Below is a photo recap of our recent activities. The first event to highlight is a visit with some of our family from Rhode Island. To get you in the mood, please listen closely to the video below and note the out-of-this-world East Coast accent that I have known and loved since childhood, and miss dearly being in California:
The woman with the voice and "Baby Helen"
Avery and Helen taking turns pushing each other on the swing...
We love our nieces to pieces!
Papa and his girls
I love my grandma's expression in this one - pure happiness.
Four generations!
Auntie Mare lovin' life on the San Diego Bay
My parents love to sail...I love to sail. I do not, however, like sharing the water with ginormous boats.
I'll add some more pictures when I get them from my other family members - these were just mine taken from my little ole iPhone. Hey, it does the job, right?!
Here are some more recent shots...
Jeff and Avery filling the bucket with rocks, leaves and sand. We have a little nature lover on our hands...and Avery enjoys it too.
Avery loves inclines. Avery loves nature. Avery loves going up and down the trail until we have blisters.
My turn; and hike #19,876
Charging through the trail with the gusto of an avid adventurer...
:: heart melts ::
Family BBQ at Jeff's parents.
Love these two!
The tie for the "Best Expression" award.
Forget swimming - I see a camera!
USA summer Olympics diver in 16 years!
Micheal Phelps, Michael Smelps. This is a gold medal dive in the pool.
A big shout out to Uncle Fred who once again has taken wonderful pictures to capture the special day! We love you! And, another shout out to Cousin Jenna and Cousin Ryan as they start their next journey in New York, New York. We're going to miss you so much!!
You can blame the Olympics for the lack of posting lately. I am completely, utterly, obsessively enthralled with each and every event this glorious worldly game has to offer. Obvious loves include: gymnastics, track and field, diving, volleyball and swimming. But, yes, that was me on my couch glued to the TV last weekend watching trampoline. Do you see how high they go?! Spec...wait for it...tacular.
Anyways, after my Vegas trip this weekend (yes, I'm pulling out the Vegas card for the second time in my life) I will post about the past month of activities, which includes the family visit and summer fun, but most importantly, the updates on the wee little one who sleeps in the room down the hall.
Avery and her friend, Alexander, have grown into something of a "pair" at daycare. What started off as a cute little friendship has developed into something only one can call a "relationship." From Alexander picking Avery flowers (no prompting. no encouraging. no joke) to him helping her up when she falls (oh. so. cute) to her hugging him incessantly (look who likes bear hugs now) to him calling her "my Avery" (out of a freakin' movie) to them holding hands as they prance around the backyard, there is no denying there is love in the air. I am so thankful that Miss Shannon got a picture of the two of them on one of their little "dates!"
Two years old and already being swept off her feet!
In other Simpson news, we celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd of July at the Goads with some wonderful friends, delicious food (s'mores!!), a few cocktails and a sleepover. Heyooooo!
Avery and Will playing in Quinn's ball pit. Thanks, Quinn!
All four 3rd of July kiddos are in this pic. Can you find them all? =)
On the actual 4th of July, we hung out at home crying after we found a pretty nasty mold/moisture issue in our downstairs closet. Not fun! We also had to deal with a fussy toddler that afternoon. She woke up from her nap pretty P-O'd (maybe she realized the 4th was in the middle of the week this year thus no super long holiday weekend). Thankfully, we have awesome neighbors who invited us over for a neighborhood cookout and that turned the mood around considerably. Thank you!
A kid size table - brilliant!
Speaking of neighbors and little get togethers, we had a ice cream party at our place this past Sunday. The kids enjoyed melting cones of deliciousness while the adults enjoyed our favorite treat - wine! Avery was really excited about having all her friends in her house and would alternate between playing with the kiddos and running giggling to me with pure bliss. To make a long story short, I couldn't make the wine glass hand off to Jeff quick enough as Avery came barreling towards me, so she ended up going through the wine glass shattering it as she and a million little pieces of glass fell to the ground. I think it was the six adults gasping and running to help that scared her more than the fall. In fact, we're really lucky she only got two tiny cuts on her arm. Needless to say, she was covered in wine, and while she enjoyed licking herself on the way up to the bath, we will all be drinking wine out of plastic cups from here on out.
Next up on the Simpson calendar - a week with Avery's great grandma, great aunt and my dad's sister (what is that called - great aunt too??). Look for pictures and a recap next week!
I really wanted to title this post "Simpson Summary II," but that would have just been silly.
So...what's been going on in our world since the last post you ask?! Well, lots of things, of course. Never a dull moment with a toddler. All you childless folk, enjoy your peaceful time. That's all I am going to say.
