California & lots of teeth!

Well of course I'm a week behind in posting (what's new?) but I finally have a free minute to update everyone on our trip to California. Ava did wonderful on the way out there-she didn't mind the plane and was charming all of our neighbors on the plane by giggling at them. We got in late Tuesday night (August 26th) and Grandpa M. picked us up from the airport. We hung out at Gpa and Gma's house and had some delicious meatloaf (Ava at almost as much as me!!) and went to bed late. The next morning, Nick's cousins Theresa and Julia came over to meet Ava and they loved her :-) Gma Ginther and Aunt Katie flew in that morning so our party kept growing and growing. They hadn't seen Ava since she was 6 weeks old so I'm sure they were pretty excited and shocked to see her. Uncle Mike and Uncle Doug also joined us over the next couple days and Gpa Ginther and Aunt Megan came on Friday after the long journey from Sacramento. Ava had a ton of fun playing with her aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents! We did a lot of swimming in Great Gpa & Gma's pool and we are pretty sure Ava is part fish..she was kicking like a froggy and has even started to blow bubbles in the water- pretty good for a 9 month old if you ask me! Friday night of our trip we had a big family reunion with all of Nick's aunts, uncles and cousins. We cooked out, took a group photo and caught up with everyone. We saw all of Nick's aunts and uncles at our wedding 2 years ago but hadn't seen his cousins since Christmas 2001 so everyone had changed so much...We flew home Sunday night (August 30th)..Ava did great on our first flight but not so great on the way from Houston to Des Moines. I felt bad for the people around us since she cried for almost an hour straight but unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot you can do on a plane..Over the past week, we quickly figured out what her problem was..she has cut 7 teeth in less than 3 weeks!!! She didn't get any teeth until after she turned 9 months so apparently she thought she should play catch up to her friends and get them all at once. She has actually handled it all really well- we are very blessed to have such a good baby. She still sleeps through the night..her only teething symptoms are being extra sleepy, clingy and not hungry. I think she is finally feeling better because last night she ate almost half a highchair-tray full of food! She is on all table food now and pretty much eats whatever we are eating. She loves pasta, bread, fruit, veggies, scrambled eggs...the list goes on and on- she is definitely her father's daughter as she will eat anything!