Little Reader, Driving Down the Road...

We were driving down Madison Street and Anna Claire pointed to a billboard and said, "Mommy, that say Kids-N-Play!" OK, so maybe she recognized the logo from the sign posted since we've been there several times.

In the Premier parking lot, she saw a large truck drive by, "Mommy that truck say Walmart!" It sure did.

Driving down Sango Rd, we get to the Trough Springs Rd intersection and she says, "That say Spring," pointing to the Trough Springs Rd sign.

Then, leaving the Farmer's Market downtown, she saw a sign outside of Ingredients that said "Cooking Classes" and she said, "That say 'cooking!'"

A Pink One

We were saying prayers when I felt Anna Claire place her hand on my shoulder to fell my bra strap. She said, "What that is, Mommy? You wearin' that?"
I said, "That's Mommy's bra, Anna Claire. Ladies wear bras. You'll wear one too when you get older."
"I want a pink one! Amy (her friend) can have an orange one!" she said with gusto.
"I thought you said Amy liked purple," I reminded.
"Amy can have a purple one! I can have pink!"
 So funny.

Swim Lessons are a No Go

Took Anna Claire to her first swim lesson today. She put on her goggles and floated on the blue board. She kicked. She sat on the edge and kicked. All smiles. Then her teacher took her over to the ramp and had her reach down for diving rings. Next thing I know she's bringing her back to Larry and me, lifting her out of the pool and handing her to me. I am confused???

The teacher explains that Anna Claire is like a baby. She thinks she's just there to play in the water. She's not listening. She's not learning anything. "I don't want to waste your money. Swim lessons are expensive. Maybe she can try again in 6 months. I'll tell my boss that we didn't have a lesson today and you can get a full refund."

I was still confused, frustrated, and even angry. When I got home, I went into the bathroom, closed the door, and cried.

I know Anna Claire doesn't always listen. When I take her to gymnastics or to swim I have witnessed what the teacher meant by her being there just to play. She is very strong-willed. But she is capable. I guess I hoped that she would listen better to someone else. Disappointed. Really wanted her to learn to swim this year. Especially when I see many of her friends in her class taking lessons and thriving.

I am mostly crushed because I knew how excited Anna Claire was about swim lessons. She's been talking about it for weeks. And the 15 minutes we did log in today? She was a having a ball.

I can look back on it now, hours later and see that the instructor had good intentions, trying to save us time and money. I just found her harsh...making a judgment call like that after just 15 minutes. Doesn't seem like we truly gave it a chance.

I will keep taking her and working with her twice a week and we'll try lessons again in December.

Customs House Museum Playdate

I was very excited when my high school chum Dawn invited Anna Claire and me to go to the Clarksville museum with her two children. I have been wanting to take Anna Claire for a long time, but just never have. I hope you enjoy the pics and story of our trip.

TRAINS! They hollered every time the Thomas train rode by. :)

Here come's Thomas!

Did you see it, Mommy?

Gwen and Sawyer looking at trains.

Anna Claire and Sawyer

Is this not amazing? You've never seen such attention to detail paid to a train set.

Let's go!

I love pics of little girls hold hands. Anna Claire and Gwen are almost the same age, with Gwen just a few months older.

Grocery Store!

Anna Claire loved all of the toy breads. No surprise. She's a bread lover in real life too!

Gwen is having "Dr. Lopez" the puppet give Anna Claire an exam.

This contraption is supposed to allow Dawn and Gwen to see what it's like to be  inside a bubble.

Playing with the large bubble wands in the Bubble Cave.

Anna Claire loved this doll. She carried it around everywhere and was trying to figure out how to get her hat off.

Here she is a again with that same doll. Dawn and I both remember having dolls almost just like this one.

Gwen takes a shot at making a giant bubble.

Anna Claire gives it a go.

Still no dice on being inside a bubble. Neat concept though.

Magnet wall.

On the elevator. Can you tell Gwen is jumping up and down?

Gift shop!

Checking out Gwen's loot: marbles.

Sweet friends! Gwen was cracking me up the whole trip. She would say, "Come on, Fwend!" to Anna Claire.

Father's Day 2012

Anna Claire's letter to Daddy for Father's Day. Got the idea from a friend and loved it:

All About My Daddy

by: Anna Claire Averitt

Age 3

My daddy's name is "Wawy" (Larry). He is 2 feet 3 inches tall. Daddy's hair is "bwack" and his eyes are "bwown." Mine are blue. Okay!

Daddy weighs one pound. His favorite TV show is "Fresh Beats." Daddy likes to go to Target and to restaurants.

His favorite foods are mac-n-cheese, broccoli, and celery. (Insert Anna Claire singing the Veggie Tales theme). He likes to drink hot chocolate.

For fun, Daddy likes to draw. I love it when my Daddy cooks. What I love most about Daddy is he talks to me. Daddy likes coffee too! I love my Daddy!

