fashion plate

NEWSFLASH!!!!

How could I possibly forget to write about one of the most wonderful bit of news we've had in the last few months?????

Drumroll.........................

Ella is completely housebroken, toilet trained, out of diapers, etc.

And has been for quite some time. It certainly made our trip to Hawaii SO. MUCH. BETTER. Our months of heartache and seemingly unsuccessful coaxing finally paid off. And now Ella wears cute little undies instead of bulky diapers. Her clothes fit much better, too :-)

Hip, hip, hooray!

Celebrate!

Ella's Three!

We made it back after an amazing vacation in Kauai. We're still tired after our red-eye flight Monday night, but that just means Ella is sleeping in a bit :-)

On Monday, our sweet little girl turned three. THREE! It's hard to believe. We had planned a special dinner for her birthday, which also happened to be our last night in Kauai. However, I failed to read that the restaurant we were so excited about was closed on Mondays. Fail, fail, and fail. So as a backup, we went to Duke's, which had a lovely view and free Hula Pie for Ella's birthday. After blowing out her candle, I asked Ella what she wished for. She said, "I wish I could go to sleep."

But not after eating gobs of ice cream and chocolate sauce :-)

We'll be celebrating again with a "tea party" this Sunday. Stay tuned for more pics! In the meantime, check out more Kauai photos on Flickr.

Day Three

Kilohana Plantation

Near Poipu

Ella's reaction to Spouting Horn

Ahhhhhh...

Ella's silly face.

Peeking out of the bushes.

Whoa! A picture with both of us in it!

Ella's not too sure about this.

We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves here. And since Ella has been waking us up nice and early, we've been able to catch every sunrise and get to all of the attractions long before most people have dragged themselves out of bed. Yesterday, we made the trek up to Waimea Canyon and did a little hiking—but mostly stopped at lots of scenic overlooks, since "hiking" with Ella is a bit impossible. And all of this before lunch.

Happy Anniversary... in Kauai

Today, Brady and I are celebrating nine (9!!!) years of marriage. Ella woke us up dark and early (4:20), as she has not quite adjusted to the three-hour time change. But at least we got to see the sunrise this morning. The condo we're staying in is beautiful. When we opened the door last night, Ella said, "This is lovely!" And we have to agree. Already, we've enjoyed the private beach, as well as the pool that's right outside our doorstep.

We made a quick trip to Opaekaa Falls/Wailua River just to get out before Ella's nap. It didn't take long for Ella to hurt herself—she tripped and scraped her knee and bit her lip. That pretty much took care of that. So now the little munchkin is fast asleep. Brady's going for a run on the beach and here I am, as usual, stuck at the computer.

Enjoy the photos!