Home Away From Home

I grew up in several different land-locked states and therefore, did not get to experience the beach until I was a Freshman in high school. After my first trip of soaking in the sand, sun and surf... I was hooked! I am a beach lover and I couldn't think of a better place to call, 'Home Away From Home.'

Any beach is fine with me, but I really enjoy visiting Garden City Beach, SC. This particular beach is very special to my husband and his family. Matt and I look forward to this beach trip every year, and this year was no exception.

Our days in SC went something like this: Wake up. Run on the beach. Breakfast. Beach. Lunch. Beach. Shower. Dinner. Relax, explore, have fun! Below are some pictures of our time spent, where else... the beach!

When cousins, Jack and Finn, were not using their inflatable raft in the ocean, Ava borrowed it and used it as a make-shift swimming pool.

Ava enjoyed collecting sea shells. Last year, we brought a few seashells home with us and I wrote '2010' on the inside of each one. I look forward to writing '2011' in the ones we collected this year, and adding them to Ava's collection. 

Ava found a new playmate... Her shadow.

Ava's favorite thing to do...

Whenever Ava got cranky, we'd put her in the wagon and take a stroll up and down the beach. Thank goodness for Radio Flyers! On another note... Check out Ava's hair! Ava definitely has my curls, and the salty, humid air just amplified them! 

Toward the end of the week, I discovered that Ava liked Boogie Boarding... Baby style. Thanks to cousin Adam, for letting me borrow your board and drag Ava up and down the beach. 

If you know Ava at all, then you know that she suffers from mild OCD when it comes to cleanliness. Here is a perfect example... Washing off each and every sea shell she found, making sure to remove every single grain of sand.

Once the shells were clean, it was time to eat! Have no fear... We didn't let her, but she tried!

More than anything, I enjoyed spending a week with my 2 favorite people. (Again, check out Ava's crazy hair!)

We spent 7 days on the beach. Ava wore a different bathing suit every day and she still had 2 left over at the end of the week. Hand-me-downs are a wonderful thing! Here are just a few of my favs.



You would think that after spending all day on the beach we would be too tired to have any more fun. Well, you'd be wrong. One particular evening, Erin busted out the face paint for the kiddos. Wanting to be creative himself, Jack decided to turn Matt into a pirate...

Complete with facial hair, eye patch and skull & crossbones (in the middle of Matt's forehead).

Ava got her first (of many) tastes of an Icee Pop....

...While sitting on the dock off the back of the beach house.

Poppy enjoyed having some snuggle time with his grand kids.

The kid table gets bigger every year.

Thursday night is our traditional, "Family Kingdom" night. Last year, Ava got to ride the carousel. This year, a few more rides were added to the list. First, Ava got to drive her very own sports car. She enjoyed it, and unfortunately, this was the only ride she enjoyed... Keep reading.

Next up? The swings. Ava loves swings! I thought she'd be in heaven. I apparently thought wrong. She eventually calmed down and quit screaming at the top of her lungs. 

Now, I know what you're thinking. Ava is not screaming/crying, so she must have enjoyed the carousel, right? Wrong! She was fine until the horse she was on started moving, and then she spent the rest of the ride trying to climb around my neck.

And last, but not least... the boats. Just look at her face. Is it cruel that Matt and I were silently laughing the whole time? Fortunately, Jack and Finn were able to comfort her and eventually Ava settled down. Sweet Jack... He even kept his arm around her back for the majority of the ride.

Words cannot express how much I love my family and how thankful I am that we were able to spend such an amazing week relaxing and recharging at the beach. Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings!

If You Step on a Crack...

... Then you break your Mama's back. Apparently, this is what was running through Ava's mind this evening. Sort of. Let me explain...

Ava has walked up and down our sidewalk hundreds of times. Each of those times, Ava has walked right over, and on top of the cracks along the way. Tonight was a different story. A different, and very funny story. My guess is that Ava's depth perception was a little out of whack and she thought that the cracks in the sidewalk were actually steps. What you're about to see in the following video is how Ava makes her way up stairs if there is no railing to hold on to.

The best part of this entire thing is that after walking over a few "steps," Ava must have realized that the steps were nothing more than cracks in the pavement, because she gets up, and walks away like she has hundreds of times before.

(Yes, her pants are wet. No, she did not pee in them. Ava had been sitting down on wet pavement.)

Bike Rides, Poop and Trucks. Oh My!

Today, my brother, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Kayla, came to pay us a visit. We always enjoy their company and we appreciate their willingness to make the drive out here for a day trip!

Ryan and Kayla brought their bikes with them and pretty soon after they got to town, we all headed out for a ride. We rode over to Country Park so that Ava could play on the playground and we could have a picnic lunch. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the playground was completely vacant upon our arrival. At first, we were a little stumped as to why we were the only ones at the park and then it dawned on us... We were the only people crazy enough to venture out into the sweltering heat at 12:30 in the afternoon. We may be crazy, but we still had fun! 

Ava was brave enough to venture down a tunnel slide all by herself. During previous attempts, I would set Ava down in the slide, and she would wrap her arms around my neck with a death grip while saying, "No! No! No!" I'm not sure what was different this time, but she was all about the tunnel slide today.

After playing in the dessert-like heat, we rode our bikes some more in hopes of feeling a breeze blow across our faces. We found the breeze we were looking for while my brother, an amazing biker, found a trick course he wanted to try.

And try.

 And try.

