Ava's First Trip to the Zoo

May 27,2009...Ava's first trip to the zoo. We woke up early that morning, loaded up the Chuck Wagon, and hit the road to Asheboro.







Here she is in the Chuck Wagon reading the map. She wanted to be sure we didn't miss anything important.











Here, Chuck and her daddy are checking out the egg sculptures.










This is Ava and Daddy watching the sea lions swim by the window.













Here they are checking out the elk and bison.






























I think they see something interesting.


















Their favorite animal...the gorilla.
































Looking at the baboons.

































Ava and Mommy looking at the elephant.

































At the chimpanzee exhibit.





































Sleepy lions.























Giraffe.




















Ostrich.

A sleepy baby and her happy daddy after a long day of fun at the zoo.

Camping at Nana's

This Memorial Day weekend, Ava and Ani went camping by the river at Nana's. Last year, they slept in a basket. This year, Ava was too big for the basket so she slept in a sleeping bag next to me...sort of:










Ava and Ani asleep in the tent. Her hair is wet because it was raining and the tent was leaking.













Ava and Wiley playing on the hammock.














Here she is heading to the tent. The little one in the middle is the dog tent. Rigby (a golden retriever) slept in it.












And here she is stomping in a puddle of rain water that had collected outside of the tent.




Ava, Ani, and Wiley had a great time playing at Nana's this weekend. Next adventure: the zoo.

Spaghetti Jimmy

Yes...I let her feed herself spaghetti. It wasn't in MY kitchen.




























This is totally going on my next credit card.

Tutus and Wings

Wah-wah wanted to buy some dress-up clothes for Ava, so we went shopping. We found a princess dress, some fairy wings with a wand, and a tutu. We weren't even to the checkout line when Ava decided she should be wearing the tutu. So, I pulled the tags off and let her put it on. She put on her sunglasses and started running through the store, squealing with delight and commanding the attention of everyone within a 4-mile radius.
















Here she is in the play hall wearing her princess dress and wings.










Every princess needs a hammer. (Or maybe she thinks she's the Tooth Fairy.)

















And a hat















But the funniest "pretty princess" needs only a tutu and a smile:

















I LOVE this Dude.