Why does Avery ...

... look just sooo ...

... extraordinarily happy ...

... in all of theses pictures???

Well, it's mostly due to the fact that Avery now has her very own clubhouse/slide/swing-set in her very own backyard!!! Let's call it her "Super-Duper Thingy-Thing"!!!

Avery preparing for a dive down the slide

Now the house-raising for such a "Super-Duper Thingy-Thing" was no small feat indeed ... it required discipline, a calm cool head, and a very stern voice at times to get my workers in gear to achieve my tasks at hand in a timely order.

First, there was the inventory of a million-plus parts ...

... then, the leveling of a smallish mountain ...

... additionally, my workers had some trouble reading instructions ...
thank goodness I was there to reign them in at time ...

... I may be smallish,
but I can get people moving when I need to ...

I even had Scrappy watch the site
overnight until all the keys were made ...

The finished product!!!

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day, Mommy!!!

It's been a really busy day today, so I only had time to quickly call Mommy on my cell phone to wish her Happy Mother's Day. I even called my grandmothers (and great grandma) ... here's a video of me on the phone.





For Mommy, I recited a poem on the phone I wrote. If you can't hear it in the video, here it is:

Avery Love
I love your touch, just oh so so much
I love your kisses, and their softness of such
I love your hair, and your sweet fragrant surround
I love your voice, as you help guide me all around
But most of all, I love you, Mommy!!!
Mommy, you are the best mommy all around!!!

Love Avery

When you get to the bottom you go back to the top ...

Avery and Shannon racing up to go down the slide

I went to the park with my BFF Shannon last week where we ran all around, kicked balls, climbed up stuff, and went really really fast down slides ... the coolest thing to do ever!!!

Avery is fast as Greased Lightning down the slide

Break time in the wagon for juice and cheeses

Here's even some video of me going really fast down the slide. There was about 10 hours of video, but I edited it down to my best runs.

You'll never guess ...

Take a wild guess what Avery is
doing in this picture ...

... wrong ... you'll never guess it
in a million years ...

You'll just have to watch the video to hear about the special trick Avery was attempting ... make sure to turn the volume up really loud.

Pink, Green, Yellow, Blue ...

Avery on the hunt (with Minnie Mouse) ...
for multi-colored eggs!!!

It was that easter-egg/bunny holiday weekend thing again and thus, just like last year, I had to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to find all of those funny colored eggs that mysteriously appeared all over their backyard. What would they do without me!??!?!

Avery on the trail, with Mommy close behind
to safely contain all the captured eggs

Avery taking a break in the shade with her
master egg sniffing companion, Scout-No

Watch as I carefully and quickly descend upon all these silly little colored eggs ... their primitive hiding skills are no match for me!!! Listen as I even call out each of the eggs by their color!!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Mommy!!!

Avery wishing Mommy a "Happy Birthday"
(from a few days ago)

Since Mommy was busy on her actual birthday, Daddy and I let her sleep in late all weekend.

Avery and Daddy letting Mommy
sleep-in over the weekend

Practice, practice, practice ...

Even on the days where I can't make it out to the barn, I'm still able to get some riding time at home as well on my backup horse, Mr. Stick ...

Three little birds ...

Avery's latest new neighbors

It's been such a treat lately to wake up each morning hearing my new little friends singing me such lovely little songs. I don't know when their Mommy built up the nest or even when they all hatched, but I just love those little birdies oh so much and want to keep them forever. It reminds me of these lyrics from one of my favorite songs ....

"Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou:"

Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."
Singin': "Don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!""

But as much fun as the last few weeks have been, I can tell they are all ready to "fly the coop", so to speak. Bye bye little birds ... come back to visit me anytime!!!

Avery's little birdies all grown up
and preparing to fly away

Most annoying toy ever ...

... NOT!!!

This is my new favorite of all my favorite toys that I just love love love ... but Daddy likes to call it my "most annoying toy ever". You be the judge ... and make sure to turn the volume all the way up so you can enjoy it just like I do!!!

It's not really that scary ...

Avery suddenly realizing she is
"out on a limb", literally

... really it isn't. I've seen Shannon do this a million times now and nothing horrible ever happens to her, right? I mean since she's older than me by a few months and everything, following her lead can't be that wrong, right???

Shannon giving Avery a bit of encouragement,
in the form of a push

A bit of bravery on my end and a good friend's help made this the best "first time swinging" experience possible (it really was and I even smiled a few times, except no one caught a picture of it). Maybe I'll be lucky enough the have a neat swing in my backyard when I'm 2 years old as well!!!

Things I get to do ...

... when Mommy is away for days on end and Daddy is left "in charge".

I get to stand on chairs with sharp coloring utensils

I get to eat Macaroni n' Cheese for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner

I get to run around the house
in Mommy's flip flops

I even get to play my music as loud as I want and climb up as high as I can while dancing around the house ...



