Puerto Vallarta Mexico!

This year we traveled to Mexico over Thanksgiving because I was in my friend, Irene's wedding. It was a perfect 85 degrees every day. They have 300 sunny days a year! It was Avery's first plane ride and he did great. We had a bag full of toys that were new to him and they helped keep him somewhat entertained. The wedding was beautiful and I was so happy to be able to be a part of it since Irene and I have been friend's since first grade. It was also fun to be able to be on vacation with my closest high school friends and their families.

He loved watching the planes in the airport.


Here we are enjoying a book together.


This was the place we stayed at. We had an ocean view room, ours was on the second floor- there's a towel hanging from the balcony.


Avery and Layna building sandcastles.


There were seven different pools at our resort. I liked this one because there was a shallow end that was only ankle deep and Avery enjoyed playing there.


We enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings.


The wedding party.




Dancing with "Grandpa" Risic


This is at the boardwalk downtown.

Interview with Avery

I turned the camera on Avery to see what he had to say. He didn't have much to say but he finally said mama. Bob ba = Mama for those that need an Avery translator. He has also been calling himself baby. Enjoy

A few fun videos

Leaves!

Today was a beautiful day out so I thought Avery would enjoy jumping in his first leaf pile. I raked a huge pile in the middle of the yard and then waited to see what he would do. Here is the series I took showing his reaction to the leaves and pile.

He watched me the whole time I raked the leaves.


Once I was done raking, I tried to get him to jump in, but he just stood there. This is after I put him in the pile. He wasn't too thrilled and wanted out. I was even running in and out of the leaves and jumping in, but he wasn't very interested. He did try to run through once.


Being the hard worker he is, he enjoyed raking the leaves more.


Here he is laughing because Venus and I were having a leaf fight. I would throw them at her and she would charge me.

Meet the Old Guy

Boo at the Zoo

To celebrate my birthday with my family this year we went to the zoo. It was a special day at the zoo because you could trick or treat there. The kids enjoyed the animals more than the candy so we spent most of the time watching them and playing on the new equipment in the children's zoo area. The coolest part was when the lion started to roar. I've never heard one do that before and it's quite intimidating. Avery thought it was cool until the lion got closer and louder.


Pirate Austin, Duckie Jaycent, Dragon Avery, and Jester Gaven




This is the homemade cake Scott made. It was an amazing double chocolate seven layer cake.

Celebrating 30 years!

I can't believe today is my 30th birthday! Time goes faster as you get older. Some have asked if I mind turning 30- the answer is of course not. It's just a number and it means that I've been able to live for 3o years, what a blessing! One friend said birthdays are good for you- the more you have the longer you get to live. So far, I've had an awesome life with so many adventures. I wouldn't trade a single experience in and I look forward to 30 more! For my birthday Scott took me horseback riding on Friday. I had so much fun going on the trails- it was just Scott, the guide and me. I rode a horse named Carlos- he was quite the horse. During the ride I got to hear Scott scream like a girl when his horse started running too fast! I think that was the highlight of the ride. Meet Carlos.....

Fun at Olbrich

Today Tim, Dianne, Laura, Avery and I enjoyed the Fall at the botanical gardens.

4th Annual Friend's Weekend

I love this time of year for many reasons- the pretty fall colors, nice crisp weather (although we haven't seen that yet because it's been in the 80's and muggy), my birthday, and the annual friend's weekend. I love when we all get together and play games, laugh, eat, and celebrate our lives as adults. This year we celebrated my 30th. I can't believe these girls have been celebrating my birthday for 23 years. It's great having friends that have known you for so long. The high light of the trip this year was boom ball. The cabin we were staying in in the dells had a basement with cement floors and chairs on wheels. We used dog kennels as goals, various racquet's we found around the house, and a sponge bob ball. We rolled around the basement on teams trying to make goals. The best part was we didn't have to pay for all that fun- it was free. We had considered doing something in the dells but things are so expensive there. Here is a picture- it's not the best one but no one really wanted to take time out to take a picture and this was the best one we have. Layna's head is cut off and it's blurry, but at least we have the memory!

He's watching you!

