Fun at the Park

Last week, Elliana and I met Daddy for lunch during his lunch hour. We packed a picnic lunch and ventured to Sawyer Point to bask in the beautiful fall weather. We had so much fun looking at the river and seeing Daddy in the middle of the day. Perhaps our favorite moment though was when Elliana discovered the playground. A bit hesitant on the slide at first, after just two times, Elliana was pretty determined to go down all by herself. We were fortunate to capture her excitement as she went down the slide. And then...she stood up and tried to climb back up the slide. I can tell already that we will have one adventurous kid on our hands!

Family Fun at Kings Island

Yesterday, we enjoyed taking Elliana to her first ever trip to Kings Island. We arrived a little after 11 and Elliana was more than ready to explore all that the park had to offer. Her first ride was a small Thomas the train ride...where they required that Elliana sit in her own seat with her own seat belt. As you can tell from the image below, she wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but by the end of the ride, she was grinning ear to ear.

After the trains, we boarded Elliana's first Carousel ride. She LOVED IT!! As you can tell from the photo, I'm not sure who was smiling more. Elliana, or Daddy who loved holding onto his baby girl as she experienced all of the first thrills of the theme park.

We stayed at Kings Island for about 6 hours, and despite being there through nap time...Elliana refused to fall asleep. There was just far too much going on for her to be a part of. She didn't want to miss a thing. In between yawns and eye rubs, our little girl was all smiles...loving every minute of spending the day with her family.

Hilton Head Island Vacation

In looking through vacation photos, it was hard to decide which ones to share...which ones would best summorize our week long vacation with just the three of us. I believe that this photo best summorizes my thoughts and feelings. Throughout vacation, I was simply overcome with gratitude and happiness. I have the love of an incredible man, one who finishes my thoughts before I even know what I am worried about, one who loves be and builds me up day after day. We have an incredible daughter, one who took each change that she experienced and seemed to thrive more than the one before. Her eagerness and happiness for life is one that I hope T.J. and I will continue to learn from. I am so very blessed!

Elliana Struts Her Stuff

Elliana found the beach as a place to go for a steady, well, mostly steady stroll. She enjoys walking in the house, but in the sand, what is better than feeling the breeze, watching the wildlife, and listening to the waves crash, all with a friendly version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.