ELLA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

As I think we all know, Ella turned 2 years old on July 26. This was only the second day we were back from vacation. Things were fairly low-key on her actual birthday...we opened some small gifts in the morning...


...she and I met some friends at the playground, and then we had Ella's fave neighbour, Roberto, down for supper in the evening. Other wonderful neighbours, Eva and Manuel, joined us for ice cream cake...


We were lucky enough to have Karen and Sasha join us too...


Little did we know that Sasha would be joining us again at 4am so her parents could go to the hospital for the birth of her baby brother! Ella opened lots of gifts...in fact we saved a few from Jeff and I for the following day. Here she is enjoying some of her presents sent from abroad...


On Sunday, August 5th, we celebrated again with fellow July birthday girl, Linnéa. There were 9 kids (10, counting 9 day old Roman!) and 16 adults in our back garden. (Jeff actually enjoyed getting to do some yard work in preparation for the party - mowing the lawn and repairing a fence.) We started the party early, 10:30 am, so the kids would be fresh. We had lots of yummy food including a delicious carrot birthday cake courtesy of Claudia. There was lots to keep the kiddies occupied...our back garden has a soccer (football) net and I was very proud of the magnetic fishing game I made all by myself. But the kickers were Dylan's slide, Spidey tent and tunnel, and ball pool. WOW! Dylan is the wee man to invite if you want a successful toddler birthday party. Everyone had fun, no one got hurt and there were no serious fights - couldn't ask for anything more!

Blowing out the candles...


Opening gifts (yep...still pickin')....


Girls in the ball pool...


Ella received lots of fabulous gifts from here and abroad...it feels as though her toy collection has doubled! But, I have to say that her all-time favorite has got to be her doll stroller. She is crazy about it and wants to take it everywhere. We've had to convince her that she can't take it to bed, eat with it in her high chair, or put it in the bathtub! (Thank you to Ali, Paul & Dylan!)

At Vysehrad with Victor and Linnéa today, stroller in tow...


Super-cute bonus pic...



Mother of an official "Terrible Two"...
Maylia