Kitties Out, Ducks In

After several years of having a pink room with a Hello Kitty team, Ava requested that we switch things up.  After much debate, Ava chose violet paint, turquoise bedding, and a sports theme.

We also added a map that acts as a white board onto her closet.

The newest addition was the bat Ava was given at Angels Spring Training.

The next time around Chris will hire an electrician to deal with the electrical as his attempt to change out all the outlets and switches in the room led to an overhead light that could not be switched off!

Spring Comes Early in Arizona

While most of the country continued to bundle up and shovel snow, Ava escaped the 70 degree weather of Orange County to head to Arizona for 80 degree weather. 

Our first stop was to Tempe Diablo Stadium to see the Angels.  For Abby and Chris, this was their sixth Spring Training trip but first time visiting the Angels' stadium.  Despite their attempts to get Ava to cheer for the A's as her American League team, Ava has clearly chosen the Angels as her second team - a natural choice for a girl constantly surrounded by kids with Rally Monkeys and Mike Trout jerseys.

Arriving at the training fields early, not only was Ava able to get autographs from a number of players, but minor league catcher Pedro Pizarro even gave her one of his cracked bats.

At the game we met up with Grammy and Poppy, who were enjoying their first Spring Training trip. 

Checking into our digs for the weekend, Ava enjoyed the balcony and grounds at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass.

Most importantly, it was warm enough for Ava to go to the pool and waterslide  in the mornings and late afternoon.

You can't spend all day in the sun without getting some good food, and we enjoyed an evening out with pizza and ice cream.  

Ava gave in on Saturday and was willing to cheer for Abby's A's while we checked out the revamped Hohokam Park, the former home of the Cubs.  A special treat (more for Chris than for Ava) was getting to visit with Hall of Famer and mustache king Rollie Fingers (for a charitable donation). 

Every road trip has its hiccups, and ours included leaving a library book at our motel in Blythe on our way to Arizona.  Fortunately, the motel was able to find the book and we were able to pick the book up on our way home.  Or, maybe, Ava just wanted an excuse to visit the dolphin statue outside the motel.

We're looking forward to returning in 2016 when we plan on tailgating on the lawn at an A's and/or Cubs game.  Feel free to join Ava for that adventure!

Wintry Weather

Despite the fairly consistent warm weather in Southern California, Ava was able to enjoy a weekend in the snow with her friends Josh and Sarah.  After lessons and a warm up run on the bunny slopes the kids were able to ski all the way from the top of Snow Summit down to the bottom.  

Here's a little peek of how Ava did: http://youtu.be/Liw7NIdH-mQ 

The biggest life changing event of the past couple months was Ava breaking her tooth at school during recess.  Ava is such a trooper that she picked up the broken part of her tooth, threw it away, cleaned herself up, and didn't even say anything to Abby at pick-up.

Ava's little accident has done nothing to dampen her love for school, and she continues to do well in class and outside of class, where she recently ran 10 laps in the Brywood Jog-A-Thon in order to raise money for the school to purchase laptops.

Ava's love for sports has continued throughout the winter with trips to see the Ducks, the Globetrotters, UCLA gymnastics and basketball, UCI basketball, and even a winter visit to Dodger Stadium for the Dodgers FanFest.

Ava turned 7 1/2 in February and got to celebrate her half-birthday/Valentine's Day at school and at home. 

Girl Scout cookie sales have been going strong with Ava surpassing her goal of selling 400 boxes of cookies.  Thanks to all our friends, family, co-workers, and the OC Blues for helping Ava reach her goal.  With some of the money, the girls will be supporting The Water Project to help build wells for those who would otherwise not have clean water. 

Ava has had visits from all three sets of her grandparents including Grandma and Grandpa Cruz who came to visit from Hawaii, as well as the newest member of our family cousin Anthony.