Ela meets ice skating for the first and second times

Here in our little town by the sea, the city's post-Thanksgiving celebrations include hanging a huge star on the Macy's downtown, putting up a tall Christmas tree, and putting in the carousel at Westlake Center.  A quick Monorail ride away is Seattle Center, where Winter Fest is in full swing, with a winter village and train set and, best of all, ice skating at Fischer Pavilion!  Mama and Ela decided to check it all out on Saturday.

Mama took Carmela last year (and maybe the year before; Mama can't remember), but Miss Ela was too little to do anything but sip hot cocoa and watch.  This year, Miss Ela was brave enough to try it.  So, Mama and Ela laced up their skates and grabbed a little walker.  Honestly, Mama thought maybe on this fledgling flight they might go around a few laps, and then Miss Ela would be done (bored, a little scared, too hard, etc.).  Mama was so wrong.  Miss Carmela June would like everyone to know that she LOVES ice skating (except that the boots hurt her feet), and that she would like to do it every weekend!  She and Mama skated and skated and skated.  They took a short break for popcorn and cider, and then skated and skated and skated some more.  She had no control whatsoever over her walker, but she loved it when Mama pushed her and they went fast.  She loved it so much that she was absolutely DEVASTATED when it was time to leave, and cried, and screamed (which never works with Mama, sadly), and there were tears and snot everywhere.

But, what luck!! The next day, Daddy was home from work, and Mama and Daddy agreed to go ice skating AGAIN.  Hooary!  Mama, Daddy, and Ela laced up their skates, grabbed a walker, and set out on the ice again.  Daddy did great (it was his second time skating, and the first in about 20 years), and Carmela loved it.

There was a little excitement at the rink when a big girl (8 years old) fell down and hit her head on the ice.  She knocked herself out for a few seconds and the staff had to carry her off the ice.  Daddy went over to help her and did some EMT things while everyone waited for the Seattle Fire EMTs to show up.  Daddy checked her out and told us the little girl was OK, but Carmela wanted to keep watching because it was so interesting!

Carmela did a great job when it was time to go, and is happily looking forward to going again next weekend.  Hooray!!

Carmela has a snack of popcorn during her first outing to the ice skating rink.

Carmela loves when Mama pushes her fast!

Look at the grin on that kid!

Skating with Daddy.

Carmela does her superstar dance to show how much she loves ice skating.

So, how do you chop nuts for biscotti?

Ela and Mama got to bake a whole bunch of cookies today.  It was awesome.  Ela has the most important jobs, which include pouring, stirring, rolling into balls, dipping in sugar, chopping nuts, and tasting.  Mama has boring jobs, like measuring, melting on the stove, stirring in all the flour, and putting things in the oven and taking them out with her oven mitts.

Fortunately, Ela is very creative, and likes to figure out new ways of doing things, like chopping nuts.

Thanksgiving 2012

At the moment, Mama doesn't have any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner, partially because of the camera (again with the camera), and partially because Thanksgiving was at Miss Carmela's house this year, and Mama was busy running around eating cheese and visiting with Nana and Grandpa.  But, Miss Carmela did want to make some turkeys this year, so she and Mama spent Thursday doing some crafting.  (Daddy had to work on Thursday, so Ela and Mama did some crafting and visited some friends that day, and we celebrated a family Thanksgiving on Friday instead.)

The turkey princess holds up her turkey with its beak.

A close-up of the turkey.

A close-up of the turkey princess.

Ready to go to Auntie Katy and Uncle Chris's for dinner.

Trick-or-treating 2012

Miss Carmela June was so excited to shimmy into her mermaid costume and venture out into the dark drizzly night on Halloween night!  She was a little shy about saying "trick-or-treat," though, and it didn't help that at the very first house, the owner's little chihuahua came shooting out onto the porch yapping its head off.  Ela is terrified of dogs (we're not sure why, except unpredictability is a big problem for her, and dogs can be sort of unpredictable).  So, in those anxious moments just after ringing a stranger's doorbell on a dark, rainy night, there was a fierce chihuahua barking like crazy, a shimmery purple mermaid shrieking and trying to back away with her legs cinched together by a tight shimmery purple mermaid sheath skirt, a lady apologizing profusely and trying to make up for it all by pushing more candy on the shrieking mermaid, and a certain mama and daddy trying hard not to laugh.

The remaining houses were less exciting, which was fine with Miss Carmela.  She got the whole "trick-or-treat" thing down, and was very brave about selecting her favorite candy (Tootsie-Pops, it turns out).    (Also, M&Ms.)  She was a tiny bit unnerved by the older kid dressed as a gorilla, but as mama and daddy were on their way home with her anyway, it all worked out ok.  In the end, Ela was thrilled to get to sort her candy and see what she got.  Success!

Back view of the mermaid costume.  Basic sheath skirt with bunched up tulle for the tail fins and a bit of tulle around the bust for a bikini top.  We lost this element pretty quickly, honestly, because it was sort of pointless.  The undershirt is a light pink gymnastics leotard.

Front view of the mermaid costume.  You can almost see the sequiny headband.  Fun, easy costume to make, and a nice addition to the dress-up basket!

Happy kid with her "trick-or-treat" loot!