Labor Day Weekend '14 with Nana & Papa

We just finished up another great visit with Chris's parents over the holiday weekend. With Baby Boy arriving very soon, we had an easy-going weekend filled with family time and lots of very appreciated help with Ella and around the house. A few highlights of the trip include our morning outing to CuriOdyssey where we saw animals, played in caves and with wind tunnels, and had a picnic lunch watching planes fly into SFO over the Bay. Nana taught Ella the phrase "Have a nice trip," which she repeated over and over again while waving enthusiastically and also saying, "Airplane! Hi people!" It also included some great dinners both out to eat and in the backyard with my parents, Megan, Tim, Josh, and Sierra. 

Last, but definitely not least, we visited Roaring Camp Railroads in the Santa Cruz Mountains where we took a train through the redwoods to and from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We sat in an uncovered car in beautiful weather and watched Ella wave to people and narrate the ride, complete with "All Aboard"s and repetition of words like, "noisy," "tunnel," "ride," and "Thomas." Our quick stop at the Boardwalk included catching beads from people throwing them to the train from a beachfront hotel and a corn-dog lunch. We will absolutely go back-- all 5 of us had so much fun!

Our Train Ride

Before leaving the house, we asked Ella if she wanted to go on a train ride.
She dropped everything and ran to the front door... 
In the car, Marie asked her if she was ready for our adventure. 
She replied, "No way! Train ride first!" We tried not to let her see us laugh hysterically.

Ready for Our Train Ride!

Rick captures the most precious shots of Ella.

Ella Presenting Our Tickets

Ella's Interesting Technique in Eating Her Whole Corn-dog
Who doesn't love a good corn-dog?

"All Aboard!"

Major "cheesing" for this one :)

I happily rode most of the way home with my feet up.

Playing around Camp