Summertime

Yesterday was my birthday, so for my present my sister dropped off her 2 dogs for us to watch for a few days.  When Avery got home she was excited and frightened by the extra dogs.

I get 2 extra dogs?!?!

 Of course her favorite is always Charger.

 What is a hot summer day without a run through the sprinkler?

Keeping the shoes dry.  It was funny that she would get grass on her hands running through the sprinkler and would get upset until we cleaned her hands off.  This little princess does NOT like to be dirty.  She didn't even want the grass in the bathtub with her.  She would pick it out and hand it to you to keep her bathtub clean.  Hopefully she will treat her toys and room the same way in the future.

Party on the Farm

This past weekend Avery and I took a trip down to Vass while Robert was on a "golf retreat" with the boys.  My parents hosted a graduation party for Stephanie (East Carolina) and our cousin Paige (Queens University).  It was pretty hot outside, but really nice to see family and friends.  Avery enjoyed meeting the horses and showing everyone her animal book.  I of course enjoyed drinking my Dad's sweet tea all weekend.

 The Guests of Honor, Stephanie and Paige

 Avery checking out the horse's water bucket

 Anyone up for a game of catch?

 Avery lovin on her cousin Wren (1 year older than Avery)

 My favorite book!

 Hey horsey, have some hay!

Playing with Harpo

Random Smiles

Random goofy smiles from the weekend...

Party

Also this past weekend we went to a party at Laura's boss's house.  It was outside so Avery had a lot of fun running around meeting everyone.  She did take a pretty good fall and bust her lip, but it didn't slow her down at all.  Laura and I had to take turns chasing her around the party.  As soon as we would drag her back to where we were sitting, she would take off running and laughing.

Playing with the flowers.

 Just smiling, carrying around a cookie.

 There was sidewalk chalk so Avery did that for a while.

 I have all the sidewalk chalk!  She kept on running off with the whole bag and hiding it so no one else could use it.

 She was able to make some art although it was mostly just a bunch of lines.  She prefers abstract art.

Fathers Day at the Zoo

Sunday was Fathers day, so we decided to take Avery to the zoo in Columbia, SC.  Her favorite book over the past few weeks has been her animal books and she can point out almost all of them.  The best is when we ask her where the lion is and she goes "rarrrrr".  Hence the trip to the zoo.  As a bonus fathers got in free.

The day was filled with a lot of stares, waving at the various animals to come closer, and random shouts of excitement when she would see a new animal.

 Looking at the monkeys with mommy.  Sheer amazement at the animals all day.

 Where is the _________?  I don't know what animal she was pointing at, but that was the routine at each exhibit.

 Walking to go see the gorilla...

 Daddy carrying her back to see the elephants.

 One of her favorite animals...Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

 The favorite part of the trip was the aquarium.  I don't know if it was because it was air conditioned or because she could get up close.  We had to pry her away from the glass at the end.  She would point at the fish as they would swim by her and randomly shout out gibberish to them trying to get their attention.

 A happy fathers day at the zoo!

Weekend

Guess who had an awesome time this weekend at the zoo?

Jogging

For some reason after dinner Avery felt like she was in the mood for a jog.  For those that haven't been to our house...our house is at the end of the sidewalk in the picture, behind Avery, so she made it quite a way.

Pool Time

This past weekend we took advantage of the nice weather and decided to head down to the pool for an hour or so.  We would stay longer, but it is a lot of work to keep Avery out of the pool and she wears herself out in it very quickly.  From the moment we walk in, she stares at the pool and begs to get in.  From the moment she gets in, she continues to splash until the moment we pull her out because she is shivering from being cold.  

Looking stylish showing off the canoefest coozies.

 OMG!!!! WHY AM I NOT IN THE WATER?!!?

 Daddy tickling her from under water.

 Smiling at daddy while floating in the pool.

Sick Day

This weekend did not make it on the top ten list of fun weekends.... Avery started running a fever Friday night and when things didn't get better, we went to see the doctor on Sunday.  She has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.  It sounds worse than it is, but it's fairly common in toddlers.  So we stayed home Monday and read LOTS of books MANY times over.  I was able to snap a few shots when she wasn't glued to my lap.

I took the fun tissues away just after this photo. 

I did get a few smiles out of her. 

Her puppy Charger always makes her smile!

Can you tell I was desperate for entertainment?  This pose didn't last long, don't worry. 

After the weekend

So after we got home from a long weekend on the river with friends and picking up Avery from my parents, we finally made it home around 4:30 on Monday evening.  I was out cleaning up all the camping gear and Laura came out with Avery to water the flowers and let her walk around outside.  Speaking of which, you cannot say the word "outside" in our house because Avery gets all kinds of wound up.  I swear she would live outside if we would let her.

Avery kept on walking away from us because we were boring, so Laura started squirted her with the hose to entertain her.  Avery kept reaching for the water drops and next thing you know she is running back and forth under the hose trying to grab and splash the water.  You can see in the video what happens when you try to stop something that Avery is enjoying.