Sunday, June 28, 2009

The girls will play when the boys are away....

Matt is on Deployment while Greg is doing workups so we decided this would be the perfect time to visit Jen in San Diego
Beautiful San Diego Beach! Jen can walk to this beach from her house (we are green with envy!)
Ava ADORED the Brown's puppy Calvert. She spent all her time in the house with him.
walking on the beach
This is her "TADA!" on top of the slide
We went to Sea World and they have a Sesame Street fun forest where Ava and I danced with the characters
Watching Elmo Dance
Ava's first amusement park ride! She was not scared at all with Aunt Jen.
She was fascinated with the dancing characters (she used to be terrified of them!)
Dancing with Aunt Jen 
On the Oscar the Grouch ride
She learned how to say "Abby" that day after going on Abby's tea cups
Being Prissy in the Romp House
We got to feed the sea lions. They make the scariest noise when they are demanding food.
The icky fish we were feeding them
Amazed by the shark tunnel 
Of all the exotic animals at Sea World Ava was most amazed by a duck and wanted to follow it around. 
She pointed out every Elmo sign we passed
Her Pizza Face after lunch
Ava's first movie in the theatre
It was 3D Sesame Street characters and she LOVED it
giggling after lunch 
clapping for the dolphin show with Aunt Jen 
These were impressive dolphins
we were thoroughly entertained 
We petted sting rays- they have the strangest texture
The sting ray!!
Eating Dinner at the Noodle House
Ava is a big pasta fan
yum yum 
Dinner al fresca
We had to go to In-n-out burger! Delicious and definitely worth all the hype.
Ava loves fries
Walking around the Gas Lamp district in downtown San Diego
We wore the baby girl out
Sunset Cliffs- some of the most beautiful scenery up there!
Overlooking the cliffs
Jen disciplines Calvert with a spray bottle. It is hysterical!
Aunt Jen got Ava's favorite toy of the moment- Bubbles!
She insists on blowing bubbles now and she ended getting so much on her face that she could blow bubbles on her own without the stick.
Next Stop- San Diego Zoo! 
Their famous Pandas
The Hippo giving us a kiss
Hooray for animals!
Ava's favorite exhibit of the day were the swimming turtles. She could not get enough of them!
Her face is a little bit on the small size for this pose
but that doesn't stop us!
checking out the monkeys
tuckered out after a long day 
The new elephant exhibit
Back to the turtles
Kisses
Loving some peanut butter sandwiches
Jen was great and picked her up for the majority of the day since I am not supposed to be lifting her anymore. She definitely got her arm workout!
It looks like the leopard is about to pounce and eat them!
Zoologist Ava!
Checking out the elephants
Koala
This was a great time for her to go to the best Zoo in the nation because Ava's favorite thing is to learn animal sounds now.
She sure does know how to pose huh? 
adorable baby giraffe
Hanging out with the Rhinos
Ava telling us that the Rhinos are stinky
Jen posing for a picture for Matt at the renowned Hotel Del Coronado gazebo area
We stuck out amiss the honeymooners and snooty rich people
Gorgeous hotel with amazing views right on the beach
Ava and I passed out on the beach
snoozing 
taking in the scenery 
Loving the beach!
The beach beauties! 
We went to the famous Burger Joint Hodads. Ava entertained the whole table.
peeking out the back of the stroller
The festival in Ocean Beach (Jen's neighborhood)
She was tired of waiting in line so decided to play with our dresses
Hodad's was worth the hype! I have been craving cheeseburgers ever since!
Playing with Calvert
Aunt Jen got her play doh! This kept her attention for the longest of any toy yet. 
Calvert at play time during puppy preschool
An obedient dog for his master!
He did a good job on raised surfaces too! He is a proud graduate from the first phase of puppy preschool. He is now working in the advanced stage.  
More beach time!
Happy as a clam
She is such a mechanical child. She loves to see how things work and was fascinated by the umbrella stand.
Ava doing her headstand
Aunt Jen taking her down to the water
Love that smile
Decides to put on Aunt Jen's clothes
She will have to grow into them
This is when Ava decided she wanted to have close ups taken as soon as we took out the camera
An amazing trip! Thank you Jen for being an incredible hostess and showing us the whole town and everything San Diego has to offer. We can't wait to go back and visit :)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

New Hair Style

Ava's curly red hair has finally gotten long enough that I can put it in pigtails
The remarkable thing is that she doesn't try to take the pigtails out (yet- knock on wood)
Then she decided she wanted to try to get dressed again herself
She was really working at those pants
Almost got them on babe!
Shannon and Michael came over for a play date
Ava being gentle and sweet to baby Michael
Michael is almost 4 months and he is a little bruiser almost as big as Ava! We had a great time with them at the YMCA pool that day.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Visiting GiGi

While Greg has been gone this month we have spent some time in Northern Virginia at GiGi's house.  Ava has somehow managed to get the run of the house these days! Gigi always spoils us rotten so it is always hard to say goodbye to return to Virginia Beach.
Ava would only eat if BOB fed her (she usually doesn't let anyone feed her and loves to make a mess herself) and she wanted to make sure she had her sunglasses on the whole time. 
What a ham!
Playing in the drying rack
It was like a little obstacle course for her
The girl loves clothes, especially her clothes.
Rocking her Sheebie blanket asleep
Chalk time
Not wanting Bdad to leave and trying to take his bag from him.
Bdad's youngest Great Grandchild (not for long!)
looking at the birds with Bdad
Bubbles!
Cuddling with Bdad
playing peekaboo with Bdad while we were out to eat
she loves peeking through the stairs
Peekaboo!
Our white trash sand toys because we forgot to bring our sand toys to GiGi's house
Swimming with Mommy
playing with GiGi at the lake
She loves the Beaver Beach in Montclair
"Mom I don't want to take a picture I want to play!"
Ava unpacking my suitcase and trying everything on