Ella in Nipomo

I'm just now getting around to posting photos from a February trip to Nipomo to celebrate Dad's birthday. We also took Ella out to the Oso Flaco Dunes and Avila Beach. Needless to say, she made the most of them.

At Oso Flaco, we took the boardwalk over Oso Flaco lake to see the birds.



Of course, you need your sun glasses.



A snack is a good reward when you finally make it to the beach.



It's good to have your Grammie around to keep the hair out of your face.



Ella enjoyed a picnic at Avila Beach.



And the swings!



Ella also had fun back at the house.



And participated in the time-honored "hands around the table."



She also likes walking around the property.

Snow Bunny

Last weekend we went to Tahoe with some friends to hang out in the snow. We when we first arrived at the cabin, we took Ella for a quick sled ride outside the front door.



She also enjoyed wearing her snow gear - just not much else.



She wasn't always sure about going down a hill, but dragging around the sled was fun.

Little People

Ella doesn’t discriminate. She loves playing with Little People and “big people.” No, I’m not talking about dwarves and giants; I’m talking about Fisher-Price, old and new.



You see, Ella refers to the new Fisher-Price Little People as “big people.” And, compared to the original Little People, she is quite right. Vintage Little People are much smaller and have no arms. Not only do the new Little People have arms, some even have cell phones – not too mention their own video unfortunately set to music from Aaron Neville.



Of course, Meg and I are suckers for toys we played with in our youth, so Ella has a fair amount of the original Little People play-sets, including the Family Farm, Floating Marina, and ever-essential Main Street.

Recently, Ella has appropriated some of the original Little People to represent her family. There’s mom, me and two versions of Ella – one in a red dress and one in a green. It’s very cute, except I wish the one she picked for me had a little more hair. Is it accurate? Perhaps. But as long as she is pretending…