AVA TURNS 5
A LEMONADE STAND BIRTHDAY
This year's lemonade stand theme for Ava's 5th birthday had me commissioning a custom piece from my favorite builders; my husband Duane and son Grant. My husband had enough random scraps on hand to let us design and build this little gem late one evening. Not too shabby or perfectly shabby depending on how you look at things. You know, that cup half-full or half-empty view; lemonade of course!
DESIGN & BUILD
I grew up with a dad who could build or fix anything - although he preferred cars and metal work - and am blessed with a husband who can build or fix anything. Here are a few iPhone photos of my husband and son hard at work preparing the lemonade stand for Ava's birthday! It's cute and I know it will adorn our living room (aka Ava's life-sized playhouse) for a long time to come.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Ava loves birthday parties - especially her own! This child is joy personified and had everyone singing and laughing. Check out this short video of the birthday girl.
THE PHOTO SESSION
A few days after the party, her brother Wyatt helped me haul the lemonade stand and decor outside for a quick photo session while everything was still fresh. I made the mistake of trying to photograph her in the evening and she was 'tired' but we still captured some cute memories of Ava and her very own lemonade stand! I will surely treasure these memories of her long hair, signature purple glasses and braids in the years to come.
SUNSHINE, SUMMERTIME & LEMONADE
Most moms are sending their 5 year olds off to kindergarten but I get to keep Ava mostly to myself for one more precious year since she misses the birthday cutoff. She'll be busy with preschool, watching her brothers play tennis this fall, hanging out with me and just being a kid for 12 more months.
When I found out I was pregnant 5 years and 9 months ago, I almost dreaded starting over with a little one again. Our twin boys were just gaining some independence and we were all enjoying the ease of family life with increasingly independent twin boys. God saw our comfort and blessed us with someone new to shake things up a bit. Ava was the best thing that could have happened to our family. She is the gift we never knew we wanted and surely didn't deserve. It's been the fastest five years of my life and a reminder to take the time to sit back and enjoy a little sunshine, summertime and lemonade.
Babies don't keep and time marches on so make pictures and print them. Some day that picture will bring precious moments like these to life and your heart will smile at the memory.
Carrie
