July 31, 2008

Lagoon 2008

A few weeks ago Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Maddie, and I went to Lagoon Amusement Park for my Daddy's summer work party. Here's a picture of me and Daddy waiting in line to get on the train.

We had to wait in line for a long time.

Then once we boarded the train it still took forever before it finally started. Daddy shared his beef jerky with me to help pass the time.

I had such a fun time once we got going. There were lots of wild animals to see along the way.

Next we went on the carousel.

I thought it was really cool how all the horses were going up and down.

Then I noticed my horse was going up and down too!

Later on that day I saw the coolest ride yet: OdySea. I was completely mesmerized with watching the ride while we waited in line.

After waiting in line forever, it was finally our turn to get on. At first I was a bit nervous and was holding on tightly.

But Daddy said it was more fun if you held your hands up in the air. So I decided to give it a try...

...but I got too scared. Then I got all wet, which quite startled me.

By the time the ride was over, my hair was ruined!

But it was still a fun day!

July 24, 2008

Outdoor Child

I remember as a child my mom always trying to get me to go out and play. I always wanted to stay indoors—playing video games, watching TV, reading books, coloring, etc. Ava couldn't be more different.

While her dad was (to his mother's chagrin) hopelessly an indoor child, Ava is without a doubt an outside child. She always wants to be outside. She cries when you make her come in.

Ava will often bring her shoes over to me—this is her way of saying, "let's go outside." She gets pretty upset if you play dumb, which I often try to do (once an indoor kid, always an indoor kid I suppose).

Despite my reluctance, I really do like taking Ava outside. If for no other reason than to see how excited she gets. The kid simply goes berserk over being outside. She thinks the wind is flirting with her. She laughs when dogs bark menacingly at her. And she never tires of marking her territory with her sidewalk chalk.

I'll often keep myself busy by pulling weeds while she runs around in the backyard. She'll sometimes take notice of what I'm doing and bring me little handfuls of grass she has diligently pulled up.

Another of Ava's favorite outdoor activities is pointing at ants. Thankfully she's hasn't yet tried to pick them up. Instead she laughs hysterically at them as though they're crawling around on the ground purely for her entertainment.

Who knows, maybe some of Ava's love for the outdoors will eventually rub off on her old man. At the very least, I suppose I finally have someone to go camping with (no offense Krista, but I think you're even less of an outdoorsman than I am).

July 23, 2008

Hooray for Nursery

At our church, there is a class especially for young children called Nursery. Parents can drop their children off at Nursery, allowing the parents to attend their Sunday School classes while someone else watches all the little children. Children have to be 18-months before they are admitted (mainly for safety reasons, but I think also for the sanity of the Nursery teachers). Ava is a big fan of Nursery. These pictures were taken a few Sundays ago before leaving to go to church.

Nursery is a great deal for all involved. It's great for mom and dad because let's face it, how much attention can you really pay during Sunday School if you're trying to entertain an 18-month old? And it's great for the kids because a room full of toys and snacks sure beats having to sit on mom or dad's lap for an hour and a half. Ava's favorite part of Nursery is the kitchen set.

So as you might imagine, most parents are chomping at the bit for their kids to turn 18-months old so that they can drop them off at Nursery. As it turns out, however, Ava got early admission. This is because around the time Ava turned one, Krista was called on to be one of the Nursery teachers. It was pretty funny at the time because Ava was still crawling, while all the other kids were of course walking. Ava would chase after the other kids like a little puppy as they ran around the room. In a way it was sort of sad to watch because she could never quite keep up. However, she never seemed to mind one bit. To her it was all a game.

A few weeks ago Krista was relieved of her Nursery teacher duties (they try to cycle through teachers on a regular basis since watching 15 toddlers tends to burn people out pretty quickly). With Krista no longer being Ava's Nursery teacher, we were curious to see if she'd willingly go, or if she'd scream bloody murder as many of the other younger children do when dropped off.

So came the first Sunday with Krista no longer as the Nursery teacher. We waited with bated breath as we dropped her off, expecting her to cry, throw a tantrum, or at least cling pleadingly to our legs. Much to our surprise, however, Ava ran straight for the kitchen set and never looked back. It's now been several weeks and each Sunday it's the same thing. The kid just loves Nursery and couldn't possibly care less about mom and dad disappearing for 90 minutes. We're still not sure if we should be happy or sad.

July 15, 2008

Favorite Things

One of Ava's favorite things to do is to play with her stuffed animals.

Lily Mae may get most of attention on this blog, but in reality Ava has a lot of stuffed animal friends.

Nala started out as her favorite, but was eventually replaced by her dalmatian puppy. Lately, however, she's been loving her bunnies.

Among Ava's other favorite things are her binkies. Here she is doing "blast-off" (the Little Einsteins is her favorite show).

But why have one binky when you can have three?

Ava's favorite place to be in her room is sitting in her rocking chair.

Playing outside is also one of her favorite things, if not her most favorite things. But we'll save those pictures for another post.

July 7, 2008