So I've been meaning to post this story for awhile. The picture has nothing to do with it- I just think it's a funny picture of his eye. Anyway, for those of you who know me, you know that I have a candy dish that is always full of candy. Well... now Avery knows there is a candy dish full of candy. He can't quite see the candy, but he knows where it is. The other day Scott was in the kitchen and Avery came running in with a candy wrapper he had pulled from the living room garbage. He handed it to Scott and signed "more" because he wanted some candy! He's truly my son.

Treinen Farm

Scott, Avery, Laura, Tony and I had a blast going to The Treinen Family Farm today. This farm has WI biggest corn maze, a pumpkin patch, farm animals, and a playground. The corn maze was fun because you are given a blank map and you have to find the puzzle pieces within the maze. Each piece has another part of the puzzle. Once you find the whole map, you can decide to continue on and find 8 more secret locations. Only about 2% of the people find all 8 locations. We only found 7 and were bummed! We had so much fun and I would recommend this maze to anyone!





This a 20 x 10 box full of corn. When I stood Avery up it was past his knees.


Avery liked playing in the giant sandbox until he spotted the chicken. After that, he just wanted to chase the chicken.

Finger Painting.....

or in Avery's case I think it is called body painting.

Raising money for a cure, 1 mile at a time....

On Saturday Scott, Avery, and I joined Grandpa and a few other family members to take part in the Alzheimer's walk. We wanted to walk in honor of Grandma, who had Alzheimer's, and to help raise money. It was a beautiful day and in total, all teams there raised over $42,ooo. Thanks to those of you who joined in one way or another.

A visit with Grandma and Grandpa Davis

At the end of the summer we took a trip up to Washburn to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. We all had a great time- I know it's going to be one of Avery's favorite places.

We enjoyed a hike in Bayfield.


You can tell he just woke up!




We enjoyed ice cream in Bayfield, Avery enjoyed the cone.


He loves sand. He played in his own sand pool for hours.


We took the boat out and had an island to ourselves for the day.


This picture was funny because he looks so small. He would have kept going by himself if someone wouldn't have gone to get him.


Life is perfect if you have a stick!

It's done!

Scott and I have been working on making a new coffee table for the last month. We were really excited when we found the perfect piece of wood last fall at a saw mill. We envisioned a coffee table with a stream and I'm happy to say that it's finally done!


It started out looking like this. The board was cheap because there was a crack in the middle. However, that is what we loved about it! That crack makes the perfect stream.


The stream is made from blue epoxy.

Just some pictures

He was so proud of himself when he saw his picture on the computer.


Who taught him that sign?


If only this could still be cool in another 10 years!


Superman meets Barbie. He found my grandma's pink scarf in my drawer and was running around with it. I made it into a cape and he instantly ran with his arms back to make it fly.

The Great Outdoors

Last week the four of us set out on a five day camping trip. At least five days was the plan. We were supposed to go to Door county and camp at Newport state park this year but the 9 solid days of rain and flooding here made us decide against going there. Instead we went to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan- one of our favorite places to enjoy nature. Avery loved camping especially the getting dirty part of it. He always seemed to find piles of dirt and mud puddles. I put him in play clothes and watched him explore. The first few days there the weather was pleasant there weren't any bugs. We enjoyed a few waterfall hikes and played in the river near our campsite. We would have played in Lake Superior if the water hadn't been in the lower 40's. You couldn't even stand in it. By day three, biting black flies decided to join our camping party. There weren't all that many on day three and we were able to shoo them away. However, by day four there were thousands of them and we couldn't leave our screen area. We left our car open when we were packing and you couldn't even see the dash because there were so many flies on it. It took us days to get them out. On Monday night there was a really bad storm. The lightning and thunder looked more like a strobe light at a concert and there was three inches of rain in our tent. Scott, Avery and I rode out the storm on our air mat. We would have gone to our car like all of the other tent campers there, but our car was packed full of things and there was no room for us. The lightning struck three trees in the site next to us. I've never heard lightning strike anything- it's really loud. The funniest part- Avery slept through the whole storm and Venus was so scared she wouldn't move. She was laying on her soaking wet bed next to the door, getting dripped on and she wouldn't move. After the storm, we decided to pack up and leave. The flies had gotten worse and there wasn't anything left dry. Despite all of this, we still had fun and look forward to another camping trip next year.



This hike was near the waterfalls



We had this beach to ourselves


Getting dirty. If the picture were better, you could see the dirt all over his face.


He loves water!


His face sums up what we all thought of those black flies.


Avery discovered a juice box.