and h. are meeting us for church in essex, then we're all going out for brunch. i think there's some big town thing going on here in the afternoon. i hope the weather is just as nice as today, although the report says rain.

i would re-live today over and over again. it was just perfect.