The 3 Musketters

Mommy and Daddy's 9th Anniversary

Pumpkin Carving

The Spookomotive

Leaving the house for Old Sac.

 
Last Sunday, Ella and Mama went on a train adventure! Ella is interested in trains, and it gave Daddy an opportunity to watch football and the Giants' playoffs uninterrupted.

We started off in the parking garage. Ella did not like it there. She said, "Ella no this." "This" is a very popular word with her right now.

Then we walked around Old Sac and ended up at the Railroad Museum were mommy waited in line to buy tickets. Turned out, that's not where you buy tickets to actually ride the train. :-
So, we ended up at the Train Depot next to the Delta King to buy the tickets which is the right place. Good to know. Makes sense too.

Any who...while waiting for our train, we went into a toy store in which we immediately stumbled upon all of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters (in stuffed form). Ella is VERY into Yo Gabba right now. As a result, she swooped them all up (there are 5 of them so they kept falling out of her arms) and walked around the store, carrying them all. It took Mama C quite a long time to get through to Ella that she could only have one of them which meant she had to choose, and she had to put the other ones down and walk away. After several minutes she narrowed it down to Plex. Then, at the other end of the store they had a second display of all the same stuff, so around again we went. This time, after several longer minutes, she narrowed it down to Foofa and Mono. Again, several long winded explanations by mommy that she could only have 1. Mama almost caved when we finally got down to the two, but it was $8.00 for little stuffed nothing, so I gave my self an internal pep talk, reminded myself that Daddy would freak out if I got two for that price, told myself "an overindulged child is not a good thing" and pushed on. So, Ella choose Foofa and she has been very happy with her choice. She sleeps with Foofa every night. :)

Ella with Foofa

Finally, we get on the train. Mama bought the first class ticket (Ella was free) which is my first experience being on first class anything. Flying first class is still on my bucket list!

Ella was starting to get a little panicky when the train arrived and blew its whistle. I have to admit, it is a loud, intimidating vision to behold for such a little person. She squeezed me tight and insisted on being held the whole time it took for them to get the last group off, clean up, do whatever else they were doing, and finally load us on. I love holding her, but man is she getting heavy!!

First class was nice. We had real, comfortable chairs and couches to sit on and a glass door that opened up to the balcony. The train was decorated for Halloween with little ghosts and such hanging from the train. We were served a cookie and a drink. The ride lasted 40 minutes.

Ella with a Skeleton Crew Member

Ella seemed to enjoy herself and lost all traces of any fear once we were seated. She's such a big girl! Next year--the Polar Express!

View from Train

Bridge from Train

Uncle Ray's Pumpkin Patch

Uncle Ray's Pumpkin Patch

On October 6th, 2012 the 3 Musketeers visited Uncle Ray's Pumpkin Patch in West Sacramento.
It was a sunny and warm Fall day. We went early to avoid any crowds (there weren't any) and spent around 30-45 minutes there. It was fun and low-key. This was Mama C's (and Ella's) first visit to a real pumpkin patch on a farm. (Or so I think...Nonni might have to refresh my memory, but I don't recall having visted anything other than the commerical pumpkin lots which were also fun).

Here's a little info. about Ray's:

-It's small, but there's stuff to do, and all that stuff is free (expect the purchase of pumpkins of course). There's a decent size pumpkin patch in which wild pumpkins grow; a small hay maze to wander around in; a tractor ride; wheelbarrows; and already picked pumpkins. It's located in the farming area of West Sacramento just North of Natomas. We felt like we were out in the country while there which was a nice change of pace.

Ella:
-She liked the hay maze at first, but then wanted Daddy to hold her.
-Mama really wanted to go on the tractor ride, but Ella said "No" each time we pointed to it and asked.
-Ella's favorite event here was Daddy pushing her around in the wheelbarrow.
-She was lukewarm about choosing pumpkins. I had to point out the small pumpkins and call them "baby pumpkins" in order to get her interested in choosing one.

It was fun! I think next year we'll be ready for a bigger pumpkin patch, but this was nice and small for Ella's first visit.

Hay Maze

Pumpkin Field

Wheelbarrow Time!

Our Pumpkins

Ella

Our little Ella is quickly growing up. Here's a snapshot of what she's doing/saying:


Last night she got out her frying pan. When I asked her what she was cooking, she said: "Dip, fries, and shake." WOW. This girl is so smart, and quite the foodie.

Ella is very indepedent. She can carry her stool over to the sink, climb up, turn on the faucet, and wash her hands or brush her teeth. We have to actually put the stool way up high so she isn't in there by herself in the dark.

She still calls yogurt, "no-no" but will occasionally call it, "nogurt." She also starts most phrases with "my" or "mine," such as "my hungee (hunrgy)" and "my hello" --her phrase for our cell phones which she loves to play with. Most often, she replies "Papa" when asked who is calling.

Drawing and coloring is big right now. So are baby dolls, play cooking, and packing up one of her bags and saying, "bye bye." That's one of the few ways I can get a kiss and a hug, so I'm all for it.

Currently, her favorite people are: Nonni, Oma, and Leah. She mentions Leah's name a lot.

I'm trying to teach her about Halloween. She can say "trick or treat" and knows she will get candy, on Halloween, when she says it. She can also say "Halloween" very well and associates it with pumpkins, which she pronounces as "punkin."

Ella is at a very fun stage. We are really enjoying her. She's funny and smart and adventurous with a sassy streak. However, she becomes quiet and shy when around new people or new situations.

I'll post our pumpking patch adventures soon.