2nd Birthday - Weekend Celebrations

Whew, we made it through Ava's jam-packed birthday weekend.  We had a lot of wonderful people celebrate with us over the weekend, which we are so very thankful for.  And I just can't get over the fact that my precious baby girl is two.  TWO!  Where has the time gone?  How is it that we are already celebrating her second birthday?  My amazing little miracle, the girl that I dreamed about for so many years...to watch her grow and blossom into this sweet and loving, sassy and spunky little girl is just amazing.  We are so, so very blessed.  There are just no words to express how overwhelmed with love and gratitude that I am for my Ava Eloise. 

Ava had a fun-filled weekend to celebrate her second birthday, starting with a trip to her grandma and grandpa Pasek's house (Mimi and Papa's).  She had a great time playing and exploring, especially outside.  Her first stop was the rocks in the front yard.  She picked out her favorites, handed them to Papa, took them back, put them in a bucket....and did this for at least an hour.  It's pretty rare these days that she does any activity for more than 5 minutes, so this must have been pretty exciting.

"I got it! A stick!"

Uncle Bryan and Jessica came to visit and brought their super cute new dog, Senna.  Ava was in puppy dog heaven!  She could not get enough of this adorable dog, and he was so good with Ava!

Everyone checking out the birdies in the tree. 

She opened gifts next, and it was so fun to watch how excited she was.

New computer from Mimi and Papa.

Uncle B helping her open her gifts.

A purse! 

Abby Cadaby tea set from Uncle B and Jessica. 

Tea Party

Pretend tea wasn't enough...she needed the real stuff. 

But as she tried to serve "tea" (water) to everyone, she tried to put her purse back on her shoulder....
and poured it all over her head!

And then...more presents!

Tea with Jessica

Ava stayed with my parents for the night while I headed home to decorate the house and put the finishing touches on everything.  And bonus: Josh and I actually slept in for once.  Like until 8:30 am.  We're crazy like that.

And the next day was Sunday, my sweet and sassy little girl's second birthday.  And her fantastic girlie glam Elmo birthday party.....

More Random Fun

So I have to start this post out by warning everyone - I got a new camera.  And it's awesome.  So if you think you've seen a lot of pictures before...well, get ready - I have been taking a ridiculous number of photos!

Let's start with our last few trips to the zoo. 

First, Ava and I went on an absolutely beautiful morning.  It was just perfect, nice a cool for once!

Ava's "Let's get this party started!" face.

Nikita the Polar bear was super excited about the cooler weather, too. 

Yay!!  It's zoo time!

Waiting for the choo-choo train.

There's the train!

 "Choo-Choo!"

And this is where the REAL excitement started.  As we pulled up to the train station, Ava started waving furiously.....

....and yelling "my Melia! my Melia!"  That's right, waiting at the train stop was Amelia and her mom and dad.  What an awesome surprise for us!  And I couldn't get over how excited these two were to see each other.  They were both just absolutely thrilled!

The girls playing at the play station.

Taking the tram out to Africa,

"Hi Monkeys!"

Watching the gorillas, an Ava favorite. (Maybe a future gorilla herself?!)

The next time we visited the zoo, this beautiful gorilla was sitting next to the window.  She really liked Ava, and wouldn't take her eyes off of her. 

Ava went to tell her "bye" and the gorilla met her hand on the glass.  It was a really sweet moment.

And on our next visit, we went with Will and Liz.  So much fun!  These two always have a great time together.

Liz and I decided it was time to try out the boat from Africa.  I had no idea that they would be so excited - but here's proof!

Taking the tram back...much better than the walk.

They literally went down the slide 20 times (at least). We had to pry them away when it was time to go home.

The next post will probably all about Ava's SECOND birthday!14711