A monkey. A squirrel. One happy family.

Weight back, hands down, eye-on-the-ball, letter-rip.

 Ella's first day of 3rd grade was on Thursday, August 16.  I took the morning off of work so I could walk Ella to school and say hello to her teacher, Mrs. Zamarripa. (That's a Basque/Northern Spain last name. I'm a librarian. I had to look it up.) When given the choice of where to sit, Ella chose the desk in the front row center, naturally. This is Ella walking to school wearing her "Agent P" backpack. For those of you who don't have elementary school-aged children, he is from the TV show Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel.  The obligatory annual photo of Ella in front of the Russell Blvd. Elementary School sign. I'm so glad she still gets so excited about school. I know that this will eventually wear off, but for now, I'm enjoying her enthusiasm while it lasts, even if a big percentage of that enthusiasm is for some boy named Jonathan, for whom she pined all summer. (He likes Star Wars. And climbing stuff. They are a good match.) ...

So, the cable for the laptop on which we have our photo editing and sharing software died, and we had to order a new one, and then school started and life happened and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, a couple of weeks late, here are some pictures from Florida! Huge thanks to the Florida grandmas for taking such good care of Ella for the weeks before the rest of our little family flew south to join her. We had a magical time. Here are some of my favorite moments. Annie, looking out of the airplane window shortly after take-off: "I can see the Unites States of America!"  Ella, after riding the Rock 'n Roller Coaster (which goes upside down more than once): "You were wrong, dad! I didn't like it! I LOVED it!" Spencer giggling nonstop during our two rides on Space Mountain.  Ella and Annie, who asked to be called "Light Fire" or "Princess Light Fire." Ella loves Mickey! Where is Annie? Cowering behind mama. Premium bar! An...

Ella at Epcot Ella is the monkey. (Mimi and grandpa, who have to bribe her out of the treetops on a regular basis, are not surprised by this designation.) She was born in the year of the monkey, meaning that she has a strong intellect, is creative, outgoing, and intuitive. This girl is a climber - trees, doorways, and jungle gyms are no match for her. She is currently climbing all over Disney World and perfecting her diving in Grammy and Mom-Mom's pool. That makes Annie the squirrel. This girl can chatter . Which is so comical considering how quiet and calm she was as a baby and how shy she can be around a new person or situation. Her tendency is to give a running commentary on whatever she is doing or seeing, and her sometimes quirky word choices or non sequiturs make me laugh. Here are some recent gems. After describing playing rocket ship at her preschool: "We pretended we were sick from falling down the moon." From the backseat, related to nothing: "I l...

Hi, there! Welcome to our new family blog! The girls have grown up, and in the eight years since I started writing stories and posting pictures over at babyhomepages.net, the web has grown up, too. The blog format is such a better match for our insane  life right now. We can throw up a couple of pictures or post a quick funny story rather than wait until we have time (time! ha! what's that?) for a thoughtful essay on parenting or childhood. The result should be more frequent updates from the Williams Thompson clan. Enjoy!