Anywho, Avery got her first haircut! Jeff and I were skeptical about cutting her hair, but the moment it was cut I said "we should have done this weeks ago!" (Side note, we actually had an appointment to get her haircut two months ago, but a Goad pool day invite came in and we never miss out on those, so I cut Avery's bangs in a hurry on our way out the door. Baaaaad idea. She looked like Jim Carey in Dumb & Dumber for a few days. The cutest Jim Carey ever, but the bowl look was a bit much. My bad.)
Such a big girl!! She did so well!
Blurry picture - whoops. But, look how cute...with a little ponytail and everything!
Also on the calendar this month were two kid birthday parties. The first was for our neighbor who turned the big 5. The party was at the neighborhood park with a jumpy house and PIZZA!
"Avery, do you want to go in the jumpy house?" "No." "Avery, would you like a second slice of pizza?" "Yes."
Avery about to get all up in some bubbles with her friend, Sasha.
"Raise your hand if you do not want to go in the jumpy house, but would rather eat pizza."
Sasha is one of our other neighbors, and she and Avery are becoming friends. It's so cute to see them interact, play and build a friendship. One of Avery's longest running friendships, though, is Miss Quinn Goad who just turned one...and who had one of the best birthday parties ever!
A little note for her friend on her big day...
Exploring the tunnel for the first time at Quinn's party. Fun!
Avery wanted to take a picture with me. Apparently, I didn't get the "let's be contemplative" memo.
In other friend news, Avery has a buddy in my parent's neighborhood too. Bailey is one week younger than Avery, so they're on the same page with pretty much everything. Good start to a friendship, wouldn't you say?
Little buddies!
Chatting away about something in toddler-speak.
"Hey, mailman outside!"
This past weekend we hung out with the Tait family and had ourselves some good playtime and more PIZZA. No wonder my waistline is getting a little thicker...
Avery scooted right into Cody for this picture. Prom pictures in 16 years? Yes!
Words can't even describe...
Can't forget about Stone!
And, of course, you can't forget Father's Day! A day to celebrate Jeff and all the beautiful things he is to Avery and me. He is our world and a loving, supportive and fun dad. We are so very, very lucky.
High five to the best dad in the world!
Avery's gift for Jeff...thank you for the idea, Pinterest!
And lastly, a video I took of Avery that I thought I'd share. This girl loves toys, especially phones. Where did she get that?!
FVT
This video was taken one day when Avery had a 100.8 fever. This girl will literally eat through any ailment. She's definitely a Simpson!
Where did the time go?! Maybe that should have been the title of this post, because in the blink of the eye it's June 12th. WTH?! Although, I feel like that title could do more justice to a blog if I was summing up the past 20.5 months. Avery is growing by leaps and bounds and it's frighteningly beautiful to see her become a little girl. I feel like I've said that a lot, about her becoming a little girl, but this time I mean it. Seriously.
"Mailman outside," "no, I do it," and "row, row, row" are frequent phrases she is saying. The first one came as quite a surprise to my mom who was watching her recently. Avery has said "outside" a lot (or, more precisely "owschide"), because being outside is soooo much fun, but she added in the "mailman" part when she was strolling with my mom the other day. I guess my mom gets excited about the mail and has pointed the messenger out to Avery a lot. But, really, we all get excited for mail...it's just the bills that put a damper on the whole thing. "No, I do it" is standard toddler-speak for this age and we usually let her do whatever it is that she's telling us she wants to try....partly because we want her to feel independent, useful and proud and also because it's really hard to say "no" to a tiny Avery voice....unless, of course, it's something crazy-not safe like cutting an apple. Duh. Oh, and "row, row row?" That's the part right before "your boat." Come on!
So, the summary I'm speaking of comes in the form of pictures...because pictures say a thousand words. Or, is that actions that say a thousand words? Or, is it actions speak louder than words?! I'm too tired to think, so I'll let the pictures do the talking about all the shenanigans we've been up to lately.
A relaxing morning at the park with donuts. Hello, Saturdays!
Brennan graduated!!!! We are SO proud of him!
College graduate, favorite sister and favorite niece.
Avery exploring our neighbors "cat" and confirming he has a nose.
I had to get a picture of Avery in her car seat not squirming or fussing. Mir-acle. =)
Hug for Quinn! (This was right before the two of them fell over. Silly kids!)
Memorial Day at the beach...
We love pool days!
What a charmer!
I'll push you and then you push me...
FPT: Before and After Rendition
We all LOVE pasta night!
But, only some of us need a good scrub in the bath when we're done eating. =)
Jeff and I met on a blind date in December 2004 and were married in October 2007. He is the apple of my eye, the hop in my step and the love of my life. In September 2010 we proudly welcomed our first child, daughter Avery Elizabeth and this site was created to share with our friends and family, near and far, Avery's journey through this magical thing called life.
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