Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Father's Day

 Father's Day Sunday was really laid back and relaxing.  Bill's ideal day is relaxing at home so we tried to make that happen as much as possible.  We celebrated by making Bill some breakfast, going to the later service at church, and then going to Hooks airport for lunch with Bill's Dad, Karl, and Laura. 

Ave's All about my Dad questionaire.  It took a long time to get these answers!  She kept asking me what the answers were.

Aunt Laura and Ave

The Zipps Group

I'm not sure what all is going on in this pic but sadly I didn't get too many of these two on Father's Day.
 
After church and lunch, we came home and all took naps.  It was amazing!  We got Bill a hammock and spent some time relaxing in that too.   I made Bill's favorite dinner and the rest of the evening was spent hanging around the house.
 

Playing a game with Daddy

 
I'm so glad that there is a day to celebrate what a great Daddy Bill is to Ave.  He does lots of twirling, wrestling, and playing.  Lately, Ave has been Bill's biggest fan and gets so excited to spend time with him.  I can't wait to see what their relationship is like in the future.  I'm so thankful for the example that my dad set for me and now for the sweet bond that Ave and Bill have!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Sweet Summertime!

Since Avery was in MDO twice a week this year, I feel like this is our first real summer break together.  We have taken full advantage of the extra time doing lots of fun and sometimes random activities.  Here's what's been keeping us busy-
 
 
1. Giving Grace checkups daily

2. Going on some lunch dates with my girl

3. Gymnastics classes- Avery started taking classes once a week with Garrett and absolutely loves them!  I think I may love watching her just as much as she likes doing the classes.  There is nothing cuter!

4.  A little bit of painting- Kelly and I went to The Potter's Wheel to return something and Avery spotted the ceramic animals that you can paint.  I figured it would be fun so I let her pick out what she wanted.  She picked none other than a shark that she decided to paint purple "like my room!"

So happy

5.  Going to the park and sweating like crazy!  Honestly, we haven't gone lately because the day this picture was taken, I just about died from the heat.  Not really, but almost :)

6.  Done some baking




7. Dressed up in Mommy's jewelry- old and not expensive but she sure felt fancy!
 
8.  Dressed up in Princess clothes
Sidenote- Bill and I looked over one evening and Ave was scooting down the hallway like this.  We asked her what she was doing and she replied, "Just riding in my carriage."  Where does she come up with this stuff?


9.  Made some oobleck- I made this with my 3rd graders and they were WAY more into it than Ave.  She played with it for a little while but wasn't all that excited about it.  We may need to try this again in a few years.
 
 
10.  And finally, taken advantage of the free summer movies at Silverado. 

A little excited!
 
We've done a lot but also have a lot in front of us.  Ave's 3rd birthday is tomorrow, VBS next week, 4th of July the week after, and the list goes on.  Yay for summer fun!
 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was full of fun with friends and family this year.  We went to a crawfish boil over at the Arrants on Saturday afternoon.  The kiddos swam and played while the adults were able to catch up.
 



Ave has a slight obsession with Lily.  She loves to be near her, talk to her in an extremely high pitched voice, and rub her head.  I hope this is a good indication of how she will be when Chloe enters the picture!
 On Sunday, we went to my parents' house to swim and celebrate my birthday. 
 
The latest stray that my mom took in.  Avery walked him all over their house.

A black widow spider was found in a spider web by the pool.  My dad donned a manly purple glove and all the guys assisted in removing it.

Loving her pool day

Playing in the pool with Uncle Andrew

About to blow out the candles
 
Throughout the course of the extended weekend, I had been getting paint samples for the nursery.  When we moved out of the old house, I wrote the paint color from Ave's nursery down in the notes section in my phone.  Somehow it must have gotten deleted.  I really loved the green that we had used and tried one paint sample after the next trying to find something similar.  After 4 unsuccessful samples, I got the bright idea to color match the green in the pillow.  Finally, we found a color that we liked and painted the nursery that Monday. 
 
My many options

The finished product.  It's hard to tell the color here with all the light streaming in but I love it and am glad it's done!

To finish out the weekend, Bill and Ave had a little dance session.  Almost every day Avery asks Bill to twirl with her.  I hope she always wants to do this :).
 
I live for holidays like these.  We had lots of down time, spent time with friends and family, and actually accomplished some things around the house.  I'd say it was a good weekend!

Friday, June 7, 2013

End of the Year Fun

Somehow it has already been two weeks since Avery's MDO program ended.  Summer is here, and we already are enjoying it.  In fact, we just spent the morning at the pool! 
 
Before school ended, there were a few fun events and things going on.  Avery had a water day at school and had an absolute blast.  I couldn't really imagine how they would put on a water day for two year olds without having to worry about anyone drowning.  It exceeded my expectations.  They had the coolest bubble machine that Ave could have played with all day.
 
Luke's class was outside as well and they both loved playing in the bubbles.


I love the bubbles all over look!

Popsicle break- she picked purple, of course.

This is the best smile I could get.  I'm pretty sure she was trying to figure out where she wanted to go next while still posing for me!

Bill plays softball from March through May in a league at CFBC.  All the games seemed to be too late to go to until May.  We went to a couple games, and Avery really showed off her cheerleading skills.  You could hear, "Go Daddy, Go!" from across the parking lot.  She also loved hanging out with her buddies while watching the game.
 

Landon and Ave- so sweet

Ave, Luke, and Landon- you can't tell from the picture but they were all dancing on their "stage".
The last day of school finally came, and it was fun to reflect on how much Ave has changed since the beginning of the year.  I remember being SO worried about how she would adjust to being away from me.  She did so great all Fall! Then in January, she went through an awful phase where her teacher would tell me that she would cry for me off and on from noon to 1 when I would pick her up.  After she got past that, she loved school and would be so excited to go.  She would talk about her friends from class and would ask to go to school on days when she wasnt supposed to.
 
These are her 1st and last day of school pics.  She looks so sweet and innocent in the first.  Don't get me wrong, she still is but she just has grown so much since then!  She also is hamming it up so it makes the difference all the more drastic.
 
1st Day
 
Last Day
 
After school on their last day, Ash and I decided to take Luke and Ave to get some snow cones. 
 
A sugar high turned into...

a dance party!

Summer is officially here!  I love all that summer involves (other than the awful heat) and can't wait to have fun with my girl.  It's crazy to think that when she heads back to school, we will have a new addition to the family soon after.  My goal is to try to do a lot with Ave this summer since that won't be near as easy in the fall!
 
Summer, here we come!