Another busy week for us here at the Daniel home! I told Kevin the other day I feel like we are only home long enough to sleep then it's time to get up and go again. I have no idea how I ever managed to work a full-time job! We are getting the opportunity to spend so much time together and do so many fun things because I am not working all the time and I am LOVING it!
Ava went to Vacation Bible School at our church, Hope Presbyterian, this week and had a great time. She got to meet "Boomer" the panda bear and give him a high-five one day and then give him a hug the next. I was a little surprised that she told me she did that as she has always been afraid of the mouse at Chuck E. Cheese and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus and countless others...but she told me "It's just somebody in a panda costume, it's not a real panda, mom." So maybe we are getting past this fear? Here she is posing with a cardboard "Boomer".
We got the opportunity to go baby-sit for Ava's favorite baby, Kirby, on Thursday after VBS. Kirby was so good and he and Ava had fun hanging out together. Ava set up a tea party with Kirby's stuffed animals and Kirby didn't even complain and say that that was girly! :) Here are a couple of cute pics of the two of them:
We also discovered while hanging with Kirby, that our 4 1/2 year old Ava still fits in a Bumbo (or Bamboo or she calls it)
Friday after VBS, we decided to check out the new Bartlett location of YoLo, one of our favorite froyo places. We're excited to have one close to us now and I foresee lots of trips to YoLo in the future.
After YoLo, we met my cousin Brittany and her husband TJ and their kids at my aunt and uncle's house to swim. We had lots of fun and got lots of exercise to work off the YoLo! When we got there the pool had some leaves in it from the previous night's storm so Kevin volunteered to be the "pool boy".
Ava absolutely loves being in the water and she spent most of the day jumping off the diving board. Brittany and TJ are cheering her on here.
When she got tired from diving, it was time to relax on a float.
After swimming, we went home, jumped in the shower, and then it was off to Swanky's for dinner. Our friend, Jeff, was in town from Michigan and we met up there to see him. Our friends, Doug and Stephanie, had dinner with us as well. Ava loves her "Uncle" Doug and "Aunt" Steph and they love their "Peanut Butter Cup" as Doug calls her--since her middle name is Reese. Here they are at dinner--Doug is being his usually silly self which Ava finds highly entertaining.
Saturday, we celebrated our niece, Leah's, tenth birthday. We have pictures of us at the hospital holding her when she was born and it is so hard to believe that she is ten! Ava adores her cousins, Leah and Mallory. Here is Ava with the birthday girl.
Ava and Mallory looking on while Leah gets ready to blow out her candles.
After the birthday party, we took my parents out to dinner at Jim's Place to celebrate Father's Day. Jim's is one of my dad's favorite restaurants and we enjoyed spending time together and eating good food! My dad is great--he is literally the most laid-back person you will meet. Kevin tells me that when he asked my dad if he could marry me, my dad's reply was "Sure, okay. That would be good." And that was all there was to it. Kevin has always said that he liked not feeling intimidated by my dad. When I was younger, I was a lot like my dad in that regard but as I get older, I think I am becoming more like my mom. People have also always told me that I look like my dad. I've heard it so much that my mom jokes that she didn't even have a part in it.
After dinner, Ava wrapped her Father's Day gift for Kevin. She got Kevin some Legos. When Kevin was little, he absolutely loved building things with Legos. Even now, when we go shopping to buy birthday or Christmas gifts for boys, he always is mesmerized by the Lego aisle. I thought that if Ava got him some, he could share his love of Legos with her and they could build them together. Ava and I do crafty stuff together all the time, and I thought this could be their version of crafts.
She picked out Cars wrapping paper "cause it's for boys." She did a great job.
When she was done wrapping, she decided she wanted to go on and give Kevin the choice to open his presents Saturday night or wait until today. It was obvious she was excited for him to open his present so he opted to do presents last night.
Oooh, Legos!
They started working right away...
And....the finished product
For Father's Day this year, I gave Kevin a Bible. He did not grow up in church and I was not sure if he had ever been given a Bible. I am so proud of him for becoming involved in our church and the great example he is setting for Ava. He is becoming a true spiritual leader for our family. He was so exciting when he opened it because I had his name imprinted on it.
Here he is reading the message that I wrote inside.
He was very pleased with the gifts he got from "his girls". I've talked before about what an amazing father Kevin is to Ava. They have such a special bond. I could not have married someone that I didn't believe would make a good dad but he has just blown any of my expectations away. After teaching for so many years, I had unfortunately seen so many poor examples of father figures and it makes me so proud that Kevin is exactly the opposite. When Ava was born, Kevin was such a natural. He just took right to it. My maternal instincts did not kick in right away and I was soooo nervous about taking care of this tiny person. Kevin would patiently show me how to change Ava's diapers and just reassured me every step of the way. When Ava was just a few weeks old, it was the day before she was supposed to go get her first set of shots and I was standing in the kitchen holding her. Kevin walked by on his way to fridge and just casually stroked Ava's head. He immediately said "She's really warm. I think she has a fever." Sure enough, we took it and it was approaching 105 degrees. We tried to get in touch with my mom, who is a nurse, but it was a Sunday and she was in church and didn't hear her phone. We called our pediatrician's answering service and were told to immediately take Ava to the emergency room. I lost it. I was terrified. We loaded up and drove to the closest ER which was at Baptist East. By this time, we were able to reach my mom and she hurried over. The doctors were concerned about meningitis and wanted to do a spinal tap. They saw what a mess I was and suggested I leave the room. Kevin and my mom stayed in the room and held Ava's hands while they did the spinal tap and I stood outside and listened to the screams. It ended up being a virus and after an ambulance ride from Baptist to LeBonheur, we spent four days there. To make a long story short, Kevin is my rock and my strength and I am the parent I am today because of his help.
Here are some of my favorite pictures of Kevin and Ava:
Happy Father's Day, Kevin! Ava and I appreciate you and love you with all our hearts!
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