A Little (needed) Vacation

Our ideal beach trip involves a few key things...

For Ava that might include rocks & coasters.

I like coasters too but mine are usually holding a tasty glass of red wine.

I think the most important thing to have is our family & friends there to share it with us.
We had a very nice "Girl's Trip" with my Mom, Sister & three of Mom's friends.

Ava loves the beach house,
she loves having Mom & Grandma's undivided attention,
which this time she got for four whole days!
There is no TV or Internet so Ava is the star of every "show".

She hides under chairs & runs herself silly.

With her vivid imagination she is a real riot to listen to.
She makes up all sorts of games & stories.

On the second day my Mom's friend Christy joined us.
When we mentioned she was coming to Ava she got all excited and announced
"My friend Christy is coming to play with me."

Never mind that she has never met Christy.

Never mind that Christy isn't really a fan of kids.

This little 'not liking kids' thing has never been a problem for Ava.

She just sees it as a challenge.
One I have personally never seen her lose.

On Friday morning the weather was great so Christy whipped us into gear saying we needed to get outside and go for a walk. We threw Ava in the stroller and headed out.

We made it a block & a half before Christy informed us
her walk was ending at the Surftides bar for a bloody mary.
What?
Much to her dismay the bar was closed.

We made her trudge on, we went down to the beach access and she found
a cozy bench to research the bar scene for the weekend
while my mom and I went on that walk we actually did want to take.

Ava needed to get her hands on some sand.

She loves playing in the sand.
Check out that blue sky,
it turned into quite the beautiful day.

Before Christy arrived we ran across the perfect gift for her while we were out shopping.
It was one of those things were it is just too perfect, you can't NOT buy it.
A little golf cart:

You see many moons ago Christy and I stole a golf cart together.
We were at a hotel swimming pool in Hawaii & we had had many
breakfasty drinks. The golf cart was just sitting there,
unattended, almost begging to be stolen.

We cruised through the resort laughing and yelling to anyone who was in our way that we were trying to find our ball. It was good times for sure and when ever I think about Christy I always think about that crazy morning.

Nothing Christy does really surprises me anymore.
She is a bit of a wild card.

That is why I can find humor in her taking my daughters tooth brush
and stirring her wine with it.

I have no idea why she did it,
all I knew is that I must take a picture of this horrifying act.

Come to think of it when ever Ava does something wrong my first instinct is to take a picture of her in the act too. I have a whole set of pictures of her sitting on top of tables she crawled up on, putting her hand in the VCR, sneaking out the dog door.

The child must be confused, is my mommy proud of me or mad??

Don't worry Ava, mostly proud.

At one point Christy was reading to us out of some fashion magazine.
She showed us a picture of "cage heels"
they looked something like this:
She told us how she badly wanted a pair but knew there was no way in hell she was going to be able to walk in them.
Unless she got a walker. Yes, she would get cage heels and a walker.
We died laughing and never really got that image out of our heads.
Christy, all old and wearing cage heels, shuffling to the next bingo match.

Well Christy just sent me a text message saying all her problems are solved,
She just picked up this new pair of shoes:

She wrote under the caption "No walker needed."

I don't know, I personally liked the first pair better, with the walker.

Lets get back to Ava...

Under my friend Tracy's recommendation
we got Ava these little brain quiz cards, we love them!!
Here is Ava playing "school" with Auntie Jessica.

We use the ones that say they are for 3-4 year olds but Ava is pretty good at them.

On Saturday Mom and three of her friends went kayaking on the Siletz river.
It was the perfect day for kayaking and we would have gone with them but seeing as we have a little two year old to contend with we made alternate plans to go enjoy a day in Depot Bay.

Ava played with the squirrels,
they always make her giggle.

I love her little face.

I tried to get her picture on an old rusty anchor (notice the anchors on her shirt) it seemed necessary. She really wasn't the most cooperative subject, but I tried.

Auntie Jessica

More squirrel chasing,
she is convinced she can catch them.

Ava loved this whale. She wouldn't stop talking about it.
She needed to see it up close.
She then informed me the whale is grumpy.
He needs a nap.

Next we headed south to Newport to meet up with Rhi.
Jessica very sneakily convinced Rhi to watch Ava for me Saturday night so we could go to a comedy show at the Casino that she bought me tickets to. (Thanks Jess!)

I am still not real good at that whole leaving Ava thing but if I was going to leave her with anyone, I would want it to be Rhi.

I love Rhi & she comes with a bonus, an adorable little son
who she is doing a wonderful job raising. Rhi is a great mom.

I know? Is he kidding with that face!??
Check out that smile!!
Serious adorableness!

Ava LOVES Tyler.
She was so excited.
I told her I was leaving and she didn't even care one bit.
Bye Momma! I play with Tyler now.

Tyler was pretty happy about it too.

The comedy show was a total bust but I am still glad we went.
We had a good time gambling and hanging out with Mom's friends.
It was nice to get Ava back in my arms, take her home and tuck her into her bed.

We played lots of games through out the whole weekend.
It was a very relaxing fun trip.
As always, can't wait to go back!