DAY 54 (Another Birthday Party)

Today we went to another birthday party at the park.  Scott works with a guy whose son just turned 2 years old.  Since he loves Handy Manny, we brought him a Handy Manny doll who talks and interacts with his tools.  Avery liked the doll so much, she took him for a few walks though the park.

When we got home, Dad took Avery on a lawnmower ride through the front yard.

Later, Avery and I played lock Mommy out of the house.  (Not for reals.)  But she thinks its funny.

DAY 53 (Breckin's Birthday Party)

Okay, so I skipped days 52 and 53.  I am sure they were adventure-ful, but I didn't get any pictures.  During those days, Scott went back to work after a stay-cation, and I hired Cheston to watch Avery for a few hours each day so that I could begin to get some lesson plans together.  Also, on Friday, Christopher took Avery for another few hours so that I could have some girl time at a Lia Sophia Blingo night.  It was nice to get away for a few hours, and I even won a necklace!  While he was watching her, she went potty in the big girl potty again!  He said that she was showing off to her cousins.  Hey, whatever works, right?  Also, I noticed earlier in the week that my drivers license had expired on my birthday.  Woops, almost a whole month went by, and I hadn't a clue.  So I went to get a new license.  Normally, when planning for a trip to the DMV, I would take along a few paperback novels, a jug of water, a bar of soap, a toothbrush, and some camping gear, but I heard that the new DMV facility was set up nicely and would take but a few minutes to get in and out.  I only half believed it, so I settle on just taking a sleeping bag with me.

All morning, I practiced my pose for my new picture.  I hope it turns out okay!

 So everyone was right:  I was in and out of that place in under 10 minutes!  It really was a dream come true!

Alright.  So Day 53 of of Summer and Day 53 of the blog.  Today, Avery and I went to Breckin's house to celebrate his 1st birthday.   Avery wanted to paint him a painting first.  (But boo, we left it at home!)

 We enjoyed some yummy cake as well as all of the cool motion toys and the boxes they came in.  Everyone had a super time!   

Later, we visited Avery's cousins Anna, Sam, and Elizabeth.  Anna just learned how to ride a big girl bike yesterday, so I video-taped her new accomplishment!

DAY 51 (SQUEEZING OUT EVERY LAST BIT OF SUMMER)

A few weeks ago, I took Avery to the library where she found a table full of Legos.  She sat next to two brothers building towers.  I sat and watched for a while and during that time, the younger brother said to the older brother, "Andrews, we have a big life.  Don't you think?  Its pretty good, right?"  The older brother didn't answer.  So the younger brother stated, "I think we have a big life."  He continued to build his Lego tower with a big grin.  I've been thinking about that for some time now.  This little boy must have heard someone say something about living large or something to that effect.  Though he didn't quite know what that entailed, he was fairly sure that he had it.  After getting no reassurance from  his older and wiser brother, he relied on his own interpretation stated that he truly was living big.   

I've tried to think of that boy for the past couple of weeks when I start to think about the end of summer.  Its coming to an end for me as I count down the days that I have to go back to work.  I don't know if that little boy is really living large in a grown-up sense of the phrase.  But my two cents don't matter.  Its all relative.  So as my summer ends, and I think about how much less time I will have to find adventures with Avery when I go back to work, I will try and remember that we do have a BIG life.  And to make the most of the time I have left of summer, I am going to live BIG.

On that note, I'll start to tell you about our adventures we had today.  As I said before, Scott had to go back to work today.  But he too is trying to squeeze every last drop out of his vacation.  He did that by joining us on a trip to the zoo before heading off to work.  We went with Amanda and her two kids.  It was Breckin's first birthday today, so we celebrated by feeding giraffes.

Avery was so funny on this train.  After it started, she covered her face with both hands and kept them there for 3 whole rides.  She peeked out from behind her fingers at us.  She wasn't scared, but I think she noticed that people were looking at her and she was embarrassed!

After the zoo, we drove around a bit near the mountains.  Avery fell asleep, and so I kept driving until I found Helen Hunt Falls.  We spent some time checking out the water.  It was really cold, so we only waded for a few minutes.

My camera died after that, so the rest of our adventure is undocumented.  But here's what we did anyways.  We drove down to Manitou Springs and had some adventures there.  Avery rode a mechanical airplane about 10 times, we ate spaghetti in a restaurant, and sang songs with some hippies!  Nighttime was drawing near and we didn't really want to leave, but bedtime was calling. We got home at about 8:30 and we both slept like babies. 

DAY 50 (MINI GOLF)

It was Scott's last day of vacation today, so he chose today to do a little relaxing.  For Scott, that meant putting the last bit of sod in the yard, washing his truck, and going mini-golfing.  Though we did have some time to relax and watch a movie during the day, thanks to Avery's nap.  Cheston offered to come over and put in some sod while Scott chilled out with us.  He's been quite a huge help on this yard project. 

Avery helped to by testing out the grass.  I think I said in an earlier blog that we've been letting her try to chew gum.  Here is a picture of her showing me that she still has it.  I told her today that if she swallows it, she might poop out bubbles.  It was meant to deter her from swallowing it, but my comment may have made it more appealing.  Hee Hee.

