Ellie is 11

I can't believe my little Ellie bellie is 11 already!

Ellie loves animals and said she wants to work with land animals someday. She says she wants to be a Zoologist. She has always loved animals.

 

 

These 3 pictures below are examples of why I call Ellie "my little hot mess." Definition of hot mess: "When ones thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty." That is how the Urban dictionary defines hot mess. Lol! I think it describes her perfectly. 

The first picture was taken after I asked her to brush her hair and get ready to leave. She told me she had and was ready to go. Gotta love her :)

 

These beautiful pictures were taken by our photographer friend Lindsey. They perfectly capture my silly little Ellie Bellie. 

Ellie is: 

Silly

Loves playing jokes on people (and thinking of things she can do) 

Thoughtful. Every time we go shopping she is always finding things and telling me how much a friend would like that and why.. She's always thinking of gifts for people. 

Loves animals

Free spirit

Completely disorganized

Emotional

Loves her friends and family

Wants to be a zoologist

Loves music and art

Plays minecraft often

Favorite animal is an otter

Favorite state is Arizona (have no idea why because she has never been there. Even she says she doesn't know why)

Favorite color is turquoise

 

Fall pictures

So, I wanted to get some pictures of the kids with their pumpkins. It progressively went down hill. Connor found a hole in his pumpkin, which he knew meant it would start rotting, and we would have to throw it away a little sooner. So, he started crying. Zander got bored and didn't really want to be there taking pictures. Ellie and Madison just wanted to do their own thing. 

Halloween at Carowinds

Carowinds has all kinds of fun events in October. There is trick-or-treating, free pumpkins, painting of the pumpkins, a maze, lots of bubbles, and a little animal petting area. The kids always love going.

They also have some really cool painted metal containers and all kinds of scary decorations.

Ellie was a zombie doctor, Zander was Optimus Prime, Connor was a warrior ninja, and Madison was little mermaid.

chasing bubbles

School

All my babies are in school now....

4th grade, 1st grade, and kindergarten

Ellie was excited to start 4th grade 

The boys not so much...they started 1st grade

Madison was thrilled to start Kindergarten!! She was feeling left out of everything since her brothers started school last year.

Atlanta & Tennessee

At the end of the summer we took the kids to Atlanta and then Tennessee.

1st up is Legoland

Next up is Coca-Cola world. They had soda from all over the world and Madison had to try the Uganda one. 

Then the Aquarium. Connor was SOOOO excited because he knew he was going to get to see Penguins.  

Heaven for Connor is somewhere there is Penguins.

Then off to Tennessee and Dollywood

They had so may rides that all the kids could ride. 

We ended our trip with a hike of course. There are so many beautiful places to hike and we love to hike!