July 4th

Independence day was a little blah for us this year. The day was cold and overcast and James and I just weren't in the mood to deal with crowds and people. but eventually we figured we should get out and do something. So when mom and dad said they were going to go for a walk and then to the store we figured we'd tag along. We followed them to Toledo. We parked by the train museum and then headed down to the docks and walked along the river. Then we headed back to land, crossed the street and walked along main street. Everything was closed, the whole town seemed dead. Mom joked that obviously the place to be on the 4th wasn't Toledo.We ended our walk at a cute little park where we let the kids play for awhile.

 After the park we headed to the store and then back home to make dinner. We fired up the BBQ ans had hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled corn on the cob. Delicious! We didn't really feel like going back out for fireworks so we stayed in, and just enjoyed the sunset and rainbow that came.

 "America! America! God shed his grace on thee; and crown thy good with brotherhood. From sea to shining sea."

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.