Earth Day 5k

Yesterday we made a trip to St Cloud for the Earth Day 5k. The decision to run the race all the way up in St Cloud was an easy one since today is Ella's Great-Grandpa's birthday (my grandpa). Going to St Cloud meant that we would get to see him right before his big day. Grandma & Grandpa Scott met us there and we all went out to dinner before the race.

It was a blast having everyone on the sidelines at the race, my first one of this season. The course was along the Mississippi River through the St Cloud State campus. It was nice, especially the narrower trail along the river for the last mile. The sun was shining, people were cheering, and the fam was in attendance. We had a great time!

Happy birthday, Great-Grandpa Scott!

waiting for the race to start

with my grandma after the race

photos from Grandpa Scott

A Leaf?

A few days ago, Ella and I met up with some of our friends for a walk to the park. Ella loves to be around other kids, so she was thrilled to sit in the grass - and the sand - with Bella and Liam. We had snacks and Ella munched on her puffs. Puffs are her current favorite. Each time I take them out of the cupboard she gets excited. We're working on teaching her to sign "please" before she gets them, but she hasn't really picked up the skill yet. At one point while we were enjoying our snacks, I looked over to see Ella with a leaf in her mouth. Apparently we'll also have to work on what snacks are and are not. Everything at the moment goes straight to the mouth. No worries, Ella! We'll figure it out!

All the Fun of a High Chair

Ella's high chair has a history. It came to us from her Great-Grandma & Grandpa Johnson (Ang's grandparents) and has been used for decades. In fact, it's more than 55 years old. It was originally purchased for my uncle Kurt, the first in my mom's family. I love that it's yellow and has a sturdy metal tray. Not quite like the ones at Target or Babies R Us today. Soon I'd like to make new straps for it and possibly sew a matching seat cover.

For now, our high chair is one of Ella's favorite places to eat, read, play, watch Mom & Dad in the kitchen, and to explore. Today was the first time she actually went under the high chair. She was pretty excited until she realized she had no idea how to get out. Mom to the rescue!

End of the Roll

Another first today: Ella unrolled a roll of toilet paper. Yup, today with the first time. She was in the bathroom with me while I was doing some cleaning when the incident occurred. I turned my back and started to wash my hands when I heard a woosh. Before I could do anything, she hit the roll a few more times and we reached the core. Oh, Ella. Fortunately, my phone was in my pocket, so I snapped a few pictures of the event. I have a slight hunch, though, that this won't be the last time I re-roll the toilet paper.

immediately following the incident

a moment later

and, since we had it, we played

Puffy Hat

There's no question in the Olsen house about which hat is Ella's favorite. There is something absolutely captivating about her little pink hat with the puffs. Actually, I'm pretty sure that those puffs are exactly what draw Ella to it. Numerous times, I've found her digging through her diaper bag to find it. Once she's got it, she chooses a puff and pops it in her mouth. Sadly for Ella, we no longer have any puffs on the hat. She pulled all three off! I'm okay with that. I had to keep a really close eye on her so she wouldn't swallow one. She still likes to wear it and this mama loves that it can be tied under her chin. That way there's no pulling it off in a chilly wind.

Ella sends a great big thank you to Len, Betsy, Anna, Abby and Luke all the way down in Bolivia who sent the hat to Ella for her first Christmas!

Baby Niklaas

When we were in Iowa two weekends ago, we were introduced to little baby Niklaas. Niklaas was seven weeks old during our visit. Ella thought he was great, although I do think she was hoping he would play a little more with her. Maybe next time, El.

We all went to a great little cafe for lunch one afternoon on our trip. It wasn't intentional that we matched, but it made a cute picture! We even have matching smiles. Oh, I'm crazy about our little girl. (Note the bunny on her shirt in honor of the upcoming Easter holiday.)

One of Ella's favorite games continues to be peek-a-boo. She'll play with just about anything. Here she was ducking behind the coffee table and popping up. She did this over and over. Pretty cute!

Easter Eggs

What is blue and white and stains little lips? Ella's first Easter egg! Ok, I had no idea it would stain her lips when I let her play with it. Lesson learned.

Last weekend we took a road trip down to Iowa City to visit our good friends, Erik & Kristin. We were thrilled to meet their little Niklaas for the first time! While we were there we decided it would be an ideal time to dye eggs after the little ones went to bed. Beth, Brian, Erik, Kristin & I pulled out our creativity and went to work. An hour or two later, we had an entire plate covered with colorful creations. Stripes, polka dots, squiggles and squares. Kristin had one with an N for Niklaas, I made one with Ella's name in white crayon, and Beth had a special John Deere egg for Brian. You can see a few of them in the photo below.

The next morning at breakfast, I thought it would be fun to take a picture of Ella holding her little egg. That's how the blue lips happened. I had no idea it would come off the shell so easily. At least it matched her eyes!

Next year maybe we'll let Ella dye her own egg. That sounds like an adventure.

ella's very own easter egg

our artistic creation

if you let a little one hold their own egg...

they may end up with colorful lips!