My how she's grown....

We were looking at old pictures of Elle as a baby and decided to try and re-create this photo.

Here's our attempt...

She's a little bigger now...I am actually impressed Matt was able to do it at all!

Elle's Garden

Nana and Grandad, this post is for you!

Two years ago when Elle was first born Nana and Grandad came to visit and Grandad worked on what was eventually named Elle's garden.    He spent time pulling weeds and planting flowers to make a back garden beautiful.  Two years later we spent a Saturday as a family in the garden.  We pulled the weeds and tidied it up to make it look pretty out our basement doors.  

Elle LOVED helping!

Anything Matt did, Elle did!!!

 

Matt and Elle worked hard all morning while I laughed, took pictures, applied sunscreen, got drinks and made lunch for my gardening team.

What a big girl!  I love watching her mimic Matt and I as she grows and explores her world!

 

Elle's Second Birthday Party

Since the party was delayed a week, we had more time to plan fun things but, it also conflicted with one of my fundraisers.  Lucky for me, Matt is super Dad and jumped right in to help.  One of the best memories of her 2nd Birthday for me is definitely creating this Minnie Mouse cake with Matt.  What a great party planner.

 

I made Minnie Mouse ears for the girl and I loved how they turned out.

 

 ...and couldn't leave Caleb out...we made him his own set of Mickey ears.

 Popa bought a new shirt for the event.  This kids were a little unsure but I appreciated the shout out to the Minnie themed party.

And when the kids started getting tired and the adults wanted to continue visiting, we sent the kids to a corner to watch a movie on an ipod...what did people do before ipods.  :)

Elle's Two

Elle turned two this weekend and while we had a Minnie Mouse party planned for her, those plans were put on hold because her bestie (Abby) was sick.  Matt and I did a quick change of plans and made the day as special as possible.

The day started with waffles...

 Then Mommy and Daddy gave her their gift.  A new table for her room so she can host tea parties from the kitchen we made her last year...it was a hit!  She LOVED it!

She set right to work making Daddy have tea with her.

Then we tried getting a hold of Pops and Gigi...you can see Elle working away setting up the technology.

She opened presents from Pops, Gigi and Katie...

 Minnie Mouse...AMAZING...she loves it.

Then we took her to Toronto over to Centre Island where we took her last year the day after her birthday with Matt's family.

Matt volunteered to take her on the Carousel of death, and she FREAKED...she wanted "Her Mommy" but her Mommy remembered how scary it was last year and said "NO." Haha.  The ride attendant promptly asked Matt to get off the horse after this photo was taken as the horses are only made for one rider.

Then she went on the boats and much to Mommy's nervousness she "do self" (did it herself).  She was so proud of herself.  She was so good and sat still ringing her little bell the entire time.
  

She rode the swans with Mommy, but unfortunately the swans weren't self steering and Elle thought she could do it based on the previous ride.  Not going to lie, I almost threw her overboard in the middle of the little pond.  Anyone else ever had a two year old yell at them as they try to maneuver  a large swan amongst other swans directed by children?  Really not a very fun ride.

We looked at animals.

And sat in the big chair.  I'll have to do a last year versus this year post to show how much she has grown since last year when we were here.

We finished the day by riding a quad bike around the island with my parents.  Elle sat in the front basket as we tooled around.

 Sunday morning she was exhausted from a day of fun.  She looked so pretty in her new dress from Pops, Gigi and Katie but she was too tired to pose nicely.

Her birthday party has been rescheduled for next weekend so we are hoping everyone is healthy by then.  Either way we had a great day celebrating our girl who is now two years old.

Two Year's ago this weekend...

This past weekend was the "Victoria Day Weekend" a long weekend celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday.  It's the first a many long weekends we get to enjoy throughout the summer.  While the weather on this weekend can be unpredictable due to it falling in May, the weather this year did not disappoint.   We spent almost the entire weekend at "our cottage".  As I sat by the pool couldn't help but remember two years ago I sat at the pool nine months pregnant with Elle.  Oh how things have changed.  As I got started on this post I was looking back on old pictures and realized just how much Elle and her cousins have changed.  Time really has flown by!

Two Year's Ago...

 

One Year Ago...

This Year...

How big will they be next year?