Our last night in town we all went out to dinner. I forgot to snap a picture of all of us at the table, but it was a really fun evening aside from the fact that I was leaving in the morning! Ellasen and her friend Sydney held hands outside the restaurant after dinner. We are going to miss all our friends so much!
The next morning some friends came over to say goodbye. They brought yummy banana bread lots of well wishes! We were sad to say goodbye!
We got to Michigan just in time to celebrate the 4th of July. My hometown does a great job with the 4th every year. There is a parade in the morning that Ellasen loved! I had a hard time getting her to look at the camera while it was going on! She got a ton of candy!
After the parade we went to my sister-in-laws grandma's house for some food and swimming! Ellasen and my dad had a great time in the pool!
After the swimming it was time per tradition to light off some sparklers and little fireworks in the driveway. Ellasen loved it all!
Then it was time to head over to the middle school lawn for a band, carnival food and the town fireworks show! Ellasen had an elephant ear and my dad bought her a light stick that she loved to play with once it got dark. Even Gunner had a great time! For some reason I didn't take any photos of the actual fireworks, but they were really good!
The day after the 4th I met one of my high school friends and her girls at a local splash park. Laurie and I have been friends since we were in elementary school and she was in town for the holiday too! It is fun to get our girls together when we are both in town.
We got kind of a late start on the first day we decided to go to the beach so we ended up going to a really close one not on Lake Michigan (where we usually go), but it ended up great! The water was super warm (very different from Lake Michigan), and there were hardly any waves. Ellasen loved playing in the sand and swimming out deep in her tube.
Ellasen and my dad made a chocolate cake! It was yummy!
We went out to lunch with my Aunt Di last week and she took Ellasen on the carousel at the mall. She loved it!
My Uncle David gave Ellasen a bag full of costume jewelry that had belonged to his mother. She put every piece on when we got home!
Ellasen has been taking a preschool class four mornings a week at my old elementary school. We walk there in the mornings and I drop her off. She goes for 2 hours, and she loves it! They are doing all kinds of great projects, books and songs.
Last Thursday we met some of our extended family at the park after preschool. We ate lunch, fed the ducks and played on the playground!
Today we went to visit my grandpa and grandma. While my grandpa and I worked on a project my grandma and Ellasen colored and played with a magnifying glass in my grandpa's basement art studio. After we visited for a while they took us out to lunch at my favorite restaurant! We always enjoy spending time with them! Ellasen just loves her Gigi and Gramps!
