A day at the beach

She was unsure of the sand at first!!

Now with a bit more confidence...

"Here Daddy!"

"Let's get our shoes on and get some lunch!!"

Nick, Ava and I took a day trip to Grand Haven today. This was Ava's first experience with a vast amount of sand so weren't sure what to expect. She was unsure at first, but curiosity took over. She ate a few handfulls, chased after the seagulls and even got a nice college-aged boy to give her the ball he was playing with. What a ham!! We had a great time and it was even better that we got to do it all with Daddy!! We are so happy he is working in town again!!

A New Car!

Nick took Ava to buy her very first car. I told him that in 16 years when they go do this all over again it will be much more painful--meaning the teenaged daughter with a far more expensive purchase!! She really seems to enjoy it, especially the being outside part. What will we do when winter rolls around again? Ugh!

Wabasis Park

We took Ava to swing on some swings and to climb on a play scape at Wabasis Park. She has been feeling under the weather for the past few days and we thought some fresh air would help. She had a good time!

My little "girl bug"

You might not be able to see it but Ava's outfit says, "Are you a lady bug or a girl bug?" We put this outfit on and she let me do piggies again!! We had fun out in the yard, posing for some cute pictures.

Trenton's birthday

Ava had a fun time at Trenton Miller's 1st birthday party; she LOVED all of his fun toys! We didn't get great photos of the birthday boy, but I will post some if his mom will send me them!! I think we have to buy her a car like this one, she had so much fun with it! Happy Birthday Trenton and thank you for sharing all of your fun stuff!!

Bode is 5!!

Happy Birthday, Bode! Everyone came outside to have an impromptu celebration with Bode--even Gunther!!

Ava and the hose

It was a hot one today and she had so much fun outside playing in her pool and with the hose. We had to hose off the driveway because it was SOO hot on your feet! Somewhere there is a picture of me with the hose from about 27 years ago that I will find and put here too...to see if there are any similarities!

Pretty big shoes...

Ava has some pretty big shoes to follow in if she decides to take after Daddy!

Pool time!

The best place to have a drink is definitely in the pool!

I decided to add warm water to Ava's "pool" and she thought it was my best idea ever! She stayed in the water for almost an hour! OK, so maybe "in the water" was also "on the table" but she was having fun! We followed pool time with snack time, what a sweet girl!

Where's Ava?

After walking around the zoo with Mason and Trenton Ava decided to play hide and seek. I think she is going to be pretty darn good at that game!

Happy 4th of July!!

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout...
...down came the rain and washed the spider out...
...out comes the sun and dries up all the rain... ...and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!!

Ava LOVES to play outside. It doesn't matter if we are on the driveway, in the grass, on the deck or at a store in the parking lot--she has a great time. At one point she had had enough and decided she could open the slider and let herself back inside. She even closed the door behind her!! What a good girl!!