I just had a wonderful weekend with my oldest grandchild, Ella.  Joe picked her up Saturday morning and brought her here.  Since my original plan for the day had been to go to a plant sale, I asked her if she would be willing to go with me.  She was, so off we went to City Farm in Providence.  The Southside Community Land Trust has a very nice area for a garden, which I think they bought from some abandoned lots.  Every year they hold a plant sale, and have some unusual varieties. 

Ella was impressed that such a nice garden was in the middle of the city.  There is even a chicken coop and run.  Ella spent some time looking at the chickens, comparing them to her own.  I bought a white eggplant, a nasturtium, savory and something called a sunberry.  

We went home for lunch, and I gave Ella a couple of options for the afternoon.  She chose City Park, which is hundred acres of woods, fields and shoreline here in town.  Ella played on the playground equipment first of all, and made a friend of a girl there right away.  I was surprised at how quickly she did that. 

After a while we took one of the paths down to the beach.  Ella loved that part!  She took off her shoes and socks and waded right in.  There were plenty of other kids and teens in the water, and she kept saying she wished she had brought a swimsuit!   She started a sand castle, and then changed to making periwinkle homes.  It was low tide, so she dug out pools and gathered up the "stranded" periwinkles so they would be "safe".    It was a glorious mid-May day.

Sunday we went to an Open House at the Bird Rescue.   The owners had several of the birds outside for all to visit with.  Ella petted a couple of them, and I wanted her to hold one, but she said she thought it would be too heavy.  Inside we saw many species of birds.  Ella took my iPod and took pictures of any bird that struck her fancy.  Food was set up outside, and Ella ate three donut holes and a bag of popcorn! 

I realized that the ocean was only about three miles away, so without really telling where we were going, I drove there.   I indulged her with ice cream and walked down a path right to the shore.  Ella has seen the ocean before, but couldn't really remember it.  She was impressed with the size of the waves, as compared to the ones in the bay from yesterday!  As we left, she took two rock for her fairy house, to remember. 

By the time we returned Ella to her own home, she and I were both worn out, but happy.