Luck Be a (little) Lady

Ava's life is pretty cool. Scratch that - it's awesome. Let me give you a taste of what my lucky little lady has been up to over the last couple of weeks. Get comfortable, cuz she's been pretty busy...

Love came all the way from Iowa.

Grandma Pat and Hoppa spent a long weekend with us and Ava was determined to show them a good time.  She took them to the zoo and bought them some ice cream...

Showed them how much fun the botanic gardens can be....

She even let Grandma play with her doll houses and showed Hoppa how cute she is when she swings.

I'd say she made a pretty good case for a repeat visit!

Thanks so much for coming, guys! We loved every minute of having you here!

Heritage Square
Snuggled into the foothills not far from our house is a tiny little amusement park that's just Ava's size. She had a blast, and watching Andy try to fold himself into the world's smallest ride was worth the price of the tickets.

See what I mean?  Funny.

Check out Andy's hand.  Ava was determined to sit on the horse by herself and wouldn't let Andy touch her.  Such a brave girl.

Got the bounce house all to ourselves.  Talk about lucky!

She "won" these silly bracelets.  They were so big on her that she had to hold her
arm like this the whole time.  

We will definitely be making a trip back there soon. 

Party Time!
Ava's bud Brady turned 2 last week, so the kids hit the splash park to party like it was 2009. Ava had such a good time I was ready to move just to be near this place. I wonder if Hoppa and Grandpa Mac could build one of these in our backyard?  What do you say, fellas? 

After the sugar buzz from all the cake started to wear off, we put the kiddos in dry clothes and moved the party to Brady's house.  Ava gave him a tee-ball set, which proved to be the perfect way to fill the rest of the afternoon.   The all enjoyed it so much, I plan to give one to every kid I know under the age of 4.  Ava preferred the role of spectator.

"Um, Dude, I'm not sure you're doin that right..."

2 cups and a $10 plastic pool
What more does a kid need?

She spent an hour filling up these cups and dumping them out. Wish I was this easy to entertain.

There's so much more to tell, of friends, and parties, and days full of fun, but I'm beat so it'll have to wait until the next post.  Take care, all!

The Grocery Store Blues

Ava hates sitting in a shopping cart.  Apparently, its the equivalent of forcing me to sit through a televised football game without a magazine, or access to the internet. Pure torture.  The minute I attempt to swing her feet into the little holes where her legs should go, an epic tantrum begins, and the screaming only subsides if I can quickly locate the one item in the store entertaining enough to distract her from her misery.  I've gotten pretty good at not only finding said item, but at stealthily swiping it from her while she flirts with the checkout attendant. I walk out thinking, "Voila!  Another job well done."  

And just when my arm starts to get sore from all the patting myself on the back, my girl decides to prove to me that I'm not as smart as I think I am.  Prior to a recent trip to Wal-Mart, I had yet to choose a distraction that Ava couldn't live without.  Enter, the Talking Baby Doll.  It cooed, giggled, and "Mama"d its way right into her heart, and my attempt to put Baby back on the shelf was met with heartache I just wasn't prepared for.  I caved.  The connection was so complete that it was hours before Ava would even let me take New Baby out of the box. 

If this keeps up we're going to need a bigger house.

Safety First

Enough said.

Summer in Denver

Summer's here, and that means time outdoors with friends.  Ava and Brady recently took advantage of some gorgeous weather and spent a morning at the botanic gardens.  Have I said before that I love this town?

They were both soaked from head to toe by the time we left, but what's a dry kid compared to a happy one?  No contest.

Grandma and Grandpa Lundstrom were just here for a long weekend, so stay tuned for some fab new pictures and stories.  Happy Summer, all!

Dude, stop sitting on me.

Children always want what the other kid has.  This simple, irrefutable fact has sparked many a playground tussle, been the impetus for thousands of swapped lunches, and forced millions of parents to listen to an endless barrage of "please, please, pleeeeeeease!!!" in toy stores all over the world.  Toddlers, I am now discovering, are no exception to this rule.  They swipe each other's toys (and whack each other over the head with them, if you're not quick enough to stop them), steal food right out of the mouth of the unsuspecting tot next to them, or - in the case of Ollie and Ava - refuse to find a place to sit that the other one isn't already in. 

I love that fact that he's just decided to sit on top of her in this one. 
What's really funny is that she doesn't seem to care.

And people wonder why I never leave the house without a camera. 

It's a Grandma thing.

