Jeepers Creepers

She likes bugs.

I do not.

On occasion, I have given myself mini heart attacks when I have come across some of her plastic  bug toys while cleaning.

Plastic I can handle..well, sort of.

But those real ones up in those pictures, I cannot.

I hope this is a short phase...although we are going on 2 years of said phase...

Free Fallin'

                                                                       Kid at heart.

Destination Unknown

Such a peaceful quiet summer evening.

Wait a minute...what's all that ruckus?

Oooo, that looks a lot of fun!

On second thought...

I think I'll just stay over here.

Good Riddance

Bookends

One Summer Night

Gigantic

                                                                Look how big Gus looks!

That picture was taken a month ago when Gus was 8 months old. This babyhood of his sure isn't lasting for long. He currently is wearing size 12months and weighs approximately 23lbs.(last time we weighed him was at 7.5lbs and he was 22lbs)  Gus now sports 6 teeth with 2 more working their way through. He can say Mama, Dada, No, and roar and neigh. He sleeps about 10 hrs a night and takes two 45 minute naps a day. He is constantly learning new things and is quite the curious little fellow. Ava is always amazed at how clever Gus is and she is a big help in reining in that kid. As the months go by, I find myself saying that every new month is my favorite so without further ado...I  wish I could freeze him at 9 months for longer than 30 days. :)

High fives are so last year...it's all about the high one!

                                                           *sigh* See.. isn't month nine just divine?

There She Goes

A Hard Day's Night

Poor girl...still recovering from the busy holiday weekend.

Eat It

This thing you call ice cream...

has nothing

on these lovelies!

nom,nom, nom

Message In a Bottle

I got a fancy schmancy new phone with GPS capabilities and the ability to add applications that we were able to start a new family adventure in geocaching.

Today we set out on 2 hunts for geocaches and had some success. The first one we found at a park not to far from our house and the geocache was hidden under a bench used to seat baseball players. It was a sign and date geocache so for the second hunt we opted to try one with a trinket prize inside. Unfortunately, walking along the river in flip flops and carrying a squirmy baby did not yield in the results we were hoping for.

Woot! Woot!

Geocaching? Eating clovers is where it's at!

Hot, thirsty, and too close to dinner we gave up on our search.

1 out of 2 wasn't bad for our first time out and it was fun trying to find the clever hiding places. I can't wait till we find actual treasure!

Ticket To Ride

Yesterday we joined some friends at their local 4th of July Celebration Jubilee and started this holiday weekend at the kiddie carnival.

Anxiously awaiting for the carnival to open.

The big girls take a ride on the train...the littles were frightened by scary train face.

Ruby got all the way to the top....and then walked right back down.

This made me dizzy just watching them.

The cheerful spectator.

Ruby finally braved a ride...a scary one.

We break for mini donuts.

Ruby's highlight of the day...Biffy heaven.

Speed demons.

Ava riding one jacked up Curious George.

All Summer Long

Here I thought with Ava out of school we can rest and relax all summer but it's been crazy busy .  And that was before we made our Family Summer Fun List a few days ago, summer sure is flying...

Under Pressure

Ava is currently doing some earned computer time. Of all things to pick to do...she chooses to read the blog...that I didn't update all week. :/

School's Out For the Summer

First day of school (9/2010)

Last day of school (6/2011)

Last Friday marked Ava's completion of Kindergarten. She went half days five days a week. She learned so much this first year such as reading, counting to 100, and tons of history and science things. It just astounds me how much they learn compared to what I learned Kindergarten, it's craziness! She has a thrist for knowledge and I hope it continues throughout her lifetime.
Unfortunately, she also learned how cruel some kids can be as well.  The school bus bully, being made fun of for wearing Spiderman(boy) shoes, and called a vampire (pointy tooth) were some of the issues that this year brought up. My heart broke to see that innocence lost but it also gave us an opportunity to arm her with smart, self- assured comebacks about being a leader and an individual.
Ruby missed her sister fiercely , I worry how she will handle Ava being gone all day next year.

We may be seeing a lot of this:

Taken after dropping Ava off on the first day of school. So sad :(