Random Pictures

So google plus has this option where when you take several pictures in a row with your camera, it stiches them together into a gif or moving picture.  I found some that it had autocreated for me over the past few months/year and thought they were funny enough to share.

Hamming it up in front of the mirror.

 Falling asleep on the couch when she was sick.

 Jumping around outside.

 On the slide at Monkey Joes.

Friends at the Beach

As I mentioned in the previous post, Avery had 3 little friends to play with at the beach.  We tried to line them up for a picture, but this is the best one of the bunch.  It seemed like one of them was upset at all times, but it was usually one of the boys.

 Having lunch around the kids table at the pool.

 Avery showing her friend Charlie how she plays with her learning cards.  Avery likes to stack them by colors and organize them.

 Avery and Charlie watching Bubble Guppies on the tablet in bed before bedtime.

This was another failed attempt at getting a group picture.  I love that Avery was just chilling as the chaos unfolded around her.

 Easton having fun in the pool

 Kyle and Neely goofing off.

Ocean Isle Beach

This past weekend we spent a few days at the beach at Mary & Jimmy's parent's house along with Mary, Jimmy, their son Easton, Mary's parents, Kyle and his son Neely, Pete, Ashley, and their daughter Charlotte (Charlie) as well as PJ and Julie stopped by.  So a full house of fun for a few days.  I was a bit concerned how Avery would deal with that many people in addition to being at the beach after Laura's rough trip down to the beach with her family.  Luckily, Avery had an awesome time, eat really well, and slept great.  

As soon as we got to the beach the first day she walked straight down to the ocean by herself.

 Later on during the day, she would walk down to the ocean by herself.

Later on in the weekend she was walking into the water on her own without really turning around and looking to see if anyone was coming with her.

 Mary and Jimmy's house also had a pool in the back, which was great for everyone.  We would spend the mornings at the beach, come back feed the kids, put them down for a nap, and hang out by the pool for the rest of the day.  We got Avery a new lifejacket after trying one out at the family reunion.  Her old one allowed her to sink a little bit and she would not remain upright while using it.  Granted it was not a real life jacket, but it did require someone to hold on to her at all times.  With this new one she would float on her own.

She must have done 20 laps the first day kicking up and down the pool.  Anytime we would get near her, she would say "No....I do it by myself."  The downside of this self confidence is that one day after lunch, she wanted to get back in the pool despite us saying no.  She proceeded to walk down the stairs and sink straight to the bottom.  Granted I was right beside her and grabbed her, but she did not seem phased at all about it.

 Racing down the pool against Jimmy.

 Eating watermelon.

And pretzels.

She even let me bury her legs in the sand.

 Tuckered out after a hard morning at the beach.  She had gotten into Laura's makeup case that was right beside her bed and fell asleep with a brush that she was playing with.

Nanny's Lunch

Nanny sent us home from Taylorsville with a tub of "Crunch" -- it's Rob's favorite snack (homemade chex mix).  He left it on the coffee table and a little toddler found it.... Later that night, Avery requested "Nanny's Lunch" for dinner.  I thought she wanted some green beans and mac-n-cheese like we had for lunch that day.  I asked her again and she said "Nanny's Lunch!" so I asked what that meant.  She said "nuts, pretzels, and cereal!"  Oh you mean Nanny's Crunch..... needless to say, we made another batch a few days later.  We took it to the beach and it was hit with everyone.

Visit to Taylorsville

I am still running about a week behind what really happens so here is our visit last weekend to see my grandparents in Taylorsville.

So while this blog is mostly about Avery, we got to hang out with Anna Kate Rotman, who we haven't seen in a while.

 AK getting loved on by Ru and Nanny.

 Me holding the little wiggle-worm. I am pretty sure she will be walking within a week or two, as much as she tried to jump out of my arms.

 After we had a good lunch we went outside.  Here is Avery's "I dunno" face when Gigi asked her a question.

 Nanny and Pa have a great pond to walk around and look for fish with Mommy.

Here Avery is reading baby Anna a book at Grandma Marshalls. 

Family Reuinion

The weekend directly after July 4th was the Gibson family reunion at White Lake.  Avery had a blast playing with her cousins and being the center of attention (although it was diminished by the presence of 2 babies younger than her.)

Jumping on the floats with her cousin.

 She seemed pretty happy about it.

 Arts and Crafts with Michelle and Froot Loops.

 Being a rebel and ignoring the "No Running On" sign.

 This was the best picture we had.  And we took several of the family.  PaPa is allergic to looking directly at the camera.  Or at least that is what he said.

 Playing cornhole against my best buddy.

 She cheats...

 She seemed pretty proud of herself after dunking all of the bags.

2nd Haircut

The day after July 4th, I had to work, so Laura took Avery to get her hair cut.  It was getting a bit out of hand.  Unlike the first time she got her hair cut (no pictures), Avery seemed relaxed and ok with the process.

July 4th

On July 4th after spending some time at the Ferguson's pool going down the frog slide 1000 times, we headed over to their house to light off some fireworks.  We fully expected Avery to crash hard after having been to the park, our pool, then the Ferguson's pool; but there was too much going on to slow down.  She had a great time running around being watched by Lydia.  We had a great time letting Lydia watch Avery and catching our breath from a full speed day.

Once the light started going down the fireworks started coming out.  The Ferguson's and their neighbors fill their cul-de-sac and try their best to blow it up.  Avery really hadn't been around fireworks much, so we were unsure how she was going to handle it.

Lighting her first sparkler with Daddy.

I think the grin says it all.

 Extreme concentration.

 Lydia supervising.

 Lydia shooting off roman candles.

 Miles shooting off roman candles.  I may or may not have shown him how to bounce them of the pavement for fun.

Fun with Toddlers

A couple of fun stories:

When Laura went to pick up Avery from school on Wednesday, Avery was sitting on the floor playing with a telephone.  She had the reciever up to her ear and didn't pay attention when Laura came in.  Laura said, "What are you doing Avery?" She looked up and rather than jumping up for a hug replied, "Calling You!"  It is hard to express attitude in a written form but imagine if it was said with a negative attitude.  Laura replied, "Why?" to which Avery said, "To pick me up!"  Once again...attitude...

The other story is Avery's attachment to Bojangles.  On the way to the family reunion we stopped to pick her up a plain biscuit as it was around her dinner time and we didn't know if we were going to make it all the way there.  We were in the drive-thru and she said "I want a biscuit combo."  Not just a biscuit....but a combo.  And while we joke about the Bojangles thing...we have taken her there maybe 4 times in the past 3 months.

Anyways....here is a video of Avery dancing to "Tootsie Roll" down by the pool.  Sorry for filming in portrait mode, but I didn't want to miss a moment.

Pool Time

Since it is summer, we have been spending as much possible time at the pool when we are home.  Avery loves it and we have to drag her out of it kicking and screaming everytime.

 She is getting pretty good at kicking and floating vertically with the help of a lifejacket.

 She has always been good at splashing daddy.

 Our neighbors, The Ferguson's, have a pool that has a kiddie area with a water slide.  Way cooler than our pool.  We went over there for the fourth of July and Avery had to go down the frog about 1000x times.  The Fergusons are moving which is sad, but hopefully we can sneak back in there from time to time.

 "One more time daddy!"

 The only way we can get her out of the pool a lot of times is with the lure of fruit snacks.