SPRINKLERS!

One of Ava's favorite pasttimes is playing in the sprinklers. I'll have to look up old pics, but I think I have captured every year. Each year it gets more and more intense. She was running, jumping, leaping, falling, splashing...you name it.

I can't believe the hot weather is here already. On this particular day in May, it was already 93 degrees.

Super Sibling Prep Class

She's One in a Million

Our First Few Days in Frisco

There is definitely not a shortage of kid-friendly things to do here. Each week is a new adventure as we find our way around, meet new people, discover new areas and parks, and explore our new surroundings. We are both loving it.

A popular request from Ava is just to be able to go walk around the mall because, much to our surprise, there is a carousel! She thought that was just the neatest thing.

We have also attended a puppet show, "The Tortoise and the Hare" along with "The Princess and the Pea".

The library, which is in Frisco square by "downtown Frisco" is another frequent stop on our weekly outings. Not only is it beautiful, they provide story time (3x a week) and a great kids area. When we went to our first storytime, I think we were both a little overwhelmed. It's not like our typical, quaint little local library storytime. It's get your ticket before they run out and listen to the librarians while they are on their microphones! Yes, they have microphones attached! Ava really enjoys it and it's our usual Friday outing. It's also neat to see how she understands borrowing books and tells me what she wants to find and check out the next week. We've done everything from her new favorite, "Pinkalicious" and "Fancy Nancy" to books on being a big sister, to kitty cats and doggies.

Organizing Old Pictures-Ava's 3rd BirthDAY

We woke up singing "Happy Birthday" to our birthday girl with surprise balloons all over the living room floor (thanks for the idea Parents mag). We wanted to do bedroom floor, but since she is up to potty most nights, we didn't want her to trip or see them early. She loved it!

Her presents included a new big girl scooter, some really neat blocks and a gardening set. I love the picture of her digging in the dirt with a leotard and tutu on...typical Aves.

Happy 3rd Birthday....again...my baby girl!

Organizing Old Pictures-Park Day

I'm going through my point and shoot and found these gems from a day back in February at the park. It was such a beautiful day that day and true to Texas weather, it snowed the very next day.

These pictures make me smile.

Silly Sayings

As we were taking a walk to the park last week....

Ava: "What's that?"

Mommy: "It looks like someone's garden statue."

Ava: "No, I think it's an angel"

Mommy: "Oh, I see the wings. You're right."

Ava: "That's probably God's girlfriend".

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While swinging the other day....

Ava: "I'm going so high, I'm going to kick the clouds!"

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At the grocery store today....

Ava: "Mom, I appreciate it if we could get this cereal"

Whoa, Nelly!

Naps are so few and far between these days, that I'll let my child sleep on the stairs if that gets her some zzzzz's.

Bad mommy.

In my defense, I had no idea that she was there until about 30 minutes before she woke up.

After typing that out, I'm not sure it makes it any better, lol.

Quiet Rainy Day Puddle Play

Easter!

This year's Easter was a bit chaotic (although Ava wouldn't have known it) since we had just moved the day before into our new home, but it was sure something special to wake up our first morning in our new home and see that the Easter bunny had visited! Despite the spacey look, Ava was THRILLED! So thrilled, in fact, that she slept all night in her own room, in her own bed, in her new house.

The Easter bunny was kind, as usual, and left a basket filled with a jump rope, a recorder (flute), a paint-your-own-tea-set, and some gummy bears and jelly beans. Ava enjoyed having jelly beans for the first time.

We did our annual egg hunt in another location this year. The weekend prior to Easter, we hunted eggs at Gigi and Poppy's church. It was a brisk, early morning (hence the hat that Aves insisted on wearing), but rewarding no doubt. When Ava discovered the eggs had something special inside (gasp!), she was on a roll! She LOVED the Easter bunny this year. This was actually her second time seeing him/her/it this year. The first time, we were at the mall and she raced over, on her own terms, and sat and chatted with the bunny.

Daddy and Ava were strategizing on how to get the best and most eggs. Mommy and Daddy are both SKILLED Easter egg hunters, so we have a lot of inside tips to offer.

Daddy's tip: run to the far edge, away from the crowd of kids to collect the outside eggs first, while the others are fighting for the inside eggs.

WAIT! COME BACK!

Actually, she understood and was successful! I did think she was going to go past the roped area, though, which made me laugh.

Disclaimer: We aren't really that serious about "the hunt", just one of our favorite pasttimes as children (and adults) :)

Busy bee, collecting those egss.

So proud of her loot and her new fuzzy bunny, Abby.

Ready to eat the special treats.

This had to be its own post...

Just doing her prenatal yoga. She'll actually ask to do it, it's too funny!

Recap on our last days in Austin

As I'm looking through the last couple months pics, I see some that I never got around to posting. We had a wild winter, weather-wise, in Texas and saw snow on a few occasions. We built our first snowman too! So I had to include those in this long-pictured-post, that would have normally been saved for its' own post, instead I'm just combining a lot of pictures.

Ava is just being Ava in these pics and I just adore her quirky, creative style. Here she is reading with daddy on top of mattresses she slept on for a few weeks (with sheets of course), sporting a cowgirl hat, her brothers bib and "underwear" like daddy.

We had the pleasure of hanging out with our long-time playgroup friends before we left. We still talk about you girls DAILY.

Posing in her last dance class with Miss Adele.

Her first snowman with lemon eyes and a carrot nose.

Dancing with Daddy all fancy.
Smiling in the snow.
Going grocery shopping and being silly.

Class picture from school.
Helping daddy on the ladder before the move.
What FUN times we had in Austin! As we get acclimated to our new home, we find ourselves talking about places, people, and memories that we shared with Ava for her first 3 years in Austin. She loves talking about "Austin, Texas", but is really enjoying her time here in Frisco so much also. She is a trooper, I tell ya, and makes the most of her days just filling all of us with SUCH JOY!