"Dance Like No One is Watching"

At least, that is what we are told to do. In Ava's case, that's exactly what she does. We made a family outing to Leavenworth, Washington which is a small town modeled after a Bavarian village. We arrived during Maifest which is one of their spring festivals and they had a German band playing. Ava decided she needed to be in the middle of the square dancing to the music, with the whole crowd watching her. It brought a smile to everyone's face! Some other pictures from that trip:

Ava with her brother Austin and cousins:



Our family picture time with my Mom and my brother's and sister's families:



Linda is doing great but continues to have some slight lymphedema in her left arm, where her nodes were removed. She is managing it thru some physical therapy and wrapping it with compression bandages. The photos from her Mom Magazine photo shoot came out great and I'm looking forward to seeing some in print!

Ava is also doing great and continues to amaze us with her humor, independence, and intelligence. Some other Ava updates:

• Ava likes to dance! As shown above, she hears music or other noise patterns and bobs her head and her bottom to the beat.
• Her favorite word this month is "outside" and she wants to walk outside all the time, even if it's raining. If it's raining she puts her palms up to feel the rain.
• Tomorrow she is 21 months old and about 23 pounds.
• Her favorite TV show is Sesame Street. She also likes the fish on Elmo and says "fish" whenever she sees a fish anywhere.
• Ava knows how to give the "stink eye" to people. I taught her this to keep boys away later in life so hopefully she remembers it.
• She is growing her independence and is VERY opinionated about which clothes she wears. Recently I pulled out some pink shoes with her white shirt and she marched into her room and grabbed white shoes to match. Luckily we have no shortage of cute clothes from her friend Sophie and others!

I continue to value everyday with my precious girls!

Rob.