We stopped at Gram and Pop's on the way to the beach!

After a long day in the car, we all rested on the back porch.

You may notice that Mama is very round - and those are cankles. Ava is wearing shoes and a diaper. Dada is chillin' after doing all of the driving. And yes, that is Sara! She was our lifesafer - i.e. babysitter on the road. We were all tired and glad to be out of the car. I don't have any pictures of Gram because she is always behind the camera.

Gram! Thanks for documenting our life!

La La La Lynda

Our wonderful Aunt Lynda came over this evening. She and Ava blew bubbles in the kitchen. Ava put the bubble wand so close to her mouth that at times it was actually in her mouth! Seriously, at one point she opened her mouth and blew a little bubble without the bubble wand!

Don't worry! Ava's mama, Safety Sue, checked to make sure that the bubbles were non-toxic! (so there, Chicas!)

Girls on the road!!!

Ava and Mama drove to Tennessee to see Laura and the gang for the weekend. The highlight of the weekend was Patrick's (early) birthday party! He had a pool party - and we all partied!

Here's Ava with one of her very favorite people - Laura (RaRa). They were blowing bubbles in the pool...this usually means that Ava takes sips of the pool water while someone else blows bubbles. What you may not be able to see is the way they are looking at each other. They are both so happy!

Ava loves Patrick! He lets her do all of the fun things - like meet Ashley, a hound dog. Patrick was able to console, distract or entertain Ava at all of the right moments. She loves him especially because he takes her OUTSIDE! (as Ava says it - rather yells it)...

This is the gang that spent a ton of time at Laura's house, in the nearby creek, playing basketball, you name it! Ava was pretty sure that she was one of the gang. Our cousin, Alex, in the grey shirt, drove to Tennessee with us. We saw him on the drive down and the drive back. The rest of the time, he was impersonating a wild, country boy!

When we got home, it was very important that Ava and Dada have some silly time. At our house, everyone loves to wear a hat!

Ava's round belly

This is our Ergo Carrier. Thank you GiGi! (www.ergobabycarrier.com) Ava and Mark love it. She smiles the whole time she's in it...and every few minutes, she pats Mark on the back and says, 'Dada' with a huge grin. They're in love! I also love the Ergo Carrier - but right now my favorite thing about it is that Mark uses it!!!

Ava and I needed to take some time to tell each other about our day. She was telling me about her pigtails...and of course about 'mowing'.

We all decided that it looks like I have a ball under my shirt. Ava laughed really hard when Mark put a ball under his shirt...so he put it under her shirt. She thought that was the funniest thing ever!