Happy Birthday Mary!

Here is how this came about:

Me: Ella, it's Ms. Mary's Birthday today!

Ella: Can I see her?

Me: (so sad) Not today

Ella: Can we blow out candles for her?

Me: Not today

Ella: Who will sing?

Me: How about you?

Summer Summary

Thank you for checking in on us even though we disappeared for a bit. At least my last post was a great memory to revisit. Somehow I just haven't been feeling the blogging bug lately. I'd elaborate, but this isn't the "Life of Sara" blog so I'll spare you the details. Moving on....

Since the last post, Ella had her dance recital:

So sweet. What could be better than a bunch of little girls in tutus!

We had a quick trip to Georgia when our Aunt Clifford passed away. She lived an amazing life and we all agreed to be able to live in your own home until age 94 when she passed was a life to be celebrated. Polly and Mark flew in and out in the same day and we were there for only one day- but a life like Clifford's could not be remembered without us all together. Thank you to all who remembered her with us.

Our summer has been filled with lots of family fun. We have had many great dinners with GPS:

And Grandma has been by many times to tuck Ella in at night- even if it means she too is "tucked in" with Ella:

Grandpa Bill visited and how could I not post this:

Aunt Jodi, Selma, and Kemper are visiting from Africa and Ella is loving being "big" with them:

Ella had her Little Gym recital:

Here's a big one: Ella went to the dentist for the first time and she has no cavities! I'm not really sure how that happened because our tooth brushing of late is one big fight but I guess we're fighting the good fight, so to speak. Of course the whole pacifier issue came up but, well, let's just chalk that up to parental survival at this point.

And... (drum roll please)... Ella started Summer Camp. Wow! This was a huge transition for me and it seemed an easy one for Ella and Wes. I worried over every little detail for absolutely no reason at all. Ella had fun swimming, playing, and making art projects that are beyond me. Routine-wise, it was a big change for us because now Ella has breakfast at home, gets sunscreen on, and wears her bathing suit to school. After swimming they change into clothes and continue their day. I was worried this would all throw Ella for a loop but no, apparently I'm the only anxious one in the family (of course all of you know that; however, I'll continue in blissful denial). Wes can do drop off without tears but I just haven't mastered that art yet. Ella cries, I cry, I call Wes, I call Polly... I'm a disaster really. I think at this point they have both stopped answering their phone between 8 and 9 am. Of course when I pick her up she doesn't want to leave. Here is Ella on her first day of camp:

That catches us up through the end of June. Hopefully soon I'll get July posted because it was a great month for Ella! But just in case I don't get to it as soon as I would like, please visit http://lifewiththecuenys.blogspot.com/ and http://musingsfromcreeksedge.blogspot.com/ to read about our vacation to Santa Fe.

Quiet Time... for Mom

Some days I feel like the only quiet time I get is when Ella is either sleeping or taking a bath/shower. For the most part, things are pretty easy these days (no, I can't believe I actually put that in writing either- but she is just one child. A friend of mine is about to have his third under three so, well, who am I to complain about Ella's thunderbolt threes?). But today Ella was having a difficult time listening and I was having a difficult time remaining calm. She finally said she just wanted a bath which turned into a shower which sort of re-set our day (Thank you God). Then she went right to her room for a nap and that definitely re-set my day. So here I am writing with the perspective of someone who has a quiet house on a rainy day with a sweet, sweet little girl tucked tightly into bed.

Ella's Interpretation of Mom

How funny is this? Ella drew this for me today and said, "Look, it's you Mommy". It is now up on my office wall in a spot she chose. Before we "hung" this masterpiece, she said she needed to sign it. Oh Ella- you are so darn cute.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We spent a great day in Richmond celebrating Robbie's Birthday. We started out with brunch at The Cheesecake Factory and were hoping to make it to see the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens but this never-ending rain got in the way. We still had a great time shopping around Short Pump and many thank yous to Robbie for sharing her birthday with our shopping addiction.

I forgot my camera but when we got home, Ella was very much into singing Happy Birthday to Grandma. So Robbie, this one is for you- Happy Birthday!

Dude: blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda

And there you have it, what Ella learned while I was away at Bay Harbor for a weekend with Polly celebrating her fortieth birthday. I'm still laughing. But I am getting ahead of myself. Rewind to Thursday...


I felt really weird about leaving for some reason. I had been looking forward to this spa weekend since Polly suggested it. A long weekend at a spa resort, who wouldn't LOVE that! But as the time came closer, I felt badly about leaving Wes and Ella behind. Wes does this every year (substitute golf for spa) so I took that in stride and asked for a martini on the plane, settled for something over ice, and was feeling really good by the time we landed in Michigan. I'm sure everyone who saw us thought Polly and I hadn't seen each other for years the way we screamed with excitement when we met up at the airport.


We arrived at the Cueny's and Dave had dinner cooking and Judy and Mark were playing with Isabella and Grace. Ahhhhhhhh, Dave's famous Chicken with Alfredo Noodles. Pure delight. Aundrea joined us for dinner and a fashion show, and four bottles of wine later, we all went to bed. Pictures from the night:

Isabella showing the latest eye wear

Grace showing her catwalk style

Dave, my fellow blogger (see "Life from Michigan" on the right), and our chef for the night. Thank you Dave!

So our plan was to drive up north to Bay Harbor slowly, very slowly. We got the kids off to school and then had a nice breakfast out. We hit the road and stopped at the outlets. That took longer than we thought and we found ourselves surprisingly faced with no time before our 7pm massages. Yikes! We made it in time but had to postpone dinner. This is the view from our room:

Amazing. I wasn't expecting this from Michigan but I was pleasantly surprised. After our first night, it was raining and cold but it really didn't phase us at all. The views were still beautiful, and who cares really when you are at a spa.

We ventured out Saturday night for dinner at Chandler's. I'll spare everyone the details of our dinner but it was just perfect. I can't remember the last time Polly and I had dinner together and laughed so hard. I was in tears I laughed so hard at one point. Perhaps the four martinis and a bottle of wine had something to do with it but just spending time with Polly to celebrate her birthday made me so happy. Here we are at dinner:

We finally left late on Sunday and woke up Monday to start the week all over again. Girls to school, us to breakfast, and on to my flight home. Here is Isabella and Grace having pancakes before school.

Maymont Park

This weekend we went to Maymont Park in Richmond (click on post title for their website) to explore the gardens and petting zoo. Ella loved it and when we asked her her favorite part, she said, "Aunt Shannon". So sweet. Here are a couple pictures from the day:

Ella ran from us to Shannon when she saw her

Ella and Wes at the petting zoo

Shannon holding Ella up to see the bears

Ella and Wes at the waterfall

Shannon and Ella having a chat

Wes and Ella in the Japanese Gardens

Ella and Shannon playing hide-and-seek

Ella and I taking a break