Go, Go, Goers!

It's officially summer in Minnesota.  We've passed the 1-2 weeks where it's pleasant outside, and have moved into the hot and humid midwestern summer season.  This calls for some FUN in the SUN!  We were hoping that Ava would enjoy the water a little more this year than she did last year (I took her to several weeks of swimming lessons in a lap pool, where the temp of the water was just a wee bit too chilly.  It didn't go well for either of us.)  Plus, she has a new swimming suit I was anxious to have her try out, so at the very least, I knew she would look cute. :) So, Daddy decided to set up the sprinkler for her one night after dinner.  This, too, did not go very well.  Perhaps it's because he sprung the sprinkler on her without warning, causing her to run to me, with fear in her eyes, and very wet hands...  After that, we never got her to come near the sprinkler (way to go, Daddy), and she decided to play with my potted flowers...with h...

And when I say "Tramps", surely you realize I'm talking about a trampoline, right? We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend to visit our good friends, Darren, Tiffany, and Isabel.  Ava, of course, had to take a nap on the ride down there, so instead of napping at her regular time, she was up ALL afternoon - happy/sad/excited/meltdown/etc.  It was a long afternoon.  Scott was helping Darren build a garden fence, and then they went to chop some trees down, so Tiff and I had a chance to catch up with each other, and then play with the girls. For those that don't know/remember, Isabel is 8-months older than Ava, and still, the age difference is so apparent.  Isabel played the part of the older child, and was teaching Ava how to take turns on the trampoline, as well as giving her hugs of encouragement on the slide. Every time we see Isabel, it's like seeing what Ava will be 8 months from now...it's so much fun! We had some dress-up time - pretty, pretty p...

Just yesterday morning, I was thinking to myself that I could really use a few more hours each day.  We don't sleep a whole lot, both work long hours at our jobs, try to play with Ava as much as we can at night and on the weekends, and then we have to do all of the adult-stuff...paying bills, grocery shopping, cleaning, work on side jobs, house projects, etc.  If there were only 26 hours in a day, we could: *Sleep just an extra 30 minutes - we need it since the dogs have been waking us up each weekend day at 5:30am.  What could be SO urgent that they need to get us up then?!?  You'd think we only feed them once a week, or something. *Spend an extra hour with Ava...we could go to the park every night, take an extra long bath, read a few extra stories, and just enjoy the giggles and chattiness. *Take 30 minutes to talk to each other about how things are going.  With Scott leaving for work each day before 5am, and then all of the craziness that ensues wh...

Wha a busy, but wonderful, Mother's Day this has been!  Scott took care of the dogs and Ava until I had to get up (7am), so I caught a little extra sleep.  Although, I was up late watching SNL last night, so I needed those extra zzzzzz's. I walked in the Race for the Cure today - it was a perfect day to be outside!  The sun was shining, and there was a slight chill, but nothing uncomfortable.  Thousands turned out to participate - what a great way to start the day!  My friend Emilie and I walked together - I'm thinking that Ava should join me next year...there were lots of kids walking, and I think she'd have a blast. That's the sea of people in front of us - this is right past the Starting Line. When I came home, Scott fixed us a very late brunch, and then little Ava AND Mommy took a nap.  Darn SNL keeping me up late.  We tried to get a pic of me and Ava, but her attention was clearly focused on something else. We then headed over to Sco...

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I've posted anything.  But, let's be honest - it's been a busy few weeks.  Clearly, I wasn't busy taking photos, as I only have 3 to show on this post.  Let's recap what's been going on in the Goers' household: New siding for our house...!  This is a project that we've been talking about doing for years, and we finally found someone that had the right product and the right price.  Our house is no longer a light peach color, it's Tuscan Clay with white accents.  It looks so shiny and fresh!  Now, we just need to work on our monster of a garage... I was in Palm Springs for eight, verrrrrry loooooong days.  I was staffing a travel program for one of my favorite clients, so at least I liked who I was supporting while there.  I hadn't traveled for work since May 2007, and honestly, I don't miss it.  I guess everything changes once you have a kid.  I missed Ava like crazy, and kept...