i have to call her that, because she is too sweet to call a dare devil.
our theater is right across the street from the famous dragon park, which has a wonderful playground called lily's garden. this playground is designed so that people of all abilities can play--there are wide, shallow ramps for wheelchairs to go to the very top of the equipment, and there are places underneath where wheelchairs can fit too, that have fun things like chimes to ring, a pretend house area with swinging doors and window cut-outs, and alphabet logs to spin, plus lots of other fun stuff to do all over. there are three slides--a short one, a taller one, and a circular one that you can see in the picture in the link. today ella walked around this playground for the first time--usually we have to carry her, but now that she can walk pretty good she wanted to walk herself--and she went straight to the top, right to the circular slide. so rudi stood where he could catch her and i held her at the top, and when i let go she went FLYING down, squealing all the way. she practically climbed the side of the playground trying to get back up and go again. i think she went down at least 7 or 8 times and she would have gone more if we had let her.
i love this picture. it captures something essential about ella that i cannot put into words. it is more than joy, it is something like bliss, delight, surrender, all rolled into one. i hope i can help her keep this as she grows up, it is too precious and sacred, it is every child's birthright, and i don't want the world to take it away from her.