And most important of all, I get to run and play with the dogs, as wildly as I can. Watch how much fun we all have ...



And then when the day is finally over, I get to do what all big grown-up kids get to do ...

I get to take a shower all by myself!!!

B is for ...

... brownies!!!

Avery making a batch of brownies ...

... and testing the goodness as she goes!!!

Sooooo bored lately ...

I've been really really bored around the house these last few weeks and I think it's mostly due to not seeing my good friend Nikki in a while. Normally all throughout the week my good friend Nikki comes over to play with me all day long (when Mommy and Daddy are busy doing stupid stuff like working or whatever). Well, I guess I can be overwhelming at times since Nikki needed a long vacation from me and thus, life just hasn't been the same. I've even been trying to pass the time by playing with the same stuff that Nikki and I play with, but it's just not the same ...

Avery playing dress-up (or rather dress-down)
in her special crown that Nikki made with her ...

... Avery busy shopping around the house in
her stylish handbags that Nikki made with her...

... Avery trying to play arts n' crafts with Scout-No
(but Scout-No is NO replacement for Nikki) ...

... Avery telling stories on her Magic Story Board
(but Nikki does it much much better) ...

... Avery waiting for a letter from Nikki on her vacation
at her mailbox (that Nikki helped her make) ...

... some other pretty things that
Nikki helped Avery make ...

... Nikki is the best friend a little girl
like me would every want ...

Nikki, I can't wait until you get back!!!

C is for ...

... cookies!!!!

Avery making cookies ...

... Avery eating cookies!!!

Not as much fun as I remember ...

Avery trying to play with her lame old baby toys

So I just don't get it. I remember that I use to have so much fun playing with this floor mat thing with all of the baby toy things hanging from it and now it doesn't seem like that much fun. Why can't things that were the most fun in the world always be the same level of fun??? Here's even proof of all the fun I had playing on this thing years ago (
http://averyclaire.blogspot.com/2008/10/mission-accomplished.html ) where it was just awesome (although Suzie always made things more fun). Maybe this is just one of the many reasons why getting older sucks ... ah, the good ol' days just don't last forever.

Avery just not having as much fun on this as she use to

Hard Headed Little Lady ...

Avery after her "smash, bang, boom" accident

Daddy always says I'm being hard headed (just like Mommy), but who would have thought that might have been exactly true!!!

Case in point, I was just minding my own business like usual when Daddy forced me into playing "hide n' seek" with him ... next thing I know, he was chasing me like a crazy madman all around the house and the only thing I could do was try to duck for cover and then all I heard was "smash, bang, boom". Next thing that I know was that I'm on the ground rolling in smokey glass shards with a sore head and a steady steam of red dripping down my face. The horror ... the horror. At least Daddy knew what to do next ... he immediately called Mommy for help!!!

Scene of the "accident"

Surprise Mommy!!!!

I took out all your clothes and climbed into your luggage for your big conference in Philly this week. I knew you would rather have me along than all your stupid clothes anyway.

Avery getting ready to surprise Mommy in Philly

Trot, trot, trot, ...

Mommy and Avery on Diano

Since Mommy STILL will not let me ride solo, I have to make her feel at easy by letting her be in total control while we're on Diano. I just pretend that I'm a simpleton, just tagging along for the ride, although I know Diano responds much better to all of my commands anyway. And Mommy will see all of my skills soon enough ... then I'll be in the rider's seat and she'll be in MY lap. I just need to keep up my weight training and riding regiment.

Here's a video of how our tandem rides have been thus far ... tell me what you think of my positioning, skills, and style?

Avery and Mommy trotting around on Diano

And yeah, we also go fast ... really, really fast! Here's a video of us trotting around the ring into a full-up gallop!!! Look out Olympics 2028 ... here I come!!!

Please just tell me the truth ...

... do these pictures seem "plain ridiculous" or "just too adorable"??? I really can't tell ... part of me thinks I look as goofy as can be, but then the other part of me thinks that there is a very fine line between goofy and adorable.

Avery showing off all her teeth to the paparazzi

Avery posing in her full authentic
German/Holland/Norwegian outfit

And for the record, I typically like to style my hair somewhat, but on the day of the big photo shoot, Mommy and Daddy said we were just too rushed for time and they forgot to help me style my hair. Note that they both seemed to make time to style their hair though ... figures!!!

Oops, Mommy blinked in that one

Avery as Mommy and Daddy's
"center of attention"

Mommy cuddling up with Avery

Daddy giving Avery a big kiss

And a special thanks goes out to Auntie Em for arranging the photo shoot (as a Christmas present). I'll have to return this special gift sometime soon!!!

All technical difficulties have been fixed ...

All technical difficulties have been fixed and all my videos should now work again ... Thanks for the "quick" response action, Google!

The heat is on ...

Just a typical Wednesday night, right before bedtime.

Avery Names Names ....