Babyland General Hospital

Days before we were to leave for Georgia, Ava announced that she would not be going to the Aquarium. She did not like it. She is rotten and we are well aware of that, but I wanted her to have something to look forward to. I had seen this place on a friend's blog and decided to check into it. It is in Cleveland, Georgia, about an hour from Athens and Atlanta, where we were headed next, so off to Babyland General Hospital we went. Well, it was Ava heaven. She held babies and rocked babies and shhheshed and sang to babies. For two hours, we did not hear so much as a whimper or whine from Ava and that has got to be some kind of record. We did leave with a new addition to our family, Minnie Megan. I need to get her picture and add it, but she is one of the baby Cabbage Patch dolls with the plastic heads, not like any of these pictured here that they had out to be played with. These in the pictures started at $195 and went up to around $300. Yes, that made me more than a little nervous. I also have to admit I got a small thrill out of seeing Darby Dara and Bernadine Phoebe's brothers and sisters. I did love those Cabbage Patches when I was little.












Cate liked the hair salon best.


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We got to see a Cabbage Patch delivery. They announced that a birth was pending, the cabbage was 10 leafs branches dilated and then it went from there.

Alyson's Wedding

My cousin, Alyson, got married in a beautiful, sweet wedding in her hometown of Athens, Georgia this weekend. We got distracted in the details and I did not get any pictures of the gorgeous bride or any of us dressed up for the wedding, though I'm sure her photographer got plenty. Ava decided she did not want to walk down the aisle with Cate, so she walked down with me instead (Catherine and I were bridesmaids). At the end of the aisle, she stopped abruptly and refused to walk another step. I drug her several steps and then Joe grabbed her up, kicking and screaming, quickly disappearing through a side door. Cate was a little shy, but she made it down and loved seeing a princess wedding. We all enjoyed getting to spend time with family, eating delicious meals at the rehearsal and reception and even doing a little dancing. Cate and Ava got Grandpa out on the dance floor (I bribed Cate with 50 cents that she later asked Grandpa for- ha!). I hope someone got a picture of that because I know I have never seen Daddy dance and I'm quite certain very few others have either.

The following pictures are after the rehearsal dinner on Friday night.

Ballet Recital 2011

At her recital Cate danced to Spoonful of Sugar from Mary Poppins. She has loved ballet again this year. She and Ava stand in front of our TV during commercials or shows with songs and twirl and dance around the living room most afternoons. She talked about getting to put on "lipstick and roo-uge" (from an episode of Max and Ruby) for days beforehand and wanted everyone in our family to be there to see her performance.

Isabella and Cate


Ella and Cate



Cate and Nana
Ava and Cate at dress rehearsal.









Ava slept through most of the recital, but we got an awake shot before the show.

Campout April 2011

Easter Morning

Easter Bunny
Ava has really been into backpacks lately.

The Easter Bunny brought swimsuits.
And camp chairs.



Hunting eggs at Granny and Pop-Pop's house.
Bryce.


**Cate was too busy hunting eggs to have her picture made.