Avery and Addy- The Musical

Oh my...Avery and Addy are taking music class together, which makes for some pretty funny moments.  I took a few videos of the two little comrades on what turned out to be a pretty subdued day for them.  Usually they are running around like crazy, wreaking havoc (well, Avery's the main havoc wreaker) and generally causing mutiny within the class.  Once one two-year-old breaks the ranks, it's over for the rest of the toddlers...The other pics are of Avery "reading" with her Tag Junior...look how serious she is! Next stop...Harvard.

Two...Double

When we asked Avery how old she was last week during the week of her birthday, she replied without hesitation...two double. We have no clue where the "double" part came from, but it was too cute to hear her say that! Avery turned 2 last Thursday; Mimi and Grandpa came down from Cleveland to be with her on her birthday, and then she enjoyed an Elmo extravaganza party on Saturday. All Elmo, everywhere! Nana, Aunt Jen, and I even pulled off Elmo cupcakes and a stellar "Elmo at the Beach" cake. It was a very "Martha Stewart Meets Sesame Street" moment. We were so proud. Avery had a super blast at her party, although she looks rather subdued in the pictures...ha! Avery had many friends in attendance- Addy Finney, Belle and Liv Labrador, Sydney Oliver, Joe and John Taggert, Ruby, Annie, and Jack Zboril, Reece, Raya, Rylee, and Arlynn Rapin, and even new baby Kate Gilmore. They played lots of lovely backyard games, such as "Elmo's Letter Hunt" and "Throw Dorothy the Goldfish (Elmo's BFF) Back Into Her Fishbowl" (AKA cornhole with a fishbowl taped over the holes...The friends also made Elmo masks, and of course, ate Elmo cupcakes. Avery was in heaven. She received many, many amazing gifts- she is such a lucky girl. Thanks to everyone who helped make Avery's birthday so special! :)

End of Summer Fun

Ahhh, the end of summer, sniff sniff! Things have been a little wild with starting back to school and Ave back to the sitter in the afternoons. We still have our mornings though, and we've managed to get out every morning for Gymboree or some sort of outing before I have to head for work, so that's good! Here are some sweet end-of-summer pics- the first ones are at our Luau with our little Wahini in her hawaiian dress- so cute! The top ones are at a barbeque at the Dolan's house- there's a picture of G.G. and all of her great-grandchildren, and then of Avery, Addy, and cousin Olivia playing ring around the rosy- so cute!

Sunflowers

Here's a few cutie pics we took of Avery and Addy in the sunflower field- so neat! The top pictures are of Ave at Kristin Braeding's wedding (what a beautiful bride she was!). Unfortunately the very top one was taken before we left the reception and poor Ave had a seizure in the car on the way home! We ended up calling the squad but it was just a febrile seizure- something that happens when kiddos get a temperature spike (which was weird because she had Tylenol all day for a low grade fever earlier in the day...). Apparently it's common and not a big deal (although it felt pretty big to us when it happened!). She's totally fine now! In other news Ave's talking up a storm- her catch phrase at the moment is to say "Come on_____(insert your name here) and then she'll take you wherever she wants to go! :) She actually said a short sentence the other night to Chris while they were brushing her teeth- "Daddy I do it..." I could just eat her up.

Our Yearly Trip to the Farm...

Oh, how we love our yearly trip to Great Grandma and Grandpa Finney's farm in Illinois! The miles of corn and country quiet are always a nice escape, although this year it was admittedly more difficult to maintain the girls' attention and keep them entertained! :) Nevertheless, we loved our time on the farm with G and G Finney; they are such wonderful hosts and we had a blast hanging out with Nana, Papa, Uncle Scott, Aunt Jen, and Addy! The only hiccup was a limp Avery developed on Friday which has stuck around. A trip to the ER tonight didn't give us any answers...blurg- just no broken bones... I can already see our future with many trips to the ER with as much of a daredevil as Avery is... she's a wild woman! :)