Last Wednesday Ava and Mom went to see the Red Sox v. Oakland Athelics at the Coliseum. Dad had too much work to do so he couldn't skip work. Mom and Ava had a nice time even though the Red Sox did not win. Ava wanted every sort of treat, snack, and food that they had to offer. But Mom let her pick only one and she chose Cotton Candy.
Hey wait... who are those two new characters in the Peanuts Gang? Oh, it is Auntie Tara and Ava! Posing with Linus, Lucy, Sally, and Snoopy at Great America.
One of Ava's favorite rides at Great America is the log ride. Here are Dad, Auntie Tara, and Ava after the log ride. We actually got pretty wet on this one!
Saturday Mom, Dad, and Ava took Auntie Tara to Great America. This is absolutely Ava's favorite place in California. Ava showed Auntie Tara all of her favorite rides. It was a warm sunny day so we also went to the water park. The second ride that we always go on is the carousel which has a top and bottom deck. Ava always wants to ride on the top deck.
Auntie Tara came to visit on Friday. Ava was very excited to see her! On Friday afternoon they went swimming at the Cabana Club and Auntie Tara worked with Ava on jumping off the diving board and floating. Ava did both of these things quite well, but for some reason she won't do them with the swimming instructors!
Dad dropped Ava off at summer school on Tuesday and took a couple pictures of her. She dressed up so nice in a new yellow polka-dot dress. She was all smiles and did a good job. But then on Thursday she decided that she did not like the summer school and did not want to go back "never" she said.
Last Sunday was the World Cup soccer match. We went to a party at Krystal's house. Dad thought the match wasn't all that great, Spain beat the Netherlands. But the party was fun! After dinner Ava and Krystal decided to paint themselves green. It started innocently, but ended a little out of control as the girls were covered with green paint from head to toe.
This will be the last picture from the NH vacation. Here is Ava jumping off of Dad's shoulders in to Echo Lake. Dad would go down low into the water and pick Ava up and put her feet on his shoulders. Then Dad would stand up and Ava would be high in the air. Ava would count 1-2-3 and she would jump in to the water. Sometimes Dad would give her a little boost. She would go sailing through the air 10 feet or more and come down in the water with a huge splash. Towards the end Dad thinks she got scared with a few of the jumps, but she kept coming back for more saying "do it again Daddy!"
Ava had a great time at the Gale River on our last day in NH on July 6th. We played in the river for almost three hours. We had our own private beach with nobody else in sight. Ava liked to throw her guys in the water and then go find them. She also liked it when Dad held her upside down and dipped her hair in the water. It was another hot day in the 90's and everybody got a little too much sun! But the river was a great way to cool off!
The theme at Storyland in NH is Mother Goose fairytails. One of the characters is Humpty Dumpty. Ava claimed all day long that she was afraid of Humpty Dumpty and wouldn't look at anything with his picture on it. But at the end of the day when she came face to face with the Humpty Dumpty character she discovered that she wasn't afraid at all. She sat right down on the wall next to the statue and took a picture.
Ava played with her cousin Abe at Echo Lake beach in NH. We went there on July 4th and spent most of the day. It was sunny and hot. Dad got a little sunburned. That night we also went down to Uncle Roman and Aunt Stephanie's house and had dinner. Ava and Abe did some sparklers to celebrate the 4th.
Ava, Mom, and Dad at Storyland in NH. Mom rode in the backseat and was chauffeured around by Ava. Ava drove the antique car around the track by steering the wheel. Dad had to hold down the gas pedal because Ava's legs wouldn't reach. Later we rode the log ride, raft ride, roller coaster, train, mini ferris wheel, and lots of other little rides. It was really hot, about 96 degrees and we were just burning up in the sun!
While in Connecticut on vacation Ava also got to spend time with her cousins Abby and Sophia. Here from left to right are Sophia, Emily (Abby and Sophia's neighbor), Ava, and Abby. The girls played together and went swimming.
Mom's cousin Vera came up to visit while Ava and Mom were in Connecticut. Ava loved playing with her cousin Julia.
Mom, Dad, and Ava hiked to the top of Georgiana Falls in New Hampshire. It was a relatively short hike through the woods and up to the falls. The trail followed the river all the way up to the top of the falls. Ava was a good little hiker. Dad and Ava played "hide Annie" all the way. One of Ava's Little Einstein characters is named Annie and she took a small plastic Annie figurine on the hike. Dad would go ahead about 50 yards and hide Annie somewhere along the trail. Ava would then come running along and find her. This was Ava's "motivation" for most of the hike. It was a beautiful sunny day for hiking and there was plenty of water in the falls.
After a two week vacation Ava is back in California! Here is a picture of Ava celebrating the 4th of July at the fireworks in Franconia, NH. Ava had never done sparklers before because Mom and Dad thought she was too young and because she has always been afraid of fire. She would not hold the sparklers while Dad lit them, but she would take them in her hand and wave them around and write letters in the air. The evening of July 4th started with church, then dinner at home, playground while the band played, sparklers, and finally fireworks! Ava loved the fireworks and also loved staying up until 10pm! Happy July 4th!