Vegas vs. Reston

This was Tim's first weekend away since Ella has been in our lives and while Tim was celebrating our friend Shaun's bachelor party in VEGAS, Erika stayed busy with Ella and Cooper in RESTON. Okay, so hard to compare the two cities, there's no high rolling in Reston of course, but Erika managed pretty well! Besides, it might be true for this Vegas trip that there's not much that needs to "stay in Vegas" since the guys realized by Day 2 that it takes a little more effort these days to hang in Vegas. Let's just say that recovery time more than doubled....Hmmmm. Regardless, they had a great time and while Tim didn't come home with any big winnings, he certainly didn't lose much either (Erika is thankful).
Ella is doing wonderful, as usual! Again, she seems to be developing so quickly! Whereas before her most coordinated hand movements involved placing her fingers in her mouth, she can now (although not so gracefully!) reach out and touch the hanging toys from her chair. Erika was in the kitchen and heard the hanging toys moving around and thinking Cooper had crept in for an Ella face licking party, was delightfully amazed to see Ella reaching out her hands to touch the toys. She is such the little wonder. And her legs! Boy, does she love to stand now! We wonder if she'll be an early walker?
We can't ignore Cooper, either. He's been such a trooper since Ella has been born :) His weekend treat was a play date with his buddy Arlie. Erika and Andrea took the dogs out for a good romp in the woods...creeks+mud+Arlie+wrestling+running like hell = dirty Cooper = bath time. Let's just say that Cooper was wiped out for the rest of the day. Below are a couple of pics...

Our "ribbon" princess

Dinner at the Wolff's

Ella gets a hug from Charlie

Whee! Action shot! Full charge out of the water - watch out!

Getting wet

Life doesn't get any better for two dogs

Blue-eyed blueberry

When Ella doesn't get what she wants.....