Beach Day

We've had a couple of hard days. James got laid off from work and him and I have been applying for jobs like mad to try and get a jump start on the job hunt. I've been calling all my reservations for the family reunion to cancel everything and get deposits back, etc. So with all this stress and depression hanging around I really needed a laid back type of day. Today was absolutely beautiful so when James laid down to take a nap with Kilian. I told Avery to get her suit on and grab her sand toys because we were headed to the beach. It was so much fun and just what I needed. I laid on a towel sunbathing and reading while Avery made a sandcastle. After awhile we went and played in the water and then played in the sand some more. Avery found a hole where it looked like someone buried someone else. She played in it for awhile, making the hole deeper. Then she would sit in the whole and start to scoop the sand all around her. After awhile I got up to go help her. We "buried" her up to her neck and I drew a mermaid tail on her.

 After she dug herself out I told her we needed to think about heading back. I knew it was getting late and I was a little worried about James and everything. Avery asked if we could go in the water one more time before we go, when I looked back to answer her I saw some people walking towards us. It was mom, dad and James pushing Kilian in the stroller. They all decided to come down to the beach to play with us. Mom, Avery and I played in the water than I went and got Kilian to put his feet in the water. He thought it was really fun. Until the waves rolled in and splashed us. He didn't like that at all, he preferred the water not to move like that. :p After holding him and playing in the water for awhile it started to get a little chilly so we went back to the towels to play in the sand while mom and dad went for a walk along the beach. Kilian wasn't to impressed about the sand either for a little bit. But after I sat him on the towel he slowly inched towards the sand and first touched it with his feet then felt it with his hands. I showed him how he could pick it up and put it in a bucket. Before I knew it he was all the way in the sand having a fun time filling up buckets with sand. When they got full I would dump them out to make towers and he would knock them down and then start putting the sand back in the bucket. We had so much fun.

 We stayed there for another couple hours. But as the sun started to go down it started to get really cold and everyone was getting hungry. So we packed everything up and headed home for showers, dinner and then got the kids in bed. A perfect end to an almost perfect day.

Birthday Fun

Today was Avery's actual birthday. When I asked her what she wanted to do she said go to the aquarium. I was shocked but very excited, so off we went. We had a great time looking at all the various fish and birds. The seal lions and otters were super active and fun to watch. Avery had so much fun she really enjoyed the aquarium. She especially loved the shark tank.

 After we were done looking at everything and Avery had a chance to play at the playground. I surprised her with lunch at the aquarium cafe.

 She had brought her money to try and find something at the aquarium gift shop and found the birthday fairy had slipped $4 extra dollars into her purse. With all that money Avery didn't quite know what to spend it on. So after much convincing that we can come back at any time she finally decided to keep her money and wait. Back at home it was a nice hot day. So what better way than running through the sprinklers and playing in the pool to cool off.

 When James got home from work we had a fire in the back yard and roasted hot dogs for dinner and then we gave Avery her presents. Some barbies from mom and dad and a new bike from Nona and grumpy. She was SO excited.

 For desert Avery picked out a cake from the grocery store. We lit candles and sang happy birthday. Then had cake and ice cream for dessert

 The rest of the evening she rode her bike with her new dolls in the basket. She definitely got spoiled this birthday and had a great birthday.

6 Years Old!!!!

At 6 years old some of Avery's favorite things are:

Teen Titans

Paw Patrol

Swimming and being in water in general

Her friends Bree and Elsie

 Going for walks on the beach

riding her scooter

Singing and Dancing especially to a pretend audience

 Using her imagination and just being silly.

Barbies

The colors Purple and Blue

Helping in the garden

Feeding and petting our neighbors horses.

Playing with her brother.

Some of the things she scared of:

Getting to close to the ocean without someone close (sneaker waves)

There is not much this girl is scared of, she's pretty fearless.

Some of the new things she is doing: 

She has finished kindergarten and is excited to start 1st grade this fall.

She can sound out and read most small words.

She has learned how to snap her fingers and blow bubbles in her gum. She is still working on whistling but is getting closer.

Birthday Party and Father Day

Well after months of planning and Avery's anticipation building the party day finally arrived.I started setting up tables and chairs. I made a sign to instruct people towards the backyard and adorned it with balloons. The lady who made Avery's cake delivered it earlier than expected which I was totally fine with. :p

 Then came....THE WAIT. Avery kept asking when her friends were going to get there, she was so excited. The wait was killing her; and then the first friend showed up and then more and more.

 We played a couple rounds of musical chairs to start off the party, but not a lot of the kids wanted to play so they were super short rounds.

 Then it was time for the safari. We had safari hats, binoculars, and water bottles for all the kids. We also had a scavenger hunt card for them to check off the animals they find. James lead the safari with a little help from our cute rat Ezrie.

 To calm the kids down and get them ready for cake and ice cream and presents we all sat down and did a tell along with actions of the book "going on a lion hunt". They seemed to enjoy it and it really helped calm them down...at least a little. Then we had Avery open her presents. Each kids was excited to give their present to Avery. Then we got a group shot of all the kids, while we were bringing out the cake and ice cream.

 After cake and ice cream Avery had fun handing out gift bags to everyone. Then the kids all played together, some went on the safari again, some played tag. slowly they all went home and we were left with a mess to clean up a very tired boy and a tired yet very happy girl who spent the rest of the day in her room with her new toys.

 The next day was fathers day which was a little more low key than the birthday party. Avery was excited to give Grumpy his fathers day gift. a survey she did and a box of cookies. She was also excited to give her daddy his fathers day gift that she had picked out for him and his fathers day survey. It's this neat metal puzzle that you can take apart and put back together. Then she gave him my present. Final Fantasy best compilation for PS4. Then she wanted him to play it so she could see it. :p But we had to get ready to head to church. It was James' first day teaching the gospel doctrines class. He was excited but also very nervous. He did a fantastic job! After church and a meeting I had to go to. We all packed up a lunch and went to Cape Perpetua for a fathers day picnic. It was a beautiful day. I couldn't believe the view. It was amazing.