Into the Fifth Year IV

With Cousin Jessie and Cousin Peggy, who got to see Alec for the first time.

Graduation day at daycare for those going on to Kindergarten in the fall.

Posing on the graduation platform after the ceremony.

September 2003: In her first month at daycare, Ava checks out the very same steps.  At that time, they were too complicated for her to negotiate, as she'd only been walking a few weeks.

At the doctors on a very humid morning in late May.

Strolling around campus displaying the latest fashions, although not many people were there to see during break.

Creating some temporary graffiti with pink chalk.

Some of Ava's friends at daycare gather around to see her brother Alec when he made an appearance one afternoon.  Ava was happy to provide some information about him, e.g., that he likes to pull hair, and that he's cute, and that she likes to call him "Little Guy," etc.

We sometimes go out to a large grassy field for our walks at dusk and look for critters like groundhogs, bunnies, and squirrels.  We saw a skunk once, too.

Waiting eagerly for the first run through oh her dance routine on the stage during the first practice there.

The second practice there was a full dress rehearsal, which once again meant a lot of waiting around before they could be on stage again.

The awards ceremony was more fun to sit through this year, as Ava got her first award.  Some of the parents joked that these awards should have our names on them, too, since we're always there in the waiting room.

With her classmates backstage.  More waiting!

Momentarily discussing something unpleasant, I guess.  Boys, maybe.

Then posing with me for another one of our self-double-portraits.

First airplane flight!  Ava did a nice job on her first flight when we went to Massachusetts in July.  She definitely did a better job on the plane than her brother did...see his page for that story.

Keeping an eye on Brother Alec at the hotel.

Posing with Grammy, who Ava hadn't seen in almost two years.  Opa was there, too.

Sharing the swing at Aunt Linda's with Cousins Susie and Peggy.  Ava was impressed that Cousin Peggy knew so many of the songs from the Disney Princess movies.

And, Ava rallied from being grumpy and tired at one point when Cousin Susie showed her some gymnastics moves...

...such as a handstand.

At the end of the evening, Uncle Tom tried to steal her cake without success.

Sadly saying goodbye to Grammy the next day as we left to go back to the airport.

The first night back from our trip, I took the family to a local exhibition on a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.  We were only there a few minutes, but Ava was spotted by the local paper's photographer, and she was on this cover in color the next morning.  As some people have pointed out, she's not really "making a face" ... She's just looking with her usual serious face, and, she did enjoy herself a moment later when she saw a painting with more pink in it than this one.  Pink rules.

 

Another early morning shot of Ava with Brother Alec.

 

Waiting for it to be present-opening time at her fifth birthday party.

 

Playing with her balloons the same day.

 

Finally, gift-opening time arrived.  Here Ava shares the latest surprise with cousins Morgan, Brianna, and Megan.

 

At the end of the day, Cousins Brianna and Valerie help Ava get to the top of the climbing wall...

 

...and Aunt Sessie (with Alec) and Mommy greet her on the other side.

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