Short and sweet.

I didn't get many pictures of our beautiful girl this week. Along with the other two coaches, I worked a volleyball camp in the afternoons. It was successful and a lot of fun. Ava spent one afternoon with her daddy and T-Th afternoons with Giulia. The two of them had a great time together. They did lots of playing, reading, tickling, swimming and swinging.

One of Ava's newest favorite things to do is to take out all of the bloomers from her drawer and try to put them on her legs...or arms. She can keep herself occupied with this on and off for the entire day.

Brent, Nicky, and Lyla are in CA so we are watching the boys until this Wednesday. Ava is excited every time she sees them, especially when they run into her room when I go in to get her up from her nap. She squeals and points to them as if to say, "Look! They're still here!"
Bandit is more little tyke friendly, but Browser got a lot of attention from Miss A. She brought him her pjs and a couple of blocks to keep him company on the couch.


Having dogs around makes meal time clean up a lot easier!

That's all I've got for this week. Today we're going into school for a little bit. My goal is to get one (and hopefully both) of my bulletin boards done. I'm also hopeful that Miss A will be helpful...or at least not un-helpful! Faculty meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday so Daddy is doing daycare those days. Grandma O comes this weekend and then school starts on Tuesday! WHEW!

WE LOVE SCIENCE!

Ava and I had a busy week. She went to school with me a couple of times so that I could get some things set up in my classroom. She kept herself pretty well occupied, but I definitely didn't get a ton accomplished with her around. There was lots of going through drawers, taking things out, spreading them around, putting some stuff back...and repeat.

We also ran some errands: mainly shoe shopping (for her) and school shopping (for me).

This is what happens when she's playing quietly in her room. :)

Look at my new shoes!!! My very first pair of Nikes. Very cute with rainbow stripes.

Learning how to sit down properly on her stool. Instead of backing up to the seat, she much prefers climbing on top and then turning around. Less safe, but much more interesting.

Today (Sunday) we spent an afternoon at the Science Museum in Palm Beach. It's small size and hands-on exhibits suit us perfectly. There's a small aquarium too and Ava signed 'fish' when she saw them.

Playing with the energy stuff. Very cool!

Making gas bubbles to see that even air has matter. What a brilliant kid!

This exhibit shows Bernoulli's Principle (one of my favorite principles!). It's all about air flow. There was a fan blowing upwards and suspending a beach ball. If you put your hand over the fan, the ball drops. Ava LOVED it...almost as much as her mommy.

Playing with the roller coaster with Daddy. After letting the car go, she would get it at the end of the ramp and take it back to the beginning to do it again.

Racing balls down roller coasters. At the end, the balls fall into a receptacle and come back to the beginning (like at a bowling alley). Ava did her sign for 'Where'd it go?'. Then she would take balls and just dump them at the end instead of putting them on the ramps again.

Outside of the museum is a short science trail with cool, big stuff to play with, like this giant kaleidoscope you can climb into.

And bubbles!

Whew! What a day it's been. Relaxing in the hammock while Daddy grilled some turkey burgers for dinner. We had a wonderful week. This coming week Ava's going to have tons of fun playing with Giulia while Mommy's at volleyball camp and Daddy's working. Maybe she'll learn some Latin.

We love you, Duke!

Duke was practically a member of our family. He spent lots of time at our house, partied with us, played with us, napped with us, and made us smile. He was possibly the best dog in the entire world, and he wasn't even mine! Doug made the difficult decision to have him put down last Friday. It was an emotional time for all of us, but Duke knew he was loved. Here are some of my favorite pics of 'Dukus' at our place over the past several years.

Helping Ryan recover after knee surgery.

He was very afraid of thunder and would hide in the most unlikely places, like under our old end table.

On Thursday evening, we took Duke out in the yard for some lovin'.

Ava could practically run circles around him, but he was really good with her and she loved to be licked.

Giving hugs.

Ava's 'Flock of Seagulls' look after taking out piggie tails.

Snuggling in her crib in the a.m. It was a little too early for me to get up.

Trying on Daddy's shoes.

Summer Road Trip - NY/PA Part 2

WHEW! What a trip! The past six weeks were so much fun. We did lots of relaxing, some work (well, Ryan did anyway), ate great food, and spent time with our favorite people. The final two weeks of the trip were spent at my dad's in NY, at Ryan's parents' in PA, and on the road to Fla.

On our first night in NY, we went to a mini-reunion with some of my Cato classmates. It was great to see everyone - some of whom I hadn't seen since our graduation in '97. We had fun reminiscing, drinking, playing pool, and laughing. I can't wait to see them all again next year!

Ava loved searching for hickory nuts in Grandpa's backyard.

A girls' day at Gretchen's. We hadn't seen Margaret since our high school graduation. It was wonderful to catch up with her and hear about her adventures out west. Plus, we had a great lunch and a fun time watching Sophia, Evy, and Ava play together.

