Hoppy Easter

A few days before Easter, Abby and Ava's playgroup decorated Easter Eggs in anticipation of the big day.

On Easter morning, Ava got dressed up in a bright, flowery dress, and we went to church.

After church, Ava had her own private Easter Egg hunt in our back yard.  We weren't sure if she would really be interested in the eggs, but she had a blast.

Grandma and Grandpa got Ava a watering can shaped like a duck (or a "quack quack" as it's known in our house), and Ava went to town watering our potted plants.

After nap time, it was off to Uncle Eddie and Auntie Genet's house for even more Easter fun, including another Easter Egg hunt (this time with the big kids too), and play time with cousins Emily and Kaiana.

She's Got Sol

This past Sunday we took Ava to see the inaugural match of the new Women's Professional Soccer league featuring the L.A. Sol against the Washington Freedom.  Not counting the two Chelsea matches Ava attended whilst in the womb, this was Ava's first professional soccer match.  The Sol are captained by South High star Shannon Boxx and feature Marta, a three time FIFA World Player of the Year. 

We got to the match early, which gave Ava some time to settle in before the stadium got crowded.  As you can see Ava they passed out blow up bam-bams (aka Thunder Sticks), and since we got home she sees them and says "boom boom."

While Ava was able to sit in her seat for about 20 minute, she spent a lot of time walking up and down the steps.  Her favorite spot, however, was standing up above the crowd where she could stand up in the handicapped section and watch all the action.

We left at half time so we could get home in time for Ava's dinner, but not before saying goodbye to the Home Depot Center. 

March Madness

Ava didn't watch much basketball this month, which is a good thing since Ava has clothes from three different schools and none of them did very well in the NCAA tournament (UCLA - Chris and Abby's school; Cal - Grandma and Grandpa's school; and Clemson - where our friend Greg used to teach).

It's a good thing Ava didn't spend time glued to the TV since she had her own March Madness with all her usual activities like Gymboree, trips to the park, and music class, in addition to some special activities.

Ava enjoyed chocolate cake at her friend Jamie's birthday party.

Like any good Irish girl Ava celebrated St. Patrick's Day by dressing up in Green.

And toward the end of the month Ava got a nice visit from Auntie Hannah. We had been working on Ava learning Hannah's name all week, and Ava knew exactly who Hannah was when she stayed with us.

One of the most amazing things about watching Ava grow is seeing all the different ways she entertains herself.  Ava has enjoyed looking in the mirror since she was a little baby, but this past month she's taken it to a new level, and now part of our regular routine both before and after bath time is for Ava to talk to the other Ava in the mirror.  She cracks herself up!

Giddy Up!

We recently took Ava to Irvine Regional Park, which is just a short drive from our house. Although we had been to the park before, we had never checked out all that it has to offer.

We started off our afternoon by going to the Orange County Zoo. With lots of local animals, a petting zoo, and a $2 admission fee for adults we couldn't miss it. Ava not only saw bears eating one of her favorite foods - bananas - but she also got to pet a lizard.

From there we headed over to see the horses.

While the horses were really cool to look at, riding them would be so much more fun. So we signed our lives away, waited in line, and got Ava onto a pony.




Given the fact that Ava's favorite animal is a Neigh Neigh, this was surely the highlight of Ava's day, and may have been her best experience ever. Too bad we can't do this every day.


Not to worry though, as more fun was in store for us. Right next to the pony rides is the Irvine Park Railroad. The miniature locomotive takes you all around the park, including the pond with lots ducks and paddle boats, historic buildings, and even a small tunnel.


We'll surely be making many return visits to Irvine Regional Park.

Weekend Fun!

On the weekends Ava gets to spend a lot of time with Grammy and Poppy. Sometimes they come over to our house - where she can play in the yard and visit our local parks.

And sometimes Ava visits them in Torrance - where she can go to the beach and the Redondo Beach pier. Either way, Ava always has a wonderful time.

A Magical Day

Grandma and Grandpa recently came down to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. To celebrate Grandpa's birthday we all went to Disneyland in the afternoon. This was Ava's first trip to the Magic Kingdom. Ava will surely be going back time and time again as we have annual passes. If any of you loyal readers is planning on a trip to Disneyland let us know and we can meet you there. And don't forget that this year admission is free on your birthday.

We started off the afternoon with the obligatory picture in front of the main entrance.

From there we moved onto the rides. As you would expect there are a lot of rides without height restrictions that are suitable for Ava, but we weren't sure whether Ava would like the rides or not. We started off with Winnie the Pooh which went pretty well.
Ava wasn't too excited to take pictures with Pooh and Tigger after the ride so we walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle to Fantasyland where there are more kid's rides.

Ava wasn't too excited about Storybook Canal,

but after a bit of hesitation she loved Dumbo, and really got a kick out of It's A Small World.


Fortunately, Ava can't really sing just yet, so we didn't have to endure the same song over and over again for the next week.

After heading back home to give Ava dinner, whilst Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed more rides, the adults ended the day with dinner at home and a cake that Grandma made!

Ava's Vacation: 7 days in Torrance

For a week in January, Ava went on her first vacation without her parents. We drove Ava to Torrance where she spent 7 days playing with Grammy and Poppy.
Ava had a lot of fun playing in the many parks Torrance has to offer,

and going to the beach.

Since it's the middle of winter it rained while Ava was on her trip, so she spent some time doing her favorite inside activities like coloring,

reading,

and just being goofy.

Of course no vacation is complete without seeing new things, and Ava had plenty of new experiences including visiting and feeding a horse (a "neigh neigh") for the first time.

learning about the local animals that live in Torrance,

and playing the guitar (a "tar").