Shubenacadie Wildlife Park

During JP's week of vacation we ventured out to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park. The weathe forecast was calling for a HOT day so we left the house early in the morning in hopes of seeing some of the animals before they took cover in the shade. We were excited for Ava as she was only 3 months old the last time we took her there. Needless to say she had a terrific time and was thrilled everytime she saw an animal. The deer, peacocks and ducks were definitely her favorite (probably because she was able to get closest to them). Everytime she saw the peacock she exclaim, "Bir, Bir" which is her way of saying bird! We were even fortunate enough for the deer to come up and let us feed him. The video is so adorable!! We ended the day with a picnic lunch and headed home after a fun-filled day!!

Tickle, Tickle, Tickle!

Okay, so this is by far my most favourite video that we've taken of Ava! She is super ticklish and loves when I hold her on my lap and dip her backwards to be tickled. There's not much else for me to write, as I think the video says it all!! We love you Ava!!!! xoxoxo....

Ava's First Time at the Beach!

YAYYYY!!!!! The sun finally came out so we quickly took advantage of it and decided to take a trip down to Hubbard's Beach with my friend Tricia. It was Ava's first time at the beach so I was super-excited to see what her reaction would be! When we first got there I got her settled on the blanket with lots of beach toys to keep her occupied. She spent some time exploring the sand and trying to figure out why I'd let her sit in dirt! She was great though, not trying to eat any of it, as I thought she might. We headed towards the ocean so I could dip her toes in the water, but she was NOT having any part of that, let me tell you!! Every time the tide would come in she would cling even closer to me. She had lots of fun playing in the sand though on a beautiful sunny day! I hope that we get a few more days like this so she can get more aquainted with the ocean...if not, there's always the pool!

Tea Party on the New Patio Set

My mom got Ava the most adorable little patio set for out on the deck. It's been raining non-stop so we had to break it in by having a tea party in the living room with the ever-so-popular Baby! Ava had a blast sitting up like a big girl and pouring tea for her favorite little friend. Hopefully we'll be able to actually use it outside one of these days!!!! We reserved a seat with Alexa's name on it!!!! :)

Ava gets her Ears Pierced!

I'd been dying to get Ava's ears pierced for the last few months, but JP insisted that we wait until she was at least 1 year old. So, on one July afternoon my mom and I took Ava to the mall to get it done before he had a chance to change his mind!!! I called Nicole to let her know and she came with us to capture the big event with her camera.
Let me just say, first of all, that it's a lot trickier to find someone who will actually pierce baby's ears. I checked online and in the phonebook but when searching for "ear piercing" places all I kept getting was tattoo parlors....not exactly what I had in mind! I could just imagine Ava's expression when some guy with snake tattoos all over his arms came at her with a piercing gun in his hand!! Once I spoke with the manager at People's jewelry store and set things up with her I felt a lot more confident that this would go okay.
We arrived later on that afternoon with Ava safely strapped into her stroller, holding her precious Baby for comfort, and I picked out an adorable pair of white gold "diamond" studs for the little princess. After signing a consent form and receiving instructions for after care I high-tailed it out of there before Ava could see the tears starting to form in my eyes. I wanted to get this done, but I was too afraid of seeing her upset...I do the same thing when she gets her needles at the doctor's office (yeah, I know...I'm a great support system for her!!!).
So, according to Nanny and Aunt Nicole Ava did exceptionally well and didn't even cry when the first earring went in. She wasn't too keen on having random strangers touching her though so the second one was a bit trickier. Luckily, she was distracted enough with a cell phone that they were able to finish up quickly. We celebrated the event with a smoothie at Pete's Frootique! I was so glad that we did it and I think she looks just precious!! It's been a few weeks and she doesn't even seem to know that they're there. We clean them every day and so far no infections. Here are a few pictures for everyone to enjoy! Remember: CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO MAKE THEM LARGER!!!

Ava Barefoot in the Grass

Last night we took Ava outside to play in the front yard since it was so nice out! We took her shoes off and let her run barefoot in the grass for the first time. She wasn't so sure about it at first and I think it was a little ticklish for her liking. It didn't help matters that JP at the sprinkler going at one end of the yard so when she ventured over her feet got a little wet! Once she was able to navigate herself along the flat areas she had a ball! Again, these pictures aren't really the best since she absolutely won't stay still for very long to have her picture taken. I tried my best, and you'll be able to at least get an idea of what she looked like.

Spaghetti Dinner

We decided to let Ava feed herself spaghetti for supper tonight. She LOVES pasta (just like her Mommy!), but she had a little trouble getting the noodles into her mouth. Needless to say, she went straight into the tub after supper!

Ava's Sippy Cup

Just a quick post.....

JP was rinsing out some bottles before taking them downstairs with the recycling and Ava decided to investigate! She thought she was pretty funny "drinking" out of such a big bottle!!!

Shawn and Melanie are Home!

One of the things I love so much about the summer is when people come home for vacation. It's only the middle of July and already we've had so many visitors....it's GREAT!!! Our wonderful friends Shawn and Melanie travelled east with their adorable dog Daisy. They packed in quite a bit in the 9 days they were here and we were lucky to hang out with them on 3 different occasions (they love us I guess!!). We went out for dinner one night with them along with Mel's sister Natalie and her husband Aaron. Ava stayed home with Nanny so we could actually have a decent conversation without constantly being preoccupied with entertaining her at the restaurant! Before we left I tried to get a few pictures...it's getting increasingly harder to get Ava to stay still for more than 4 seconds at a time, so this is the best that I could do!

Can't wait until October when they'll be home again....miss you guys already!!!

Point Pleasant Park with Aunt Nicole

The weather was actually nice out today so Ava and I decided to take a walk through Point Pleasant Park with Aunt Nicole. It had been a while since Ava was there (last October I think) so she was thrilled to check it out! She would got absolutely crazy any time we'd see someone walking with a dog..... exclaiming,"Ohhhhhhhh!" and pointing like a maniac!!! We headed toward the pond area where dogs can swim in hopes that she might be able to watch them. I kept forgetting that we were there on a weekday so it was not nearly as busy as I'm used to and we only saw one. Once Ava was out of her stroller she wanted to walk all by herself and was not too impressed that I made her hold my hand while walking on the rocks by the pond. We were very lucky to get a few pictures where she wasn't throwing a fit!!! After our walk we stopped for some ice cream (again, Ava was not too happy that she wasn't allowed any!). We had a nice "chat" with some random stranger who kept joining into our conversation then I took some pics of Ava and Nicole by the Harbour. Lots of fun and I'm looking forward to returning soon!

Playdate with Alexa

We were finally able to get together with our terrific friends, Kari and Alexa. It had been a few weeks since the girls had last seen each other and Ava was definitely missing her bff!! It was so great to see the two of them playing together. It's hard to imagine that it was just one year ago that they were meeting each other for the first time!!! Ava was quick to show off her new teapot set that my Aunt Sharon got her while we were in Antigonish. After a fun tea party we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Ava was a bit cranky towards the end and did NOT want to be stuck in her stroller and longer....little Miss. Independent now that she's walking! Hopefully next time we have them over it'll actually be sunny enough to go swimming in the pool.

Alexa and Ava holding hands! July 2008