Moving On

I've decided to leave Blogger for the more user-friendly WordPress. I've tried to update the blog several times lately, only to have Blogger get hung up inserting pictures. Hopefully after leaving Blogger and its difficulties behind you will get to see the blog updated more often.

You can now find Ellie's blog at the following location: TheyCallMeEllie.wordpress.com I had hoped to keep the "ellieroo" url and just move it to WordPress, but there is another ellieroo out there somewhere who already snagged it.

Ski Days

We have had some late winter/early spring snow storms in the last month or so; perfect opportunities for fresh snow in the mountains along with spring skiing conditions. We took Ellie up skiing at the beginning of the season, but she wasn't quite ready. A few weeks ago we got her up to the local mountain twice in four days time - she really got it figured out! She was even able to ride the paddle-tow without help (just needing help with grabbing on). Here are a few pictures from her last day skiing. I had originally planned to put more on, but it has taken Blogger 45 minutes to let me get this far. I'm done fighting with it for the day!

Enjoy!

Happy girl just before heading back out after lunch.

Getting ready to head back out.

Heading down the bunny slope with Mommy.

At the start of the day. Our friends loaned us a "Kiddie Ski Bar" that was a lot of help moving Ellie up the slope before she was able to ride the paddle-tow.

Ellie and Kip Video

So since I don't know how to make YouTube videos appear in my blog, you'll just have to follow this link to see Ellie hugging Kip. At the beginning of the video you can her her nasty cough. She has had RSV all week and a mild case of pneumonia. She is feeling much better, but still sounds terrible.

I'll post some birthday pictures later this week. Ellie had a nice party with some of her friends.

Oh, and if you are a Blogger, can you tell me how to insert the actual YouTube video here (instead of just a link)?

Early Birthday Present

We decided that since this weekend's weather was supposed to be so beautiful we'd give Ellie an early present. Her birthday isn't until Thursday, but thought she would enjoy a few extra days with her new bicycle. The bike is a gift from Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Bob as well as Tim and I. Ellie loves it!

This is also the post in which I learn how to embed video. Grandparents, enjoy!

Taking Flight

Here are some pictures of Ellie with her friend Avery, who was over for a playdate this morning. They were breaking in the capes I made for Ellie's birthday party next weekend. I love that in order to "fly" the girls need their tongues sticking out!








And while they were flying through the kitchen, this was filling the air with yummy smells. Homemade granola:

US Virgin Islands

Just before Thanksgiving we spent two weeks on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. We had an amazing trip, and while there were certain events we could have done without, overall it was just fantastic. Ellie is still talking about it daily, wondering when we can go snorkeling again.

Be warned that there are tons of pictures in this post. I thought I'd better make it worth the wait for them :)

Ellie at the beach for the first time.

Tim, Ellie, and Grandma W. at Maho Bay (Day 1)

The owner of our villa, Dr. Bob, was pruning the plants one day and gave Ellie this palm frond to play with. She was in heaven!

Ellie at the beach the first day.

View from Maho Bay.

In the ocean for the first time!

Ellie and Grandma W. at Trunk Bay.

We went out to dinner one night at "Miss Lucy's," a charming little place right on the beach. It also happened to be overrun by Miss Lucy's goats :) Ellie was thrilled. She fed them sea grapes and had a blast until a grumpy older goat got impatient and butted her, causing her to fall backwards, because she wasn't feeding him fast enough. A few tears were shed, but overall it was a nice evening.

Waterlemon Bay (yes, that is waterlemon, not watermelon). We saw lots of stingrays there, a couple of sea turtles, lots of fish and coral, and starfish. It was definitely the best snorkeling we had, although all of it was quite stunning.

Salt Pond Bay. This beach is at the end of a short trail. Ellie was pinched by a large hermit crab at the trail head. It was completely our fault, and we felt horrible about it. Having had hermit crabs as a child, I assured Ellie it was safe and fun to hold them. The first one she held was nice enough, but then I gave her a very large, old fellow. He was not so happy about being held and clamped on to the pad of her hand and held on for dear life (quite literally in his mind, I am sure). It took five minutes to convince him to let go. Ellie screamed the whole time, but was very cooperative about holding still so the crab would relax and let go. She had a couple of small lacerations on her hand and they finally just healed over a week or so ago.

After the crab pinching incident, but before she became covered with biting ants... Not the best beach experience for her, but the snorkeling was quite unique here with lots of colorful coral.

Vew from our villa.

The view.

Trunk Bay.

Trunk Bay.

Trunk Bay

Potentilla bush flowers.

A Very Large seed pod.

The best way to get sand off a two-year-old? Dunk her in the ocean naked.

The owners of our villa had this great raft that had a window in it so that Ellie could "snorkel" too. She saw lots of coral, fish, a stingray, and a turtle this way. She loved it!

Salt Pond Bay

Annaberg Sugar Mill ruins

Windmill ruins at Annaberg.

Santa Claus

We made our annual $25 donation to Santa today. We stood in line for at least 45 minutes (the Big Guy is quite in demand this year) and were rewarded with (and by "rewarded" I mean "shelled out lots of dough") these pictures.


Josh and Jordan: You may recognize the hair bow and shoes. :)



We got back from our trip to the Caribbean almost two weeks ago. I'll get pictures from the trip posted this week!