Four cousins

We had two great weeks of cousin time with Matthew (13) and Robert (9), from Alaska, and Hero (4), who lives here in Ballard (part of Seattle). Ella loved watching her cousins, listening to stories, napping, playing nose-squashing games of peekaboo, going for walks, etc. It was a lot of fun.

Finally! Out West...

Now that I have caught up a bit on posts that are long overdue, it's time to focus on our travels out in Washington and California. We shared our time between Seattle and Whidbey Island and are now packing up for the drive down to California, with a quick stop in Oregon to see some friends. Here are photos of Ella exploding a wallet, her favorite pastime, and discovering the wonder of a sprinkler.

Belated Posts Part III: The Morrises moved to Mead!

After the Ironman was over, we turned all of our energies back to the packing and moving process and, with the help of a fantastic moving crew, were able to get mostly settled into our new house, Mead, before taking off for our adventures out West. We absolutely love the new space - especially the backyard, which is really large and includes a swingset/slide play structure. It is hard to tell who is more excited about it, Ella or Bianca. We all feel pretty lucky. Here are a couple pictures from our new home... The last is of Ella playing with her bee, a gift that I was given years ago by Nicole and Khadija, former Choate students, that Ella absolutely loves to snuggle with...

Belated Posts Part II: IRON-ELLA!

Ella experienced her second Ironman triathlon on Sunday, July 20th and it was quite a day! We were in Lake Placid from 6:30 am until about 6:00 pm and in that time it rained for about 10 hours with only 15 minutes or so of a reprieve! We kept Ella dry in her little cocoon-like stroller, and though she wasn't wild about the confinement, she was a real trooper. She certainly earned the title of "IRON-FAN" and is already in training to head back next year to watch her uncle David compete in his third... this time, with her dad by her side to hold her hand and help her cheer!

Belated Posts Part I: Playing with Grampa & Bianca

This is a long overdue update... In these photos, Ella is playing in the sand up in the Adirondacks with her Grampa Bill and her trusty pal, Bianca-dog. He built up columns of sand, one for each, and E and B took great pleasure in knocking them down. It was a very sweet sight.
Then she's playing at the new community playground in Jay, NY with her Grammie Sue on a very warm Adirondack day!

Working on walking, playing at the river

Ella has spent a lot of time walking and running around the house - with our aid, of course - and is becoming a bit more confident letting go here and there and standing or taking a few steps on her own.

We have also been taking her to the river and letting her play in the water and the sand, which she loves. "Nature girl", as we call her, has no trouble leading us right into the deep water and covering herself with dirt and rocks. She loves going outside at home, too, and playing in the grass and sand around the house. In fact, she is constantly leading us to the front door so that we can take her outside to play.

As I write this, we are spending our first days and nights away from Ella down here in North Carolina for our good friends' wedding. It is bizarre being away from her, but we know that she is so happy with her grandparents and so comfortable up in the Adirondacks house that we are able to enjoy ourselves. Every report has been great so far.

Here are some pictures of Ella walking, wading and wrestling with dad.

Much love to all,
H

Back in the mountains

Having just returned from a Ross Family Reunion in the Hamptons, Will, Ella and I are resettling into mountain life up here in Upper Jay. Ella is playing with all sorts of new toys and eating new foods. We take her to Lake Placid on a regular basis to play on the swings and splash in the lake.

We had a great time at reunion, seeing a number of family members whom we hadn't seen in years. Ella played with her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts, great uncles and, of course, mom and dad. She spent a good deal of time in the pool and got disgustingly and gleefully sandy at the beach. I wish we had photos of that escapade...

Here are three pics of (1) Ella with her aunt Cassidy, showing off her provençale dress, (2) smiling away in a beautiful handmade sweater, one or two sizes too big, and (3) walking around in her grandparents' kitchen with her blankie in her mouth - just like mom used to do... Dad shoved his into his ear.

Love to all,
H, W, E