Winter 2022!

 My Dearest Avery,

We have had quite the start to the new year! We started with some mommy/kid time while dad went to New Mexico for his alumni board. You and Evan have still been having lots of fun with soccer lately. 

In February, you got some fun valentines from your classmates and we got to go to Disneyland! While it was all fun, what was neat about your time there was some 1:1 time with dad and me (separately) when Evan needed to go take a nap. That allowed you more time in the park and we got to play and ride bigger kid rides - some you loved and some you didn't. I'd say your first official big kid roller coaster was space mountain and we waited in line for 2 hours for it! But you really didn't like it so we steered clear of other coasters for now. You also liked the Avengers campus, where we got to see Spiderman fly, go on the Spiderman ride and check out a cool live-action fight between Black Widow and Black Panther and some bad guys! And when you had some of that time with dad, you went to the Star Wars part of the park and you bought yourself a custom droid robot for yourself! It's pretty cool in all that it can do - talk, play games with you and spin super fast!

In March, we did a one-night stay in Phoenix because you had tickets to Imagine Dragons from your stocking. We stayed 2 blocks away from the concert and brought dad and Evan so we did the science center before the concert and had some yummy dinner at Blancos. You had a great time at the concert, singing the songs, and dancing along to the music. There were more kids there than I expected! You got a poster to remember the event. Then we had your Aunt Cat and cousins come and stay. You had a great time with your cousins!

You are very active right now in all that you've got going on - between school, soccer and Pokemon club, you've got a busy schedule - plus we're finding all sorts of fun things to do on the weekends. In school you're doing so very well with your grades but you are getting more than necessary notes in your CJ (Communication Journal) about talking when you shouldn't be - so many that dad went to school and spoke with your teachers about it. You were embarassed and mad at yourself. You say you're the "worst" even though we know you're not. You're really hard on yourself about some things, this is one of them. You enjoy reading your books from the book fair or the library (all chapter books now) and you've also started enjoying Mario Cart on the Nintendo Switch you and Evan got for Christmas. 

You have a great attitude about life and you're very flexible which I think will serve you well in life. You don't like doing your chores but you do like having money in your bank account. You love your brother fiercly but you also want your time away from him to do other things, which I think is ok. You love your own fashion and you're friends with pretty much everyone at school. You like the songs to Encanto right now, especially listening to the songs in different languages and learning bits of those languages.

Here's your life in pictures right now.....

Daily drop off pics for Evan (at his request) - you jump in there a lot too!

Snow on the mountain!

Rain means time to go outside and play, right?!

We do weekly walks on the cart path right now

And selfies before our walks :)

Watching a rocket launch!

100th day of school :)

Engineering project - you made a cast

You and your soccer mates are getting so much better at playing soccer! It's really fun to watch!

On the way to Disneyland! Went over Rodeo!

Yep - you drove me on the bumper cars! Remind me to have dad teach you to drive :)

In line to meet princesses! So many characters out!

...including villains

Getting ready for space mountain

Mickey! We saw him as we were leaving one night!

Some fun food options

Spiderman was really amazing!

Making your robot!

Dinner at Goofy's kitchen!

Dinner in the truck! Because why not?!

Making edible slime :)

At the science center - you love the weather simulator!

Cousins!

Dave and Busters with the cousins!

The concert!

Next to our hotel in Phoenix!

Neighborhood party with a jump house!

Working out with me at the hotel gym in Phoenix - you're a good workout buddy and love joining me whenever we're staying somewhere!

Avery, I love everything about you! You're so loving and caring and you're truly a good person. I can't believe you're almost EIGHT! How did that happen?! Here's working hard to enjoy every minute of it!

All My Love,

Mom