Today: Ava + Sophia's Beach Playdate

Today, Ava and I met up with our friends Jereann(mom) and Sophia(daughter). We originally met them at our Amanda's Place Mommy&Me classes a couple of months ago. They also live in Pompano Beach which makes it great for a last minute, local playdate for the girls. 

Jereann asked me if we could meet up at Pompano Beach's splash pad so that the girls can run around and play in the water.

 I had no idea that this even existed because my family is not aware of anything going on in Pompano - ever... 

Since Mark and I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, we do everything there. I guess this teaches me that I need to branch out and see what our official place of residence offers. 

I will say... Pompano beach is VERY clean and family friendly. They have clean picnic area, bathrooms, a playground, a nice kid's area with the splash pad, and the pier nearby. It took us 10 min to get to our beach parking spot from our home. (There was no traffic what so ever.) 

I usually go to Ft. Lauderdale beach which takes me 25min since we live north of there. 

Now that I am am familiar with this "family friendly" beach,  I will be going here more often with Ava and Mark. 

When it is time for me to have a mama's day out with my friends, I will be loyal and still go straight to Ft. Lauderdale Beach though haha ;)  

Anyways, today's beach playdate was adorable! 

Sophia and Ava get along so well and the weather could not have been better. 

80 degrees and very sunny

Here are some pictures that I took today. They came out a bit dark (still learning how to use this Nikon D5100) so I had to try and lighten them up a bit at home.

(And I promise that Ava is walking a lot now...just didn't get any of it on camera today - my fault.) 

Jereann & Sophia

Ava is still getting comfortable with the idea that there is water randomly shooting up from the ground...

The mamas with our precious girls

Sophia sharing her beach toys with Ava

Sophia petting Ava's hair. haha This was funny

Ava found some little toy duck nearby... She loves little toys

Sophia bringing Ava her water 

Thanks for a fun playdate, Jereann and Sophia! We will be back soon :)

Hope everyone is having a nice Tuesday! 

Snapshots of Today + Things We Use & Like

Yesterday was all about cleaning for me so today we had some fun in the sun...

Packed up my to-go smoothie for Ava's playdate today in the park: 

[big handful of kale, about 5 broccoli florets (the top part), handful of: mixed banana, strawberry, blueberry, mango + add water and chia seeds = blend.] yum. 

I love the Lifefactory glass bottles which are BPA free unlike many plastic products.  They also make adorable bottles for babies too! I bought mine at Whole Foods. 

Ava already had her Born Free glass bottles that worked well for us- love those too! BuyBuyBaby carries them. 

Back to today....

We met up with our friend Sophia and her mama at the park in Coral Ridge. Ava spent more time on her feet walking around which is nice since you'd think she'd want to give her knees a break from crawling! 

Ava clapping for Sophia going down the slide! 

They wanted to slide at the same time. These two are too cute together. 

Came home and had some lunch. Ava had left overs from our dinner last night. 

[chicken cutlets dipped in egg then covered in Panko - pan fried in coconut oil - topped with a mango&cilantro purée that I blended together in the small food processor-  with a side of green beans and asperagus] and water of course. 

Our good eater :-)

I've gotten a couple questions about the powdered probiotics that Ava's been taking since she was a newborn... We like the brand Jarro Dophilus (they make adult probiotic capsules too). They are in the refrigerated section of the "Whole Body" area in Whole Foods. Once I learned about gut health and how it controls a person's overall health and immune system... it was a no brainer. 

(Ava has been sick once in her 15 months of life so far - and bounced back the following day. And trust me, I am not a germaphobe! I let her play and get messy but the probiotics are amping up her immune system full throttle.) 

It is also nice to hear that I'm not the only one that does this - far from it actually... 

All of my "healthy mom friends" (and rest of the natural, holistic health world too) take them and also give their kids probiotics as well. 

I remember when I first asked our pediatrician about them he asked me, "Well what's wrong with your daughter'a gut flora now?"

I responded, "Nothing that we know of...I'd like to keep it that way!"

He basically told me that there is nothing wrong with giving them to her, if anything they are just making her super healthy - more than she already is. 

Music to my ears. 

Haha

(Less expensive and easier to prevent illness, disorders, etc. the healthy way in my opinion)

Anyways, after lunch and an afternoon nap for Ava, we headed outside for a jog to go and visit my mom. Gotta soak up that natural vitamin D for that bone health! ;)

Later on this week, we will be getting to visit with Grandma Ann (Mark's maternal grandmother from North Dakota) 

We can't wait to show her how much Ava is walking now! I know Mark is excited to see her as well. :) I am looking forward to having a sunset, family picnic on the beach as well as taking the whole family to the Riverfront Jazz brunch that's already coming up! A lot of family fun up ahead. 

Hope you all are having a nice day! 

XO

Christina