Back from Paradise!

Literally :) We went to Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. We were there for a week, and it was such a great vacation (minus the plane ride with Avery, which was an unbelievable nightmare). We had great weather (although very very hot, but it only rained once, overnight, which helped to make things less muggy). Joining us was my sister, brother-in-law, and their son. We had a three bedroom lock-off condo at the Harborside Resort at Atlantis. The living arrangements were absolutely perfect, and allowed Avery to sleep just as well as if she were at home. We were able to go to the grocery store and get lots of food since the condo had a full kitchen, so we saved a whole lot of money on food by doing that.

Here are some photos from the trip:

This is a picture of Harborside, which is set right next to the marina, with some amazing yachts.

Atlantis has a huge aquarium on site:

Seven years ago Abe and I went to the Bahamas and stayed at the Radisson (which is no longer a Radisson). We visited Atlantis for dinner one night, and that was the night Abe proposed! We found the exact spot that he proposed when we went back, and of course had to take a picture :0)

This is one of the kid's pools at Atlantis. It has this huge bucket at the top that fills up with water and pours out every ten minutes or so. It's pretty crazy. There are lots of water slides for the kids too (not Avery's size, but my nephew Ben LOVED the blue slide...said it was his favorite part of vacation):

Avery and Ben playing in the sand at the Lagoon Beach:

And here's a picture that depicts what much of the vacation was all about...Avery running and us chasing after her :)

I have about 300 more pictures from the vacation but I think this is a good enough representation :)

For Sale

Ok, I know, I know. I am the world's worst blogger. I think it's been three weeks since my last post...and well...that's pathetic. But things have been busy around here, and I just kept putting it off. So what have we been doing, you ask?

Well, we've officially put our house on the market. I know, great timing...couldn't be a better time to sell. The sign went up in the yard on Thursday and we had our first two showings on Friday. It seems that it just wasn't a good fit for the first couple that came through, but the second said it is in their top three and they're "thinking about it." So...we'll see. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it sure would be nice to get a quick offer :) Keeping the house clean is going to kill me, with the little 1 1/2 year old tornado that lives with us. I'm amazed at how I can clean all morning and the house still looks messy, because she's running behind me taking out 3 things for every 1 I put away. This could be a fun ride :)

Easter

On Sunday we went to Cincinnati to celebrate Easter with my family. We had a beautiful sunny day, so the kids were able to hunt for eggs outside this year. Avery did a whole lot better at this easter egg hunt than last week's... here are just a few pictures:

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday we went to an Easter egg hunt and brunch with Holly and Nathan, and Dave and Amy, and their kids. Here's us at brunch (minus Abe, who was taking the picture):

After brunch we headed upstairs to see the Easter Bunny and try to get some pictures. Avery was happy to wave and say hi to the Easter Bunny as long as she was a safe distance away. But, as soon as Abe inched his way closer, Avery got panicky and started yelling and pointing with urgency away from the bunny. The bunny tried desperately to win her favor by playing peek-a-boo, but to no avail.

Grant and Grace did much better:

And Collin sat on the Easter Bunny's lap for a little bit, but eventually decided Avery had the right idea:

After torturing the bunny with endless photo ops, we headed outside for the Easter egg hunt. Avery got a late start as we were trying to change her into different shoes, so most of the eggs were gone by the time she could fight her way to front of the pack. I'm quite sure she didn't really know why she was hanging out in the mulch, and why we kept pointing at eggs on the ground and in the bushes, but she was happy about it all the same. She only managed to get one egg, but she could have cared less. Who cares about Easter eggs when you can climb up and down on a curb over and over again?

All in all it was a fun day with good friends, and lots of good memories :)

Card Swap

Just a quickie post...Here's a card I made for a card swap I'm going to tonight. This was a lift from Jennifer on the Scrappin' Mamas message board (couldn't find the post on your blog though, Jennifer, to show the original...sorry). I used the swiss dot Cuttlebug folder to emboss the front of the card, and then scalloped the edge. I used the Alphalicious Cricut cartridge to make the letter b. The pink cardstock is from Archivers and the green PP is Jillibean Soup. The PP on the inside of the card is My Little Shoebox (just a thin strip on the edge that I also scalloped). I bought the little tag at Staples and stamped "baby" on it. The safety pins are MM and the thread is Bazzil. Thanks for the inspiration Jennifer!

Toddler Theater

Today we went to the Dublin Rec Center for Toddler Theater, which Holly introduced us to a few weeks ago. Last time Avery wasn't feeling great so she didn't seem to enjoy it much. But I thought it was entertaining, so I thought we'd give it another shot and see how she'd like it this time. Toddler Theater is basically a woman with a guitar singing children's songs, and they bring out someone dressed as a character from a children's book (this week was Clifford, the Big Red Dog) to dance along with the kids. It takes place in a theater (hence the name, I guess), which of course has theater seating...and lots of steps. So while there's singing, dancing and lots of commotion down on the stage of the theater, Avery prefers to spend her time going up and down the amazing steps...


Occasionally she would stop and look back at what was going on down on the stage...

And she even ventured down there for a second or two. She was unsure about Clifford, though, and didn't want to get too close...

She suddenly got brave, and wandered into the middle of the crowd! Later she actually stood right in front of the guitar lady and watched her for a while. I of course didn't have my camera out at that point.

Then she decided it was better to be safely watching on the steps near my seat, and she clapped and laughed along with the other kids (and then went back to climbing the steps). I figure the more we go to this, the more comfortable she'll be...and before I know it she'll be in the middle of the floor dancing and singing the entire time.

Pictures from the weekend

Here are some random photos from this past weekend:

On Saturday we went up to Cleveland and saw our new little niece Alyssa. Here's a pic of Avery and Alyssa sitting side by side on the couch. Avery was pretty intrigued by the tiny baby, but definitely didn't like it when mommy held her!

How's this for a "picture of the day?" HA! Avery loves to dig through my closet and give me these shoes to put on (she always picks this pair). They're shoes I bought for a costume party, in case you're wondering about my taste :-P.

Sunday was a pretty day outside, so Abe decided it was time to put the new grill together:

And then we washed his motorcycle to get it ready to sell:

Anyone in the market for a new bike? I'd be happy to sell you this one!!!!