Smiling Archives - Page 3 of 12

January – March 2018

December was largely a write-off because of sickness throughout the house, however we got right on with enjoying the new year.

Ellie spent a fair amount of time building the Lego sets that she got at Christmas. Ellie and I also participated in a 13-week Daddy-Daughter Ballet class: she was definitely the better ballerina, but it was nice to have that special experience with her.

It was a pretty mild winter all told, to the point of us being able to visit vineyards towards the end of March in the sun with short sleeves on. Continue reading “January – March 2018”

Ellie and Daddy do Seattle [VIDEO]

This past weekend, I took Ellie to Seattle for a little daddy-daughter weekend before she starts school in a couple of weeks! We had so much fun seeing the sights and I cherished the opportunity to dote on my little girl, and do things like get dressed up and take her on a date.

We got up to write a lot during our time in Seattle. We:

Rode the light rail and the monorail (this is exciting to Ellie).
Went on a dinner date together, with Ellie in her princess dress and me in a shirt and tie.
Went up to the Space Needle and watched Seattle from high up, with the city lights aglow (Ellie often says how pretty the city looks at night because of all the lights.
Went to Pike Place Market.
Grabbed breakfast at Wayward Vegan Cafe (this wasn’t planned, but Ellie wanted waffles for breakfast, so the girl had to have waffles!).
Spent a few hours in the Pacific Science Center.
Went on the Seattle Great Wheel.
Grabbed breakfast together at Starbucks.
Went to Genessee Park to the Seafair Festival so that we could watch the Blue Angels. Continue reading “Ellie and Daddy do Seattle [VIDEO]”

Eclipse

Last August, we were lucky enough to have the solar eclipse pass right by Portland. Because of the promise of absolute bedlam on the roads, we decided not to drive 30 minutes south into the path of totality and instead settled for 99.64% totality.

Ellie was very excited in the run up to the eclipse (prompting her to gain a real interest in astronomy) and loved watching the whole thing.
Continue reading “Eclipse”

Nicola & Max came to visit

Last August, my sister (Ellie’s aunty) and my nephew (Ellie’s cousin) came to Oregon to visit us all.

During that time, we fit a lot in. We went to the Chinese Gardens, visited Powell’s, went to the coast, went up Mount Hood, enjoyed a jet boat ride on the Willamette and visited some wineries (naturally). Continue reading “Nicola & Max came to visit”

August – November 2017

We all spent the summer (and the autumn) making the most of the weather and exploring our new home. We’ve done so much and seen so many new places.

It’s also becoming clear just how much Ellie loves the outdoors, including hiking. She’s also looking forward to camping next year. Continue reading “August – November 2017”

Ellie’s 4th birthday

Our sweet baby girl is not so little anymore. As she continues to grow, she amazes us more and more with how intelligent, funny, creative and curious she is.

For her birthday, we went to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum and Ellie had a blast looking at all of the planes and rockets.

Then, her main birthday present from us was a big girl (double) bed which she was ecstatic about. Continue reading “Ellie’s 4th birthday”

“Cinderella came to wake me”

Yesterday, Ellie went over and introduced herself to some of our neighbours and it came to pass that one of the girls was a bit older than her and had some dresses that she had outgrown which would be a good fit for Ellie.

So we brought them home and hung them up for her, telling her that we could play with them the following day. Continue reading ““Cinderella came to wake me””

Ellie’s 4th (!) Christmas

It always seems weird to count how many times a child has experienced an annual event, because it’s always one more than their age since their birthday is the last thing they do before turning another year older. Thus, even though Ellie is only 3, this is already her fourth Christmas, which just seems nuts!

We didn’t do too much over the holiday and just enjoyed each other’s company with few other commitments to get in the way. It was much needed. Continue reading “Ellie’s 4th (!) Christmas”

Putting her own shoes on

While packing the car up to go on a trip, I asked Ellie to put her shoes on while I got things in the car, which she’s very capable of doing.

She chose to wear a particularly snug pair of shoes so while I’m in the driveway with the car, I start to hear this dragging noise. Then from behind the car appears Ellie who had managed to get one shoe on, but couldn’t quite manage the other one, so she took the initiative to put one of Mama’s shoes on so that she could walk outside and get help from me. Genius child 😍 Continue reading “Putting her own shoes on”

Ellie’s Halloween costume

This year, Ellie decided she wanted to be a construction worker for Halloween again. Since we already had the costume, I was all about reusing something instead of spending money on something she’ll wear once.

She fits into it much better than she did last year, as if we needed more proof that she’s growing up and getting bigger all the time. Continue reading “Ellie’s Halloween costume”