Ava's Week at Art Camp

Last week, Ava went to an art camp with the art teacher I worked with at Arlington Elementary.  The week long camp was held at the teacher's home and Ava had a blast!!  She went last year as well but I think this year she enjoyed it a little more since she is older.  Here is a picture of Ava with her teacher Meredith and her sweet daughter, Carly.  I took this picture last year and forgot to get a new one this year.

The theme of the camp was Animals and there was a little bit of Nature mixed in there, too.  Ava worked really hard on her different projects each day.  When we got home after camp, we took a picture of her with her work.  I must say that she has to get her artistic talent from Kevin.  I would call myself crafty, but definitely not artsy.  I can't draw worth a flip, but fortunately for Ava, Kevin is a great artist.  So here are some of the first works from the potentially famous Ava R. Daniel. :)

 Love what she wrote all over the back of her butterfly!  That's our sweet girl!

She had a wonderful time and told me she can't wait to go again next summer!

Memorial Day 2012

This year, we had a very low-key Memorial Day.  Kevin spent most of the day playing golf.  He usually takes Ava to the golf course with him--sometimes Uncle Ty comes along and they all have fun!

But Kevin was playing in a tournament so it was just us girls for the day.  We spent a lazy day hanging around the house.  Ava played outside on her water slide for a couple of hours while I sat on the porch swing and read on my Kindle.  We did decide to venture out late that afternoon/early evening when Kevin got home.  Ava wanted to go the Woodland Discovery Playground at Shelby Farms.  She says it is her "best park" which means her very favorite. :)  She LOVES climbing the ropes course.  Possibly she will be a mountain climber?  What other things are excelling at ropes courses good for?   Hmmm...don't know.  Anyway, she pushes herself to climb further and faster each time we go.  Here are some pictures of our little monkey having fun.

After Shelby Farms, we had all worked up an appetite so we decided to try the new Five Guys Burgers in Bartlett.  Oh, my.  Yum!  Until that meal, my favorite burger place has been Off the Hoof in Arlington.  However, I think Five Guys has now tied with them for the top spot and Huey's has become a distant second place.  

Our goal for the next Memorial Day (or maybe the next) is to be in a new house with a great backyard and a pool.  Then I foresee many a Memorial Day cookouts at the Daniel's!

Last Day of 4K

Another year of preschool come and gone.  Sigh.  Ava has really enjoyed her time in 4K and is excited to begin "big kid" school.  I'm sure she will handle it much better than I will.  Ava's preschool was celebrating their last day with a musical program, handing out of certificates, and refreshments for the families.  That meant anyone in our family who was not working (and some that should have been) would be there.  And we wouldn't have it any other way. :)  The night before the program, Ava worked very hard to write thank you notes to both of her teachers.  She told me what she wanted to say, I wrote it down for her, and then she copied it herself.

We also wrapped up the gifts we got for her teachers.  For summer break, I like to give a gift that can be enjoyed over vacation so we picked up some cute summery dishes at Target.  Hopefully, they can enjoy their new dishes during a relaxing backyard cookout.

When we got to school the next day, Ava's teachers gave us a scrapbook that they made of her year. It was full of pictures they had taken of Ava doing different things throughout the year, work that she had done, and special poems and stories about raising children.  It is a very special keepsake.

We met up with our family and went to get seated in the chapel for the program.  Ava has never been shy about performing and she got up there and sang her heart out.  

She received her graduation certificate and we are so proud of our big girl!

We went to the gym to enjoy the refreshments and let Ava play with her friends one last time.  

Ava and her best friend at school, Scarlett

And with her teachers, Mrs. Levesque and Mrs. Grimm

As we were leaving, we stopped to take some family pictures.  Poor Ava didn't have her sunglasses but she tried as hard as she could not to squint.

Ava with both her grandmothers and her great-grandparents

Our little family (Kevin and I are all squinty too--I see where she gets it!)

Kevin and I wanted to take everyone out to lunch to celebrate Ava's graduation.  Since it was her day, we let her decide where to eat.  She chose Swanky's and we had a nice meal together.  It was a great day to wrap up the school year.  Kindergarten, here we come!

Carnival Day @ School

Ava's school had a carnival day the last week of classes.  Last year, they had it outside but due to the heat this year they moved it into the gym.  Kevin took a quick break from work and we went to check it out.  They had different stations set up and the kids rotated between them.  Ava had fun running from station to station with her best friend from her class, Scarlett.  

