Concert in the Park

Here are some pictures that were taken a couple weeks ago when we went to see my cousin Julie's band perform as part of a local Concert in the Park series. Avery and Audrey had a great time dancing!

VIDEO: AVERY DANCING TO THE SILVERADOS

Eventually the girls made their way up to the dance floor, and the two of them climbed up onto the lower level of the stage. After about a minute of dancing there, a security guard came over and asked them to get down. Audrey obeyed immediately and hopped onto the ground.  Avery, however, stood there and stared at him like he was speaking an alien tongue.  I watched from a distance as he asked her a second time, and then a third time, to get down from the stage, as he pointed towards the ground.  She continued to face him squarely, looking right into his eyes with a blank expression. 

Then all of a sudden she burst into a defiant shimmy, still staring right into his face. He was forced to physically remove her from the stage.  (I was way too embarrassed and laughing way too hard to go up and claim her as my own at that point, so I just let him handle it. I am sure he was wondering where the loser parents were who weren't controlling their child). 

And here's one last picture of Avery and Audrey on the swing last weekend with 

Great-Grandpa. 

(We were throwing a party for my cousin Justin, our Marine who made it home safely from Afghanistan this month!)

Fun Summer Weekend

Another month has come and gone! Time is going so fast, and we have been so busy.  Our landlord informed us that she was putting the condo on the market, so we have been packing boxes and looking for a place to go.  Meanwhile, trying to keep up with work and the multitude of events that summer brings!

My company picnic, July 28:

Avery played Duck, Duck, Goose with the kids and the clowns...

I guess she has not yet developed a fear of clowns.

But she has developed a fear of witches. On Friday I left work early to take her to see "The Wizard of Oz" put on by the kids at Cal State Fullerton's summer Art Camp. 

Avery was fixated on the Wicked Witch of the West. She was played by a cute little girl with pink braces, who had a great costume and did an excellent job imitating the original witch's voice.  Each time she appeared on stage and then went off, Avery would say, "Where's the witch?" and would repeatedly ask about the witch until she would appear onstage again. After the play, I took Avery to meet the witch so she could see that it was just a young girl and not scary at all. The girl offered to let Avery touch her costume, but Avery recoiled and stared at her in silence.

Later that evening, we had a lady come to view the condo. Avery (who is becoming less and less shy) walked straight up to her and said to her face, "I'm scared of the witch."  The way she said it made it sound like Avery was calling HER a witch. I was completely mortified and immediately started explaining that we had gone to see a play and that there was a scary witch, etc. etc.  So embarrassing.

Saturday we met up with Julie, Darrin and Audrey at a nearby shopping center to let the girls play in the fountain and watch Julie's band for a little bit. I think this might be Avery's new favorite thing. (The best part? It's free!)

VIDEO: AVERY DANCING TO THE BAND

And Sunday we visited with Uncle Aaron and Auntie Becky and baby cousin James. Avery got to swim in the pool until her lips turned blue, and then she enjoyed spending some time with the baby.

I hope she is as sweet to baby brother as she is to baby cousin!