GSS Thriller Dance

Today, a few teachers and I surprised our students with a performance of "Thriller." We donned one glove a piece and some slick shades. Hope you enjoy it!

Nature walks and an 80's party! What a combo.

Add another great week to the year! Ava had a great week with Grandma, as usual. They visited the yarn store and the library, and Ava worked on sitting up. She and I went to school Thursday night for Gulf Stream's Annual Family Picnic. The entire school community shows up and dines on the field, while the kids run around and play games. I got to chat with some former students and everyone loved spending time with Miss A. On Friday night, I chaperoned our 7th and 8th grade Halloween Dance. It was a complete success. The kids all dressed up and had a great time. Giulia, Sarah and I even busted out some moves of our own, much to the students' delight. :)

Sitting up like a big girl, with the help of the trusty Boppy.

Volleyball season is over! That means Mommy gets home earlier and can take me fun places for walks.

On Monday we hit up Green Cay Nature Preserve with Grandma. The weather was beautiful and we took a nice mile stroll on the boardwalk.

Ava's first turtles!

On Tuesday, Ava and I strolled around our neighborhood and there was tons of stuff going on. One of the neighbor kids was practicing skateboarding in his driveway and her eyes and ears were glued to his every move.

Next stop: meeting Harley. Harley is the HUMONGOUS Great Dane in the background. As we passed his house, he came galloping from the back yard with a deep 'woof.' His head is almost as tall as the bed of the pickup truck in the driveway!

This pic is for you, Auntie Gretch! It was actually 'pants weather' one day this week, so Grandma busted out Mariana's old outfit. It is super cute and Ava can't wait to wear it to the zoo! :)

Another day at Green Cay!

Daddy came home early this day to go walking with us. A very special treat!

Now prepare yourselves for what you are about to see...

Rockin' the 80's look! Our friend, Nicki, turned 40 and we were invited to her bash on Saturday night. It was a blast. The house was decorated to the hilt, with fun quotes and sayings plastered all over the house. A friend from school catered and the food was de-lish! Other highlights included 80's Trivial Pursuit cards attached to the napkin holders, glowsticks, and an all-80's playlist. Ryan rocked a Pink Floyd tee with bandanna and ripped jeans, while I was a vision in bright blue - down to the shoes. Ryan even braided my hair earlier that day so that it would be all crimped for the night out. We had such a great time!

'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!'

w/ Bridget, Donna, Sarah, and Giulia

(I also have blackmail worthy video of them singing and dancing to 'Hey Mickey')

Sunday at last. Ava is definitely getting into our Sunday routine of watching football. We did get out of the house long enough to go grocery shopping, but other that that, it was a nice lazy day.

I caught Ryan and Ava on video playing in the office one afternoon.

A visit from Bandit and Browser

Brent and Nicky left for the Bahamas on Friday, so we watched Bandit and Browser for the weekend. Ryan and I didn't get much sleep Thursday night and decided that having a baby is much easier than having two dogs that don't sleep as much as a 5 month old!

The boys were really good with Ava and she watched their every move! She would zone out watching them wrestle with each other, or just walk around the house.

Bandit
Browser

A smiley girl in her 'Tiny Turtle - with a big attitude' outfit from Grandpa. It fits her great and it's super soft!

On Saturday morning, we took the boys out for a walk. It was a hot and humid 80-something out, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Again, Ava couldn't take her eyes off of them. She watched them pretty much the entire time.

This is Ryan 'helping' get Ava dressed for Saturday evening Mass. Mom and I were practically in stitches during the service because Ava started singing and talking - and didn't stop! After the 'sign of peace,' a woman sitting down the row from us walked over and told Ava that she really liked her singing and that it was good. :)

Fall is finally here! We woke up on Sunday morning and decided on another family/dog walk. I broke out her socks and sweatshirt for the first time since we were up in NY this summer! It was about 55 when we took our stroll, with blue skies and sunshine. Ava's nose was pretty cold when we got back and she went down for a nap immediately. Gotta love the fresh air!

Apparently we were all tuckered out from our 'cold' morning stroll! Bandit is a good cuddle buddy when he's tired.

After Ava's nap, it was lunch time and then FOOTBALL! Unfortunately, the Giants didn't play well. Fortunately, Ava went down for another nap and didn't have to watch the horror.

Browser was on 'squirrel patrol' and Bandit found a cuddle spot behind Ryan's legs.

Bandit was surprisingly patient with Ava. He sat there and let her pull on his ears and, at one point, I think he got a finger up his nose. We were sad to see them go, but happy to have our house back. We hope Brent and Nicky had a great weekend away! :)

I took this video one night before Ava had dinner and went to bed. She was happy as a clam and super talkative.

A typical Florida baby.

Ava had another good week with Grandma. They checked out story time at the County Library and feel that it's a better fit for the them than the Delray Library. It's good to know that she's getting the opportunity to interact with other kids. She and Grandma made another appearance at one of my girls' volleyball games. She slept through most of it, which is quite surprising if you think about the noise that a couple dozen teenage girls can make.

This stuffed elephant has a tag in its ear that she loves to play with. Pretty soon we'll have to cut it off...otherwise it'll just disintegrate.

More Sportscenter time with Daddy. (I have a feeling there will be lots of pictures like these!)

We took our boat down to Boca Lake on Saturday with Mom, Brent, Nicky, and the boys. It was Ava's first time in salt water and she loved it. The current was quite strong since the tide was going in, so we had to tie on to the boat or we'd have floated up the intracoastal! She started to fall asleep in the float, sucking her thumb and with her hat down over her eyes.

On Sunday we spent some time in the pool! She's a definite water baby if you can't tell by her grin.

There may have been leftover salt residue on her float from the day before...

A warm and sweaty baby sat with Nicky for about an hour in the sky chair....just lovin' life and chewing her toys.

Stephanie's back! YAY! She arrived back in Florida on Tuesday (from Hawaii via Germany), although she's living all the way down in Miami now. It's been almost 2 years since we've seen her. She spent the day with us and loved meeting Ava. It was a great way to spend a Sunday - with friends by the pool. Looking forward to seeing her again really soon!

It's October!

Mom babysat Friday night so that Ryan and I could attend the St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) v. Byrnes (SC) football game with some friends. Aquinas is the #1 ranked high school in the nation and Byrnes is #2. Great game and some incredible talent! Aquinas kept their #1 spot with a 42-35 win. It probably helps that their wide receiver coach is Chris Carter (former NFLer)!

I get out of school a little bit earlier on Friday's so I raced home to spend some QT with Ava. She hadn't taken a long afternoon nap, so we cuddled in her room and eventually both of us fell asleep.
The best nap I've had in awhile!

Floor time with Daddy. She's getting really close to rolling from her front to her back!

Today we took a boat ride up to Two Georges in Boynton Beach for lunch. It was a tad warm, so Ava dined in her G's while playing Patty Cake with Grandma.

Look at that concentration! Her first time drinking from a glass: lots of dripping and drooling, but she did some swallowing too. A nice refreshing glass of water on a warm October day.

On the ride home, Ava and I rode in the cabin. Nicky, Mom and Ryan stayed above deck to enjoy the sun and the view.

Oh so close to sleeping! What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.



Just before we were getting ready to leave Two Georges, Ava broke out into song....well, sort of.