Unfortunately, it's become quite typical for me to neglect our blog for too long. And to quote Britney Spears, "Oops, I did it again!" (Did I really just type that?) Anyway, the months are flying by and it seems like we are busier every day, even though nothing has changed recently. I think we had a full third quarter and were thrown right in to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now we're starting into Christmas. The end of the year is always busy, and it's the only time of year that I wish was incredibly slow. Sitting at home by the fireplace, with the Christmas tree lit, watching the snow fall... it's what I dream of doing each year. And it rarely happens.
But let's not dwell on what or what may not happen this month. Instead, lets get to what really matters, pictures or our precious girl. She is growing like crazy, and bringing us joy and headaches each day. :o)
As usual, nothing is in order, thus our first video is from our trip to Idlewild back in August for Ava's birthday. It was too cute not to share. Please excuse the horrible-ness that is the video, but the whole point was to capture a bit of her reaction to her first roller coaster ride, and despite being thrown around as I tried to hold on, I was able to get a little someting.
Man, was she excited. And I couldn't be happier to have a roller coaster lover to ride with me in the future. Looking forward to a trip to Disney in the years to come.
This year we thought it would be a good idea to get Ava involved in some sort of a sport. She was too young for soccer, and it was obvious that she wasn't the ballerina type, so we opted for gymnastics. Being her first year, she has improved a lot since the beginning of class in September. And last week, she was the only one in her class to do a backwards roll and land on her feet. Thats a big deal people... she's 4! (yes, yes, a lot of kids start earlier, and are more advanced, but she didn't even start until this fall). I've tried to take as many different pictures as I can, but sometimes it's impossible to get a good one, especially since we didn't have a good camera until last week. But here is a bit of what Ava has been doing.
on the bar all the way in the back
balance beam (pink shorts)
this has to be one of her favorite things to do.
She's a little monkey!
handstands against the wall (pink shorts on the yellow mat)
Ava is great at pushing up on the bar
again, upside down
Ms. Sarah is a wonderful coach, and Ava loves her.
Ava loved the zip line, hopefully they will get to do that again.
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Halloween came and went very quickly, even though Trick or Treat was postponed for 4 days due to Sandy the superstorm. It rained here for 5 days straight, and I couldn't have been more thankful to not have to go out in the rain again this year for Trick or Treat.
Daddy and Ava decorated and carved our pumpkins... I played with the "goop" and made roasted pumpkin seeds. We had more pumpkins this year than in past years. We started out with 3, and ended up with about 7 I think. Our little girl loves pumpkins. (several were donated)
Ava's zebra face
Ava wanted to be a zebra this year. The only problem, they don't make costumes like this for kids her age. Okay, they do, but they have tutus and girly pink stripes and such. Thats not our Ava or what she wanted. So I made her outfit from different pieces. It wasn't perfect, her pants and top had different sized stripes, but it worked out well and she was one incredibly cute zebra. And yes, if you're keeping track, Ava has been an animal every year, her choice!
passing out candy at the end of the night
enjoying a little of that candy as well
having some dinner
We had a great time, and Ava is already talking about next Halloween. Now to stop eating the candy so I don't gain 20 more lbs. We hope you all had a great Halloween!