Grandmas love their grandbabies.  There's something about the opportunity to get the good cuddles, buy the pretty clothes, play all the super-fun games, and not have to worry about paying for college that makes being a grandma an experience worth waiting for.  And boy is my mom living it up.  She was here a couple of weeks ago, and here's just a taste of what she and Ava were up to...

Ava picked Grandma up from the airport and filled her in on all the fun to come.

They spent some time at the botanic gardens...

Did some swingin'...

Had a ball clowning around, and decorating Easter eggs...

And even managed to talk the Easter Bunny into showing up with the basket goodies a day early so Grandma could enjoy the festivities.  Cuz Grandmas just have those kinds of connections.

Canvas and Cocktails

I have no artistic talent.  So when I heard about a place that would serve up wine and blast top 40 tunes while walking even a novice like me through a canvas painting, I was all over it.  I managed to talk Grandma into handing Ava over to Andy for the evening, and we headed out to Canvas and Cocktails for a girl's night out.  It was a blast, and an experience I fully intend to repeat.

Mom named these "Blobby Flowers on Sticks"

We hated to see her leave, but eventually - with the promise that she'd return soon - Grandma did have to head home.  Fortunately, until we see her again we have a funky painting hanging in the bathroom, and a closet full of new clothes for Ava to remember her by.  We love you, Grandma!!  Can't wait to see you again!

Vintage Ava

This video was never posted, but I can't deny you the opportunity to see it any longer. Cuz it just makes me smile.  Andy was doing some ab exercises and started counting in a funny voice to make Ava laugh.  It worked.  Enjoy.

The Joy of Cooking

You've heard me say before that I have high hopes for my girl in the kitchen.  No matter how much flour I have to clean up, our chocolate chip cookies will be the best in town, even if there are a few eggshells in them.  And what I'm loving the most at the moment, is that Ava's instincts seem to have The Barefoot Contessa written all over them.  She gathers all these things from the kitchen herself, and "cooks" her magnetic fridge letters with a pinch of focus and a dash of flair.

Now if cooking ever begins to bore her, art may be her pastime of choice.  Ava's been a bit under the weather lately, so to cheer her up I picked up some sidewalk chalk to see if it could live up to her love of stickers and play-doh.  So far so good.

Time with Friends
It's been a while, so we were thrilled to get a chance to spend the evening with the Lassars recently.  It's hard to believe that these beautiful girls were all of 10 months old when we met them.

Watching them grow up has been so much fun.

And thanks to their pretty little piano, Ava may have picked up a love for another artistic hobby.  I'm not sure how the marker in her hand came into play, but who am I to question.

It's always so nice to spend an evening with our good friends, and Ava took advantage of every second.  Kristi's going to kill me for blowing up these pictures, but I think they're so sweet.  Ava is lucky to have these folks around. 

Happy Monday, all.

Spring

Spring is slowly making its way to Denver, and with it has come a whole new world of possibilities for Ava.  My current favorite is the children's garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens.  A winding path leads you through a fabulous open space filled with streams, flowers, stages, and shelters, all set up to encourage little eyes and hands to explore and learn.  As it is with most toddlers and new experiences, we had no idea what to expect; and as she almost always does, Ava embraced everything the day had to offer.
 

I love this city. 

Now, since I haven't blogged in a while I'd like to take a chance to catch you all up on what's been happening in our 'hood.

It's a Family Affair

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky to have Tyson, Charlie, Kristen and Joel here for a visit.  Once again, Mother Nature saw fit to bless us with some beautiful weather, so we packed up the kids and headed to the zoo.  Ava couldn't get enough of Uncle Joel, and I think he was pretty happy about it.  Really cute.

 

We were also thrilled to have my cousin Barbara and family in town a while back.  It was Ellen's birthday, and she wanted to spend it in the snow.  Fortunately for us, we had some.  How gorgeous are these kids?
 

 

Come back soon, everyone!  We miss you!

Movin' On Up
A pink condominium has gone up in our living room.  Doesn't really go with the furniture, but Ava loves it, so for the foreseeable future it stays.  If you're nice to her, maybe she'll let you stay in it next time you're here.
 
 

Wait until you see it with the porch out.  My apartment in college was smaller than this thing.

Strollers are for babies.
And clearly Ava is not a baby anymore.  Dolly (she still doesn't have a real name) gets pushed in the stroller by her mommy; I'm only allowed close enough to take pictures.

 

There's so much more to tell, but I'm all blogged out for the evening.  Sleep tight!