Avery in Action

Going through my phone I noticed the pictures of Avery on there truly capture every aspect of her huge personality. These are the "action shots" I get of Avery right before or during some of her stunts. She has so much personality, it amazes me sometimes. She certainly has a mind of her own and is not afraid to express herself! Here are some pictures of my little Stinker in action over the last few months from my phone. She's as wild as the mop of golden locks on her head!

At one of the parks by us, thinking she's a big kid.
Running away from Mommy at the pool. (One of her favorite games)
"Helping" Mommy fold laundry. She's obsessed with the remote.
She loves to share food. Here she's feeding Daddy a beef stick.
Driving the boat. She also likes to sit on Mommy's lap and "drive" the truck in our parking lot.
Swinging like a mad woman at the park next to us. She refuses to hang on.
Playing tennis with Mommy & Daddy. She was all over the court, and in fact, took a ball to the back running in front of Daddy. (Oops, bad Mommy!)
Hanging out by the water in Kirkland. She was actually very well behaved and sat with Mommy people watching.
After screaming during a nap attempt, cuddling with Mommy with that sweet face. "Please Mommy, don't make me go back to bed!"
At Carillon Point. She thought the waves crashing up on the steps was the most hilarious thing!
At our pool this weekend. Daddy dipped her in right here, she then thought she was a big girl and took a leap into the pool on her own. Mommy saved her but now Daddy insists on wearing her life jacket at all times when we are at the pool. (She didn't even cry!)
Dinner with Di & Cara last night. We were pulling out everything to keep her entertained and not running all over. She's putting on makeup like Mommy does.
Oh mijn Albertinje (my little Albertine), you sure are living up to your middle name! You are as curious as your great-grandma was and every bit as lovable! Don't ever change who you are, you keep me on my toes and keep a smile on my face. :)

Seattle Aquarium

Andy and I could not wait to get back to our little munchkin on Sunday after our anniversary get-away. To make it up to her, we both took Monday off and took her to the Seattle Aquarium. Avery had a blast! We chased her all around the touching exhibits as she splashed in the water and touched & hugged other kids.
This one was just her size!

The Hunt clan.

We went to Pike Place Market after the Aquarium, but stopped to ride the carousel first. Avery wasn't sure what to think of those ponies after a few spins around.

Our 5th Anniversary - Friday Harbor

August 13, Andy and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Wow, 5 years goes by fast! We take turns planning our trip every year, and this year was Andy's turn. He planned a weekend away on San Juan Island, in Friday Harbor. It was a lot of fun and some much needed time together without her heiness being the center of attention. Avery stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time, in fact, I'm not sure she even noticed we were gone!

Waiting for the ferry in Anacortes. My only complaint for the weekend was the amount of time we had to waste waiting for ferries - up to 4 hours each way!
The view of Friday Harbor from our hotel.

This is our hotel (kind of a bed & breakfast) - the Bird Rock.

My sweet Mommy had a cake made for our anniversary to replicate like what our wedding cake was supposed to look like. Isn't this pretty? (A little better than the huge purple monstrosity we ended up with 5 years ago). Thanks Mom!

We did some activities that we normally wouldn't be able to do with baby in tow. We rode beach bikes around the island and even found Hunt Street!

And, we zip lined! It was so much fun!

This was probably the scariest part of zip lining, the suspension bridge.

We drove to a park known for whale watching and got there just in time to see 2 pods swimming by!

For our anniversary dinner we went to Roche Harbor. It has changed alot since I was a kid. It's beautiful!

One positive note on the ferry, the views were pretty great.

Thank you for a great weekend get-away Andy and for 5 years of marriage!

Little Miss Personality

I need to do some updating on our blog of what we've been up to the last few weeks, but in the meantime I thought I would update on what Avery's been up to lately since I don't do a monthly check-in or photoshoot any more.

Avery turned 15 months old today. In the last 3 months she has morphed into a little girl. She's marching and running all over the place. She demands constant attention, which she is reminding me of as I type this - pulling on my shirt and playing peek a boo behind my back. She definitely keeps a smile on my face. (Well, when she isn't throwing a temper-tantrum screaming on the floor). She has become even more vocal, speaking in Avery-isms that only she can understand, but speaks it all the time. She does say "Mama" and "Dada" quite frequently and now we know she definitely knows what they mean.

Avery continuously learns new "tricks" and each time she learns something new we think she's a genius! About a month ago she learned "where's your belly" pulling up her shirt and patting her belly when you ask her. Now she knows "where's your eyes" and points to her eyes and says "I, I" or will just about poke my eyes out when I ask "where are Mommy's eyes?" Her other trick is giving "tickles" when we ask for them, so cute.

She is our tiny dancer, and immediately starts boogying when she hears music and claps along to it. On certain songs and if we sing to her she tries to sing along. Her favorite show is Sesame Street - she's completely mesmerized by it and sings and dances to it.

She's become a little lover too. When she's in the mood, if I ask her if I can have kisses, she'll give me lots of big open mouth slobbery kisses, which I love! She has adopted a "lovey" her little square blanket that I've had in her crib since she was a tiny baby. She can't sleep without it and marches around the house with it. She's also quite a little wrestler, pushing us down if we sit on the floor to play with her. She loves playing with other kids, something we try to have her do as much as possible.

This little girl keeps us laughing and makes us so proud. I can't believe she is growing up so fast but I love all these new aspects of her growing personality. I love you sweet girl!

Seafair Weekend

I consider myself very fortunate to have spent alot of my time growing up on the water in various boats, on Lake Washington, Lake Tapps... in the Sound. Some of my vivid memories are being on the lake during Seafair. This year, Avery got to start her own memories of Seafair. My amazing Dad put together an awesome "baby-appropriate" boat for us and we got to stretch her legs Seafair weekend. We had a great time and even met up with some of our friends we haven't seen in a long time. Thanks Opa for helping us have a great Seafair weekend!

Avery passed out in the rough waters getting out to the main event. Good thing we had the whole inside redone for the princess to sleep.

Aunty Nan came out with her boat too!

Avery thought the Blue Angels were great, and clapped every time they flew by.

Swimming with Mommy.On Sunday we took Opa out with us. He worked so hard on our boat and everyone else's for Seafair we thought he deserved to play too.Avery and Daddy playing inside the boat.And here's Dad's handy work. Pretty, ain't she? :)