Today, she asked for a piece of gum when Scott and I were both downstairs.  We told her "no," but she could try again tomorrow.  So a few minutes later, Scott went up to the bedroom to change clothes.  Avery went up there, peeked into the closet where he was, look up at him, and whispered quietly (as if it were some secret co-op mission against Mom) "Daddy, piece of gum?"  Scott came down and told me of the conspiracy. 

Later, we took Avery to play putt-putt-golf for the first time.  She started off with a club, but shortly after the first hole, she commenced to be in charge of all of our balls.  Cheston played a little ahead, as he was actually keeping score.  Scott and I pretty much hit a few balls and watched Avery chase after them.  It was all in good fun.  I'll have you know that Cheston's score was exactly par for the course (44).  Scott and I had higher scores I am sure.  However, if you count the baby obstacles we encountered on every hole, we really should have won!

DAY 49 (FIRST HAIR CUT)

I have been nervous about Avery's first haircut for some time now.  I've only cut her hair once during her sideways mullet days when she was younger.  I have been debating with myself about it for months.  And last night I told myself to knock it off - that it wasn't a big deal.  Its just hair.  She isn't going to change.  She'll still be cute.  But still, I was nervous about it.  But Avery wasn't.  Not one bit. 

We went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids, where she got to pick out a video and sit in a car.  The girl who cut her hair was really nice, and did a great job!  Though I was nervous about the cut to begin with, when I got there, they faded away.  Everything turned out fine, and she looks adorable!

Our second adventure of the day was even more exciting!  Scott and Cheston put sod in the yard!!! (yes, three exclamation points. That means I am really really excited.) 

(Scott didn't want me to take his picture because he was wearing a shirt that was too small, so you'll have to excuse the fashion foux pas. (Sp?)

 As it was going in, I just wanted to lay on it.  So I did.  I just kept smiling because it looks really good and feels good too.  Now Avery can run on grass instead of rock and dirt!

We still have some work to do.  We need to stabilize the fence (it almost blew down this past spring) by adding three more fence posts.  But the holes are already to go.  As you can see, the fort needs to be worked on a lot too.  A few bricks need to be cut.  Sand needs to be put in under the fort, etc. etc.  But we have made a HUGE accomplishment by getting this far!

DAY 48 (SPRINKLERS ARE IN!)

Avery was sitting in her high chair today, being silly.  She took her fork and started combing her hair with it.  So I started to sing little mermaid songs to her.  Even though she's never seen the movie, I think she captured the moment well. 

Well, the sprinklers are FINALLY in.  Uncle Christopher came over today and helped all day long with getting them running.  As soon as they came on, Avery ran right through them!  You should have seen Scott.  He was SO excited to see that his hard work has paid off!

Chris rode over on his bike, so he took Avery for a ride.  She begged for more rides until he was worn out. 

Oh, by the way. As some of you know, Scott bought a brand new truck a few years ago, but within the last year, decided to trade it in for something else so that the payments could be lower.  Well, we got screwed over on this piece of crap truck and had to trade that one in within the same month for another one.  He pretty much settled for a truck that he really didn't even like that much.  It didn't even have a hitch to pull the trailer he uses for his work. Anyways, he traded it in for a truck that is WAY cheaper, and is comparable to his needs.  Good job, Scott!  (He thought I'd be mad or something)  I mention it because you can see it in this picture of Chris and Avery.  (I'll take a better picture of it later). 

DAY 47 (CHUCK E CHEESE)

We are running low on adventures today.  Every day has been a yard work day.  And since a lot of the work is too dangerous or messy for Avery, she and I thought it would be fun to go to Chuck E Cheese.  Its a block from our house and we pass it daily.  So she is well aware of the promise of fun the big mouse offers and reminds me every time we drive past, that she would totally love me forever if I took her there.  So today, I took her up on her offer.  (I'll remind her of our deal when she is a teenager!) 

She loves to go into the birthday party section, where Chuck E Cheese sings on stage.  She always asks the robot mouse to hold her.  Each time, I kindly say that he has to go night-night, then the curtain closes.  But today, as we were giving our tickets to the ticket monster (ticket counting machine), Chuck E Cheese came up to us.  She was elated!  She gave him a high five, a hug hug, and smiled from ear to ear.  She even followed him around and told him to "hold 'er mouse."

When we got home, Avery helped line up the bottles of water and cans of soda along the back porch. She did put them all back, but later Scott also found a hand shovel in the cooler along with the drinks.  I guess the shovel was sick of the heat too and wanted to party with some of the "cool" people.

A small victory:  I have been letting Avery try a small piece of gum every day.  She knows to "just chew it," but usually swallows it within a few minutes.  Well, today she chewed the same piece for 30 minutes!  Yay!

DAY 46 (WATER PARK)

Avery and I played along with the burning heat and went to the water park today.  Oh man, it felt so good to be able to cool off in the water on such a hot day.  Avery had a super time splashing a laying down in the water. 

(This is a picture of some of the tree roots we had to dig under to get the sprinklers in!)

Back at home, we "helped" Dad and Uncle Cheston with the sprinklers.  What a chore this project has been.  But we are getting very close.  I surely can't wait to lay on the soft green grass.  We are putting sod in just on the side yard.  So the grass truly will be greener on the other side.  At least for a while, until the sprinklers encourage the rest of the grass to grow more healthy.  I can't wait to post pictures of the finish product. 

Avery watches a lot of Sesame Street.  Lately, she has been impersonating Cookie Monster.  Here is a video of one of her great performances!