While in NY, we visited the Beaver Lake Nature Center - a favorite place of mine from my childhood. We listened to bird sounds, saw bees in their hive, and played with all sorts of cool things on a touch-table.

This was my favorite trail when I was little...I always just called it the squirrel trail. We saw tons of squirrels and enjoyed the beautiful trail.

Self-family portrait. :)

One of my favorite pics from our vacation!

We love Beaver Lake Nature Center!!!!

Snuggling with Grandpa.

On our last day in NY we went over to the Allen's new house. Heather brought the boys over too. Ava and Gage played nicely together, although he makes her look tiny! :)

Gage found these wooden shoes and clunked all around with them.

Ava just watched in wonder.

On to PA! Chad came to have lunch and visit with us. He is great with Ava and she certainly enjoys playing with him. She thought his iPhone was really cool!

Two cool Bogerts before dinner with the Hogs.

Swinging with the cousins.

Ainsley named the mother goat Teapot. Her kids are Cup and Saucer. No joke. The cutest pet names ever!

Practicing some walking! She did so great over our entire vacation. She started standing up and walking on her own and asking for a hand to walk with too. Such fun.

We were lucky enough to make another trip to the Byler farm. We visited the calves that were newborns on our first visit, saw a lot of farm cats, visited the pigs, and even got to feed the newest calves.

We got a big bucket of fresh milk (the adult cows were being milked in the parlor) and each took turns feeding the new calves. They were hysterical. After one finished drinking, her neighbor licked and sucked any remaining milk off of her face!

Getting up close and personal with a newborn. I think this one still had it's umbilical cord!

Beeping Grandma's nose.

Ainsley

Ava and Aunt Krista.

Everyone rides a trike with night goggles, right?!?

We hosted our annual corn roast at Ryan's parents on the last Saturday in July. The weather cooperated except for a minor sprinkle and we didn't even let a little manure-spreading at the neighbor's mess with our festivities! In attendance: Ryan's parents and aunt and uncle, the newest Carrier Rd. neighbors, the Weavers, the LaSalvias, Poho and Mandy, the Mitchells, and the Bylers...plus the Bogerts.

Taylor and her ice cubes. She loved chewing on them, but also carried them around "selling" them. She is so much more blond than at the beginning of our trip!

Hunter and Lane...hiding out from the girls in their lair, a.k.a. the picnic table.

Ainsley on the tractor. The riding toys were a huge hit with the kids!

Lisa and Taylor, having a moment. :)

Sal roasting a foot-long for the kids.

One of my favorite pics! The Barbie Jeep ran out of juice and Hunter came to Ainsley's rescue. He shot out words like "hot wire" and "jump start" like a professional mechanic! So stinkin' cute.

Ryan and Poho taught Ava the keys to the game of cornhole.

Hunter and Ava.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE! Hunter is 4 and carries himself like he's an old time farmer...with style. Sal and Robyn say that he picks out his own clothes, loves shirts without sleeves, and always has to have his shirts tucked in. I mean, you wouldn't want to cover up the buckle, right?!

Although her legs were a little too short to touch the pedals, she enjoyed riding in the Jeep. Mommy, on the other hand, got a little tired of running next to the Jeep while bending over to push the pedal.

Ava got to spend the day with Grandma and Pop-Pop while Ryan and I went to Kinzua Reservoir with the LaSalvias. The weather was beautiful, the water was cool, and the company was great.

The Bogerts at Kinzua.

Hunter, what a cutie!

Hunter said that all the boys had to go on an adventure, so off they went! (Ryan, Hunter, Sal, and Poho)

Sal flipping off the roof of our rented potoon.

Swinging at Grandma and Pop-Pops.

Attempting to get a pic of the cousins was a bit challenging. Ava wants to move at all times and Ainsley's not a fan of the camera. I think I got a good one though!

Snuggling with Pop-Pop after a great dinner at The Pine Junction with the Keelers.

On our drive home to Florida, we stopped for the night in Hickory, NC. We decided to spend the next day there and got to explore a little bit. We visited the local science museum which was great. They had a butterfly pavillion too. It was a bit hot and muggy so we walked through pretty quickly, but Ava got to see tons of butterflies fluttering by.

Checking out some fossils under a magnifying glass.

The museum had a great physics area which I absolutely loved! Lots of roller coaster-type things which we all got to play with.

There was a wing of the museum that was a mini aquarium. Ava loved the huge catfish and the touch tank. She got to touch a pencil urchin and a hermit crab. And Ryan and I got to touch dogfish sharks and stingrays. So cool!!!!

Our summer vacation ROCKED! We are already excited for next year, but we have a lot to accomplish in the meantime. Ryan started back to work in the office today - his first FULL day of work in awhile. I start a volleyball camp next Monday and then school starts the 7th. I have a busy year ahead of me: a brand new curriculum (three science subjects for each of the three grades I teach) and an all school-all curricular fair to plan and put in motion. Ava's walking and starting to use more words ("No") and signs ("flower," "grapes." "help"). AND Mama O comes back the 4th! What a great time to be a BOGERT!