Safety First!!

You all know that Ava has a sassy little 4-wheeler that she likes to ride, when the mood strikes her. I had to get her a helmet because that little thing is surprisingly quick and well, a helmet is just good sense, right? Here she is, showing off the helmet for Grandma and Grandpa Kingma. She thinks its just another item for dress-up play and I think that's why she tolerates it. :)

One Cool Kid

Ava's a big fan of glasses but most especially sunglasses. With her tiny little nose its not easy to keep them on her face but here our neighbor Sherry stuck them through her piggies to help Ava out. She wore them for a good ten minutes while hanging out on Sherry's lap. :) We were spending some time in their backyard by their new pool, another something that Ava liked. She didn't play long in the pool because it was cool but she'll be back for seconds. She's a big fan of the public pool in Brandon because it has a real gentle slope where she can stand in hardly any water and it doesn't get too deep for her. There are little jets of water shooting straight up and out of the cement that she likes to splash through and try to "catch" the water droplets. We're hoping for a nice day soon when we can go into Sioux Falls to the Splash Park that we've heard so much about, no pool just sprinklers and shooting water all around.

Is it time for dress-up? Already?

Is that angelic little person the next Mother Theresa? Possibly. But around this split foyer she's our baby Ava who is swiftly becoming a little girl and seems to be playing dress up. Somedays it is a cloth napkin that she finds on the floor in the dining room, other days it's a hand towel from the kitchen or maybe a piece of scrap fabric from a purse I was sewing. Whatever it is she either drapes it over her head or around shoulders and looks at me as if to say, "Don't I look so lovely?" On Friday evening I zipped her into this super cute blue and white "party dress" and she went right to the mirror and twirled in front of it. She twirled!! Then she went off in search of some shoes to complete the outfit. I'm not kidding. THIS is definitely my child. There are times I wonder but not this time, not when it comes to playing dress-up. Ask my Aunt Louise or my sister Ellen, either can tell you about my billions of wardrobe changes and lack of commitment to any one outfit in a given day.

I should tell you that the towel on top of her head is also good for playing the, "Where's Ava?" game that she loves. So, it isn't always about dress-up. :)

Ava's best bud

Have you met Maggie? She's our very good friend and neighbor across the street. Mary Lou, Maggie's mom, and Maggie make Ava light up and squeal such happy squeals that only Jeff's homecoming everyday can match. We'll be outside in the lawn playing and Mary's blue jeep will come down the road and we'll hear "We're coming, Ava!" coming through the SUV's open windows and towards us across the street. Into the driveway they go and out the door of the Jeep jumps Maggie and she's running towards Ava, who is running towards her! Ava loves to show off for on her Barbie 4-wheeler for Mary and Maggie or to "confer" with Maggie about some bug or rock on the ground. We love them and can't imagine how we got so lucky with them as neighbors, and friends.

Father's Day with the Farley's

We spent Father's Day in Beresford with some of our Farley family members. What a gorgeous day! We all hung out on the lawn and the girls were entertained all afternoon by Grandma Lucy's little wagon.


Pictured here are: Aunt Mary and Ava, Landry and the girls, Lucy and me, Annie, Jeff and Grandpa Marv. Poor Jeff, even on Father's Day he couldn't catch a break! He brought down a new storm door for Grandpa Earl and installed it as his Father's Day gift to him. (He didn't seem to mind plus he had lots of help from Lucy and Landry and Grandpa Marv.)

I think that we need to invest in a wagon like Grandma's because it had a cute little door on the side and Ava LOVED climbing in and out of it. The three girls could all squish themselves into the wagon at once and then would want us to pull them down the block and back. But mostly they were happy just playing their own games with the wagon sitting in the shade in front of the house.

Ava loves Malory and Ethan!

We have been having such a fun summer with Malory and Ethan at our house a couple times a week! Ava LOVES to have them around and they love her. Ethan is always showing her good places to "hide" and he dances with her to her fridge d.j. without fail.

Malory is my helper and likes feeding Ava her breakfast or lunch. She is also a French Chef and makes delicious meals on her kitchen on our back deck. (I am pretty sure Ethan is the Chief Dishwasher.) Ava just follows the two of them wherever they go, imitating every move and every word.

Yesterday we made the mistake of using the new Crayola Sidewalk Paint on our walk in front of the house. Beware! It's fun but it stains! We had a really hard time getting it off the concrete. There are still some spots that are a faded neon pink. So much for "removing with water"!

Ava and Isaac

We got to meet a new friend last Saturday. Isaac Braaton is the son of my friend Elizabeth. They were home in Sioux Falls visiting from Oregon and we were able to spend a few days playing with them. Elizabeth's mom Wendy has been my mom's friend since they were in grade school so I have known Elizabeth for as long as I can remember. It was neat to see our kids playing together, especially since they were so very happy together!

Isaac is just 6 months older than Ava and the two played so well and were utterly adorable together. Ava kept giving Isaac hugs and kisses. But they were also sort of fighting over this chair and at one point trying to run each other over with Ava's doll stroller. :)

We went up for supper at my mom and dad's on Tuesday and both kids loved playing fetch with the dogs. Isaac was really good at taking the tennis ball from Tom (Dad's dog you see in the pic) and throwing it. Ava liked watching but didn't need to get too close to the dogs. She likes petting them but only their rear or side. If they are facing her she keeps her hands to herself. Scary teeth, I guess.