Keeping Your Flowers Fresh
9 years ago
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
"Mama! Hey! Look!"
A weekend of exploration...
What a beautiful weekend! The weather here was just amazing! I somehow managed to convince Chris to spend some time with the family on Saturday morning and afternoon. It isn't easy to convince him to step away from his studies so early in the weekend, but I enticed him by dangling a historical trip to Yorktown in his mind. On Sunday Ava & I retreated to the grandparent's house-of-fun to give Daddy study time back at home. Ava enjoyed a hike on the nature trail with Mommy & Papa. Honey cooked up a yummy dinner complete with home-made apple pie for dessert! What a life!
On Saturday we started by meeting up with Honey & Papa at a new coffee shop in town for breakfast. They have a cute little kids corner with a wrap-around chalk board. I thought Ava would just love writing on the chalk board but I should have known better. She got much more pleasure out of erasing the existing chalk on the board. "I'm cleanin' Mama! I'm cleanin'!" Eventually I peeled her away from the eraser and we were off to Yorktown.
Yorktown is a gorgeous 15-20 minute drive down the Colonial Parkway from us. It's sad to say that this was our first time venturing out there together. Chris did some volunteer work there 2 years ago and I just visited the area for the first time, since an elementary school field trip, about 2 months ago for work. They have an adorable downtown area with tasty restaurants on the water and cute little shops. There are plenty of historical buildings, monuments and battlefields to explore also. Ava was such a trooper and really seemed to enjoy herself, despite all the walking and stopping to read historical markers. She received compliment after compliment on her behavior. Yes, I'm bragging again. We ate at the Carrot Tree which is in a quaint little building circa 1720-ish something with several older patrons and Ava was such a doll she became the talk of the room we were dining in. The servers at the restaurant made it a point to tell us what an angel she was and what a pleasure her business was because they "never see that with children her age." They then proceeded to tell us that we won't be so lucky the second time around...lovely... ;-)
Here are some pictures of our Yorktown adventure. I'm including a video too that Chris took with his camera. It's funny because she's on this "guys" kick. Everything is, "Hey, guys!" or "Two minutes, guys!" or "What you guys doin'?" She also doesn't stop talking...ever...right now. It's a really fun stage, actually. I like this clip because you can hear her going on and on about who knows what until she realizes that Chris and I both have our cameras on her to which she exclaims, "You have two, guys." Of course, she's referring to two cameras.
The traveling gnome :-)
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif
On Sunday Ava, Aspen and I headed over to Honey & Papa's house. Since it was so beautiful outside Papa and I decided to go for a walk on the trail. Ava usually enjoys a leisurely ride in the wagon while we hike. This time, however, Papa invited Ava to walk for a bit with us shortly after we got on the trail. We didn't expect her to hang with us for 2 miles worth of walking though - in her Crocs! She refused to get back in the wagon. Instead, she helped Papa pull the wagon, she ran, she laughed and she explored. We heard over and over, "Hey! Look!" I love that. I love hearing her say, "Mama! Hey! Look!" It means that she's discovered something so exciting she just can't wait to show it to me. Usually her discovery is something such as a mushroom or a tree that's fallen down or a pine-cone but it's so exciting to her that it just makes it magical for me too. Ava discovered that a bunch of fallen pine needles make for an excellent broom to clean the trail with... Papa and I had all we could do to urge her to keep moving and stop cleaning. Silly girl.
FYI - Crocs + socks = COOL!
Overall it was a fun-filled weekend. I have more pictures on my camera and will hopefully post some soon. Ava crashed in her big bed tonight. I think I'll go do the same now...
What a beautiful weekend! The weather here was just amazing! I somehow managed to convince Chris to spend some time with the family on Saturday morning and afternoon. It isn't easy to convince him to step away from his studies so early in the weekend, but I enticed him by dangling a historical trip to Yorktown in his mind. On Sunday Ava & I retreated to the grandparent's house-of-fun to give Daddy study time back at home. Ava enjoyed a hike on the nature trail with Mommy & Papa. Honey cooked up a yummy dinner complete with home-made apple pie for dessert! What a life!
On Saturday we started by meeting up with Honey & Papa at a new coffee shop in town for breakfast. They have a cute little kids corner with a wrap-around chalk board. I thought Ava would just love writing on the chalk board but I should have known better. She got much more pleasure out of erasing the existing chalk on the board. "I'm cleanin' Mama! I'm cleanin'!" Eventually I peeled her away from the eraser and we were off to Yorktown.
Yorktown is a gorgeous 15-20 minute drive down the Colonial Parkway from us. It's sad to say that this was our first time venturing out there together. Chris did some volunteer work there 2 years ago and I just visited the area for the first time, since an elementary school field trip, about 2 months ago for work. They have an adorable downtown area with tasty restaurants on the water and cute little shops. There are plenty of historical buildings, monuments and battlefields to explore also. Ava was such a trooper and really seemed to enjoy herself, despite all the walking and stopping to read historical markers. She received compliment after compliment on her behavior. Yes, I'm bragging again. We ate at the Carrot Tree which is in a quaint little building circa 1720-ish something with several older patrons and Ava was such a doll she became the talk of the room we were dining in. The servers at the restaurant made it a point to tell us what an angel she was and what a pleasure her business was because they "never see that with children her age." They then proceeded to tell us that we won't be so lucky the second time around...lovely... ;-)
Here are some pictures of our Yorktown adventure. I'm including a video too that Chris took with his camera. It's funny because she's on this "guys" kick. Everything is, "Hey, guys!" or "Two minutes, guys!" or "What you guys doin'?" She also doesn't stop talking...ever...right now. It's a really fun stage, actually. I like this clip because you can hear her going on and on about who knows what until she realizes that Chris and I both have our cameras on her to which she exclaims, "You have two, guys." Of course, she's referring to two cameras.
