We take a ton of photos of Avery that don’t make it onto the blog and some of them are really great. I’ve been able to catch her lately with some great expressions. She’s really starting to understand humor and her personality is really coming out.
Eating a cupcake…or at least the icing!:
Borrowing Daddy’s shoes:
Wearing Mommy’s hat:
Mandy was out of town on business last week. So on Thursday, November 12th Avery and I surprised Lovey (my mom) by catching a flight to Lubbock and just showing up at her door. She was so surprised she didn’t recognize me at the door until she saw Avery. Avery and her Lovey played all afternoon long while I did some business in Lubbock. It was a quick trip but Lovey really appreciated the time with Avery.
Lovey stealing some sugar:
Avery, Lovey & Auggie hanging out on the swing:
Lovey gave Avery this cute tutu and wand:
The weekend before last we took Avery to the zoo. She loved it! We walked to the zoo from our house and I would say it is about a mile. When we got there, we made a bee line for the petting zoo. Avery was so excited about getting to brush the goats. She just was beside herself giggling and saying goat. She also got to see the everything else and really loved the elephants and birds. The lions were sleeping 
On our way to the zoo:
In the tube looking out to see the gophers:
I’m a wee bit behind in posting Avery’s Adventures from staying with Nana & Papa while we were away. She got to do all kind of fun things besides play on the farm. Nana and Papa took her to a pumpkin patch and Nana also took her to a Children’s Museum in Victoria where she played with other little children. Mom and Dad took off a few days and the other days, she went to go play at a little daycare in town. On Halloween, Nana and Papa took Avery trick or treating and she had a blast. First of all, she loved her costume and wore the bunny ears the whole time. I couldn’t believe it! Harley, Mom and Dad’s Maltese, loved the costume too and was trying to play tug of war while Avery had it on. Ha!
Doing her classic “O, what’s that?” facial expression:
Brushing her teeth before she goes trick or treating (ha!):
Harley playing tug o’ war:
Petting Aunt Pam’s Puppy:
Cheeto Face:
Somewhere between September and November, October happened but I’m not sure where the time went! Between flying to Florida E and Brian’s wedding, having a surprise 30th birthday party, Avery turning 18 months, traveling to NYC and Dominican Republic, selling a company, and acquiring a new company, October happened in a flash.
Our trip to Dominican Republic started a little rough. The Thursday before we left, Avery came down with the stomach virus We left on Friday to NYC and about mid-afternoon, I had the stomach virus and got so sick for the rest of that day and night I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room. On Saturday morning, we flew to DR and I started feeling better and upon arrival, Scott got sick. However, we made the best of our first two days and by Sunday, we were feeling much better and able to enjoy the rest of our trip. Unfortunately for my parents and Hillary, they got the virus as well because Avie was staying with them. What a mean bug!
DR was awesome and beautiful. We stayed at Tortuga Bay in Punta Cana which was very nice and highly recommended. Apparently, they were designed by Oscar de la Renta. We stayed in a beachfront Villa and the breeze was so nice coming off the water. The property is quite large because it is connected to all the other Punta Cana properties so they gave us a golf cart for the week to drive around to the restaurants, etc. We spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach, going to the spa, and driving around in the golf cart. You know me…I love to ride around 
We played golf one day as well which reminds me…I need to take some lessons. The food was all very good and one night we went to the shopping village and ate as well. One thing I thought was really cool about the resort is that they gave us a cell phone to call our villa manager anytime we needed anything. They had a DVD rental store in the village and we could call our villa manager and they would go get the DVD for us, book whatever we wanted to do, or get us food, etc. Overall, it was an unforgettable 30th birthday trip and very much needed time to relax!
Our bedroom:
Scott, looking at a piece of dried up coral:
Fisherman driving by:
Our ride:
Self-portrait (and don’t laugh at my humongous sunglasses because I forgot mine at home and had to buy what they had 
):
There was a beautiful ecological reserve that had trails and I think 9 lagoons. Here is one of them that Scott swam in. These are spring fed and quite chilly.
Being silly:
My Birthday Day ready to go to dinner and celebrate (yes, that dress is a bit short, I agree but I liked it):
Watchin’ a movie:
Our villa:
Playing golf:
Scott’s a good golf player. I, on the other hand, need practice. This was my second time:
I read Lovely Bones in 5 and a half hours. It was really good:
Water spout that I witnessed and no one else was around. I have a video of it as well. Very cool!
Sailing the hobycat:
Scott had to take over the sailing because we were headed for the rocks:
AND THE GRAND FINALE!!!
Picking up Avery whom we dearly, dearly missed after 8 days of being away:
Thanks so much to Nana and Papa for taking care of our baby doll while we were away!