Summer Vacation 2012: Gatlinburg

Before leaving for Gatlinburg, we handed AC a gallon ziploc bag to fill with her favorite things to take on our trip. This is what she picked.

Our trip began like many vacations do: with a long car ride. Anna Claire is so good and so easy in the car! We did have the DVD player to help entertain her, so that was a blessing. She likes the apps on my phone, especially My Playhome, but was more content looking out the window and talking to us. Excited, I think. She napped for about an hour of the drive, after stopping in Cookeville for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. We should eat breakfast there more often. She ate up the fruit cup, yogurt, and also Larry's eggs and my chicken biscuit.

When we arrived in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, I thought I had two hours before I had to present at the TAMS conference (Tennessee Association of Middle Schools). Then Larry informed me it was an hour later: time change.

Panic ensued, but we made it to the event center in plenty of time for me to set up before 2, when I would actually have to speak.

Anna Claire loved exploring the event center with her Daddy while I was presenting. She got to check out the waterfall in front of the building, go to the arcade, and get an ice cream. :)

Then the fun began...for me. We headed to our hotel. It was clean and had an awesome pool. Two requisites when traveling with a child. We were hungry by the time we got checked in and settled, so we headed out toward the Gatlinburg strip, in walking distance from our hotel. Anna Claire was a champ for walking up and down the hills during our stay. She could totally be a San Franciscan.

As I reflect on our trip, I keep flashing back to one moment at Bubba Gump Shrimp where a man was told he had to stand up in a chair and shake his booty to get his free birthday drink from the waitress. Anna Claire loved watching him shake his booty! She was clapping along with all the waiters and afterward she said, "I want see him shake his booty 'gain!" I need to preserve that moment in print before I forgot it! :)

Bubba Gump was a good experience for us all. We were greeted at the door with sidewalk chalk and strawberry lemonade while we waited to be seated. There were tons of dipping sauces to try for our shrimp during our meal. Larry and I dominated Forrest Gump trivia. And Anna Claire scored as we were leaving, acquiring a shiny red balloon, that would later be coveted by literally every child we met on the streets of Gatlinburg the remainder of the evening.

Anna Claired loved going in and out of the shops along the strip. These folks def market to children. So many places pushing candy and ice cream, her two favorite food groups. We used our self-control though, only purchasing a rainbow lollipop and a Tummy Yum-E. There was a monkey store she loved going into that stamped her hands with monkey stamps. They are so kid-friendly. Must remember this store next time we visit.

Day 2 began at the Fun Spot. Anna Claire thought she was pretty tough driving these trucks. While riding the blue one she kept her eye on a purple one that another little girl was riding. She really wanted purple instead.

Got the purple one!

Daddy does not "do" dizzy rides, but rode these planes with AC that do spin.

This was a brave moment for both of them. Really BIG slide. Anna Claire climbed up all by herself, with Larry only walking behind her. Larry got a pretty bad burn on his arm from holding his arm out. Don't know if you can tell from the picture, but he is holding it out.

First ride on a roller coaster! Brave girl!

Cutie.

We rode the carousel when we first arrived at Fun Spot, but really wished we had picked the panda, so of course we went back and rode the panda.

Told AC she could have any snack from this ice cream sundae shaped concession stand. She picked apple juice.

Wanted to check out the castle and dragon at the mini golf place next door to Fun Spot.

Fred! Funny story about Fred. When we got home, Pop asked AC if she saw any bears in Gatlinburg. I said no. AC corrected, "We saw Fred!!"

Love this pic. I think we sat on just about every bench in Gatlinburg.

First trolley ride.

Let's ride trolley, 'gain!

We had AC believing she was really moving the ball at Ripley's.

First oyster!

She loved them! Had a 1/2 dozen (at Crawdaddy's)

What she REALLY wanted to do on our vacation: "Fwim!"

The BIG waterfall!

This is a happy child.

Got to get on a real train at the Cookeville train station on our way home.

Our last day was spent at the Tangers outlet mall. All three of us found some things we liked to take back home: AC got new Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty Jibitz for her Crocs, and some new Twinkle Toes. Larry got a couple new shirts. I got a couple new shirts and some sandals.

I loved our Gatlinburg vacation. When we compare it to our Destin trip, Larry and I see that AC has made a LOT of progress. She gave us no fuss about sleeping in a big girl bed. It was also helpful to have a place with a bathtub. She loves her bath, and in Destin we only had showers, which scared her a bit. I do think it helped that we brought her bed rail that made the big girl bed feel more like a crib. She slept great and was just an awesome little girl the entire trip. We were extremely proud of her. Makes us want to take her more places.

The Baby Monitor Waves

We crack up listening to AC on the monitor. Put her down 5 minutes ago. So far she has sang an ABC Music song, said, "I need to be nice to everyone even if they're not nice to me," and rambled about balance beams, going to the library, and getting a big girl bed, and is currently pondering, "What does Mommy do after I go to bed? What she doin'?"