Visitin' with Nana

Seems like since I went back to work full time, Ava has been able to spend lots of special time with our sweet and wonderful family. Most recently we spent a couple days with Nana while I attended a mandatory orientation for my new company.


For this trip we traveled to Pelham, AL...{Super sorry to my Birmingham and Huntsville friends, wasn't able to sneak in any visits}. Thanks to "Carmen" the Garmin, it was very easy to find a playground. Of course, all we had was an address so we weren't sure what we would find when we arrived...but we were blessed to find an AMAZING playground.

Gettin' Pretty toes and fingers

More lost memories from the summer...

Brooke giving Ava a mani and pedi

Swimmie Wings

From the lost archives of summer memories...

"I fimmin'"...or as we say..."I go swimming".

Ava is a little fish. I can't keep her out of the water. We go to the pool every chance we get and she has learned how to "swim" so quickly...and she's fearless! We got a pair of swim wings and she is so comfortable in them. She even jumps in the water by herself! Her new favorite thing is to go under water. I'm not even real sure she can hold her breath yet - but she has survived thus far so she must not have inhaled too much water :)

The Big Girl Room

No more "baby" for us...Ava's crib is gone and the room rearranged to fit the beautiful little lady she is growing into. We bought her a new bed spread *that she helped pick out*. She was instantly excited. She held it the rest the time we were shopping and kept saying "this is my big girl bed". Too smart for words...

Mommy's working...Daddy's playing

I had to work on Labor Day so Ava spent the day with her grandparents and Daddy at the Japanese Festival.

















They had a display of drums. Grandpa helped Ava use the drumstick very gently and play some music! She is very focused...

Our Little Farmer

Ava loves to help her Pawpaw...she just follows him around on the "farm"


She LOVES that tractor. It's always a highlight of her visit.

And, this time...she even got to DRIVE it...what an excited girl we had!






Another favorite is to go down the road to my cousin's house to feed the chickens and goats. She listens to her Pawpaw as he tells her all about the animals and how to take care of them. Who knew chickens like lettuce?

Another visit to the "Farm"

We took a little trip down to the south...spent a week with Nana & Pawpaw. We lovingly call it the farm, although - to most folks its just a country place with some land, a garden, and a barn. Whatever you call it, it's always such a great feeling to be "home".

Playing outside with the dogs. My cousin's dog, Wrangler (aka Reinder in Ava speak) is always right with us. He doesn't want to miss out on any lovin'. Ava loves to throw the ball, Lily of course likes to chase it. I just know that they are well on their way to becoming best friends.




Ava and her cousin Brooke.




She really loves to play Mommy. I hope that she sees only the best mothering from me :) I think I will hide my head in my hands when I observe her being a "cranky" Mommy!

Look at that fabulous "foot skill"




Playing with Pawpaw before bedtime... I'm sure there is a warning label on this storage tub that reads something like "...do not lift children overhead in open containers..." BUT, it sure looks like fun to me :)