Ava: 153 weeks old…
Hello. Our little lollipop is now 153 weeks old!
Our week began at the Ventura Harbor’s Festival of Lights. There was a little fair set up there with some old school rides. We told Ava that she could go on two rides. We tried to get her to go on the little airplane ride but she freaked out. So she settled on this little train that choo-choo’d in circles instead.
And for her second ride, she decided on the motor bikes. I told you they were old school. My mom has a picture of me and my brother on ones very similar to these.
The festival bragged about the fake snow they were going to make. Look at this fake snow! It is worse than fake. It was sad bubbles (and not very much of it!) and it confused the hell out of us and poor Ava.
We then found a nice spot by the harbor…
… and watched our first boat parade. And you know what? I was more boring than a regular parade. If that is even possible.
Back to our normal scheduled programming. Look at this! It’s called coloring within the lines… almost. Yeah Ava! She is in love with Rudolph right now… and his red nose.
Mikey stop by over the weekend to say hello and to remind Ava about his shoes from Croatia. Ava has no idea that she was the shoe police last summer. So sad. Because it makes us laugh so much still.
Ava also was kind enough to invite him to a tea party. And to thank her Mikey showed her how to drink tea like a proper lady. Pinky up.
Then it was time to visit my parents again. As soon as Ava woke up, she wanted to put together the Christmas Mickey Mouse choo-choo train.
And admire the beautiful tree.
Is it Christmas yet?
I can NOT wait 5 more days. I’m going nuts!
We went out to dinner on Sunday to a restaurant I wanted to go to my whole life. The snowy roof restaurant. Yeah. Finally. Ava loved it. She was confused why it was okay to throw peanuts on the floor though… but loved it because we got to…
…wish Carrie a happy birthday!!!!
Ava had a blast playing with Carrie’s niece at the end of the night after she got some sugar in her system… and made Deets walk with them around the restaurant a million times or so. What a good uncle!
Ava got to spend some time at my Nona and Dida’s house too. She entertained herself by making a fort out of their pillows. I love this picture of Hvar on the wall that my mom painted years ago. You can tell it was made a while ago because if you go there now, you won’t see little fishing boats tied to the main walkway in town. You’ll see million dollar yachts lined up like sardines.
Ava also loved all the Nathan play dates they had. Here they are “rowing a boat” together.
And as soon as Ava walked into my parent’s house, she asked for soup. She craves it every day while we are there.
We also spent some time shopping and enjoying the beautiful decorations all around town.
Some kid stores had toys to try out and it was impossible to get her out of them. Ava said she couldn’t leave because she had to play drums like Deets. But I had a secret up my sleeve.
Pizza… and a little chocolate cake too.
Another play date… but this time they played with a box full of peanuts. Hehe.
When we are out of town, we let Ava sleep with an extra animal to make her feel safer from those scary shadows that give her nightmares sometimes. So here she is with Whiskers and her other “friends”… draping her like a necklace.
Ava loved helping me wrap up all the presents.
She colored each and every present we wrapped. Even her own.
And after we wrapped them all up, it was time to recycle those cardboard inserts… into swords. On guard!
Then it was time for a gingerbread house.
All done. But we didn’t let the frosting dry as long as recommended. So a little after this photo, the roof completely collapsed. But Ava didn’t mind. It still tasted the same.
On Christmas Eve, Dida bought a DVD for Ava to watch with him… but he didn’t last too long. Zzzzzzzz.
And she played a lot of ring around the rosie.
And catch with Livi.
Then her and Deets started to scope out presents. We open half on Christmas Eve and the other half in the morning.
This sums up our Christmas Eve. All of us playing with Ava’s gifts. Nona Dinka taking it all in.
And this year with all got into watching Deets wrap up the tiniest handmade present with the tiniest gift tag that he placed under this tiny tree.
Before we knew it, it was time to bake cookies for Santa and his reindeer. That’s right! Reindeer get cookies at our house. No silly carrots for them!
So excited for her Santa gift!
And someone else was too. Meow!
Sweet dreams little one.