After all of the biking and playing, it was finally time for lunch. All of us were thoroughly enjoying our lunch when all of a sudden I heard, and felt, a SPLAT! I looked down, only to discover that bird poop had landed on my hand and arm, while remnants of it splattered on my cheek and neck. BLEH! Of all the things I have experienced in my life, being pooped on by a bird has not been one of them, until now. Sorry for the blurry picture...I guess my camera was so disgusted by the event that it decided to focus on the trees behind me instead of the main attraction.

After we got home, Ava spent the afternoon playing in her new favorite toy... Uncle Ryan's Big Bad Mama-Jamma Truck. Ava loves sitting behind the wheel of any vehicle, so she was in heaven to sit behind something the size of an aircraft carrier.

Ava practiced her steering technique.

And caught up on the latest issue of "Diesel Power" Magazine.

At the end of it all, Ava let Uncle Ryan know how much she loves him... and how much she appreciated getting to play in his truck. 

The Final Hoorah!

Today marks the 2nd to last day of school (at least for most local public schools) and that is exciting for several reasons:

-Even though I am currently not teaching anymore, I still get excited for all of my teaching friends.

-Kids everywhere are going to be bouncing off the walls later today, knowing that tonight is their last school night before summer!

-Once teachers and students are out of school, it is officially summer.

-Today, Ava and I got see Ziya one last time!

Ava and I pulled into the Joyner Elementary parking lot and as soon as I threw the car into 'park,' Ava screamed "Yi-Yah" from the back seat. Both Ava and I have grown to love Ziya and we will certainly be sad this summer since we won't get to see her every week.

We made our way into the school cafeteria and surprised Ziya with a special lunch from Chick-fil-A. Followed by Krispe Kreme doughnuts for the entire class! Ziya was more than excited to pass out the doughnuts to her classmates and as you can imagine, her classmates were more than excited to eat them.

After passing out the doughnuts, Ziya quickly ran back to her seat so she could enjoy hers...

Ava didn't seem to have a problem enjoying her doughnut either...



As a matter of fact, Ava enjoyed her doughnut so much, that she was not very interested in posing for a picture.

And 5 minutes later, Ava was still more interested in her doughnut than anything else in the room.

Happy Kindergarten Graduation, Ziya! We are so proud of you!

788,400 Minutes....

...788,400 moments so dear. 788,400 minutes. How do you measure, measure 18 months? In diapers, in bottles, in laughter, in bowls of oatmeal. In inches, in kisses, in play time, in love. 788,400 minutes. How do you measure 18 months of life? (If you are familiar with the theme song to "Rent", then you get the beginning of this post. If you are unfamiliar with the theme song to "Rent", you're not missing much.)

I know it sounds cliché, but I really can't believe Ava is 18 months old today. She has been more of a blessing to us than we could have ever imagined. Matt and I smile from ear to ear when we are playing with Ava, talking about Ava, looking at pictures of Ava... Anything involving our daughter and our hearts melt.

Ava went to the doctor this morning for her 18 month check up. Praise God she is healthy and developing right on track. Here are a few highlights from her appointment.

• Weight: 25 pounds, 10 ounces (75 %tile)
• Height: 34 inches (98 %tile)
• Quotes from the doctor:
• "If looks could kill, I'd be dead as a doornail!" (In reference to the look Ava gave him when he walked in the room.)
• "Girl, you've got some feet!" (Confirming that Ava has ridiculously large feet and that my worst nightmare is coming true... Ava is going to follow in my huge footsteps. Literally.)
• "She is sharp as a tack." (Letting me know that our little stinker is a smart cookie!)
• Ava had to get 2 shots today, one in each thigh. The nurse forcefully held down her legs while I forcefully held down her arms (worst feeling ever). After 2 quick pricks, Ava was visibly angry... not upset. Angry. She did not cry, but she did let out a big grunt, letting me know she was not pleased. In an attempt to get her mind off of what had just happened, I pointed to the band-aids on her legs and said, "Ava, what is that?" (Each band-aid was covered with pictures of Garfield the cat. And, I must ask... is that cartoon even on TV anymore?) Now normally, Ava's response to the picture of a cat is a sweet, subtle, "mow" (rhymes with now). Not today. Ava stood up on the examination table, wrapped her arms around my neck and let out a loud and very angry, "MOW!" It was as if she was trying to say, "Fine! I'll tell you what a cat says, but I'm not happy about it!"

Shortly after Ava's check-up, Matt and I took her to our favorite place for lunch. Tokyo Express. As much as we love their food, nothing on the menu could have compared to the surprise we brought along for Ava. A cupcake! Cupcakes are necessary for a year and a half birthday celebration, right? Ava looked at the cupcake for about 2 seconds...

And then she crammed it in her mouth...

And up her nose...

And all over her shirt...

And, yeah. I believe she enjoyed it.

After Ava's nap and dinner, Matt and I got out our bikes (and bike trailer), went for a ride and ended up at the park. Ava loved watching all of the big kids run around and she was even inspired enough to go down the slide sitting up by herself (in the past, she has always gone down the slide on her back).

You wouldn't be able to tell by her face in the next picture, but Ava had fun doing her favorite thing... swinging.

She climbed through tunnels.

And posed for pictures.

When play time was over, Ava hopped back in her 'ide' (ride) with her drink and snack in hand. We had such a wonderful, yet very simple day celebrating the first 788,400 minutes of Ava's life.