Rain, Rain, and More Rain

Ava and Daddy play in the rain.
2 boys in a canoe, in water that normally wouldn't be there.
The cottage on Monday, more water to come........

We got a lot of rain 2 weeks ago while my mom and brother were here. Sunday morning Matt's dad and brother in law moved furniture upstairs and tied the pier together. Sunday night Matt and Mark went back up with them and took out the carpet. The water was 1 1/2 ft away from the cottage at that point. Monday it was in the cottage about 4 inches (pictures above). They guys went up that afternoon to take out the pier and tie down the boat. Later that week over 2 ft of water in the cottage. One of the lakes that feeds into Swan Lake where the cottage is, had an imminent threat of the dam breaking and emptying. Luckily this did not happen. This weekend the water had receded out of the cottage. The water was nasty with sewage and so it will be a long time before we get to enjoy our summer retreat. My hearts goes out to those that lost their permanent homes. Watching the news coverage makes us realize how lucky we are.

Mom and Mark come for a Visit

Ava gathering sticks with my mom.
Mark and Ava on State Street.
Ava lounging at Urban Outfitters while we shopped. She found a chair and just hopped in with her blanket.
Icecream cones at Babcocks.....the best icecream ever.

My mom and my brother Mark came for a visit. He is leaving on his mission and wanted to see everyone before he takes off for two years. I must say I was a little bummed when the weather forecast was thunder storms everyday. There was more than just thunderstorms. It rained over 9 inches that weekend. Our heaviest month of rainfall is 4 inches on average.....9 in a weekend.......it is a lot. So tornado sirens were constantly going off, damns were breaking, and flooding was happening all over Wisconsin. Needless to say the boys played a lot of PlayStation 3 and we ate out a lot. Matt and Mark did hike to Devil's doorway on Saturday, and they got soaked on the way back.

Ava Pick's Her Own Attire

So Ava kept bringing me articles of clothing she wanted to wear. it started out with a pair of bloomers from a sundress that she called "undies". And then a Cozumel T-shirt that is way too small, then her jacket and then her boots, all worn over her jammies. We let this charade go on half the day and then we put on a normal outfit.

Fishing off the Pier Pre-flood.

Ava's cousins love to fish. She decided she wanted in on the action. She didn't catch a fish, but enjoyed pretending for minute.

Pre Cottage Flood ):

Ava trots around in shallow water while Dad picks water weeds.
Ava and her cousin are gathering "helicopter's" and then they would throw them up and watch them fly.
Ava throwing the 126th rock into the lake. She would do this for hours. She calls the tiniest rocks "baby rocks"--so cute!
Ava bouncing on the tire swing.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend before all the flooding. It will be awhile before the cottage will be back in use (whah), so we will try to use the weekends to get some of the house projects we have put off too long........

Paske News!-Dedicated to My Cousin Lacey

Ava is feeding baby Dallin. She loved helping out with the baby. She was keeping a good eye on his pacifier and even though she hasn't had her own"nukie" since December, she still wanted one. She was very gentle with Dallin and didn't know what to do when he pinched her or pulled her hair.

Trying out the fun looking baby toys that of course she is way to big for

So here is Ava practicing being a big sister. She'll get to put her skills to use in a few months. We are almost 14 weeks and expecting a baby December 15th. So this post is dedicated to Lacey because I was talking to her today. I had called my Grandma last week and just figured word had traveled. Ummmm apparently not. At the end of our conversation I mentioned that I was definitely having a c-section with this baby because that is all I know, Ava was huge, and now I am terrified of possibly going into labor. Lacey was like "Your pregnant?". I thought I was big news (: Anyway I planned on scanning in the ultra sound picture last week, but couldn't figure out how to work that dang scanner. So my announcement on the blog is about 1 1/2 weeks later than planned.

A visit to St.Louis in May

Ella and Ava at the park

Dallin looking so happy and cute.
Grant showing off his skills.
The whole Family at Kondike Recreation Area.

Ava and I headed to St. Louis in May while Matt went to his convention in Vegas. We were originally going to visit some friends in Ohio and my Cousin Lacey in Kentucky, but my cousin who is having a baby was put on bed rest because she was in early labor. So the week before we called the Nelson's and asked if we could visit them. Kate was a great host and had something fun planned everyday. We went to the fire station with her playgroup on Thursday.

Friday we went shopping, lunch, and the Magic House. Saturday we went swimming. Sunday we went to Klondike recreational area, and Monday we did a picnic at the park. Ava was a star traveler and especially loved our stop at McDonald's Play land for an hour on the way there and an hour on the way way back. I have to admit they have a new chicken sandwich that is a rip off of Chick-Fil-A and I liked it...............

New Slippers!

My mom sent a birthday package for me and included a pair of slippers for Ava. She is in love with these little dog slippers. I opened the package while she was in the bath and she wanted a the slippers in the bath with her, but of course she had to wait until she was out. So here she is wet hair and all. She is dancing and singing all over the place-sorry no video, just multiple pictures trying to capture the moment.

Ava's Own Little Picnic

Ava set up her own little picnic while I was busy on the phone. I was cracking up when I opened the door to find she helped herself to a box of crackers and a bag of dried blueberries, oh and a little bag of open oreo's.

Picnic in the Park

One day the end of April, yeah I know April was a long time ago. we had a picnic at the park with Ava's best friend Derek. It was really the first nice day of the year at a high of 60 degrees, so we took advantage of the warmth.