1st camping trip!

We decided to go on our first annual Cooper Campout! We've been wanting to take Ava camping for awhile and ended up going to Butt Lake (yes, it's Butt...I don't know why they named it that because it's a beautiful lake and a great place to camp). We were joined by Mark's parents, and his brother and family. The kids had a blast during the day, but it was a little rough for Ava and Ben during the night. Ava woke up a few times, totally freaked out! She had never been in a tent before and did not know what was going on. She finally fell back asleep and slept in pretty late--thank goodness! We didn't know if we were going to spend one or two nights up there, but after the first night we decided we would call it good. We stayed until after dinner on the second night, but left to sleep in our own bed (and crib!). We'll try it again soon, we just need to ease into it... :)

The whole family- Ron brought his canoe and it was the hit of the trip!

Ava with Macy, practicing in the canoe.

I love this picture. Ava absolutely loves Macy, and Macy takes such good care of Ava.

Mark, getting ready to go out on the water to set his crawdad traps...he had borrowed some of these traps from a co-worker who told him Butt Lake was great for catching crawdads...he put a raw piece of bacon in one, and cat food in another for bait (I guess cat food is a well-known trick for catching crawdads...)

Ava, already enjoying the 'junk food' side of camping...

Yes, that's a snake! Raymond was sitting on this log only moments before...I was grossed out by it, but Ava kept wanting to touch it. Nice...

It was getting chilly...Macy and Ava hanging out by the campfire.

Helga, Raymond, and Ron-relaxing and getting some dinner started...

Almost sunset...

Little Ben, trying to throw that piece of wood in the water...

The water was freezing!! Mark jumped in to wash off anyway...

After all the bacon and catfood, and leaving the traps out overnight...this was the lone crawdad they caught. Mark had big plans for a 'Crawdad Fry', but when they only caught one, he threw it back. Oh well, better luck next time. :)

We went for a drive the second day, and it started pouring rain and hailing! It looked like snow on the road!

Swim Lessons!

Ava is done with swim lessons, for the second year! She had just turned one when we took them last year, and could do so much more this year. We signed up through the Chico Area Recreation District with a girlfriend of mine that has a 9 month old, Samantha (or Baby Mantha as Ava says). Ava really liked going to the pool this year and was picking up on the techniques. Most of the time she just wanted to play on the steps on the pool though. They taught us a lot of really cute songs to sing in the pool, and Ava likes to sing them in the bathtub too. Doesn't she look like her daddy in the picture above?

They were 12 kids signed up for lessons...they were all so cute!

Ava kicking, and splashing everywhere.

They told us to throw a toy out of arm's reach to get them to use their arms more...this was Ava trying to grab the fish that looked like Nemo.

I had to include this picture with Aly...texting like always. :) Good thing my sister and brother-in-law pay for unlimited texts!

Up, Up, and Away...

My mom, niece, and I took Ava to her first movie the other day. We went to see the Disney Pixar movie, Up. I didn't know how Ava would do but she made it through the whole thing! I've never given her popcorn before, mainly because I don't really like it...but she sure did! She ate almost the whole bag by herself! When she finished eating, she got up and said "All done!" I guess she thought once she was done eating, it was time to leave. She sat on Aly's lap for a bit and then moved over to mine. She didn't talk too much and seemed to really enjoy the movie. A few days later we were down at the Roseville Galleria and I took her into the Disney store. She made a beeline for the 'Up' merchandise. She remembered the dogs from the movie and wanted a stuffed animal Doug! I can't wait to take her to another movie!

Hmmmmm....what should I get??

I have my own booster chair and sippy cup--hand over the popcorn, mom!

This popcorn is delicious!

My mom had to, of course, take a picture of the sign out front.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava!

Ava turned 2 on May 3rd. We had planned to have an 'Elmo' party at my sister's house with a bounce house and some food. The Elmo invitations went out, and the Elmo cake had been ordered. The bounce house was ordered in advance, and the morning before the party, Mark and I went to Costco for all of the food and beverages...Unfortunately, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse and it ended up being cold and rainy for about 3 days. I made the executive decision on Saturday afternoon to move the party for Sunday indoors. I thought about using my sister's garage, but she and my brother-in-law were in the middle of remodeling their house and the garage was full of power tools and new tile. So, where else do you go when it's raining and you're expecting about 20 kids? Chuck E. Cheese's! They had an opening and I took it-the employees there were wonderful. I called everyone and told them of the change of location, and time, and most everyone was able to still make it. I didn't have to set up or clean up, which was great. The kids all had a fantastic time and Ava ended up still having a great 2nd birthday party! I tried, but some of the pictures are not in order...

