Casa de Trio: We're still here!

I cannot believe how long it's been since I've done a post. Let's get on with the updating.

School

Avery has started with a new school. She loved her old school and loves her new school. Thankfully, Avery had no adjustment problems whatsoever. For the months of July and August, Avery goes to the summer camp version of school. That is, she goes three mornings a week. Once school starts in September, she'll go five mornings a week. Our close family friends, Elise & Nolan, are attending the same school, so we are carpooling and doing after-school play dates with them, much to Avery's delight.

Timbers

Avery was very gung ho to go the Timbers soccer games with Damian back in April. She did very well through several games, though we had lack of sleep issues to deal with at home. However, at some point she decided that she no longer wanted to go to the games because the noise hurt her ears. She still gets very excited when she sees someone in Timbers gear, though, so there is hope that she'll get into it next year or the following year.

Travel - DC

At the end of April, we went to Washington, DC to meet up with Damian's dad and his partner, known to Avery as Granddag (because his name is Dag, so it's a play on Granddad) and Grandma Rosie. My mom also flew out to join us for some sightseeing in DC. Both Damian and I have friends who live in DC, and my aunt and uncle also live there, so we had lots of people to visit.

Avery had a great time with all the attention and sightseeing and excitement. Aside from the fun of seeing family, we also got to go the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. We tried to get tickets the traditional way - via an online lottery - but we weren't selected. Well, remember those friends I mentioned just a moment ago? The brother of my friend was able to score us tickets to the event via his office. The day of the event was very, very hot. The lines were very, very long. The security was very, very tight. By the time we got into the event, we were pretty tired. However, we still managed to do a few activities. The best moment was when Willow Smith started her performance on stage. Avery heard the music and just started dancing right there in front of the White House. I got some video, but haven't put it together yet. Unfortunately, at some point the lens of the camera got sunblock on it, so the pictures are less than stellar. However, here is photographic evidence of our trip to the White House.

My uncle, Herb, is a skilled amateur photographer. He's been doing it for decades and has the most amazing collection of photographs he's taken from all over the world. He was kind enough to take some portrait shots of Avery in her Easter dress. I absolutely love all the pictures. If any family members (birth family or adoptive family) would like a printed picture, please let me know and I'll happily request it from my uncle. He has graciously offered to send prints at my request. I absolutely love the first picture. Everything about it is so very Avery.

Travel - Seattle

Immediately after our return from our DC trip, we went to Seattle for several days. Avery and I spent some time exploring the city while D was working. On D's day off, we took a boat ride around the harbor. All in all, it was a nice little getaway, but I think both Avery and I would have enjoyed it a lot more had it not landed immediately following the DC trip. We were all traveled out by that point.

Activities

In May, Avery was continuing with her swimming lessons and dance classes, both of which she loves. We took a break from those activities due to mid-summer travel to Colorado.

In June, Damian and I went away for a long weekend to Vegas without Avery. She stayed with our good friends the Gs. We are always so thankful that not only do we have people to give us a break from parenthood, but that Avery also loves spending time at their house and with their family.

Travel - Colorado

In late June, Avery and I traveled to Colorado to visit with friends, see family, and attend Cousin Dylan's 3rd BD party. Dylan is my brother's son and is just six months younger than Avery. Though Dylan and Avery don't get to spend much time together given the distance between Wyoming and Oregon, they truly love being together. It took about ten minutes for them to warm up to each other, then they immediately began chasing each other around the house and playing games with bugs outside in the cabin. We met up with Uncle Collin & Aunt Denise & Cousin Dylan outside of Colorado Springs in a cabin they'd rented for the weekend. One day we went to an amusement park called The North Pole. It is a Christmas themed park, but has rides going all year long. While not nearly as fancy as Disneyland, I would rate it as much more enjoyable for the average 2-5 year old. The kids could go on all the rides, there were almost no lines at all, and it was really easy to get around. Plus, the cost of The North Pole compared to Disneyland is staggering. I highly recommend it to anyone with children aged 2-5.

Also on the Colorado trip, we visited my college roommate. She and her husband have two children (2yo and 1mo) and live on a farm/ranch outside of Denver/Castle Rock. They have a bunch of alpacas and seven horses. Kelly took Avery and I on a tour of the barn, let Avery brush one of the horses, and then braided the horse's mane and Avery's hair tying each with matching ribbon. Avery was a bit scared of the horse at first. I didn't push her to pet the horse and at first she said she didn't want to. After she thought about it for another couple of minutes, she decided she wanted to try. I was so proud with her bravery and persistence given her obvious nervousness.

Dogs

During all this travel, we lost both of our dogs. Eddie, our 12yo German Shepherd, finally reached a point where he was in too much pain. We told Avery Eddie was going to die, let her say goodbye to him in her own way (which meant she yelled "Bye!" as she happily ran out the door to go play at Elise's house), then we put Eddie to sleep while Avery was out of the house with Elise.

At the time we thought Turtle, our 9yo yellow Lab, would be around for another 3-4 years as she showed no signs of pain or sickness. It was not to be. Within days after Eddie's death, she started making weird sneezing/wheezing noises. When we got back from Vegas her eye had become grotesquely swollen overnight. Several vet visits and medications later, we discovered it was cancer and had to put her to sleep, as well. Avery handled that death much the way she handled Eddie's.

Avery mentions death more frequently now. She sometimes says she doesn't want us to die, or she doesn't want to die. We assure her that we won't die for a very, very, very long time and that she won't die for even longer after that. For now, that seems to satisfy her. I don't think she truly grasps what death is yet, but I can see her mind processing bits of it with time. For now, I'm grateful the dogs died before she was old enough to truly feel the pain involved in the loss of a pet.

Pictures

I don't want to end this post on such a downer! So let's enjoy a few recent pictures. I'm going to let go of the idea that I'll do a post about her 3rd BD party. Here are just a few pictures that I'd started to gather for the post.