Haircut and Color

Ava got another hair cut.
















This time we put a few highlights in.

JUST KIDDING!  I'm not that crazy! She would've loved it, but we'll hold off on that one for, say, 14 more years....

Dance

More dance pictures (for those ballerinas at heart)...

Classmates.

And friends.

Could there be anything cuter than a bunch of little girls in tutus?

Au revoir.

Favorites

At nearly 27 months old, Ava's list of favorites...

Food:
1.  Balsamic portabella salad.

This has been on the good list for some time now, but I set it down in front of her the other day for lunch and after she SHOVELED in four heaping fork-fulls, she looked up and, with quite an exaggerated expression, said, "Mom, I was STARVING!"

2.  Speaking of gorgonzola, gorgonzola.  She'll scarf it down by the spoonful.  Yeah, it's a strong cheese; standard toddler food.

3.  Asparagus.

4.  Crackers.

5.  Anything Tita Sara makes, because according to Ava, she or I make all food (even the prepackaged stuff you see in the market. What can I say, we're busy ladies.)

6.  And, of course, sweets.  She is her mother's daughter.

Books:
1.  Pig and a Pancake.

2.  Pinkalicious.

We read this once, if not twice, a day.  It is her self-professed favorite, but until today, I didn't know quite what that meant.  I was reading it to her before naptime (standard), when I turned the page and paused for a moment.  It was a random page, not any particularly special one, but she, without hesitation, or mistake, recited the following:

I opened the fridge, held my nose, and squeezed a bottle of icky green relish onto my tongue.  I ate pickles and spinach, olives and okra.  I choked down artichokes, gagged on grapes, and burped up Brussels sprouts. Next thing I knew, my arms tickled, my ears tingled, and my feet twitched.

Unbelievable.  She either really loves the book, or we should start in on War and Peace and enter her in some kind of contest.  I was impressed; and implored, as ever, to watch what I say - and read - around her.  She's waaaaatching.

3.  Surf Angel.

Activities:
1. Fingerpaint.

2.  Tea parties.

3.  Playing with Princess Barbies.

4.  Taking care of her numerous baby dolls.

5.  Cooking (preferably the real kind; as in in my kitchen, not hers).

6.  Swimming.

7.  Library storytime.

8.  Reading.

9.  Bounce houses.

10.  Makeup, nails and hair.

Little Surfer Girl

Jeff had the day off after Fourth of July, so we headed down to San O for an all day beach trip.

San O is packed durring the weekends, so we ususally stay awya.  But let me tell you, after this lovely day, we'll just make sure to get down there early enough to not have to wait to get in. It was BEAUTIFUL!  And (*bonus*) you can pull right up to the sand and leave your tail gate down.  That's an extremely important feature when you are carting a kid - and ALL THIER STUFF - to the beach.

Even with all that stuff, we still probably left with more than we came with.  Here's Mr. Crabby (or half of him, anyways).


We also did a little light digging.
















And, of course, who else would be at San O other than my Dad. We're pretty sure he'd live there if Mom let him.

And so starts the insane amount of pictures documenting Ava's first surf session...

Surveying the swell.

Practicing popping up.

Heading out.

Timing it right.

HERE WE GO!

There may be as many pictures of her first dance recital, but we'll have to see...

The 4th!

It's pretty much become tradition that we bomb the hill down to the Mission Viejo lake to watch fireworks.  However, this was the first year since Ava was born that we got back on bikes to do it.  It's roughly three miles... all down hill.  So you can imagine it's a lot more fun on bikes that trying to break a stroller.

This year we headed out with 3/4 of our small group from church.  So much fun.

But before this, there was some swimming... and some serious rib eating.  Ava's first!

(They boiled them in beer.  Do you think it's possible that she was a little tipsy?)  ;)

And never underestimate the awesomeness of fireworks to two year old eyes.  We got a running commentary on what colors they were, how big they appeared, and the ever-wonderful palindrome, "wow!"

Our Weekend

Oh blogging, you just take so much time; especially when my new obsession, Pinterest, has eaten up every bit of it that I call free.

I've fallen a little behind.  I love to blog; it's therapeutic for me.  I'll catch up soon with more pictures than anyone who's not Ava's parent or grandparent would care to see.  But in the meantime, here's a little glimpse at last weekend.

In summary, Jeff and Bryan decided to give Jessica and I a little break, i.e. a weekend to ourselves... NO KIDS!  Seeing that neither of us has spent a second together without the little darlings (translation: we haven't finished a paragraph's worth of conversation) in the last nearly-two years , it was a nice treat.

Here's how the weekend looked for the two parties involved.
Us:

"Aaaaaaaaahh."

Them:

Caption accompanying the text including the picture: "Don't worry, we've got it under control." (Yes, that's a gun case, which they claimed was thrown in for effect, on the couch; and a mattress, likely for jumping on, on the living room floor.)

Yipes!  Thanks, boys.  You're some good Daddies.