Headed down the unassuming road between Houston and Austin that is as quiet and undisturbed as the cow pastures it cuts through.  Destination:  a colorful community centered around antiques, lifestyle, history, and culture--and mom's favorite place of respite. 

Thank you Gary McKee for making Ella feel so welcomed--and including her on Polkabeat.com  https://www.flickr.com/photos/polkabeat/sets 2015 2nd Fiddle Festival.  It's fun for little ones to see themselves in pictures;).

Instramentalist/musician extraordinaire, Mark Rubin  http://www.markrubin.com/Markrubin.com/Home.html, inviting Ella to play a song for him.  He shared stories with her about his mentor, Itzhak Perlman http://www.itzhakperlman.com, and commented to her "your form is better than mine."  

Thank you Mrs. Meghan and Mr. Koko for always focusing on the importance of good form;).  

Taking it all in.

Playing for the band during break;)

Ed Proullard, Creole musician

Erupcion Hidalguense, Mexican Huapango

A few unexpected requests during the evening...

Playing for the birthday lady!

...and dancing with her daddy!

Stunning concert hall at Festival Hill Institute.

 Our stay is never long enough to enjoy all that is...Round Top!  We'll be back.  

Birthday Walk

A celebration of life...



...and a concrete way for young children to understand the months of the year and the earth's revolution around the sun each year.  

Each little wooden sun ray represents a calendar month. Since Ella was born in October, she started her rotation on that month.  To begin, the teacher announced "it's October 27, 2009, and Ella was born."  From there, Ella walked around the sun with a wooden globe until she reached her birth month again.   

Afterwards, she walked around again--this time showing a picture of her during that year of life and talking about milestones/interests.

The process repeated for each year of her life.  After her sixth trip around the sun, she blew out the candle.

What a wonderful way to teach the passage of time and help students recognize how they have grown and changed since birth.  

This morning the students (with guidance from their teacher) made cookies, using a recipe Ella picked out and ingredients we brought from home.  After the ceremony, we ate tasty pumpkin chocolate chip cookies made with love--and small hands.  

Birthday Blessings to our six year old!

Pyramid Play

With family and friends...

Singing "Thriller"

Siblings!

Mummy Love...