Family Vacay

We were invited to join my parents for a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. Ava was super excited to go see "the mountain" (singular) We stopped half way on our drive in Maggie Valley. The next morning we drove to our cabin resort. It was one of the nicest cabins we've ever had an opportunity to stay in. I loved being in close quarters with the ones I love. Monday we hung out and got settled. Tuesday Chris, dad and Ava went swimming in the resorts outdoor pool. That afternoon we went to Gatlinburg and visited the Ripley's Aquarium. Our favorite part was the ride through tunnel where the sea life is pretty much swimming over your head. Ava's favorite was the penguin playhouse. She was able to climb under this tunnel into a tube where her body could fit and she could see the penguins up close and personal. Wednesday Chris, Ava and I went to DollyWood. We purchased these timeline saver passes and were able to skip the line on select rides. We rode all the rides we didn't get to ride on our spring break visit and a few of the ones Ava enjoyed last time. We also got to see the Gazillion Bubble Show which was AMAZING! Fan Yang, the guy leading the show, is in the Guinness book of world records. Thursday we did a little shopping and played at the Sevierville park. We made a stop at a go-cart place and raced indoor and outdoor ones. We also got on the neatest bumper cars I've ever been on. You operated them with two levers and they would go backwards/forwards/spin around.  Later we went to the resorts indoor pool and everyone including little Lucy took a dip. That evening Chris and I were fortunate to have a date night while the grands watched the girls. We took some time to shop at the Tanger Outlets and ended the evening with dinner at Texas Roadhouse. (Why are their rolls and butter so delicious?) The next morning we headed to Cherokee and did some shopping. Dad bought us girls some Moccasins. I always wanted a pair as a little girl. (Are we spoiled or what?) We also hit up dad's favorite flea market. Then we started our drive back home and stayed the night in Concord/Charlotte. Saturday morning we took a little stroll down memory lane showing Ava where we lived before she was born. We then headed to Mooresville to the Lazy 5 Ranch. You ride through this path and feed different animals as they come up to your car window. Ava loved throwing the feed out the window for the animals to eat. She wasn't a fan when they stuck their head in and left slobber every where haha. I think her favorite animal to feed was the giraffe. Lucy was sitting up front with Chris and this big bull came up to the window and if she could have she would have ran away haha. We had a great time and I hope we get to take a lot more trips together. Family is everything!

The size of those sting rays were incredible.

Looks like the clownfish are kissing her forehead and cheek.

Learning about the body parts of a fish.

Lucy checking out the sting rays.

My heart!

The end of the Gazillion Bubble Show. We were covered with bubbles.

The coolest bumper cars ever!

Ava's mocassins.  

Wore slam out!

Look! It Sticks

When Ava was about one and a half I created a bean tub for her to have some sensory play. I then discovered we had a Lakeshore store close to where we were living at the time. While in the Lakeshore store I found this magnetic wand and chips. I decided to hide the magnetic chips in the beans and create another work for her to do. She would take the wand move it around in the beans, pull it out and have chips on her wand. She would then take her hand and rake the chips into another container until all the chips were collected from the beans.

Now that she's older I decided to use the wand for another work. I found little items around the house that were Magnetic and Non-Magnetic. I put them in a container along with two paper labels with the words Magnetic and Non-Magnetic on them.

Ava took each item and would put it up to the wand to see if it was Magnetic or Non-Magnetic. After each discovery she would place the item under the correct label.