Silliness

Honestly I don't remember what we were doing this day exactly, but thought I would post a picture of me & Ava.  Photos of me are rare these days so enjoy!

I do know I was tickling her or something.  I think that is obvious from the photo.

Last Day

Hey! Look at that!  The last day and I finally have some photos of Granny, Pops & the pool....well technically Darren took these but whatever.  Proof that they were on vacation with us and that we did in fact use the pool.

Ava loved swimming with G&P.

 Ryan took another short dip in the pool (I mean I had to use all the swimsuits people had bought for him, right?)

 And Ian jumping in the pool!

Like I said, we had a great time on vacation and can't wait for the next big family one in 2 years.  Thanks to Rudy & Jeanie for getting the awesome beach house and watching the kiddos (esp Ryan) from time to time...very nice!

Kite Flying

We got Ava a brand new Barbie kite to use on the beach and we kept forgetting to take it down there.  Finally after she reminded us a million times we took it down & flew it.  Ava loved it.

 And here's an end of the day shot of Ryan & Ava (loving her sunscreen in the hair look--she sported it for most of the trip - but no one got burned!)

Another Day in Padre

Good morning cousins...

 Love the below pic of Ian...he's making a face at Ryan and I just think it is so cute.  You expect little girls to mimic Mommy & Daddy by making silly faces at babies but I was not really think Ian would do that kind of thing.  It was really adorable.

 Ava near our drip castle...my favorite kind of sandcastle to make. I think I could spend hours down there building sandcastles..so relaxing and enjoyable.  See?  I should live near a beach.

 And now, Ava's favorite part..destroying the castle!

 Smushing it...

 Jumping off it...

 Sliding down it.

We were enjoying the photo shoot and then this: "I'm done!"  or at least that is what her face is telling me.  Or was it her yelling at me to stop?  Ha!  I do get a little picture happy. 

And she's back...crazy girl!

 Another castle, this time with a moat...Ava kept trying to destroy my moat as I was building it until I told her to wait and then she could demolish the whole thing.  As you can see, she enjoyed walking around in my little moat.

 Pure joy!

 Self portrait of me & Ava.

 Later that day, we put Ryan in the pool to swim for the first time.  He enjoyed it to some extent...will be better when he is a little older and when we have a float for him.  This is one of the rare pool photos I took.  Just like the lack of adult pics, there is a lack of pool pics too.  Really bad about taking photos this time around...maybe it's just harder now that I have 2 kids?  Because whenever it was just me & one kid, I had my camera out. 

Games

So when we were actually at the beach house (which really was a good portion of time), the kids played lots of games.  I think between the whole family, we brought enough games, crafts, activities etc.  for several weeks.

Ava & Ian playing chess.  I know Ava doesn't really know how to play and after watching Ian, he has some idea but not sure he knows the exact rules either.  Hard to help out when you yourself only have a foggy recollection of how to play.  But they had fun playing by their rules anyways.

 Donna, Emily & Ava playing the fish game.  It is a fun game and for ages 4 and up but it is actually harder than I would have thought.

 A rare picture that I am in!  (Of course in my pajamas but whatever).  Think Ava had hopped on me while I was playing with Ryan in order to play with my hair but then decided to bounce on me instead.

 Sweet Ryan.

Beach

Here are some photos from a family beach day.

Darren and Ava testing the water out.

 Mike & Emily, Donna & Ian, Darren & Ava all playing in the waves.

 Burying herself in sand.

 Sweet Emily ready for some castle building.

 Action shots of Ava:

 And Ryan...playing with Pops (and his super tan fisherman hands) on his blanket back at the house.  Side note here: as I go through these pics I realize that I barely have any photos of the adults...surprised? Not really but still kind of sad.  Need to work on that!

Cousins

Photos of the kids lounging around the beach house (they also had a dance party that day but for some reason I did not get a single good shot).  It was really fun to see how well they all got along (not that they usually don't but they really had a lot of fun with one another on this trip).  Ava used to just tag along with Ian everywhere he went but now there are times when she actually wants to play with Emily. Thing I miss most is hearing Ava say every morning "Emmy!  Come play this with me!" 

 Somehow I never could get all 4 in a photo...but 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.



Vacation - In Instagrams

We headed down to South Padre Island for a week long vacation with Darren's family (Rudy, Jeanie, Donna, Mike, Ian & Emily).  Here is a broad overview of the vacation based on Instagrams I took on my phone.

The car packed to capacity (good thing we weren't taking Smokey!).  Every baby thing & beach toy imaginable was in there. 

 Ava playing with sticker dolls on the way...(that's Darren's old baseball jersey she's wearing)

 Constellation Street (where the house we rented was located)

 The beach house

 and the beach!

 Darren's shadow in the sand

 Me & D

 Darren at the Wanna Wanna bar on the beach (some good people watching there)

 A sampler of beers at South Padre Brewing Co.  These are D's..I had to lay off after one beer since I still get up with Ryan at night.

 Argggggh!  Ava in her pirate hat at lunch on Pier 19...can't remember the name of the restaurant but the kids loved the hats and their food came in pirate ships.

 Ryan riding around while doing some souvenir shopping.

This of course, is not an accurate depiction of our trip since it includes no pictures of anyone outside our immediate family and also does not show any of the playtime at the beach, house or pool but I did take photos with my real camera so those are coming in the next couple of posts. 

Great trip!  Makes me wish I lived closer to a good beach as the kids and adults all had a blast. Can't wait to go back to the beach again when Ryan is older..poor guy did not even get to see the beach (too hot and he's too young) but he did get to try out the pool.

Say Cheese!

I Heart Coos

Another video from a few weeks back..think Ryan was 11 weeks old then...he is now 3 months old (13 weeks if you're counting with me).  He is all about the cooing these days.  We have lengthy "conversations" these days.  Loving the coos.  And he is on the verge of full on laughing too.  I get a chuckle every now and then and I know it's only a matter of time before he really breaks out.  Can't wait!

Tai Chi & Karate

This video is also from a few weeks back (same day as the others actually).  Ava wanted me to take this video.  Then she proceeded to talk about different Tai Chi positions and to show me her version of Karate.  I asked her later where she learned Tai Chi (because I had no clue where she heard about that) and she told me she learned it from Little Bill (a TV show).  Then I remembered that I had seen that.  She learns a lot from TV...maybe too much.  Maybe I've said that before.

She talks about 2 positions - "pet the high horse" and "wave hands like clouds."  Pretty sure those are not the technical terms.

Imagination

The following videos are from a few weeks back.  Ava & I were hanging around and she was making a bus or train or fort or something out of the couch cushions (can't remember exactly as it changes every time) and she starting talking about her imaginary friend, Hearty.  So I grabbed the video camera to document it because I am always amazed at what a good imagination she has and the stories she comes up with.  Typical of a lot of 4 year olds I would think.   I can't seem to do this myself anymore...she just goes and goes.  And I love her facial expressions when she tells these stories.  Priceless.

Mr. Pouty Face

Happy 4th of July