avablog

Subtitle: Moment of cuteness My mom got this picture of Ava last evening at their picnic in City Park. I don’t know how much my mom pays attention to framing or composition when she takes a picture, but this shot turned out about as great as you could hope for. Between Kevin’s shots and my […]

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Uncle Kevin posted his Grand Marais pictures today (they’re awesome, of course), and I wanted to put up one in particular that I’d been looking forward to.

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Ava’s friends Aaron and Claire came over to play yesterday, and eventually things turned to dress up. I love this shot of Ava in her finery standing amidst the detritus of our damaged tree in the side yard.

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Taken at the fish hatchery in Decorah over the weekend. Ava put this little bouquet together herself.

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It’s been fun lately to watch Ava become more interested in physical pursuits. I haven’t pushed her in this direction at all, mainly because I wanted to see what kind of natural affinity she’d have for things like throwing balls and riding bikes and scooters.

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What a nice weekend. Leah and Em had a baby “sprinkle” to attend on Sunday, which meant Leah had to have her hair done on Saturday. So Ava, Emmett, and I toodled around downtown for a spell while Buzz did their worst with my wife’s locks.

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I have a general sense that Ava’s getting used to having Emmett around. A small poster, created by her, appeared on her easel the other day that reads “I LOVE EMMETT.” She’s also having an easier time going places without us, such as school, which makes things easier.

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I’d always considered Ava a tiny little thing. Until recently. I held her on my lap this morning for some cuddles before leaving for work, and she seemed downright huge. It was really odd to have that big hunk of kid on my legs after toting Emmett around on my forearm last night for some […]

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There’s not much I enjoy more than taking a stroll through the yard this time of year to see what’s going on with the garden. I try to include Ava as much as possible; watering plants, pulling weeds, dead heading. The usual. So I was eager to grab the video camera today as I ran […]

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Ava and I were sitting together on the porch yesterday, watching the rain and listening to birds while she munched on a popsicle (no, Firefox, I’m not going to capitalize “popsicle.” Grab a kleenex to wipe your tears).

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It was a great day for running through the sprinkler and then cuddling in a warm, dry towel on the porch and eating a lime popsicle. Here’s what that last part looks like:

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I took this shot a while ago and just got around to posting it. I planted this tree when we moved into our house, the thinking being that Ava and the tree could grow up together. Anyway, unlike Ava, the tree is planted in violation of city ordinances, so mum’s the word, OK? Thanks.

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I took my XTi along on a short family walk last night; it felt like I hadn’t picked it up in months. But a few shots reinvigorated my love for the thing.

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That was one of the most amazing weekends, weather-wise, ever. Wow. Would’ve been difficult to order a better one. We did our usual stuff: Farmer’s Market, Java House, yard work, long walks. My DSLR was on loan to a friend on Saturday, so I shot with my trusty Canon A620 all weekend. Gosh, that’s a […]

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My new wetware pal Danny came to town over the weekend for a soggy, slightly chilly visit. We had a small grilling session at a nearby park on Saturday afternoon, which was lots of fun. Especially nice was that all the kids were in famous spirits; it would’ve been really nice to have had Danny”s […]

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There’s no way I could resist sharing this shot of Ava as an Easter greeting, even though it was taken in July last year.

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We walked downtown yesterday morning to get breakfast and go to the coffee shop. As Ava and I were out in the yard waiting for Leah, she grabbed a low-hanging branch from one of the maples in the yard and said, “Dad! Buds!”

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Gramary took Ava for the afternoon yesterday, as Ava’s school was having parent conferences (AGAIN). And, as usual, Gramary took some cute pics of our first born. To whit:

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Ava and I walked downtown yesterday afternoon to give Leah some time to rest. The trip down was nice. Ava insisted on bringing her dog along for the walk, and so we tripped along through the puddles with Spot in tow. It started raining when we arrived at the Co-op, but our friend Kerry was […]

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I know, right? “It’s about time.” I hear you. Seems like I should provide some sort of synopsis, even though most of you have heard the best tidbits by now. The big news, of course, is that Rachel and Kevin were robbed. Actually, their room was broken into, and the thieves made off with Kevin’s […]

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