Storyland

Ava and Sarah at Storyland in NH, riding in Cinderella's carriage.

Watering the flowers

Ava helped water Grandma' flowers, but somehow it turned out that Ava wanted to get wet and play "it's raining". It was a hot day so this must have been refreshing, though Ava would still want to do this on the coldest day of the year.

Dinosaur prints

Saw dinosaur prints at a park only a few miles from Grandma's house. Here is Ava holding her had up next to one of the prints. Would probably be a pretty scary and big dinosaur! We also got to touch a Ball Python named Hermie. Dad had never touched a snake before (except maybe a garter snake) but Ava had touched a snake in school. Ava led us on a scavenger hunt on the trails in the woods and we found most everything.

Echo Lake

While on vacation in NH we spent a day at Echo Lake . Ava loved playing in the water and Sarah tried to eat a lot of sand.

St Michael the Archangel

While in Connecticut we were blessed to attend Sunday Mass as St Michael The Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church. The mass was in Ukrainian, but Mom helped Dad follow along with the English translation. The Church was beautiful and Ava liked seeing a new Church. Afterwards we met a few parishoners that knew Grandpa's father (Mom's Grandpa and Ava's Great Grandfather). We went downstairs and had refreshments afterwards. Many kind people remarked at how adorable Ava and Sarah are.

Drawing with Abe

Ava played with cousin Abe. They had a great time drawing "comic books" and running around playing all kinds of games. Had a nice dinner at Uncle Roman and Aunt Stephanie's house. Also saw them at Town Day in Franconia and went with them to Sat vigil mass at St Rose in Littleton, NH.

Lunch with Abby and Sophia

Got to spend some time with cousins Abby and Sophia. Played with them a couple of times and had lunch once and a cookout. Ava loved playing with her older cousins.

Sarah meets her Godmother

Ava and Sarah visited Sarah's Godmother Vera and cousins Julia and Henry in New Jersey. Ava and Julia played "Tangled" and princesses and got a really good ice cream snack.

Grandma and Grandpa

Mom, Ava, and Sarah went out to Connecticut a few days before Dad and spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa. Sarah got to meet Grandpa for the first time. It was a nice visit and the kids enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa. Ava loved exploring the garden, picking blueberries, and watering the flowers. There was a fish in Grandma's frog pond that Ava named "Larry Archibald" after her two favorite characters on Veggietales. Sarah liked to crawl around and get into things and also enjoyed the attention and being held.

Bridgette and Ann Arbor

On our final day of vacation we visited Ann Arbor and Ava got to see Bridgette. Bridgette and her family moved away just at the end of school and it was nice for the girls to get together and play for a while, just like old times.

Owosso visit

Everybody has finally recovered from our family summer vacation. We spent a few days in Owosso and visited Grandma J, Grandpa Don, Mimi, Auntie Tara, Uncle John and Johnny, and Uncle Gene. Ava loved swimming in Johnny's pool. Ice cream at the Cone Zone. Grandma J treated everybody to a really nice dinner at the Wrought Iron Grill. It was especially nice for Sarah to meet Grandma J and Grandpa Don. So happy that Mimi could make the trip up from SC to be with us too. Thanks to Auntie Tara for letting us stay at her house on Saturday night.