avery's many faces

This is Avery.

Most of the time she looks fairly normal.

But Avery also has a face of many expressions.

First, she likes to stare. At this age, I thought her face was so dirty.

Now, I realize that was nothing.

And yes, she gets this dirty at mealtime almost every time, because she just rubs her chubby little hands all over her face and hair with no care in the world.

I love this puppy dog look, even if she is a mess.

Another great face is the I-just-woke-up face.

Here's the He's-picking-on-me face.

The lip.

Caught in the act (she was eating a crayon).

And sometimes she makes faces that come from who knows where.

Then there is the cheesy smile.

And of course the nice smile.

The laughing smile.

And the laugh behind the smile. I love listening to her laugh.

But mostly, I just love her.

flying kites

We decided to pack a dinner and go to a park to fly kites one windy evening.

We took turns between the two kites we brought, but everyone got a turn.

Yes, even Avery.

After a while we just tied both kites to Avery's stroller and played on the playground for a while.

The end.

Ice Cream Zoofari

Every year, our local zoo puts on an "Ice Cream Zoofari".

They have inflatable toys for the kids,

a big tree house in the middle of the zoo,

a smaller play area at one side (Graham just liked watching the other kids play),

and of course, animals.

But the real reason we go, or at least why I go, is all the free ice cream (with paid admission).

The kids quite enjoy that part of it too.

They have tables set up throughout the zoo with two different flavors at each.

You just tell them which flavor you want, choose a cone or a cup, and they dish out.

We ate plenty of ice cream that day.

It was a good day.

swimming and camping

We thought it would be fun to swim at a place that we could also camp at. So we loaded up the car with our camping gear and drove to Indian Springs. When we got there, it was pouring rain. So we drove back into the closest town and ate an early dinner at a little restaurant. By the time we finished eating, it had cleared up some, so we decided to give the pool another try. It turned out to be just great, and their weren't a lot of people. The water was nice and warm; and believe it or not, the kids actually enjoyed the water by the time we left--even Avery. We had a really great time.

Once we were dried and dressed again, and after seeing how much money it would cost for us to camp there (i.e. set up our tent on the grassy area by the parking lot), we decided it wasn't worth it that night, and headed home.

This was how Graham got his stuffed dog home.

Once we got home, we set up our tent in our own backyard, since Drake and Graham still wanted to sleep in a tent that night.

The boys had a great time sleeping outside.

And Avery and I had a great time sleeping inside.

Rexburg: Splash Park and Carousel

The same weekend we went huckleberry picking, we also did some fun stuff in town.

New to Avery was the old carousel at the park.

She wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

But she lasted the whole ride.

Even the boys were a little hesitant the first go around.

After the carousel, we went over to the splash park.

It's a nice splash park (and it's free).

Drake had the most fun.

Graham warmed up a little by the end.

And Avery never really got into it.

But we sure tried.

After some fun in the water, the boys wanted to go ride the carousel again.

Avery just stood out and watched this time.

But the boys enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thanks to Shad's parents for treating our family and helping out with the kids.

We had a good time.

It's fun being a parent.