All Aboard!!!

Thanks heavens this weekend we didn’t have any health issues to deal with. No eye scratches, no tongue blisters, nothing. Ella woke up on Saturday morning happy and ready to face the day…after some cold pizza of course. Ella is funny about her pizza. She doesn’t like us to cut it up into little pieces…she wants the whole slice. And we buy NY style pizza, so the slices are huge! She eats them anyway.

I went to the neighborhood yard sale on Saturday and unfortunately every time I saw a little play kitchen or table for Ella, they had a sold sign on them. I walked for 2 miles (it was a mile long and I went up one side and down the other) and at the end of it I came home empty-handed. My next step is to scour craigslist and see what I can find. If I still can’t find anything…guess what Ella is getting for Christmas!

Saturday night Joe decided to take Ella on a special daddy daughter outing. I stayed home and made dinner and was actually able to check my email and facebook without being interrupted. It was weird. Anyway, Joe took Ella to the King Street Metro station to see the trains. He said that she was so excited! They went up to the platform and watched the trains come and go, then Joe decided to take Ella for a ride. They rode the choo choo 2 stops to the airport, then back. He said that the whole time she just kept saying “All Aboard!!!” and had a huge smile on her face. On Sunday morning the first thing she asked to do was go see the “big choo choo.” We went to church and had intended to stop by afterward, but she was cranky and in need of a nap, so we went home. Sunday afternoon Joe took Ella out once again, but this time they went to a cookout at his friends house. I stayed home…I could really get used to having some “me” time. They were gone for about an hour and Joe called to tell me that Ella had eaten a hot dog and drank and entire cup of coke. The hotdog didn’t bother me…I give her hot dogs all the time. It was the coke…only a dad would do that. All I could think about was all that sugar and caffeine and how she’d be bouncing off the walls for the rest of the night. Anyway, they came home and Ella still kept asking to see the choo choos. What she does is she grabs Joe’s hand and walks him to the front door. She asks for her jacket, then says “Daddy put jacket on.” So Joe puts his jacket on. Then she says, “Daddy put shoes on.” And once she feels like he is ready to go, she grabs his hand and heads out the door. She had been such a good girl all day, and had been asking so nicely to see the choo choos, so we all three took a trip to the King Street Metro.

This time we decided to take the King Street Trolley down into Old Town. Ella was not being very patient. She threw a complete fit and kept saying “ELLA RIDE TRAIN!!!” We were not successful in our attempts to reason with her and explain that the train would be coming soon…no, she wanted to get on the train NOW. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the trolley arrived and Ella declared, “All Aboard!” She loved it and had no idea that it wasn’t a train. We rode all the way down to the water then got off to walk around downtown a bit. When we got off the trolley Ella spotted something on the ground. Of course she picked it up and it was a necklace with a flashing star on it. She put it on and wore it for the rest of the night. As we’d walk she would watch the star blink on her belly. I got some Starbucks hot chocolate, and Ella got some ice cream (more sugar), then we got back onto the trolley and headed to the car. It was a fun night out for the family.

By the time we got home we were all ready for bed. Ella actually went to sleep really easily and Joe and I were both asleep before midnight. It was a nice weekend.