My girly-girl

Here are a couple of shots of Ava being uncharacteristically "girly." She gave her "Baby Sophie" quite a hair-do and was then inspired to re-create it on herself (with a little help from mom!)

I had to include this shot as well - check out the picture she drew of Dad! Not bad, huh?

Cabin Fun

We spent the weekend in Grantsburg, Wisconsin with our friends, Dan and Angie, their boys Samuel and Tate, and Danny and Emily. Dan's family has a great cabin with tons to do for the kids and grown-ups. The highlights for Ava were: fishing with Dad, riding on the "Jeeps" with Samuel and taking a bubble bath in the whirlpool tub! The highlights for Joe were riding the Jet Ski and going to the Demolition Derby at the local fair with Dan and Danny. For me, waterskiing, hanging out with Angie & Emily and finding a few precious moments to lay in the hammock were the best! We got home Sunday morning, so Joe could go to a Fantasy Football draft, and Ava and I both took extra-long naps this afternoon. All of the fresh air and activity definitely tired us out. Here are a few shots from the weekend...


Fishing with Dad


"Watch where you're going, guys!"


"Baby Tate"


Making popcorn with Dan


"Aaahhh...this is the life!"

Beach Babe

This week, Ava made a couple of trips to one of our very favorite summertime destinations: the beach at Lake Elmo Park Reserve. It's close enough that we can go for an hour or so after dinner, which we've done several times this summer, but we put in a little extra time there this week.

Joe and Ava went on Wednesday; Joe had taken the day off to hang out with Ava while I went on a tubing trip with some of the neighborhood moms.

And my mom came to visit for a couple of days, so we went back on Sunday to play at the huge playground and cool off in the water. (Note the Packer towel!)

Ava loves the water. In fact, she spent a good portion of the week in a swimming suit. Besides the beach, we went to two outdoor playdates, complete with pools and slip 'n' slides, and I took her to the YMCA on Saturday for open swim (and about 15-20 trips down the big slide!) Hopefully the warm weather holds out for a while longer...playing in the water is a great way to ensure a good nap!

I'll leave you with a picture of Ava with another summertime staple...

Summer Fun

We had a busy week! We took advantage of the nice weather and hosted a little outdoor playdate with my friends Ebba & Kelly and their boys. Ava is the oldest of the bunch, but she did great playing with Noah, Gavin, and Noah's baby brother, Kai.

Another highlight of the week was a trip to the Washington County Fair with Oma. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, and there were so many great photo opportunities! Ava was big into the rides this year, and she even went on the Ferris wheel (I hate heights & was terrified, but she didn't seem phased). :)

On Saturday, Ava was invited to her friend, Lexi's third birthday party at Rolly Pollies. She had a blast climbing and jumping, going on the zip line and bouncing in the inflatable bouncer.