Ava's First Ballet Class

Today was the day we have all been waiting for:  Ava's first ballet class.  It was wonderful to be able to leave the boys at home with Daddy and just spend some time with my girl.  She is so proud of her ballet leotard and had to take a few twirls at home for Daddy.  

Then off to class.  In the car we had made it approximately 15 seconds away from home when she said "Mom are we there yet?  Is this ballet class?"  No honey.  About five more minutes.

Then came the stretching at ballet class.   I was taking pictures from above, so I couldn't get great shots. 

They stretched and stretched and stretched.

Look at this girl!  I didn't know she could touch her toes to her head!

Of course I took about a thousand more pictures, but I'm going to need to edit some of them before I post.  So there are more to come.....

I just LOVED watching her dance, she had a huge grin on her face the entire time.  I was dying from the cuteness the entire time.  They practiced first position, plies, marching, skipping and curtsies.  Soccer was definitely something that she tolerated, but ballet she enjoys a thousand times more hands down.  Love my baby girl!  Although she looked so much more like a little girl today. 

Cleveland Zoo

On Monday we gathered our crew and made the trek up to the Cleveland Zoo. This was a very memorable trip for me, for many reasons.  This is where Mike and I got engaged {yeah!} and this was the first trip where Dawson was genuinely interested in looking at the animals.  You could tell the instant when Dawson saw an animal because he began squealing and laughing.

Daddy and Dawson checking out the elephants.

By gauging the volume of his squeals and the amount of hair he pulled out of Mike's head, the giraffes and Lemurs were a big hit with him.

Pure Ava

Ava's favorite animal at the zoo was also the giraffe.  Except she calls them ja-raff-ees.

Our zoo treats: little stuffed animals with a lollipop

Carter's favorite animal at the zoo was the wolves.

The cutest meerkats ever

Enjoying his zoo treat.

Thank you Carter, Ava and Dawson.  We had such a great time with our little family at the zoo.  After it was all over and everyone had passed out on the way home, your Dad and I both remarked how well behaved you all were.  We stayed at the zoo until 3 o'clock!  Everyone was obviously exhausted towards the end, but you kept it together.  What a fun day with my favorite people in the whole world.  

Vacation FAIL

This week Mike is on vacation and we are going to be visiting some nearby attractions like the Cleveland Zoo.  Today we went to a local attraction park called Sluggers and Putters.  When we arrived we were excited to take a crack at some miniature golf and ice cream to top it off.

As you can imagine miniature golf with three kids under the age of four was not easy.  Mike and I were having fun and Carter was really getting into the spirit but he had a wicked swing and the golf balls were going everywhere.  Ava was done golfing by the second hole and Dawson was just Dawson.  He is so determined, and he didn't like it when I wouldn't let him run off by himself.

We made it to the 11th hole when I heard Carter crying.  He was only about two feet away from me, so I gave him a big hug.  When he looked up I saw this:

a great big black eye

Poor kid.  Fun is over and we went into emergency mode instead gathering ice and giving hugs and kisses.  

Remember that really wicked swing that I mentioned?  Well the ball ricocheted off a statue and came back and hit him just under the eye.

I'm so sorry this happened Carter.  I really never imagined you could hurt yourself so bad just playing some miniature golf.

Major vacation FAIL.

We still picked up some ice cream, as you can see Ava with her GINORMOUS shaved ice.  That was size small!

Poor Carter boy, if you have a chance say a little prayer for our little guy.

Fourth of July Fun

We had a wonderful fourth of July spent with our cousins, Aunt Fishy and Meme and Bob Bob.

In the morning we spent some time at the pool.

Riley helped me make a delicious flag cake.

We also got the water slide out for awhile in the afternoon.

Carter taking the plunge.

See this little grin?  He was making trying to escape to the top of the hill, but he was caught in the act.  Sorry buddy, not going to happen without Mom or Dad.

It was so wonderful to see Aunt Margie and the cousins for almost an entire week, and Meme and Bob Bob too.  I know we are going to miss them, Dawson spent quite a bit of time yesterday asking for Bob bob and fishy.  Luckily we still have a little more time with the cousins before the summer is out.  

Swim Class Pictures

Thanks Aunt Margie for taking pictures of our swim class this week.

Family

Fireworks!

We rode the rides at the community festival until it was time for fireworks, then walked down to a spot right in front of our van which was a perfect viewing spot for  the fireworks. 

At this point the kids were exhausted and needed to keep moving or else they were going to fall asleep. So a little pre-fireworks wrestling kept everyone happy and awake.  Ava also treated us with a little dancing.

Silly, tired baby.

the baby photo bomb

Eagerly anticipating.....

FIREWORKS!!

I was excited to see how Dawson would react to the fireworks.  After the fireworks started he stopped dead in his tracks, pointed at them and said very seriously "boom boom."  From that point on he was entranced and stared at the fireworks while sitting in Mike's lap.  He was even waving at the boom-booms!  Ava was a little scared that they were coming our way, but after sitting in my lap she was quite happy.  What a fun, exciting, exhausting day!