Schlitterbahn!

Just after Kevin's birthday Grandpa and Grandma took the whole family to Schlitterbahn. It was Avery and my (Tonya's) first visit. If you notice someone missing in these photos, Claire stayed with the other Grandparents all day, which was fantastic for everyone!

 The first 30 minutes or so were a bit uncertian for Avery. Between the water splashing in her face (which she hates) to the many, many people, and the huge water slides, she was pretty sure this was not the place for her. However, Daddy's presence and the slides below changed her mind completely!

After that initial newness, she could not get enough of the place. She eventually rode these slides by herself over and over and over.

Here we all are enjoying lunch together. Somehow Aunt Amy missed out on the picture taking. Hmmmm.

We also found a kiddie section where Avery really had some fun.

I think this last picture pretty well sums up how Avery felt about Schlitterbahn. She did a great job. We were there from 10:30 -5:30 nonstop and she was the last one out of the water at the end of the day. We all had a great time!

When we got home, Claire was sooooo happy to see all of us, but mostly she was glad to see Avery. She voluntarily hugged her about 5 times. It was extremely sweet.

The Many Faces of Claire

How time flies! Our little Claire turned 11 months old on July 30. Just for fun I took some pictures of her in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard and thought I would share. She is such a character, usually she is full of cheer and smiles, but she has also taken to making some silly faces. She is so much fun and we are enjoying her blossoming personality every day. Enjoy!

She is definitely enjoying the newfound freedom in being able to get around all on her own. She is not walking yet, but has taken a step or two by herself. Meanwhile the crawling gets her absolutely anywhere she wants to be and climbing is a favorite activity.

I guess we better start preparing for her 1st birthday! Hard to believe!

Happy Birthday Avery!!

  

 Avery turned 3 on June 30. These are the pictures of the multi-day extravaganza! We began on the 30th with special pancakes from Daddy, blueberry pancakes that Claire very much enjoyed.

Followed by cupcakes made specially by Mackenzie.

At Avery's request we headed to Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie's house to swim and apparently to wear "birthday glasses"!

For lunch we met Kevin at Avery's favorite restaurant, Chick-Fil-A, where she loves to play on the playscapes. Being brave enough to go down the big slide is new for her.

That night the whole family took a field trip to Baskin Robins where Claire enjoyed more of Avery's ice cream than Avery did.

Avery had a great day, the only problem with the day, according to her, was that we did not have a party. However, the following Saturday we remedied that problem.

We invited over some friends, decked out the back yard, passed out party hats, provided all Avery's favorite foods (burgers, chicken nuggets, "ma-cheetos", etc), made a cake and had a proper birthday party.

This year from Daddy and Mommy, Avery received a scoot bike. Basically a tiny bicycle with no pedals or training wheels.

We also had a water balloon fight that the kids (of all ages) got a huge kick out of. Here Avery has just thrown a balloon at Daddy.

Claire was a good sport through the whole crazy day. Although she was not a fan of the party hat.

On another note, our precious and quickly growing Claire turned 10 months old on the 30th as well. She is such a happy and friendly girl. She currently has 3 teeth, crawls, pulls up, has an amazing smile, and is quickly on her way to walking. She also loves eating "grown up" food. It is amazing how fast she is growing.

Today

Yes we celebrated Christmas and it was wonderful. Yes we celebrated New Years and it was great. Yes we have big news to share about Kevin's new job and moving to Texas, but I am just posting pictures of what we did today. A last goodbye to Kansas snow. 

Everyone got in on the action. Claire made an appearance in the snow and even Grams took a turn on the sled. Brrr, but FUN!