Nana's B-day Cookout and Rainforest Cafe

While in Nashville we celebrated Nana's (Anne's) birthday. Uncle Timmy hosted a wonderful cookout. The food was fantastic, his patio and gardens were beautiful, and Ava had a ball playing with Daisie Mae, the neighbors' dog.

While the rest played cards, Aunt Bethany, Ava, and I made a late night run to Target in search of the ultimate in child leashes. You heard right, child leashes! At the zoo we saw multiple children wearing monkey backpacks that had a long tail (aka, leash) attached. I finally asked a mother were they got them and she said Target, so we had to make the trip. Ava definitely did not like it at first, but after she was able to get out of the stroller and have a little freedom, she was all for her monkey backpack. When she sees it she says, "Is a monkey!" we just pretend it's Boots from Dora.

She utilized this new found freedom at Opry Mills. What a huge mall. Tons of great shops and The Rainforest Cafe was fantastic. We sat in the elephant section and Ava was completely entertained by them. She loved the fish when we first walked in and it is a little overwhelming for a little one. When we first got in, Anne thought she was about to cry since her little lip was pooched out, but she was just making her little elephants sounds. Adorable. Pop walked around with her quite a bit to keep her entertained. She loved her dino shaped chicken nuggets and made them roar and walk around her plate. Nana was surprised by a birthday volcano and the food was fantastic. True to Ava's nature she loved the gift shop. At one point she had so many things picked out she couldn't carry them all. Thankfully after some distractions by Aunt Bethany, we left with only a t-shirt for Ava and I (matching tie dye) and a magnet.

Looking back, I know it is a trip I will remember for a long time. The experiences with Ava at this age were priceless and I will treasure that always.

Flashback Friday

Now that we are heading full speed into the terrible two's, I wanted to look back at some pictures of Ava from last summer. I had such a wonderful summer being able to be with her. I am looking forward to this summer as well, but I know that trying times are ahead...

What a fantastic story!

This story just spoke to me. I think it is fantastic...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/22/china.breastfeed/index.html

Final Batch of Zoo pictures

Here are the last of the zoo pictures...

In this picture, Ava is watching the leopard (or it could be a cheetah, I can't remember. A big cat with spots...)

At Critter Corner petting the animals.



Bradley's favorite, The Koi Pond

And here we are at the end of our zoo visit. Tired, but happy.

More Zoo Pics

Here are some more zoo pics-

Here we are fresh and excited at the beginning of the day. *Note Ava's sunglasses.*

Ava was watching the gibbons in this picture.
Checking out the meerkats.
With Aunt Bethany watching the elephants.



1 more Zoo post to go. I will try to post tomorrow.

And who else is so happy that David Cook won American Idol?

Ava at the Zoo

This past weekend we went to Nashville to celebrate Anne's (Nana's) birthday. Bradley, Ava, and I stayed at Aunt Bethany's house and Joe and Anne stayed at Uncle Timmy's house. Our highlights were a trip to Grassmere Zoo, dinner at Uncle Timmy's for Nana's birthday, and Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills. I will be breaking the trip down into 3 or 4 parts. This is part 1 - The Lorikeets and Carousel

• Highlights of our Zoo trip-




• When we first got there we went to see the Gibbons. Ava saw them and knew they were monkeys.




• Ava loved seeing the ‘raffe.’ She sleeps with a giraffe stuffed animal and we were surprised at how close they got to us. One was eating out a tree and then walked close to where we were. Ava was fascinated by them and we stayed for quite a few minutes watching them.




• Aunt Bethany, Ava, and I went in to feed the lorikeets at one of the buildings. When you walk in, you can purchase cups of nectar for $1. The guide warned us to not feed the birds by the door or on the ground, and to hold on tight to the cup. I was holding Ava in one hand and the nectar in the other when a couple of birds flew up. They landed directly on my hand and started arguing with each other over the nectar. It was a little freaky and Bethany took several pictures of my freaked out face. She was laughing at my expense until a lorikeet flew into her hair and started rooting around on her head. Ava was entranced with the birds and really wanted to touch one. She finally worked up the courage to touch one and it turned around and bit her! She was a strong girl though. She didn’t cry, but she didn’t try to touch a bird the rest of the time we were in there. It was so neat to see the birds that close and not have them flying away. Even though they freaked me out quite a bit at first, I would love to do it again and experience it all over again.




• Carousel – Ava and I took a ride on the zoo carousel. Ava switched back and forth between a python and a monkey. The monkey ended up being what she sat on the most which I found surprising because it was the one that was the higher up of the two. I actually didn’t think Ava would enjoy it, but she rode around a couple of turns and waved at Daddy and Aunt Bethany. She squealed a little (good squeals) and said “Yay!” and “Weee!” a couple of times. But after just a few turns she was done. She said, “All done,” and I just held her for the rest of the ride.




• Petting Zoo- Ava enjoyed just getting down running around for a little bit. The petting zoo, “Critter Corner,” was located at the end of our time at the zoo and we were all getting worn out. Ava was happy to get down to run and roam, but she had had her fill of animals and besides a little combing and petting of the goats, she had very little interest in the other animals.




• Ava was in heaven in the gift shop. She ended up picking out a little African drum that a saleslady gave her to play with and she just didn’t want to part with. She was so entranced by the dang thing that we bought it. *I know, bad parents, we spoil a little too much…sigh…*
  
  So, I guess that sums up our time at the zoo. It was a fantastic trip and we took tons of great photos. Here are my favorites: