Archive for March, 2006

When we were in Florida Ava got to go swimming. She has always been a little fish in the bathtub, but we weren’t sure how she would handle the big huge pool with waterfalls and fountains. However, she jumped right in and had a ball. We tried a swimsuit with floaties in it, but this big yellow float worked the best and she loved it! I think one of the best things about having children is watching them experience things for the first time. It is so much fun to see them get such joy out of new things. Their little faces light up in PURE joy, as their little neurons try to figure out what the heck is going on! Watching Ava try new things (like swimming) makes me remember all the fun times I had as a kid. I can remember swimming with my sisters wherever we could find enough water…in pools, the creek, wherever! We always built elaborate imaginary games around some story and ended the day tired and content. Ahhh, to be a kid again…I am sure my Dad is laughing if he is reading this because all I ever did as a child was tell him, “I can’t wait to be a grown-up”.

We visited SeaWorld while we were in Florida and it was great! Ava loved looking at all the animals/fish, and Dave and I really enjoyed all the different exhibits. They had a great shark tank where you could go underneath and viewed the fish and sharks through a thick plexiglass tube while they swam around you. It was sunny and warm and just the ticket to revive us from the long Ohio winter.

We try to keep Ava from eating any junk food. No McDonalds so far…no sugary sweets…but we were on vacation so we had to let it slip a little. I wanted to show her ice cream. This is her first jump into the wonderful sugary world of the vanilla cone. Later that day we thought what the heck, and bought some french fries too! Might as well introduce the junk food group at one time. Let’s hope she will go back to her spinach and tofu after that!

Ava discovered this fountain while on vacation in Florida this past week. We had such a great time there! The weather was sunny (of course) and it was so nice to walk around without multiple layers on. Ava had a week of new experiences, including going barefoot.