Way to go Bandura!

This is the little visitor that got our little Ella Bella thinking about using the potty... This is Avery. Ella saw Avery going pee-pee on the potty and she was impressed. She came and told me, "That girl pee-pee'd on the potty and her mommy held her dress up!" What an impression that made on her. I guess Albert Bandura was 'dead on' about observational learning!

Avery and Katie playing in the box (as they say, you don't really need toys to keep kids entertained!) Ella and Avery's turn to play in the box
Ella giving a big cheesy grin (in the box)
Ella and Avery posing for a photo op... Katie was anti-photo for some reason...?

Picnic on the Mall

I decided that if we're going to live so near Washington, DC, we had better take advantage of it. So, one beautiful morning, I packed up the girls and we headed to "The Mall" for a little monument lookin' and a picnic. Ella decided she couldn't leave the house without her tutu. Here's a few snapshots of us at the WWII Memorial -- Wow, was that pretty! -- and having a little picnic along the reflecting pool. You can only imagine the looks we rec'd with Ella in that tutu -- we are in every slideshow of every tourist that was visiting DC that day!

My Big Girl Ella

A friend of mine from grad school came to visit and Ella saw here little girl use the potty. Lucky for me. A week later Ella decided she wanted to use the potty too. "Like a big girl, Mommy."

Granny and Pop come for a visit

Granny and Pop came for a short visit... here's a few snapshots.



Obviously, Katie was not interested in looking at the magazine with Pop!

Our New House

Just so you'll have an idea of where we're living, here's a few photos of our house. We're in an area called Lake Barcroft. Our house is not lake front, but we're within half a mile from 2 different beaches. The neighborhood brings in sand from FL every year and they have life guards every day during the summer. As you can see from all the trees, it's sort of like living in the country, except we're only about 10 miles from downtown DC. It's a quiet neighborhood and all our neighbors have been very nice. The area is beautiful, the commute reasonable for Bill, and the rent is within Bill's housing allowance... we were very blessed to find such a great place to live.

View from our driveway
View from our backyard, looking in to our kitchen (like all the toys on the back porch?)
View from our living room window out to the front yard
Cleaning up after breakfast

Cupcakes Making Cupcakes

We decided to make cupcakes for the neighbors, Ms Ginger and Mr Chris. As you can imagine, the girls are GREAT cupcake decorators!!

Ella is on the left and Katie is on the right
Now, Katie is on the right and Ella is on the left

Second stop - Pop's House

After a wonderful time in New Orleans, we packed up the van and headed to Fort Walton Beach to Pop's house. First order of business? To the beach, of course...

Katie and Ella loved the boat ride. Here, they are looking out over the water. Daddy and Uncle Andy are supposed to be keeping an eye on them!

Taking a ride on Uncle Andy's surf board.

Pop and Daddy helping to keep them afloat.

Katie was LOVING the water...

Playing in the sand (I STILL have sand in my van from this adventure!)

Pop holding Katie, checking out the waves. Ella can't stop digging...

Watch out for the waves! :-0

Beach combing