O Canada!

Just a few days after first grade ended, Ava hopped on a plane and left the country.  She wasn't fleeing the country.  Rather, she was starting her summer vacation with a trip to Vancouver, BC (that's British Columbia).

After a smooth flight, a chatty immigration officer, and a quick ride into the city, our late lunch consisted of gelato and a walk along the seawall.

After checking into our room, we went back out for another walk and found a sculpture called "Digital Orca."

And the cauldron from the 2010 Olympics.

We had real food for dinner at Cactus Club Cafe with a gorgeous view of the harbo(u)r.

After dinner, we had more gelato.  This time at Bella Gelateria one of the best gelaterias in North America (winner of the North American World Tour Championships and headed to Italy for the Gelato World Tour Finals).

Ava has plenty of space to spread out at our home for the next several nights as the couch in the living room converts into a bed.

The Return of Lucky the Lobster

As the school year wound down, Ava had the good fortune to spend another week with Lucky the Lobster.  Our guest blogger entry for the week comes from Ava's journal - written from Lucky's point of view:

On Friday night I went to Ava's recital.  I got to go back stage with Ava.

Then I got to watch the performance with Ava's Mom and Dad.  She was great!

On Saturday we played with Ava's grandparents.

Later on, we played Monopoly with Ava's Dad.  Ava's Dad won!

On Sunday, we went to the Dodgers game for Father's Day.  We saw the Dodgers mascot and a giant Tommy Lasorda bobblehead. 

The Dodgers lost but it was fun!

After the game we had Hawaiian food from Da Lu'au.  Yummy!

Today I went to Ava's swimming lesson at Waterworks.  Ava is very fast and she is a good swimmer. 

I went to Ava's Daisy to Brownie Bridging Ceremony.  

I got to walk across the bridge of hands.  After the ceremony we played at the park.

Spring Has Sprung

We are well into a sunny, SoCal spring and Ava has enjoyed every minute of it.  The great weather has allowed Ava to spend a lot of time outside including playing at the Exposition Park Rose Garden, the beach, and our back yard.

The pool where Ava takes lessons celebrated its 10th anniversary with a visit from Princess Elsa and the chance for Ava to climb aboard a fire truck.

Ava continues to love school and guided us around Miss Ferguson's class for open house.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a brief trip to San Diego where Ava walked across the Spruce Street Supsension Bridge,  toured the USS Midway, splashed around the new Waterfront Park, and visited Balboa Park where we stopped by the Botanical Building and ate at the Ethnic Food Fair with a stop at the House of Poland.

Most recently, Ava and Chris made the short trek to Brywood for their very first Brywood Dads Campout.  After dinner and an outdoor showing of the Lego Movie, they enjoyed six hours of sleep before the kids began playing again in the morning.  It was a tiring, but very fun, adventure.

Spring Break, Part 2

This year Ava's Spring Break coincided with the run up to Easter.  This, of course, meant that there would be a lot of activities including dying eggs at home and riding the Irvine Park Railroad and hunting for eggs with friend Josh and Sarah.

On Easter morning, Ava woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had filled her basket and then she searched for eggs in our backyard whilst still in her jammies. 

After a yummy breakfast, Ava got dressed up for church. 

After participating in bringing out the Alleluiah banner during the service, Ava was able to gather even more eggs on the lawn of St. Paul's. 

Not to be outdone, Ava and her cousins - including Akira and Tiffany - participated in a mega-egg hunt at Uncle Eddie's house.  That makes three hunts in one day and four total.  How can one kid eat all that candy?!

Spring Break, Part 1

It's felt like spring in Southern California since January, but Ava officially celebrated Spring Break this past week.

Her break started by getting out of school early last Friday and taking the (not so) long drive to Long Beach to watch some racing. 

The Grand Prix festivities include lots of other fun stuff like autographs from the Ganassi team drivers including Ryan Briscoe,

A chance to meet Firehawk, the Firestone mascot,

A convention center filled with cars,

And a chance to experience life in a bubble.

Over the weekend, Ava visited Celebrate UCI, the school's annual open house/festival where she met Peter the Anteater.  Zot, zot, zot!

The highlight of Ava's break was a trip to Torrance to spend several days with Grammy and Poppy, who took her all over town for fun and sweets such as Handel's Ice Cream,

Torrance's newest park, 

Backyard baseball, 

Views of the lighthouse and whale watching at Pt. Vicente, 

And playing with and feeding Divot, who just woke up from hibernating all winter.