A Bit of Gardening

We've had to remove some our landscaping from last year....because the heat/cold of the past year killed it. So we had a bit of a hole to the right of the front door that needed something. So Darren thought it would be nice for Ava to plant a flower garden there.

As I watched them plant the pretty mostly pink flowers, I saw this guy:
Hello Mr. Stick Bug! Ava thought he was kind of neat since he looked just like a stick. Here are Darren and Ava planting the flowers...a good temporary fix and Ava was excited b/c now she has something to water!

New Clubs

After work today, Darren came home with a big surprise for Ava -- golf clubs that were her size! And a bag of pink tees (which she loved). He decided she needed her own set and since she is now potty trained he decided it would be a nice reward. So we headed out to the driving range again to practice.

Darren & Ava getting ready to hit some balls.

Ava swinging hard!

Me, showing you the proper golf attire. Ha! Seriously we left the house like 5 minutes after Darren got home. I only like to putt anyways. Been thinking we need to hit up the Peter Pan putt putt golf course sometime soon.

Darren being silly with Ava's clubs.

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day this year, Ava gave Darren a pair of golf shoes and a funny shirt (it says Prague - Czech it out..very appropriate for our family).

So Darren decided it would be fun to go to the driving range and test out the shoes. His day, his choice.

Ava & Darren stretching prior to golfing.

More stretches.

And more...don't want to hurt yourself..ha!

Darren helping Ava use his enomous clubs (for her at least) to hit the ball.

Ava had a lot of fun and especially enjoyed playing in the nearby sand pit. She also really likes playing with golf tees and found a red one that she insisted Darren keep.

Toy Story 3

We took Ava to see Toy Story 3 with my mom today. She got all decked out in her TS shirt as well as her new TS socks (they have the green army men on them). She really like the movie (minus the one scary part) and I really liked it too (minus the part at the end that made me cry like a baby--pathetic!). We love going to see movies with Ava...too much fun!

More Animal Issues

So let's see. We've had an armadillo, a raccoon, a rat, a bunch of baby rats, and a fox come into our yard. What next?

Today we saw this beautiful cardinal hanging outside on our fence and in our tree.

I took Ava outside to see it and this bird was acting a bit odd. It kept talking to us and would move around quickly from tree branch to fence to tree branch etc. I could not figure out what was going on until Ava pointed out a tiny baby bird hanging out under the grill.

I hurried her inside b/c 1) I was not sure if the baby bird was alive 2) At this point the cardinal decided to sweep through the covered part of our patio and flew really close to me & Ava and 3) Zaphod was outside, as he is permanently, and was only 2 feet away from the baby bird. Minding his own business but I was worried that the big cardinal would somehow injure him in an effort to get to her baby.

So I ran back in and got Darren who went to check and without touching the baby assessed that it was alive. We brought Zaphod in the house temporarily and watched the birds. Eventually the baby got up and we are guessing it was just learning to fly. Kind of cool but I really would prefer it if the animals would do this elsewhere. I can do without divebombing cardinals.

Ford

I've been delaying this post for a long time. Ford is gone. He is missing and has been missing for several weeks now. I thought for sure he would come back or was hiding under the deck but he has vanished. I've posted signs, used a pet finding service (that calls your neighbors) and still nothing.

I feel really bad/sad/upset and I lack any closure on this situation whatsoever. What happened is this. After months of my other cat, Zaphod, peeing in the house (and outside the litter box), I decided to put Z outside. I was going to leave Ford inside but the 1st night, Ford would not stop meowing loudly and I thought he might retaliate against me for putting his "brother" outside (he's done that in the past). So I put him out as well.

The next morning I could not find him. I called for him, looked around and could not find him. When D got home, I had him look too and he found him hiding way under the deck (where you can not really see and have to lay in the dirt with a flashlight). Crisis averted.

A week or so later, the cats were doing fine outside but then Ford was gone again. We had seen him one day and not the next. We figured he was under the deck. A few days later (this was Memorial Day weekend) we really decided we had not seen him and looked under the deck and everywhere but he was gone.

So sad. I feel guilty about it and cannot believe that my first "child" is gone forever. He was a great cat, similar to a dog in that he loved having his belly rubbed, loved licking you with his tongue and liked to play games. I can only hope that, him being a friendly cat, someone found him without a collar and took him in. I just refuse to think about the alternative.

Anyways, we really did not tell Ava about what happened. When she first asked it was in the first few days and we told her that Ford "went exploring." A week or two later, when we figured out he would not be coming back, I caught Ava blowing in a big bead on a plastic necklace. I asked her what she was doing and she said "blowing my whistle. It calls Ford back from his adventures."

I really truly hope Ford is off having an adventure and I will never forget him. He, as I said before, is a great cat and will be missed. At least I don't have to worry about Zaphod. He will never run off as he enjoys hiding beneath the bbq pit. But I know he (as well as Smokey, Ava, me & Darren) all miss Ford.

Potty Time! Yeah!

