August has been full of birthdays for some really special girls!  Lots of birthdays=lots of Happy Cake!!  (Yeah!)

Nana P had a birthday on August 14th while we were at the beach.  We had a surprise visit planned before we left for the beach, but Nana P was sick and we didn’t get to celebrate until last week :(  Ella and Cory went for a special visit to take Nana P her birthday presents and spend some time with her and Ella’s great-grandparents (and of course Paw-Paw Kelly, too).  Ella loves playing with Nana P and her cat, Ringo.  I’m not so sure Ringo likes playing with Ella.  I think it’s the squealing that gets him!  She told me all about coloring, her PBJ, and seeing Ringo!  Happy Birthday, Nana P!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday!!  We love you!!!

Ella & Nana P (Cory forgot to take the camera with him last week so I found this cute picture from our zoo trip)

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This weekend we celebrated Aunt Ashley and Gracie’s birthdays.  Our family has some crazy work schedules so it’s almost impossible these days to get everyone together.  We managed to get together Friday night for some Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream cake.  It was so GOOD and I’m sure it was fat free…right?!  Haha…not a chance!  From the sugar high Ella was on, it definitely wasn’t sugar free :)  Happy Birthday, Aunt Ashley!!  We love you!!

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On Saturday, Ella went with Mimi and Paw-Paw to Gracie’s Hannah Montana birthday party and Brittany’s Elvis party!  I was late getting to the party because I had to work on Saturday.   Gracie and Brittany had a HUGE castle bounce house at their party!  Ella LOVED jumping!!  Me, Mimi, Paw-Paw, and Aunt Candy all jumped with Ella.  I woke up with sore legs and bruises from my bounce house experience :)  On the way home, Ella said “Mommy, I have so much fun at the birthday party!”  Happy Birthday Gracie and Brittany!!  We love you girls!! 

The birthday girl jumping in her Hannah Montana dress

The birthday girls blowing out their candles with the assistance of Miss Madalyn :)

The Girls…this is one more group of girls!  They sure are cute!!!  (not that I’m a little partial or anything!)

Watch out Hannah Montana…here comes Miss Madalyn the next teeny bopper mega star :)  She is the funniest little girl I know!!  Boy, did she put on a show for us!

**Some pictures courtesy of Britt & Gracie’s Mom (thanks Suzanne—I stole them off FB!)

Today we went to preschool orientation for Ella (or “pretty school” as she calls it!)  She will be starting “pretty school” next week and will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12.  We went to meet her teachers today and I know Ella is going to love them!  She also got to meet some of the children that will be in her class…surprisingly, we know several of them.  We spent some time in her classroom letting her roam around and check out all the toys she’ll get to play with.  She loved playing with the music toys especially the drums and guitar!  There’s something about those toys that make loud noises that kids love :)  They warned us that most kids cry the first couple weeks and I’m sure that Ella will fall into this statistic!!  This will be the first time she will be away from family since she was born!  I don’t know if I am going to be able to handle it!  It’s hard enough accepting the fact that my baby is old enough to go to preschool!!!  I know it will be a huge adjustment for all of us but I think she will love making new friends!

There was so much going on during orientation that I didn’t get a chance to take pictures.  I managed to get this one picture before we left.

I had to post a picture of Ella’s new preschool backpack.  It is so cute and small so it fits perfect on her back.

I’ll let everyone know how the first day of preschool goes next week!

 

   Thanks Aunt Ashley & Uncle Matt for helping us take pictures!!! 

Ella had so much fun playing in the sand!  She took “Shovel” & “Pail” (from Blues Clues) to the beach with us :)  She shoveled, sifted, threw, and even tried to eat the sand.  By the end of the week, I had washed out out of her hair to build a sand castle!  I was still finding sand in the bathtub after we got home!

 

 

As much as Ella loved playing in the sand, I think by the end of the week, her favorite was playing in the ocean!  She loved “jumping” waves.  When she saw a wave coming towards us she would yell, “Ready…1, 2, 3…Jump!” 

 

More beach pictures…

Ella & Gracie

Swimming with Mimi

Spelling lesson in the sand :)

Aunt Candy & Paw-Paw Sanford

Uncle Dave chillin’ with his iPod

Ella & her new BFF Gracie. Ella had so much fun playing with Gracie at the beach. Gracie was so good with Ella and is hired to babysit anytime she wants to!! Thanks Gracie for all your help…Ella LOVES you!!!

Ella & Maw-Maw

Daddy playing cornhole with the boys. Look at that form!

Monkey see, Monkey do! Ella wanted to play cornhole with the boys, too!

Teamwork! Building our sea turtle sand art :)

Janna came up from Charleston and spent some time with us. She bought Ella a Thomas the Train Sticker book that had HUNDREDS of stickers. Ella put stickers on her and everything else in the house! Thanks Janna!!! Remember that Ella is coming to your house to play and she is bringing permanent markers :) Haha!! Just kidding!! Thanks for the stickers..she LOVES them!

We had so much fun at the beach and hated to have to come back home to the “real world!” We look forward to next year’s Bolick Family Fun Week at the beach!!!