Halloween was fun this year. Ava chose to be a princess, and wore the beautiful gown she had worn for Cinderella's breakfast at Magic Kingdom last winter. Her pre-school class had a little Halloween party, and for a week or two Ava was on the fence about going. But at the 11th hour, she decided to go so Gaffer and I enjoyed watching her parade through all the kindergarten classes with her fellow pre-schoolers - very cute! Then the kids shared a Halloween feast back in their own room, and Ava ate her weight in orange jello squares! Who knew she liked them?? It was VERY cold the actual night of Halloween, but clear and beautiful. We drove her to Gorham so she could trick or treat at Gram and Gramp's first. They were delighted to see her! Then we found a parking spot across from Baxter Library in the village, and headed out from there. Ava was wearing little princess sandels, so I packed her crocs in a bag, convinced that it wouldn't be long before she'd swap shoes. But that kid tromped for miles in her fancy shoes and never asked to change! She was in her glory - at every house she was told how beautiful she was, and she would graciously smile and say "thank you!" Gaffer and I found a treat at one house, where an old lady was out on her porch with crock pots full of hot cider that she was handing out in little styrofoam cups. We covered a lot of ground and her little plastic pumpkin was full when we decided to call it a night and head home. She's not much of a candy eater, so at this date (Dec 2), the pumpkin is on top of the fridge - still full!
In November, Gaffer's seaduck hunting season really took off, and he was hired to work in Stonington helping another guide there. I was asked to cook for the crew for a few days, so Ava and I drove up. It was a beautiful drive, and we had fun singing "Shady Grove" along the way and looking at the sights. She was fighting a cold, so we stopped at a pharmacy along the way for some tylenol to bring with us, but she was cheerful and looking forward to the adventure in spite of being under the weather. We arrived on Saturday afternoon, and Gaffer was happy to see us! The rented house was at the end of a long dirt driveway in Deer Isle, right on the water. We spent the day on Sunday helping get ready for the hunters from PA to arrive - making beds, getting groceries, cooking... The other guide, Mark, and his girlfriend April were there, along with April's 9 year old daughter, Iva. Ava and Iva hit it right off, and Ava fell in love with Iva's black lab, Flash. Mark, April, and Iva left that afternoon, and then it was up to Gaffer, Ava and me to take care of the seven hunters. Ava was her usual friendly, talkative self, and they all enjoyed her very much! She ran out of energy quickly, though, with her cold, so spent quite a bit of time in our bedroom, watching movies on her portable DVD player. She'd take a break, gather up some steam, then come out and be the life of the party! It worked out well, in a way, that she was so happy to be in bed resting, because I was up to my elbows in cooking and cleaning for the next three days. By Weds, she was feeling lively enough to give me a lot of help as we cleaned up the place before we left - she vacuumed, washed floors, made beds, cleaned shower stalls - what a great helper!! One of the hunters had "tipped" her a dollar two nights in a row for bringing him his newspaper, and then April tipped her six dollars for all the work she did around the house - Ava's first income!! She's saving it for our trip to Disney in February.
Thanksgiving Day was another highlight this fall. Ava went with Gaffer to pick up Joe in Brunswick, Uncle Steve and Jennifer came over, and Bobby and Katie brought Kerry with them - and then, surprise, Nannie also showed up! Beepa was working a shut-down at McCain Foods up in the County, so Nannie decided to come to Durham rather than stay home alone! We had such a fun day! Ava had helped me cook the day before (we played music and danced all day while we worked!), so we only had to warm things up and wait for the turkey to be done for our 2:00 feast. She was in her glory with all her aunts and uncles (and Nannie) to dote on her. She wore her red Christmas dress from last year, and was simply gorgeous - with her happy face and beautiful smile, she made my heart go pitter-patter everytime I looked at her.
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