Archive for the ‘Olivia’ Category

At the cabin

We left for vacation last Thursday, stopping halfway in Iowa. Before Ava fell asleep at the hotel that night, and she confided in me that she was feeling pretty burnt out.

“Mom,” she said, “Preschool is just driving me crazy. My teacher has me doing all these five-year-old dot-to-dots, and I am just . . . ugh!”

I suggested vacation was just what she needed, and fortunately, we arrived at Gramma and Grampa Great’s cabin the next day. I think it’s fair to say that Ava got the rest and relaxation she needed. In fact, we all did—maybe with the exception of the Grandparents Great!

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How I spent my summer vacation

A photo essay from the Smith family…more details on our week long trip to Minnesota in the coming days!

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Bye for now!

I’m taking a blog break—I’m finally sending my beloved MacBook Pro in for a much needed tune-up. I’ll be back the week of the 13th.

Liv

See you soon!

But then again, maybe not

“But Mom, I am REALLY sure Liv wants to sit on my lap.”

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Livie Lou Who Fix

I am starting to get a little nervous about our plan to wean Liv off of pacifiers by the time she’s two.

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Olivia Fix

Those birds must look like they are pretty far away.

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Six hours of camping

When we were at the lake last weekend, Ava asked about the tent campers. She thought camping sounded like a good time, so we packed up the girls, two coolers and a tent and headed to the nearby park on Saturday.

Bryan had quite a bit of help pitching the tent.

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After we set up camp, we headed down to the beach.

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Tom, who was biking around the lake Saturday afternoon, joined us that evening.

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We roasted hot dogs for dinner, and Ava made S’mores for dessert.

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That’s pretty much where the sweetness ends…

By 10:30 that night, we realized that it was going to be quite a challenge to get everyone to sleep in an 7 x 8 foot enclosure. Olivia will only sleep in her crib (see the very rare exception in the post below), and she has to be laid down awake for the most part. Even a couple late-night stroller rides couldn’t cajole her into relaxing.

And Ava, who never sleeps regardless of the circumstances, was equally challenging. I finally threatened to pull the plug on the trip and take everyone back to our house. Surprisingly, Ava—who was the champion of the entire trip—wailed, “I want to go home!”

So, in the complete darkness, we packed up the campsite, put out the fire and drove home. I realized it took longer to get ready for the trip than it actually lasted.

And, despite going to bed around midnight, both girls were wide awake at 6:45 the next morning.

It’s a charmed life we lead.

Olivia Fix

A post-lunch nap…

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Overheard

Things I’m almost positive I’ve heard Olivia say in the last day and a half:

“I see the kitty!”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“I want to go outside.”

These all sound relatively reasonable, but I also think she said “What’s up?,” so I realize there’s a margin of error.

Fish tales

We took the girls fishing while visiting the lake this weekend. Bryan and Dave spent most of the weekend in the boat, and as such, caught quite a few fish, some of which were large enough to keep for the fish fry we had on Monday.

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To make things a bit more exciting for Ava, Dave secretly baited her hook with a small catfish he had caught earlier in the day. When he alerted her to her bouncing pole, she excitedly reeled in her catch.

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Everyone was pretty excited about this…

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But we were downright shocked when Ava had two more actual bites on her little pole!

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Olivia eventually lost interest…

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And she missed her dad’s big catch.

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