Ava blowing out the candles with a little help from Mommy.

Ava, not so sure about dancing with that Chuck E. Cheese guy...

We still used her Elmo cake that I had ordered...it tasted so yummy!

Ava on one of the rides.

Yeah! Dancing to the music of Chuck E. Cheese and the band!

Happy Birthday, little munchkin! She LOVES her new playhouse! Thank you Grandma & Grandpa and Omi & Opa!

Isn't this the cutest playhouse?

All done with cake and ice cream...look at that face!

Forget the fork!

Yum!

Stay Tuned...

Wow- Has it really been since Easter since I last updated our blog?? I will update soon- including, Ava's 2nd bday, Ava's 1st camping trip, swim lessons, Ava's 1st trip to the movie theater, and more... get ready to read!

Happy Easter!

This year, the Easter festivities started on Friday afternoon with an egg hunt at Nana's. On Saturday, we went to Durham park for another Easter egg hunt. On Sunday, we spent Easter brunch at Raymond and Jenny's and then drove down to my parents' for Easter dinner. Three days and 4 Easter egg hunts later, Ava was wiped out! She had a blast and loved spending time with the whole family-her favorite thing to do! I learned that plastic eggs are much better for an almost-two year old to hunt for, as opposed to hard boiled eggs. Ava tried to "open" some of the hard boiled eggs that she found and stuck her fingers right through them! She thought there was candy inside those too...

She loved the bunnies!

See the scratched up chin? She fell off our neighbor's porch the night before and cut her lip and her chin-great timing!

My mom's table, set for Easter dinner.

Ava and Gramma laughing at the egg and the chick.

Ava was heading out--check out her overflowing Easter basket!

Takin' a break from finding eggs.

Drew and Emma were helping Ava find Easter eggs-they were so helpful and Ava absolutely loves them!

At Raymond and Jenny's finding eggs. Last year at Easter, she wasn't quite walking and didn't get the whole idea of finding eggs...this year, she was on a mission! She was running everywhere trying to find every single egg-I'm going to need a bigger basket next year!

The fam, at Durham park. Ava already had her mouth full of chocolate...

At Nana's, satisfied with her one egg that had jelly beans in it.

The bunny hutch that Aly and Ava made-Ava tried to eat everything the whole time...

Aly and Ava-having fun!

Cutie Pie

I think this is currently my favorite picture of Ava. We went down to my parents' this weekend and my mom took this while Ava was reading her Elmo book. Mark and I went to dinner with our friends, Trevor and Rhiana, while my parents watched Ava. They decided to take her to John's Incredible Pizza Co. I've never been there, but have heard it described as Chuck E. Cheese's multiplied by 1000!! They have toys, rides, and a pizza buffet. My mom said that when they walked in the door and Ava saw all of the games/rides she looked over at my parents and said "Wow". She had a blast! My mom and John met some other friends there, and Ava went on some of the rides with their daughter, Emma. I don't know who was more exhausted when the evening was over, Ava or my parents! When Mark and I got back, Ava was sound asleep. She had such a good time with Gramma and Grampa!! Thanks Mom and John! :)

Here Comes Trouble!!

This afternoon, Ava was playing at my in-laws' and found a sprinkler that was on out back...she was just standing there, clothes and all, getting soaked!! I have no idea what she was thinking, but she thought it was pretty funny. Notice her shirt says "Here Comes Trouble"...how true!!

Kite Day

Every year, Chico has its annual 'Kite Day'. We never used to go before we had Ava, but we've gone two years in a row now. It was super windy that day and nearly impossible to fly a kite. I let Ava pick her kite out and she wanted a Barbie kite. I didn't think she even knew who Barbie was, but what do I know?? We got Barbie up in the air for awhile, but the wind was so strong, the kite kept doing nose-dives into the ground. People were dodging kites left and right. Ava thought it was neat for a few mintues, then wanted to move on. They have a playground and she was much more interested in going down the slides and playing on the swings. We had a good time, but I hope next year isn't so windy.

Going to explore with Opa.

I found her hat in her diaper bag-she actually wore it, which is surprising!

Mark, flying the Barbie kite :) What a good Dad!

Barbie, two minutes before she came crashing down.

Omi and Ava, trying not to blow away.