It's official! Ava is fully potty trained. I'm talking no pullups, no diapers, no accidents! That includes naptime and nighttime people. Time to celebrate!! (Which we will as we promised Ava a potty party -- nothing big but a special outing to Chick-fil-a with friends).

She has been so good at the peeing in the potty for months but it was not until a few weeks ago that we mastered the rest. Yeah! A little over 3, not too bad.

Guess we can have another kid now right? Just never wanted 2 in diapers. Ha ha ha. (Darren very well might be freaking out now reading that. Am I right?) Lol.

Pool Fun

We invited Ava's friend Sienna (and Trey and my friend Jen) over today to have some fun in the little pool in the backyard. The girls had a blast!

They had splash fights (quite surprised by this since Ava hates getting water in her face but I guess swim lessons have helped somewhat?).
Sienna showed us how to really get wet!

Ava showed me she really can wash her hair (that was a struggle for some months but I can now say we are making some head way there -- 2 words: sticker chart).

And Trey enjoyed playing in the big red car as to avoid all that crazy splashing. He's so cute. I hope if I have a 2nd kid they are half as easy going as Trey is. Seriously.

After all that swimming/splashing, Ava & Sienna sat down, in sunglasses, to eat lunch. Silly girls.

Sprinkler Time

While I was working on painting things in the garage, Darren busted out the sprinkler Ava got for her birthday. She had a blast!

Ducking under the stream of water...

Me playing with Ava in order to cool off (please excuse my ill-fitting disgusting "work" clothes)

And me showing Ava how to jump over the sprinkler...she loved this. I think it looks like I am about to do a cartwheel but really I just jumped. It was a great way to cool off!

Bowling

Today we headed down to Dart Bowl for our friend, Dara's 30th birthday party. It was a family event so we all brought our kids along. There were 4 preschoolers and 2 babies so it was a great time for all.

It was Ava's 1st time bowling and she loved it. Darren and I are super excited because that means we can take her bowling more often. Personally, I can't wait until she can use an 8 lb ball so she can use my old bowling ball...one of the best gifts I ever got...only wished it were heavier so I could still use it.

Darren showing Ava where to throw the ball.

Watching her ball bounce off the bumpers and head to the pins. I actually think 2 balls might be going since one was stuck...that happened a lot on the kid lane that night.

Me & my "mom" friends (who I am so happy I have met and who I spend 95% of my weekday time), Jen & Dara

Ava & Sydnee high fiving one of the guys. (Side note here: Ava recently has been freaked out by men in general so we were super surprised to see her high-fiving guys at the bowling alley. I'm guessing it's because she was having so much fun)

Sydnee & Ava giving Dara major birthday hugs!

Ava's Flowers

Ava & Darren planted some flowers awhile back and they are finally starting to bloom. Ava has been really good about watering them and was really looking forward to when her seeds would grow. She loves reading Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed" and I think it has influenced her to plant a little flower garden.

Here she is with her blooming flowers. And here is the same plant 3 days later.

Hula Hoop

Me-Mommy surprised Ava at lunch today with a brand new hula hoop (or as Ava calls it, Hoop a Loop --think that might actually be the generic name and Hula Hoop the brand name but not sure.).

Anyways, she loves it and had a blast trying to get it to work. And yes she changed outfits before trying it out. We probably go through 3-4 outfit changes a day now.

Swim Lessons...Again!

Ava started swim lessons again and this time with a female teacher, Miss Laura. Apparently that was all it took to get her in the water and learning to swim. Thank goodness!

Here she is playing with her class and the toys before class started.

Jumping in!

And waiting her turn.

And making a sweet face at me as she crosses the pool.

"Dance Party"

So here are just a few of the 200 photos or so I took at Blayne's wedding...aka the "Fancy Dance Party". Sadly the majority of my photos were of the kids dancing (what can I say? they were entertaining) but I did get a few others of everyone dancing.

Me & Ava zooming around the room.

The family (minus me) doing the Cotton Eyed Joe.

Ava learning the Macarena from Ashley.

A little boy teaching Ava how to really dance.

And finally after all that dancing, Ava was pooped. She conked out on the ride home and did not even wake up on the elevator ride up to the room.

We had so much fun at the wedding and the kids were hilarious dancing and running around and playing "Duck, duck, goose" with other kids. They played/danced for about 6 hours so that is just nuts! Great way to spend a Saturday.

Welcome to Aggieland

We packed up and headed to Bryan/College Station this weekend for cousin Blayne's wedding. We decided to head down a day early and visit all of Darren's old haunts as well as get in some pool time with Ava at the hotel. I, of course, insisted on documenting Darren & Ava's trip to Aggieland.

At the Chicken Oil Company where we ate yummy food.
Under the big ring statue on campus (pretty cool really).

Again with the ring...

And posing with an A&M sign.

We did not get to walk around campus as much as I thought we did, since it was getting late and Ava had had a 30 min nap which needless to say was just not enough for her that day. But we did get to see some of it and it was really beautiful. Had changed a lot since the last time I was there (many years ago) but I guess that is to be expected. It did make me want to check out the UT campus sometime as I have not been down there in forever!