a trip to aunt amy's

I have to get my last "September" post up before November 1st. : )

At the end of September, Ava and I headed off to Aunt Amy's in Georgia. Ava was so excited to go see her cousins and I was looking forward to the fun time with her and seeing my sister. Most of the pictures we took are on my sister's camera but here's a few I did have.

On the plane, Daddy had cards for both of us to open. Ava was quite excited with her card and discovered gum inside!
An added bonus? Ava got to share Sophie and Cole's bunk beds with me. I thought it would be really cute too . . .until my daughter spent the ENTIRE evening our first night there coming out every 5 - 10 minutes asking me if I was coming to bed yet. This lasted until midnight at which Ava's very tired mommy climbed into bed . . .and I still think I fell asleep before my excited little girl did. : )

Taking a picture to "show daddy."

What does Ava love as much her cousins? Her cousins' dog Oliver. From the time she was a baby Ava has LOVED this dog and Oliver is a very gracious sport to all of Ava's affections. Mommy was thankful for Oliver since Sophie and Cole had school during the day.

Snuggling Oliver in the morning.

Every morning when Ava woke up she LOVED taking Oliver out for a short walk.

Quite the cute pair. : )

Friday Ava was a fabulous sport as we drove into Atlanta for a FULL day of shopping. Aunt Amy was quite the sport riding the escalator more than once with our shopper-in-training.

The shoe section and a balloon - what else does a girl need?! : )

All excited to go have fun at the pool with Sophie and Cole

Saturday we took a boat out on the lake and spent the afternoon enjoying the water and sun.

Movie night with Sophie and Oliver

Oliver slept each night at the foot of Ava's bed . . .whether he wanted to or not. Ava was quite insistent and sweet Oliver would come dutifully trotting in as Ava excitedly called him to bed with her. He deserved more than a few treats for this one. I'd check on Ava at night and he'd lift his head to look up at me and then lay back down almost as to say, I'm convinced, with a sigh, "I'm only doing this for her." : )

After a long weekend away, we came back home to Grandma! My mom had been here helping my sister pack up to move. Grandma always helps ease the pain of leaving cousins.

And speaking of moving? Before my other sister's family headed out of town, we got to soak in one "last" sleepover before they were officially gone (but we're counting on many more since they're expected to come back to visit ; ) ). We already miss having them close by so much but are so thankful for the fun memories of the years we did have nearby.