Ronald McDonald House

This weekend Avery and I went to the RMH of Austin to drop off some of the books that she received for her birthday. (click on the word "birthday" for the entry on her party) We had planned to give them all to SafePlace Austin but I wanted Avery to be a part of the process and we weren't able to arrange that with SafePlace. So when Kelly over at Kelly's Korner suggested that people donate items to RMH in honor of her daughter Harper's first birthday, we decided that it would be a great chance for Avery to participate in the donation.

We took half of the books from her party to the Ronald McDonald House and the other half will go to SafePlace (which I will have to do alone). We also took some items off of the Wish List posted on the RMH of Austin website. Here are some pictures from when we took the books and toiletries this weekend. I think you can click on them to make them bigger.

Here she is holding some of the books that we brought to donate. She told me to "carefully" hand her some--but not all--of the books because she didn't want them to be too heavy. She also told me to "pick some good ones" for her to hold. Little Miss Sassy for sure.
Speaking of Sassy, I love this picture because of the way she is standing. I don't know what she had going on in her head when she decided to stand that way but it is hilarious to me.
Here she is giving Miss Sandra, an employee at the RMH, some of the books that we brought. She told everyone her name (her full name--first, middle, last--so fast that no one could understand her) and also told them that she is 3 and these are books from her birthday party. She was quite the talker, which surprised me since she is usually a little shy at first.
Miss Sandra was very kind to Avery and did a great job answering all of her questions. When Avery asked where the books go, she showed her the game room and even let her put the books on the shelf.

Avery was showing Miss Sandra that the book was about a Princess. We are in full Princess LOVE mode around here these days. Not much we can do to stop the obsession, I'm afraid.

I love this picture because you can see just how uncomfortable Avery is sitting next to this large plastic man. She talked to him and patted his leg. She even asked for a picture with him. She just, you know, didn't want to actually sit next to him.
These large blocks were in the back of the Ronald McDonald house, which is the first thing we saw when we drove over from the hospital. She begged for me to take her picture by the blocks, which I was hesitant to do because it meant that we had to park in the street to get out of the car. There were 2 lanes going the same way, so we didn't block traffic, but it was still an actively used road next to Dell Children's hospital, so I wasn't very comfortable with it. I decided to do it, though, since we were right next to the hospital if anything bad happened. :-) She was goofing around the whole time I was taking her picture. If I hadn't been nervous about our car getting hit, I would have tried harder to get a good shot.
Last and certainly least, my attempt at a picture of the two of us. Since it was just us, I had to try and hold the camera out and get a picture of us 1. with us both in it 2. both looking at the camera 3. without glare from her glasses. It's not great, but I would say this one is as close to perfect as I would have ever come.

If you would like to know more about the RMH or the Wish List for the Austin RMH, please click on THIS link.