Park Play-date

I think Spring has skipped us here in Southern Alabama!  The last few days have been in the 90's.  YIKES!  Friday I met some friends from MOPS for our play-date at the park.  It was already hot at 10 am but fun was had by all.

Ava's favorite is the swings!

Look at those eyes.  So pretty!

 I wish I had been more prepared and brought a picnic lunch like most of the ladies did but Ava and I slept in that day.

Rachel was in visiting from Texas.  It was so great to see her and her girls!!

Ava's New Style

Poor Ava has thin hair and most days it just doesn't do very well since it has been longer.  For awhile now I have wanted to take her to get it cut but just couldn't find the time.  Sunday night after her bath I had had it!  I went and got a comb and scissors and went to cutting.

 I was going for a bob look and to my surprise it came out exactly how I wanted it to.  Needless to say I was pretty proud of myself.  Ava's new do is so cute on her and her hair looks so much healthier.  The only negative is it makes her look like a little girl.  Where did my baby go?

I just love it!

Sorry for the poor quality of photo.  These were taken with my phone.

Race Season Begins

Last weekend was the start of another race season for Mark.  Like last year the first race was held in Gainesville Florida.  Ava and I went along and made a weekend of it.  We left right after Mark got off on Friday and arrived just in time for bed.  The next day Mark practiced that morning and then we headed out to check on Gainesville.  We made it to Lunch at Cody's just in time to see UK make it in to the sweet 16!

The next day we woke up bright in early to head out to the race.  There were a few familiar faces from last year and many new faces.  Mark finished 11th overall.  We are so proud of him!!!

And the winner is.....

Ava!!!!

Ava's 3rd Birthday

I am a little behind on my blog so I am just now getting to Ava's Birthday which was last Saturday.  We didn't do very much on her actual birthday.  We had went to Disney the week before to celebrate.  Oh her actual birthday I fixed a nice dinner and had a birthday cake, balloons and noise makers.  It was just Mark, Ava and I.  She had fun blowing out the candles and blowing on her noise makers and as always opening presents.  Can't believe our baby is 3!

My friend Erin of Shutter Glow Photo took this pic.

A Shower for Joycelyn

Last Saturday some friends and I threw a shower for our friend Joycelyn.  Dawn did much of the planning and I helped.  We both made a few things and used some things that Joycelyn sister made.  With Jenn's help we got it all set up and looking good. We were pretty please how everything turned out.

We had a little trouble getting the huge corsage to pin.

Joycelyn had many wonderful gifts.  Caitlyn should be all set!

Me, Joycely, Dawn and Jenn (some of the host)

Disney Day 4

We saved the best for last.  On our last day we spent exploring more of Epcot.  The last time Mark and I went to Epcot it was 10 years ago and we rushed through it due to lack of time.  This time we made sure to explore more by spending a day and a half.  We arrived early in the morning to take advantage of the short wait times for the rides.  We rode spaceship Earth, Turtle Talk with Crush, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Journey into the Imagination with Figment.  Some of the best parts of the these rides was exploring after you got off of the ride.  They had several hands on activities for adults and kids alike to enjoy.  After the Imagination ride we were able to have a puzzle made for Ava with her picture added to a scene with all of the Disney Characters.  She is really into puzzles these days and is very good at them so with thought that this would be the perfect souvenir for her. After all of the rides we headed to England to enjoy some Fish and chips.  I have to say that this was one of the most tastiest  meals we had.  We strolled around a little more before heading back to the room for a nap.

After nap it was time for the best part of the whole trip...Dressing up Ava as a princess to go have dinner with all of the Princesses.  We bought Ava the Snow white outfit and as soon as she put it on it made her smile and want to dance about.  With her dark hair and features she looked just like Snow White.  Once she was ready we headed back to Epcot to Norway to have dinner at Akershus with Cinderella, Show White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Ariel.  Ava was in Heaven.  We had a great meal with our little princess and a perfect end to the perfect Birthday trip.

She didn't know what to think when they all started coming by to see her.

They did a promenade around the resturant.  I loved how Ava carried her arms to the side!

Our little Princess

Our yummy dessert!

When we arrived back at our hotel there was a man from Kenya teaching the children a song.  They all got instruments to play and marched in a parade around the lobby.  They ended with a dance.  She had a blast!

Day 3: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

On Day 3 we went back to Magic Kingdom for half of the day to finish up the park.  We went to Frontierland and Adventureland but there weren't many rides for Ava's age.  We enjoyed The Magic carpets of Aladdin, did the Jungle cruise, and went up in the Swiss Family Treehouse.  Even though we had already done Fantasyland we took Ava back to some of her favorites before catching a show. We enjoyed the "Dream Along With Mickey" show which is presented in front of Cinderella's Castle.  By this time it was lunch, so we headed back to our hotel to eat and enjoy the pool and playground there a few hours before taking a quick nap.  That evening we headed to Epcot to go around the world and eat in Germany.  Mark being half German and born there we always have to try German restaurants when we find one.  The food wasn't all that great but we had fun.  In many German restaurants you sit Family style at a big table.  Since there were only 3 of us we were sat with another family to round out the table.  They were such a nice family and it was nice to get to know them.  There was also live music and all of the kids joined on the dance floor for dancing.  When the Chicken Dance came on Ava just had to join so we went and had a blast.  She would have stayed up there all night if they would have continued to play music.  Day three was another great day!!!

 the bush sculptures of characters all over Disney were amazing!

 Meeting Woody

 Ava's favorite part of the show when the princesses danced with their prince.

 These pictures were actually taken that next morning 

It was nice to have this playground at the hotel.  Ava loved it!