Thursday, August 18, 2011

Stopping to smell the roses.

I can't carry my camera with me everywhere.  But there are moments when we've embarked on some spontaneous adventure, and I'd give anything to have taken the extra minute to pick it up.  This morning was one of those times.  I was rushing around trying to get us out the door to start our day, when Ava, using her sweetest Mommy-may-I voice, asked for a ride in the wagon.  And since one of my favorite things about being a stay-at-home mom is the frequent ability to alter our plans at a moment’s notice, I agreed that a ride in the wagon was a fantastic idea.  For the next 20 minutes we circled our block, quietly chasing a bunny until he disappeared into a neighbor’s hedges, chatting with a dog (even though we couldn't actually see him behind his fence), and - literally - stopping to smell some pretty purple flowers.  Unfortunately I have no pictures, but sometimes making an awesome memory will just have to do.

A Fabulous First
Now this, I do have pictures of.  Ava's birthday weekend was a total hit (all of which I'll get to in the next post), but here's a little taster: Ava, Braydon and Peyton got to take their very first pony rides at Heritage Village!  How great is that??  And all three of them loved it.  Not a single tantrum or frightened torrent of tears in sight.


How bad does Peyton want to be Calamity Jane in that hat?


Support Your Local Artists
Or better yet, just support mine. 

Ava has always loved to paint, and (as I'm sure you know) we've done lots of that sitting at the dining room table of Casa Lundstrom.  But I noticed on trips to the art room at Monkey Bizness that she really dug the freedom of standing at an easel to create her brilliant works of art.  So, courtesy of Grandpa George and Grandma Raili, Ava now has her very own Crayola art easel.  She's done lots of drawing on the white board over the last week, but today, for the first time, I covered the floor in towels and busted out the paints.  Ava was in heaven.  She dug her brushes into each color with gusto, swirling the paint onto the canvas with the utmost care.  The kid didn't get a single drop of paint anywhere but the paper.  Admit it, you're impressed. 


Random Smiles on a Wednesday
I have lots more to come, but for now I'll close with a picture of Ava and Ollie enjoying Lisa's rendition of Knuffle Bunny, for no other reason than I think it's cute.


Stay tuned for the birthday post!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Family fun, and a really cool outing.

Once again, better late than never.  Here are a couple of the things you've missed over the last several weeks.

Let's start with the Really Cool Outing...

When was the last time you drove an hour and a half just to go to the zoo?  If you live anywhere but here, I'm hoping the answer is "never".  It's just a zoo, people.  But if you do live here, let me recommend packing a nice lunch and heading up to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  It's a haul, but well worth the drive.  The whole thing is built into the side of the mountain and has incredible views, but if that doesn't do it for you, maybe this will: you get to hand-feed the giraffes.  And if that doesn't do it for you, then I don't know if we can be friends, cuz hand-feeding giraffes is awesome.


This zoo is also in possession of what I'm certain is the world's fastest carousel.  After watching it spin around at what looked to me like a terrifying pace, we decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.  Andy had some trouble catching us on camera as we went whizzing by, but I think you can get a pretty good idea what Ava thought of the whole thing from this shot.

She turned to me halfway through the ride and, smiling ear to ear, yelled, "This fun!"
To top the whole experience off, she got to pet a goat, and look into the eyes of a bear with only a sheet of glass between them.  Wildlife, up close.  We will be going back.

4th of July
4th of July weekend at Joel and Kristen's was, once again, fabulous.  Time on the lake, long walks, good food, sweet kids, and the comforting feeling that comes with knowing that everyone in the room loves your baby almost as much as you do. 






Joel even managed to talk us into taking Ava on the floating loveseat that he pulls behind his boat and confusingly refers to as "the tube".  Check out the Murphy's blog for some pictures of all of us trying it out.  And yup, that's Ava falling asleep. 
http://lisaandryanmurphy.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Joel and Kristen!  We can't wait for next year!

There's more to tell, but I need some sleep; Ava's birthday party is coming up!