Tossing game

Bowling game 

Hmm, not quite sure what is going on here.  Robot station? 

Limbo station 

 Dancing station--I think she is doing the dreaded (at least to me) Tooty Ta 

Building/construction station 

The kids enjoyed running around and playing together and it was a fun way to end the school year!

Easter 2012

I've gotten a little behind here on our blog so some events are going to be out of order until I get caught up.  Here are a few pictures from this past Easter:

Celebrating Easter with a party at school

Ava had an egg hunt at her sitter's house

Then we dyed eggs here at home

and had another egg hunt.  I thought I did a great job of hiding the eggs in some pretty remote places but Ava managed to find them all within about a minute.  Apparently, I'm not as sneaky as I thought.

Look, the Easter Bunny hopped by our house!

Posing for a picture after church

It was a great weekend of family meals and celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Father's Day 2012 (aka All About Kevin Day)

We had such a fun weekend.  Friday night, our nieces came over to spend the night with Ava.  Kevin and I took them to Jerry's for sno cones but they all ended up getting ice cream.  Kevin and I enjoyed our sno cones though!

Afterward, we took the girls to Putt-Putt.  They had a blast on the bumper boats.  Kevin rode with them the first time and they all got soaked so he decided he had had enough of those for the evening.  Ava made the comment, "I am as soaked as possible!" though chattering teeth.  

They also rode the go-karts and Ava drove one by herself for the first time.   Of course, it didn't go very fast but Kevin and I were really impressed by how well she drove.  She steered so well and stayed right in the middle of the track the whole time.

We finished up the evening with a round of miniature golf.  Not surprisingly, Kevin was the winner but our ten-year old niece, Leah, made 4 hole in ones (holes in one??)!  We got the girls home and in bed around midnight and they were still up bright and early the next morning.  Kevin got up and baked them cinnamon rolls and let me sleep a little longer--so thoughtful of him.  They played outside for the morning until my sister-in-law picked them up. 

That afternoon, Ava had a birthday party to attend for her friend, Avery.  The party was at River City gymnastics.  Ava's favorite part was swinging on the rope and dropping into the foam pit.  Here she is climbing out as Avery swings by.

I tried to take more pictures but the girls were so busy running all over the place I didn't get many opportunities.  Ava had a great time and is excited to go to River City for gymnastics camp next month.

After the party, we met all of my family at my aunt and uncle's house for swimming and a Father's Day cookout.  Ava practiced her swimming skills that she learned from her lessons the past few weeks.  She likes swimming underwater best and swam across the pool twice by herself.  She also jumped off the diving board twice by herself--no vest, floaties, nothing!  She was diving to the bottom of the pool to retrieve toys and we were all amazed at how well she is doing.  She absolutely loves the water.  We had a great meal and enjoyed our family time together.  

Father's Day morning, we woke up and gave Kevin his gifts before we left for church.  Ava and I let him pick the restaurant for lunch so, of course, we ended up at Swanky's.  As we were leaving the restaurant, Kevin commented that we should go to the mattress store at the mall to look at the Temperpedic mattresses.  I was not thrilled at this idea because I usually try to avoid the mall on weekends.  Ava quickly piped up with, "Mom, we have to do whatever Daddy wants to do today because today is Father's Day."  Kevin snickered at that but we ended up compromising and going to the freestanding mattress store.  Guess who ended up with a fancy new mattress and adjustable bed for Father's Day?  Yep, Kevin.  Well, I can't complain because that works in my favor too.  :)

And Ava enjoyed the bed as well.  She got a quick nap as we were testing out the different mattresses and making our purchase.

Sunday evening, we celebrated Father's Day with Kevin's family which is always fun.  We are so blessed to have spent this weekend with our fathers and the rest of our family.  I think that most women want to marry a man that they feel will make a great father.  I know I did but I have to say that Kevin has even exceeded my expectations.  He is an absolutely amazing

I thank God and count my blessings every day for him.  I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures of Daddy and his girl from this past year to celebrate the day.

Last 4th of July

Worn out on vacation

 Last summer in Orange Beach

Driving through TN Safari Park

Before cousin Brent's wedding

 Dancing at the reception

Fun day at the zoo

Breakfast to celebrate the return of Ferrell, our Elf

Playing at a Pump It Up birthday party

Toy Story ride at Disney World

 On the Jungle Cruise in Disney World

 Daddy's Disney princess

Waiting for swimming lessons to start

It just warms my heart to see the love these two have for each other.