We took a trip to nanny's house where Ella had her first tube ride. She liked it at a crawl but didn't so much enjoy it when we sped up just the slightest bit to plane off. 
She thought the tube was much more fun on land. 
And she fished with daddy right until the moment we left. Once again, not a bad view huh? 
Then she would let us hold her and take her out into the water a little deeper (for a few seconds at a time only). Then she would let us hold her belly down and practice her swimming. 
And on the 7th day....she SWAM!!!
Then she would wade into the water to us and we would slowly back up encouraging her to swim to reach our hands. Finally she would gingerly pick her feet up off the ground and swim a foot or so to us. She just kept getting bolder and bolder, plunging right in and swimming further and further! 
We had a few setbacks, with water getting in her ears or face which scares her, but by the last day at camp she was jumping off the deep end of the dock to one of us and swimming around with all the adults! Now we go for dips in grandma's pool and she swims the ENITRE length! Although she can still be timid and times and a little frightened, she can also often be heard saying, "No! Don't hold me. I do it myself!"
And this morning Ella and I turned our picked beans into Dilly Beans! This is my first run so we'll see how they come out when we can taste them in a few months. Ella amazes me with her maturity and helpfulness. I prepared the beans last night. This morning she stood with me at the counter and carefully followed instructions, pouring in the water, vinegar and salt. Then she diligently placed one clove of garlic and one head of dill in each mason jar. I put in the hot pepper (1/2 have crushed red and 1/2 have ceyanne as I found recipes calling for each...we'll see!) and then she and I packed the beans together. We played "airplane and zoo" while they processed and voila! (And yes, that IS a sneak peek at our new counters in those shots as well :) 
Early morning just after a shower, and just one of our many fishing successes!
My mom was able to join us for a few days. 
I could get used to this.
He's livin' the life.
I think they're technically second cousins, but I don't really keep track of all that. At least three of the days that we were at camp, Ella had the pleasure of visiting with her cousin Ryleigh. Ryleigh's a year older and they get along fantastically. They love each other!
Oh c'mon, what's vacation without getting to do things you normally aren't allowed to do at home! Neither of theses little monkey's fell off and bumped their head.
Fun with their "pack-packs". When Ryleigh was in the lead, they were "going to school". When Ella was in the lead they were alternating between going "grocery shopping" and "taking their naps".
Ella started liking jumping into the water. She still won't tolerate her head getting wet though.
She had a ball exploring all that the water had to offer...rocks, sticks, leaves, bugs, fish.
She quite liked the little kayak trip that Daddy took with her. 
And thank heavens for Aunt Diane bringing this sandbox down! It was a much needed option or else mommy and daddy would have had no break from the water from dusk until dawn because that is where Ella asked to go the second her eyes popped open in the morning until they closed at night! 
Above you see carrots, lettuce, onions, spinach, yellow beans, green beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes. We had a little bout with some persistent bunnies so we threw up a fence (and by "we" I mean my fabulous hubby put up a fence to avoid the complete meltdown of his wife over the peas that had been munched.) to keep it safe whilst we were away and forever more for that matter. The plants grew FEET while we were away for 10 days. It was so exciting! Thanks to my mama for keepin' it watered!
Above we have cantaloup, butternut squash, some sad little watermelon plants and some rockin' pumpkins. And below is a sampling from the flower garden in July!!!
