Ultimate Santa Expierence!

My friend and I took our girls to the mall for the "Ultimate Santa Experience!" It was really cool. First you enter a big gingerbread house and play a game. After the game the girls were awarded a "flight school" certificate. The next room was a sleigh ride. The sleigh vibrated, the wind blew, and the movie gave you the sensation of "flying to the north pole." Then the girls got to design a gingerbread man. Finally the last room was a visit with Santa Clause. It was really fun and worth the price. The kids loved it.

Pet Dinosaur

Ava thought this dino egg was pretty cool. You drop it in water and over the course of a week it hatches. It sure helped get her moving in the mornings! She hurried through her morning routine without a fuss so she could go down stairs and check on the egg. Each morning she'd look and yell, "WOW!" When it finally hatched she yelled, "Oh my gosh is a triceratops!!"

The Little Mermaid

I took Ava to her very first musical! A local theater school put on a performance of The Little Mermaid. Ava did so well! She loved it and clapped with delight after every scene. I think her favorite scene was the "Under The Sea" song. She even got to meet some of the cast after the show!

More Dance

Another video of Ava's competition dance.  They are so cute!!  Ava's leg lift...I die!!!

These little ones are ages 4-6 and are performing in this video by memory with little guidance from the teacher.  First competition is in March so I'm sure they will be really ready by then!

Kaleidoscope

After the aquarium and Fritz's we took the girls to Kaleidoscope. Ive been wanting to take Ava here for quite a while. It's a free art studio established by Hallmark Cards. Its decorated really quirky and cute!  Hallmark donates all their scrap materials to the studio. The girls made a puzzle, paintings, a crown, pumpkins, and a greeting card.

Some of Ava's art projects

Aquarium

Annual trip to the aquarium! Ava was very into it this time and really enjoyed looking at the fish. Here she is checking out the lobster!

Check this out!  She was not scared of the touch tank this year!  She's touching the horseshoe crab.

Photo bubbles!  She loved these this year as well.

 

Look Dori!!

Afterwards we headed to Fritz's for some burgers.  Here's Ava and her friend Roxy.  Love seeing their sweet relationship grow.

Our food's here!!

Puppet Show

We took the kids to a Puppet Show Sing-a-Long. They had such a great time! They loved clapping, singing, and dancing. The storyline was Ringo the dog was driving to see his brother and along the way they had some mishaps.  The songs were most of the classic kids songs like, B I N G O, If You're Happy & You Know It, and The Wheels on the Bus.

These puppets seemed like a great idea at the time.  The kids love them, but they turn into a knotted mess in about 30 seconds, and then it takes me 20 minutes to get it sorted out!!

Zoo

We took another trip to the zoo. I told myself I wasn't going to take any pictures. But, ya know I couldn't resist!

She adored this little sand cat.  So cute!!

This otter is adorable.  Ava giggled with delight when it swam through the glass tunnel under her feet.

Two little monkeys

Rainbow dip-in-dots

Fun this Fall

A video of some of our favorite fall activities

Happy Halloween

Ava was excited to trick or treat this year. But once we got going, she was scared to knock on the doors. She'd ring the doorbell and then run away! Jon or I ended up going with her. At about the 10th house, someone jumped out from behind the door wearing a wolf costume.  It really scared her and she said she wanted to go home. Even though we didn't trick or treat long she was really excited about her bucket of candy. Her favorites were the blow pop suckers. She thought those were cool because they were so big, and had bubblegum inside! She also really liked answering the door and handing out candy!

 

 

Halloween Fun

I took Ava to work to trick or treat.  She was actually more excited to play on my computer and do "work" than get candy!  I finally convinced her to go around and trick or treat.

She thought the elevator was pretty cool. She said, "That tickled my belly!"

Checking out the spooky dragon!  The guy had a little remote that moved the dragons head.  Ava was brave enough to pet it.

A Minion!

She was excited about her bucket of candy

Afterwards we went to Ava's school for her class party

Lots of super hero's, Elsa's, and Ninja Turtles!  Some of my favorites were reindeer Sven and the little police officer.

Genie granting my wish!

Ava with her new teacher.  Ava made the witches hat she's wearing.