The traveling gnome :-)
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif
On Sunday Ava, Aspen and I headed over to Honey & Papa's house. Since it was so beautiful outside Papa and I decided to go for a walk on the trail. Ava usually enjoys a leisurely ride in the wagon while we hike. This time, however, Papa invited Ava to walk for a bit with us shortly after we got on the trail. We didn't expect her to hang with us for 2 miles worth of walking though - in her Crocs! She refused to get back in the wagon. Instead, she helped Papa pull the wagon, she ran, she laughed and she explored. We heard over and over, "Hey! Look!" I love that. I love hearing her say, "Mama! Hey! Look!" It means that she's discovered something so exciting she just can't wait to show it to me. Usually her discovery is something such as a mushroom or a tree that's fallen down or a pine-cone but it's so exciting to her that it just makes it magical for me too. Ava discovered that a bunch of fallen pine needles make for an excellent broom to clean the trail with... Papa and I had all we could do to urge her to keep moving and stop cleaning. Silly girl.
FYI - Crocs + socks = COOL!
Overall it was a fun-filled weekend. I have more pictures on my camera and will hopefully post some soon. Ava crashed in her big bed tonight. I think I'll go do the same now...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Visiting Uncle Ryan
Ava and I made a quick trip to Richmond yesterday so she could visit Uncle Ryan. She had a lot of fun - I know this for certain because she was happy all day and she didn't have a nap! It was also 95 degrees!
She got to visit Uncle Bryan at work, walk along the canal, go on a boat ride, get a history lesson and she even saw a big train. What fun!
Thanks, Ryan, for taking the time to entertain us. We can't wait for our next adventure...perhaps once the fall weather arrives :-)
This is what you get when you ask her to smile for the picture...
She got to visit Uncle Bryan at work, walk along the canal, go on a boat ride, get a history lesson and she even saw a big train. What fun!
Thanks, Ryan, for taking the time to entertain us. We can't wait for our next adventure...perhaps once the fall weather arrives :-)
This is what you get when you ask her to smile for the picture...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ritas
Here are some remaining shots from Ava and Sam's fun weekend a couple weekends ago.
Papa Bear always talks about bringing the girls to Ritas for some ice cream. It's pretty much his only request. Uncle Jeff, Aunt Rachel, Sam, Papa & Honey stopped by our house late Sunday night (hence Ava's PJs) to invite Ava to Ritas. Below are some shots of the girls enjoying their treat - and then saying good-bye to each other.
Papa Bear always talks about bringing the girls to Ritas for some ice cream. It's pretty much his only request. Uncle Jeff, Aunt Rachel, Sam, Papa & Honey stopped by our house late Sunday night (hence Ava's PJs) to invite Ava to Ritas. Below are some shots of the girls enjoying their treat - and then saying good-bye to each other.
This is funny (for me, anyway)
I have two funnies to share:
Ava's "Daily Report" from daycare today said, "Ava complimented her friend's shoes & then expressed how much she loved her new shoes."
I asked Ava about her friend's shoes today and she lit up. With a big smile she told me they had flowers on them. I'm afraid Zsa Zsa and Ninny have created a monster ;-)
The other funny is that Ninny mailed a package to "Master Lincoln" and it arrived today. Let me give you some background - Chris doesn't like all those cheesy "masculine" baby clothes. You know, the onesies with footballs and tacky stripes that say "Future Quarterback?" Yeah, that's what he can't stand. With that said, Ninny mailed a package - inside was a note:
"This is as computerish as I could find so far. Let the search begin."
Baffled, we opened the package to find the outfit that Ava is modeling below. Needless to say, Chris loves it! It looks just like a little computer game...cute.
Thank you, Ninny, for Lincoln's outfit! It really is very cute :-)
Ava's "Daily Report" from daycare today said, "Ava complimented her friend's shoes & then expressed how much she loved her new shoes."
I asked Ava about her friend's shoes today and she lit up. With a big smile she told me they had flowers on them. I'm afraid Zsa Zsa and Ninny have created a monster ;-)
The other funny is that Ninny mailed a package to "Master Lincoln" and it arrived today. Let me give you some background - Chris doesn't like all those cheesy "masculine" baby clothes. You know, the onesies with footballs and tacky stripes that say "Future Quarterback?" Yeah, that's what he can't stand. With that said, Ninny mailed a package - inside was a note:
"This is as computerish as I could find so far. Let the search begin."
Baffled, we opened the package to find the outfit that Ava is modeling below. Needless to say, Chris loves it! It looks just like a little computer game...cute.
Thank you, Ninny, for Lincoln's outfit! It really is very cute :-)
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