First Beach Fun

The first night we went to the beach, we didn't come prepared to go in the ocean but Avery was so excited to put her feet in and then to sit down in the water.  We didn't make that mistake again, but it was so fun regardless of the preparedness.  The evening was warm and the water was perfect.  We found a shallow little area in which to play and play.  This was the beginning of Avery's love affair with the ocean.

Florida Doesn't Slide

Thanks to the beating sun, the slide at the local playground doesn't really slide, it scoots.  This makes for many great slide pictures. 

Grandpa and NanaLin

We recently enjoyed a visit from Grandpa and NanaLin from Kentucky.  We went to the park and enjoyed time at home.  We even went out to dinner and left Avery home with a babysitter/ monitor while she slept (wow!).  I got to get out and go to a yoga class and do some shopping while Avery spent time with "Nee-en" and "Papa". We enjoyed a couple of yummy meals at home, thanks to my new favorite cookbook How to Eat Supper.  A great tomato soup and a fusilli with white beans, yum yum.  I even got Avery to try a couple of sips of soup.  Thanks for coming to visit us, as always it was a pleasure. They left Wed and when I came home from work, as soon as I walked in Avery said "Nee-en?", "Papa?".  We had to explain again that they had gone home to Kentucky.  She misses her NanaLin and Papa.

Grancy Time

It is so windy today!  Weather.com says it's 55 degrees but I don't believe them, it is so cold.  I know for those of you who live in cold places you think I am crazy, but seriously it's cold today. So for Avery's outing to the park with Grancy we got her all bundled up. They had fun playing outside while I stayed home to clean up this place!  Thanks Grancy, we love you.

Story Time

Avery now likes to have us read her any book and then say "Avery read it" and she sits and reads through the book herself.  I have also been encouraging her to read to Baby.  Today she sat and read to Baby, Doll, Elmo and her Farm Animals.  Granted I helped Doll sit up, but otherwise this moment was created by Miss Avery Mae.

Lunching with Friends

Avery and Annelise entranced by the water show

Audrey, Annelise, Rebecca and Avery

Lunching with our friends

Mmmmm, spaghetti!

Today we were so lucky to get together with some great friends for lunch.  Two of my old NNP colleagues (old meaning former, not OLD) JoAnna with her girls Audrey and Annelise & Colleen with her youngest daughter Rebecca and Carolyn, a nurse with whom I currently work all gathered for a morning of fun.  We drove from JoAnna's house to the Americana in Glendale, which is so cool if you live in that neck of the woods you should check it out.  Jon offers a perk to Katsuya there too.  They have a big fountain in the middle that puts on quite a show.  There is also a playground with a big slide.  Then there are a number of neat shops and restaurants.  We ate at Cheesecake Factory.  Rebecca, 16 and Audrey, 6 were able to join us as it is their spring break.  The girls were all very well behaved (thank you Rebecca for entertaining Avery). Avery ate spaghetti with marinara sauce and really, really enjoyed it. We really enjoyed the time with our friends and hope we'll do it again soon.   

Egg Hunt and Horsies

Today we joined our dear friends to have an easter egg hunt. There were lots of eggs to be found and the easter bunny even came and dropped off easter baskets for Avery and her friend. It was such fun. I had extra fun because I got to dress up Avery like a little doll! Later we changed into sweats and walked to see the horses. We tried to see Batman again but he was busy. Above are a few pictures from the day. Happy Passover and Easter to all.

Very Merry - Go - Round

Avery found her dream toy today. She immensely enjoyed going round and round. This was a gift given to our friend K's family when she was just 6 months old back in the 70's. Fortunately her parents held onto it for their grandchildren (and their friends) to enjoy. Thanks for a great day!

Good Friend

Oskar comes over to play many an evening with Avery. They are recently interacting more and more rather than playing side-by-side. It's fun to see them play and make each other laugh. Oskar is leaving soon for the summer and likely for good so we are trying to enjoy each time (and take more pictures).

Florida

Avery is so happy to see her Auntie Daynie

So happy

Playing dress-up at GG's house

Lethargic on the floor at home hours after landing at LAX with a fever of 104

Avery and Jon left me last week to go visit Jon's family in Florida.  They were gone for 6 nights, the first of which was my first ever away from Avery.  I was sad to see them go but glad that they got to visit with Auntie Daynie, GG and Poppy.  It felt a little like a part of me was missing but it was also a little freeing.  I was able to go to yoga, out to dinner with friends and to the dogbeach with Quincy to meet friends (1 person friend and 1 dog friend). But I worked most every day so that kept me busy and distracted.  Never mind taking over Quincy duties that Jon usually tends to.  He's a lot of work!  We had to recruit plenty of people to help, including Oskar's parents, our old dogwalker and my work friends who let me come in late so I could wait for the sun to rise before walking him one morning.  Oh, and let's not talk about me taking over Great Work Perks ticket center, I don't know how Jon keeps up with all those orders! Avery had a good time with everyone but did pick up a nasty bug along the way.  She has had a fever (up to 104.3!) and cough since returning.  But I am sure if she could say, she would say that it was well worth it.  She has a new thing where she freaks out whenever a camera is even turned on, so getting good pix has become a bit of a nightmare.  We hope you feel better real soon, Daynie, we love you!