We continued to celebrate Ella's birthday on Tuesday by inviting a bunch of her friends and their families to our neighborhood pool for private pool party. It has felt like we have been celebrating her birthday for weeks, but she has just loved it.

There were about 20 kids that came. Ella said she wanted a pool party and listed a bunch of kids she wanted to come. Marc and I decided we didn't want to be responsible for making sure all the kids didn't drown, so we invited families. It worked out really well because there were kids for everyone to play with.

There were lots of presents. She even scored a Vera Bradley purse! (from one of the neighbors!) And lots of cake and ice cream. Ella loved her party and I hope that it made her feel as special as she is!

We have also checked a couple of things off our summer to-do list the last couple of days. Marc had the afternoon off on Thursday so he took Tanner, Ella and Sarah to Lazer Kraze, a local laser tag place. The kids had a great time and talked about the strategy for next time all the way until bedtime. The vest they had to wear weighs ten pounds. Marc said Sarah did a great job.We also removed Ella's training wheels and about 3 minutes later, this is what we had. She was obviously ready for it. Our practice session was abandoned when she noticed that our backyard neighbors were out on their trampoline.