My Little Fairy Princess

I bought this when Ava was a baby and forgotten about it. I didn't know she was into dress up until she kept trying to put the wings on. So I helped her get her skirt and wings on, and gave her the wand. She was running all over waving her wand, singing, and swaying back and forth. I was cracking up. Of course as soon as I pulled the out the camera, the silliness stopped and she wanted the camera. I should have known she might like dress up because she does like to wear her party hat from her birthday and also her sunglasses at the grocery store. Everyone compliments her at the grocery store and calls her a movie star. In return she gives them a large movie star grin.

Oh My! Is it a Party.....

Ava found a box of "Party Favors". She was so thorough on getting every last item out of the box. Luckily she didn't try to open the wrappers.

Flower Power

Ava likes to help mommy water the flowers. Even though she mostly waters the ground and picks all of my blooming beauties, it is nice that she likes to be a part of of this daily ritual. I wonder if she'll like plants as much as I do when she gets older.........

Happy 4th Anniversy to Us!!

Matt planned a wonderful 4th Wedding Anniversary that we celebrated this weekend. We went to Sundara Spa in Wisconsin Dells. It was incredible........so relaxing. Erica and Corey watched Ava over night. It was our first time leaving her overnight, but of course she was in good hands. That night there was a big storm and we actually lost electricity for two hours at the hotel. And at the Radlunds the storm woke all the kids up and everyone slept in their bed-even Ava. We had a good time having a picnic in our room, couples massage, dinner at Fields, and Matt hanging out at the pool while I got my first facial ( I loved it!). How am I going to top this next year?

Family Picture at National Night Out

National Night Out

This event was at the park that is just 3 blocks from our house Ava's ponytail makes her 3 inches taller.
Mom and Ava. Ava is looking at the "Dog Dog".

We stopped by our city's "National Night Out". There were police cars, ambulances, fire truck, a police horse, police dogs, and a Black Hawk Helicopter. Ava thought the police dogs were there to play with her, and she also tried hot dogs for the first time! Overall a good time even if we didn't win any prizes.

Waunafest

We have all these crazy festivals that include a lot of carnies and some rickety rides. Waunafest is held in an adjacent town to ours called "Waunakee" (the only one in the world supposedly). Ava rode on the carousal for the first time. I thought she would squeal and get excited, but she was very serious and the up and down seemed to mesmerize her. She held on tight and wouldn't even let go to give Dad a little wave.

HOLD IT!!

Ava is a true shopper. She has several bags she carries around and sometimes puts her clothes in them. Teach them young, right? Pizza wire rack. If you ask Ava to make you a pizza she will run and grab this rack.
Decorative box that happens to have the perfect handle.

Hangers
Ava runs around looking for random things to carry. Sometimes she puts the items back where they belong and sometimes she puts things in crazy places. The remote control was missing for a couple of days and sure enough Ava had hidden it in the drawer under the oven. Maybe I should bake more often (:

Lazy day at the Cottage

Matt's parents have a cottage that is about 45 minutes away, and we try to spend most of our weekends there. Today we went to the cottage in the afternoon and had lunch on the pontoon boat, swam in the lake, played a crazy form of baseball with Grace and Durlin (with Matt convincing the kids to let him hit too), swung on the swing, and played in the sand (Ava's very first time). I thought she would try to eat it, but she didn't. Uncle Corey grilled us some fabulous burgers and we had the sweetest corn on the cob I've had all summer. I'm hoping for an Indian Summer this year so that we can have more dreamy weekends at the cottage.

Ava is walking all over the place these days and loves to carry things . Here she has a leaf and Daddy's baseball cap. She also likes to carry around anything that has a handle on it. She carries it like a little purse on her arm. She really is a crack-up.

Hiking with the Girls

Don't Lori and I look like we are about to start an expedition? We hiked up the East Rim Trail at Devil's Lake Sate Park on Thursday afternoon. The girls loved being outside in the fresh air. It was great weather and there was plenty of shade. Lori was such a trooper. She was a little scared of physically carrying Maya in the backpack for more than 5 minutes (we did a trial run at the house first just to make sure), but her super power strength kept her going for an hour and a half. She vowed that next year we are going to go even farther. We were both a little sore the next day, but it was definitely worth the aches.

The Nelson Crew.

1. Here are Kate, Paul, Ella, Grant, and Dallin (not in that order). Don't they look like a happy family? They are in front of the house the bought 2 yrs ago.

2. Ella is decked out in her new helmet, gloves, elbow and knee pads. She insisted that daddy put together her scooter while she put on all her gear so she could ride it that instant.

3. Paul gets a minute to cuddle with baby Dallin after T-ball.

POOL TIME!

My sister Lori and her daughter Maya came to visit me in Wisconsin last week while my husband went to Canada on a fishing trip. We decided to drive to St. Louis and visit our other sister Kate and her family. During our quick trip we went to the pool, attended Ella's fabulous water party (24 wild and crazy kid's), and Grant's T-ball game. Although this 6 hr road trip was a little bit crazy on the way there (okay really crazy), they slept the whole time on the way back. Lori got Dallin for the first time and I got to see how much he has grown. Don't you love their matching swimsuits?

4th of July

We went to the cottage for the 4th of July. We went to a parade in Pardeeville where Ava saw lots of "Dog Dogs". Durlin and Grace set up a little chair for Ava to sit in and she thought she was such a big girl. She wants to do everything the kids are doing.

The party keeps going.

So none of the 1 yr olds wanted to wear their party hats, but we managed to get a couple of pictures. I made Ava a little cake to destroy and I made a homemade chocolate fudge cake that is my Aunt Diane's recipe. It truly was incredible. I am going to use that amazing frosting for everything! Ava did like opening presents-especially the cards. We decorated the house in hot pink and light pink streamers, flowers, and paper lanterns.

Ava's 1st Birthday- "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

What a day! Ava was not feeling well. She had a fever and was not in the mood to party. The one other time she had chocolate cake she was singing and kicking her legs......not on her Birthday. She didn't feel like eating cake, when I gave her a taste she proceeded to gag. Poor thing.

Trip to the Zoo

Matt and I took Ava and her friend Derek to the zoo. They both really liked the otters and the monkey's.

Two Teeny Weeny Little Pony Tails

This was the first time we put two pony tails in Ava's hair. She thought she looked cute and left them in for a little while. She got bored in the mall and pulled them both out. I had to re-trace my steps to find the discarded bows.

Grant and Ella

We played like crazy. Ella is dressed as Lava Girl-her favorite super hero, and Grant is looking for a Queen Ant for his ant house.

Baby Dallin Spencer Nelson- 2 wks old

I went to St. Louis for a couple of days to help the Nelson family with the arrival of Dallin. You'll notice that there are no pictures of Ava. I actually left her home with Dad, Grandma, and Aunt Erica. My time spent in St. Louis was rewarding. I got even cloto bond with my niece and nephew, Grant and Ella.

St. George in May

We went to my brother Mark's graduation while we were home. We stayed at Rachel's house. It was so nice to hang out with her family.

Maya and Ava

.......................................These two are already Pea's in a Pod. They even slept in the same room at Jessi's house.