Today Miss Ava turns 8 years old! In commemoration of this I wanted to write a quick post about her and her big day. Although today is her actual birthday, it was yesterday that we celebrated, by holding her party at a local roller skating rink. It was a small affair with just a handful of friends from school and hockey, as well as a couple families that we’re really close to. It was an LOL-themed party, meaning we had all kinds of LOL decorations on the table, and Ava was fortunate enough to receive some new LOL gifts from her friends.
We ended up spending 3 hours at the skating rink, but took plenty of breaks to enjoy pizza and pie. I’ve been trying to encourage pie over cake for birthdays (because pie is always better than cake) so I was happy when Ava requested pumpkin pie for her party instead of a birthday cake. We got a huge one from Costco, but got an apple pie as well, just to be safe. As it turned out, every kid requested pumpkin pie, and the entire thing got eaten. Along with the other parents, I was happy to enjoy some apple pie, but was surprised when kids would see me eating it and say “Eww” and give me a thumbs down. Since when was apple pie so gross? Whatever, I enjoyed it.
After coming home from the rink we opened presents, then had a relaxing evening enjoying gifts and watching shows. In addition to the LOL dolls, Ava received a nice leather backpack, and a marble run game (which has been very popular with her siblings as well) from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd. Nana got her a bluetooth karaoke microphone, a pair of binoculars, a bracelet, and some chokers, all of which she picked out online during Nana’s recent visit. She also received some cool art supplies, a nice sweater, and plenty of other things that I can’t think of at the moment.
Earlier this week I took Ava out shopping for a birthday present that I’ve been promising her for about 2 years – a skateboard! We made a rule a long time ago that you had to be 8 in our family before you could have your own skateboard, and Ava has been waiting patiently ever since. Since Mom and I both have longboards, she wanted one as well, and that’s what we got. However, there’s another rule in place when it comes to riding a skateboard – you must have full pads on at all times, otherwise it will be taken away. I’ve had so many injuries riding skateboards over the years, and many of them could have been prevented had I been adequately protected, so I feel like this rule is pretty reasonable.
Since today is her actual birthday and both her and Elise have perfect attendance so far this year at school, we decided to let them miss a day and have a special outing with Mom and Enzo. They’re going to see Frozen 2 at the theater, so this morning they’re watching the first one to get ready. Ava even went to bed with her hair braided, in true Elsa fashion… or is it Anna? We’re not too worried about them missing today at school, especially considering it’s the week of Thanksgiving.
Speaking of turkey day, tomorrow we have Grandma and Grandpa Rudd coming in from Iowa for a 6 day visit. They’re staying at a brand new hotel on the Everett Waterfront, but will be spending plenty of time with us at the house as well. We’re hosting Thanksgiving at our house, but besides our family and G&G, the only other visitors will be Uncle Butch and Aunt Carol. It looks like we’re in for sunny and cold weather, but I’ll take that any day over cloudy and rainy.
Our plan for black Friday is to stay as far away from shopping as possible – in fact all of our Christmas shopping is already done! We may pick up a few more little things here and there, but all the important stuff has already been purchased, so it feels good to be well ahead of the game this year. I think we’re going ice skating on Friday because Enzo will be starting his Learn To Play Hockey class very soon and we want to get him a little more ice time before it begins. He recently asked if he could start playing hockey, and one of his buddies (another little brother of one of Ava’s teammates) is starting in the same class, so we decided to get him enrolled. Ava and I will both be helping out on the ice during his classes, and I think it will be good for her to start teaching smaller kids how to skate, hold a stick, etc.
Recently Elise and I have started doing some new activities together. Based on her success in the school cupcake competition, she wanted to spend more time baking at home. Although I’ve always been into cooking, I know nothing about baking, so I told her we could learn together. Earlier this week we made skillet cornbread, which turned out good, and we’re excited to take on more things soon. I told her I’d like to teach her how to cook as well and she was all about it.
Another thing we started doing as of yesterday was going for a run together. I went to the gym early yesterday morning, then when I got home Elise and I went for a run throughout our neighborhood. We slowed down and walked when we needed to, then kept running side by side. It’s important to me that Elise and I get 1 on 1 time like this because I already get it with Ava via hockey, and expect to get the same thing with Enzo now that he’s getting started. Whenever you separate one of the kids from their siblings, your experience with them is so different than when all 3 of them are together, so I’m really excited to have different new ways to enjoy time with Elise.
After Thanksgiving, we will be home for the rest of the holiday season, which is rare for us. Christmas 2018 was spent in Colorado with Grandma and Grandpa Martin, Christmas 2017 was in Las Vegas with Nana, Uncle Terry, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Sandy, Christmas 2016 was in Iowa with Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, and Christmas 2015 was technically at home, yet we traveled to Iowa a couple weeks later for Jessica’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary, so I’m calling that one close enough. We’re excited to be home for the holidays this year (and probably next year too) so we can start making memories of Christmas morning in our own home. This weekend we’ll be getting a nice big tree and look forward to decorating it, along with the house.
That’s basically it for now. We wish all of our family and friends a very happy Thanksgiving and holiday season. Once again, happy 8th birthday Ava! We’re so proud of you and the young lady you’ve become. It’s hard to believe we’ve been parents for 8 years already, but we couldn’t be happier or more thankful for you, Elise and Enzo!
