It was a "Ducky" good time!

It was a ducky good time! We celebrated Ella's First Birthday on Saturday with friends and family. We had a pool party and much fun was had by all!

The cake and decorations turned out pretty well. I was happy with my duck cake!





The Birthday Girl in her birthday outfit (thanks to the Campbells!):


Ella wasn't quite sure what to do about this birthday cake thing. She looked rather perplexed when we were all standing around singing to her. And eat a duck head? Forget it! I think she just wanted to be left in peace!





And that's about the time our batteries ran out and we remembered we'd left them at home on the counter. So we'll wait to get the photos from Aunt Jen when she gets back to Arizona. Until then, Ella with her balloon....

Just another day... or is it?

Friday was a busy day! After a morning full of primping, we headed to Target to get family photos taken, and by family I mean generational family. My mother, her two sisters; me and my two sisters; and our two daughters all had our pictures taken in various sets of poses. Once they are available on-line, I'll post them up for you. But in the meantime, the girls playing before we left:



Aren't those matching dresses cute?!?!

After pictures and an afternoon of swimming (of course!), the whole extended fam headed to Sushi Ko for a little sushi and hibachi. Sarah has been eating sushi her whole life. When she was younger, "sushi" for her consisted of "chicken on a stick" (chicken satay) and rice. Two years ago we got her to eat shrimp tempura. Last summer she tried eel. This summer she is eating her very own shrimp tempure rolls. Not bad for 7 years old, eh? Ella chose to eat the ever popular sushi dish -- Cheerios.







This is my 100th Blog entry. Let us celebrate with a moment of silence..........thank you.

Luau: Vegas Style!

Last night Babcia/Grandma Vee treated us to the Luau at the Imperial Palace. The show only runs from May until September. In May and June, we still have very cool, pleasant evenings. In July, however, it is HOT even when the sun goes down. I would guess it was around 105 and above while we were outside eating and being entertained for over two hours. In true Taraskiewicz fashion, we managed to still have a lot of fun!







The dancers performed dances from all over the Pacific -- Tahiti, Hawaii, Samoa, etc. There were four men and four women and they did everything.







The highlight of the show was the flaming swords -- a Samoan tradition. Michelle has seen this done in Samoa. The boys are trained from very young in twirling the swords. According to Michelle, this dude had to be Samoan because it is not a talent you learn overnight.

A Day at the Mall

I have read that the mall was "invented" in Minnesota where it is so cold in the winter that people could not go outside to do anything, much less shop, in the winter. The same holds true for Vegas in the summer -- the malls are packed on the summer! It's the one cool place you can go to entertain yourself. So we spent the morning/afternoon yesterday perusing our local mall.

Ella had her first mall play area experience and had a grand time! She loved all the kids! We'll definitely be going back often.

Happy 4th of July!

I have spent many, many 4th of Julys having to rearrange plans due to rain or cold weather. Sure enough, in Michigan yesterday, it rained and only got up to 80 degrees. In Vegas, we had to change our plans due to excessive heat with temperatures forecasted to be around 115 degrees. We weren't comfortable with having the little ones out in the heat for too long so we decided to skip the 2 hour parade (with a projected attendance of 30,000 people). So instead, we headed to the pool to keep cool for the morning!




Lunchtime brought on a BBQ of brats and cheese hot dogs with Aunt Karin, Aunt Michelle, Babcia, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Chris. Naptime was next with everyone except Mommy, Sarah and Aunt Karin sleeping -- we played a game of Mexican Train Dominoes -- AND SARAH WON! By about 100 points! Then everyon except Daddy and Ella went to the very busy movie theater to see "Surf's Up".





After the movie, lots o' popcorn and a bite to eat, it was time to go see some fireworks! We went to our friends' house, the Webbs, and watched their neighborhood fireworks.





It was awesome and Sarah got to do her very first sparkler, ever (according to her, at least)!


We were very festive yesterday with decorations inside and out, fun outfits and even 4th of July flip flops!





We ended the eventful day with a flat tire on the way home from the fireworks. For my own well-being, I opted not to take pictures of Dadddy putting the spare tire on!

First Haircut!

This morning, while eating her blueberry waffle, Ella received her very first haricut, compliments of Mommy and Aunt Karin.

BEFORE

First Locks


AFTER


Ella can now see through her bangs! YAY!

Arrival Day

Well everyone arrived safely today -- Aunt Karin, Aunt Linda and Babcia are all adjusting to the heat. Aunt Chris flies in tomorrow morning! We're trying to find things to do indoors on what promises to be a very HOT 4th of July.

Karin and Sarah were taking turns reading to each other this afternoon and Ella decided to join in on the fun... while chewing on a knob from the VCR. It was too cute a picture to miss out on!