Chuck E. Cheese . . .

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese and I'll tell you one thing: It hasn't changed since I was last there about 20 years ago! Well, it did seem a bit smaller, but to be fair, I am bigger than I was back then. :) Anyway, talk about a good time had by all. Ava and her friends had so much fun, and thanks to my neighbor's coupon, we got a steal of a deal. Besides the terror that is Chuck E. Cheese himself, I don't think Ava would complain one bit. When Chuck himself came out in all of his glory, I kid you not, my child started crying, made a beeline for the door, and literally took down the rope specifically put there to keep kids IN! If I wouldn't have caught her she would have been running like a mad woman through the parking lot. After she calmed down, we went about our business as usual but with me strategically placing Ava in areas far away from the mouse. Anyway, here are some fun pictures. Thanks so much for the invite!

Ava and her "monies" to get the games working :)

Different rides throughout the day:



My personal favorite: Skee Ball


Last but not least, a picture of Ava in the corner and under the slide when I messed up and let her accidentally see Chuck E. Cheese.

RAAAARRRHHHHH . . . . . . . .

That, according to Ava, is the sound that dinosaurs make. (And Lions, Bears, and many other animals, but I digress). We went to the dinosaur museum last week with our good friends Rachelle and Jamyn. Ava had a BLAST and was such a little mother to Jamyn the entire time. To be honest, Rachelle and I had more fun putting together the puzzle dinosaur than the kids did, but who says moms can't have fun at a museum too? Here are some pictures of our fun day out.

Hapy Birthday Dad!

I am posting this a few days late, but I just wanted to give a shout out to the best dad and grandpa in the entire world! As part of our birthday present to him, we taught Ava to say "Twenty Nine" when we asked her how old Papa was. :) As another part of our present, I decided to post this picture on my blog because I know how much my dad liked it. :) Happy Birthday Dad! We love you so much!

Fishy Rewards . . . . . . .

So, I have been potty training Ava for about 9 1/2 years. Wait, that's not right, but it has been a long time. She has COMPLETELY understood it and gotten the concept forever, she just didn't care AT ALL! No punishments were bad enough and no rewards were good enough. It was getting beyond frustrating, but I was bound and determined to have her completely potty trained by May. Well, I am here to tell all of those moms out there that think it can't be done . . . that it CAN! It's like a light switch turned on in Ava's head and she ran with it. (Or - she was finally like, "Fine, if you want me to do this SOOO bad, I will. Chill out mom.") Anyway, as of last Wednesday night, over a week ago, Ava has had a total of 3 accidents. That's it! Not only is she completely out of pullups, she isn't even wearing them at night. Now, don't worry, I don't think I'm completely out of the woods yet, but, I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel. Because she completely filled up her potty chart with stickers, she got a special mommy-daughter date to the aquarium last Monday. Go Ava!

"Snowman-biling"

According to Ava, that's what we all did this weekend. :) My dad was great enough to take all of us up to the cabin for a day of snowmobiling. It was such a circus to get 9 people outfitted and ready to go snowmobiling, especially considering we actually have to snowmobile a couple miles into the cabin after driving for over an hour to get there, plus pack up all of the food and clothing. I know every time we do this my parents are thinking, "Really? Is this worth it?" I'll tell you what. It is SOOOOOO worth it! We had a blast and didn't want to leave when the day was over! With 4 snowmobiles there are enough to keep everybody sledding happily throughout the day. :) Everybody had a great time. I even had fun and I was only allowed the ride in and out to the cabin! LOL. (Honestly, I didn't think it would make a difference being pregnant, but after the bumpy ride in, I was content to hang out at the cabin - and eat. :) The day was so much fun, even after we lost Oodie (the family dog), and hit a deer on the way home. Yep - my dad hit a massive deer with his truck. We were right behind it and the dumb animal ran right in front of the huge black truck pulling the trailer. They hit him dead center. The deer HAD to have been suicidal to plan it that perfectly. Kindof scary, but besides the truck, and of course the poor deer, no harm was done. Anyway, here are some fun pictures of the day. Thanks mom and dad! You guys are the BEST!






Jessica and Robert. (I promise that's Robert, even though it looks like there's nobody inside all of the layers)

Me and Randy

Sam and Alecia

Ava with Grandma Annie and Papa!


By the way - we did find Oodie! Thank goodness!