Family-Filled Sunday

A few weeks ago, my Dad, Rhonda, and Sarabeth drove up to help Lily move in to TCU (I can't believe she is in college!!). After getting her settled in, the three of them plus Hannah joined us for Sunday brunch at Cafe Brazil. 

Ava loves her Grampsie!

It was such a wonderful morning, and I am hoping that with 3/5 of their girls now living in DFW (plus their adorable granddaughter and a super cool son-in-law) my Dad and Rhonda will be making many more trips soon. 

After a nice nap, we headed over to Tori and Todd's house for some pool time. 

Ava had so much fun playing with her cousins, and Jack wanted to show her all his cool toys. 

The fact that I managed to get them to all sit for this shot is pretty miraculous. 

And this one is super blurry, but too cute not to post. 

Sweet baby hugs.

Ava's Culinary Adventures

 I realized recently that I tend to take a bunch of photos of Ava while she is eating. This is not only due to the fact that it is one of the only times she sits (somewhat) still, but it is also because of all the funny faces she makes while enjoying her favorite foods. 

For example, I call this series of photos, "Discovering the Awesomeness of Hatch-mole"...

It is also really fun to watch Ava using utensils.  She often requests to use my fork or spoon instead of her own, which really makes things interesting.  

And if there is hummus involved, the spoon will be completely licked clean.

One of my other favorite things is watching Ava enjoy my favorite foods for the first time. We recently took her to the new Hopdoddy Burger Bar location in Dallas for her first cheeseburger and fries experience. To say that she loved it is a huge understatement. 

And she really loved the ketchup (she may have eaten more off her fingers than the fries). 

I can't blame her...it was our first trip to Hopdoddy, and everything was ridiculously good. We even splurged on green chile queso fries and sangritas. Worth every calorie. 

Ava also thoroughly enjoyed her first cup of frozen yogurt. In fact, a little TCBY was just what she needed to make her feel better during a lovely bout of croup. 

It doesn't get much sweeter than that. 

A Visit from Bunny and Aunt Charlotte

A few weeks ago, my Mom and Charlotte came up to Dallas for a visit before my sister had to head back to school in Charleston. Ava was so happy to see her Bunny and Aunt Charlotte. 

And she was really excited about the purse full of beads that her Bunny brought. 

Really, really excited!

"Say cheese, Aunt Charlotte." 

After Ava went to sleep on Friday night, we introduced my Mom and Charlotte to Cards Against Humanity. And my Mom totally killed all of us. How is that possible?!

The next day, Ava got in lots of quality time with my Mom and Charlotte.  

She had so much fun!

And with our lovely babysitters in town, Josh and I got to enjoy a date night at St. Martin's. Champagne Brie Soup...yes, please. 

Definitely a win-win. 

July Happenings

In addition to our wonderful trip to POC and our visit to the Dallas World Aquarium, we had a lot more fun throughout the month of July. Since I am trying to play a little blog catch-up, here is the rest of the month according to my iPhone photos...

A fun night out with old friends. 

The joy of queso. 

Ava snuggling up with her Dada when he was sick. 

Some unexpected "thank you for being a wonderful wife and mother" flowers from my love.

Peek-a-boo!

Free slurpee day at 7-Eleven. 

A rainy-day activity using stale cereal. The dogs were very happy to eat the rogue pieces. 

An it's-waaaay-too-hot-to-go-outside activity.

Another keep-your-toddler-busy activity (are you seeing a theme here?)...using all those random address labels that come in the mail as stickers. 

Trying out a new recipe for banana muffins. Definitely a keeper.

A new TV in the kitchen! Best. Thing. Ever. 

A playdate with friends (followed by a ridiculously fun Cards Against Humanity game night for all the adults). 

The result of staying up too late during the aforementioned game night. At least one of us, ahem, was awake to chase around the toddler all morning.

Enjoying lots of park time during a miraculously cool weekend in the middle of July.

Watching soccer with Dad. 

The essentials.

My little girly girl, who insisted on wearing her pearls in the bathtub.