Ava's 3rd Birthday

Well, Ava celebrated her 3rd birthday on the 21st. Can you believe it? I can't. The past twelve months really flew by and can be summed up in one sentence: "I do it myself, mommy." Yes, Ava is quite an independent little girl. She does almost everything by herself. We are still working on potty training but when she decides to use the toilet, she wants to do it herself.
Ava has grown and learned so much this past year. She loves to run and jump and play and do whatever her big brother is doing. She loves to talk on the phone and try on shoes (what can I say, she is a girl). Ava absolutely loves all kinds of animals but she is particular to cats. Her favorite movies right now include Lion King 1 & 2 and Finding Nemo. She loves yogurt, cheese, hot dogs, and chocolate. Her favorite color is pink (I think) and she says green but I think that's because it's Alex's favorite color. :) Ava has been a joy in our lives and is too cute for words. We love her dearly! Happy Birthday, Peanut!

1st Day of 1st

It is hard to believe that Alex started the first grade this week. The summer has flown by as well as the last 6 years! Alex was excited about going back to school and I'm excited for him as he gets to learn new things and make new friends. However, I did get a little teary eyed as he got on the bus the first morning (I'm predicting this will be a yearly occurrence), feeling sad and happy at the same time...

When he got off the bus that afternoon, Alex reported that he had a great day and I'm glad that the school year is off to a good start!

East Coast Road Trip

Well, we finally did it. After months of talking about it, Shane and I packed up the kids and the car and drove out to the east coast. We stopped in Ohio overnight and the next morning went over to Kirtland and literally took a picture of the temple and left. Maybe next time we will be able to visit there a little longer. We got into Connecticut that night and the next day we met up with our friends Matt and Lora and their 2 girls, Gracie and Lizzie. The guys spent the day playing golf and Lora and I took the kids to Stepping Stones Children's Museum. The kids had a great time playing with all the neat things in the museum and afterwards, we all had dinner at my favorite pizza place...Paradise Pizza. Yum!
A couple days later, Shane and I took the kids to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. Alex and Ava loved seeing all the animals and they especially enjoyed petting the sting rays. That evening my step-mother threw a little party for Ava since her birthday was coming up and we got to visit with some family.
We left the next morning and after a quick stop to visit my grandmother in Queens, we were on our way to Maryland/Delaware. What should have been a 4 1/2 hour drive wound up to be a wee bit longer as our GPS took us to the tip of NJ and wanted us to get on a ferry to Delaware! Maybe next time it will take us to the airport and have us get on a plane! Needless to say we were not thrilled at having to drive back around but we made it to Shane's uncle's house.
We spent the next 2 days at the beach and the kids (and Shane) had a blast playing in the water. Alex also got a fishing lesson from his great-uncle Mike and was able to drive his boat. We went to the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD and the kids got to play some games and go on a few rides. When we left for home that Friday, we were all a little pooped out and couldn't wait to sleep in our own beds. However, we had a wonderful trip and enjoyed visiting with family and friends, eating ourselves silly (mmmm, Friendly's), and just spending time with each other.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Canada

Well, we made what is starting to be our annual trip to Canada to visit my mom and step-dad. They had a bunch of fun things planned for the kids. We went to the zoo, train museum, parc safari, and the water park. Alex and Ava had a great time and enjoyed their stay with "Pau Pau and Goong Goong."

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Swim Time!

For the month of June I had the kids enrolled in swimming lessons. This was Ava's first year and since she wasn't yet 3, I had to take the class with her. We had a lot of fun together and she and Alex absolutely love being in the water. Alex did great in his swimming class as well. He was able to swim the whole length of the pool on his own and advanced to the next level!

A Trip to the Zoo

Alex and Ava love animals. Maybe it's because they act like a couple of monkeys themselves. Anyway, we went up to Chicago last week and visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. Actually, Alex had to see an allergist that day and since he gets a little nervous going to the doctor's, I thought a trip to the zoo afterward would be a fun thing for him to look forward to. It also helped that both places were only 5 minutes away from each other.
I last took Alex to this zoo 5 years earlier, for his first birthday. On that visit we didn't see many animals as he was more interested in chasing the pigeons. This time, however, we saw just about every animal there. The kids had a great time, though Ava was a little sad that she couldn't pet the giraffe. : )

If a tree could talk...

This was the name of Alex's school play and appropriately enough, he played a tree. It was a cute little play not only about trees but about the environment in general. Although he was nervous a few days before the play, Alex did a great job and nailed his line.

If a tree could talk what would it say?

"Don't chop me down, just walk away!"