The Last Weekend in March
This was a lower key weekend than most of our more recent ones but the week as a whole was quite eventful. On Monday P.D. went to doggie heaven. Ellie is taking it pretty well, every once in a while she will ask where he is or tell me that she misses him but all in all she is adjusting very well. I am proud of her!
Wednesday, Opa and Uncle Steven came to Baltimore to visit and Ellie and I played from school/ work. We had a fantastic visit and a great time at the Inner Harbor.
Thursday evening we had a knotty hair and Ellie finally gave in to getting a haircut. Actually, she wanted on right then but we compromised on Friday after school. So after work and school we drove to the kid's salon and had her first real haircut!
This weekend was rainy (for the most part) so after dance we went to the pancake store then to the big playground (aka: Port Discovery) for the afternoon. Sunday, the weather finally broke in the afternoon so we went out to wash the car... What else is there to do on a 73 degree, sunny afternoon? And go figure, as we were rinsing the wheels off and putting the bucket away it started raining! Oh well!
Ellie is stretching up tall to reach as high as she can.
Scrub it good!
I think this was her favorite part... playing with the hose!
Putting her to work... she has to earn her keep somehow! Those big brown eyes will only get her so far in this house! :-)
At Port Discovery riding on the horse, "Hee-haw!!!"
Snacks before we head home from the big playground.
Pretty girl at the pancake store!
Sippin' on her oj and looking cute!
This is where the magic happened!
The inside...
Ell all dried after bath that night.
After washing her hair in the bath that night.
Two styling braids after her cut.
Post cut and pre-braids.
Not looking so happy during the cut but don't let that look fool you, she did great. No complaints! She just sat there and watched part of a movie while the stylist worked her magic!
The first cut...
Before we began.
Her hair before the cut... Get ready to say good bye to a couple inches! When it is wet it goes most of the way down her back!
Waiting her turn and playing with the trains.

Baltimore with the Lysses...
Looks like we will start from the end.... Above that is what happened about 7 minutes after we were on the road. We were out and about from before 10 till about 6... it was a long day but it was filled with lots of FUN!!! We started with the aquarium, then to lunch at Philip's, then to a Lysse favorite... Barnes and Noble.
Good-bye Uncle Steven, drive safe!
Good-bye Opa... I love you!
DJ Ell in the B&N at the Power Plant rockin' out the kids tunes... spin it girl!!
So much to choose from! Ell checking out the cds at Barnes and Noble.
Ell checking out anatomy... WAIT! Not now, not until you are 40!! Put that down!
Seriously... Put it down!!
Opa, Ellie, and I after lunch at the harbor.
Opa, Steven, Ariel the mermaid, and Ellie at the Inner Harbor after a fantastic lunch at Phillip's.
Ellie's new mermaid, Ariel... Thanks Steven. They are already inseparable.
Steven, Opa, Ariel, MB, and the photographer... Ellie. Great shot kiddo!
Opa, Steven, and Ellie
Spinning, spinning, spinning with Ariel while Steven and Opa finished watching the 4D movie spectacular.
Grumpy snack time.
Our future's so bright... Ell and I in out 3D shades getting ready for the 4D movie at the aquarium. It didn't go over too well with Ellie.
It was the water in her face that set her over the top. In case you are wondering what makes a movie 4D... The 4th "D" is the interactive chair that vibrates, pokes you in the back, hits the back of your feet, shoots air in the back of your hair, and yes, sprays water or bursts of air in you face.
Ellie posing with a National Aquarium of Baltimore monkey around her neck.
Look... it is more Brother Birds!! Amazing!
Ellie and Steven goofing around with the frog mask!
"Look Steve, more fish!"
Ellie explaining the happenings of the world to Opa in the Australian exhibit.
Watching the Angler fish feed just like they would in the wild... They shoot a stream of water up to knock a bug (cricket in this case) off the stick and into the water so they could eat it. Really fascinating to watch!
Adorable Ellie in the Rain forest.
Scary sharks... Girlie girl Ellie was terrified of the sharks and couldn't get out of this exhibit fast enough. She was so scared that the sharks were going to eat her and no matter how many times I explained to her that they couldn't get through the "window" it didn't matter!
Pink birds in the rain forest.
Cheese!!
In the Amazon River exhibit we saw lots of turtles and even some alligators!
And this is Ellie running away from the alligators... Again, girlie-girl in action!
And this is Ellie before I pointed out the alligator.
Ellie looking at the bright coral reef fish, we even saw a pink one in there!
One of her favorite exhibits... the man cleaning the tank.
Ooohh... and octopus, cool!
Ellie and the anemones.
Opa, Ellie, and Steven looking at the fish.
Listening for bubbles. One of our first attempts at a group photo. As you can see, it didn't go very well but we did have better luck later in the day!
WOW! There's one!
Blub, blub, blub... one of our early attempts at a group picture.
Ellie gets a close look at the dolphins after the show... They are so big!!
And they can jump so high!
Ellie was enamored with the dolphins! They were so exciting to watch!
Ellie on the bridge to the Power Plant while we waited for Uncle Steven and Opa... they got tied up in a little DC traffic so we got to eat a little something and do a little shopping!