Labor Day Weekend

So Jared and I decided this family needed a little out of the house fun. We decided to take some extra time off for Labor Day weekend and play. On Saturday we went to Global Wildlife Center. In case anyone isn't familiar, it's an enormous wildlife park, where you pay (a lot) to feed their animals. Make sense, right? RIGHT? Anyway, they take visitors out on big trains and and you can feed the animals by hand or from buckets. Except the zebras. They bite, so they ask that you toss the feed to them.

So much fun! I think we were both a little worried about Grace trying to throw herself off the train. We had to keep a really tight grip on her, but she had a blast.




And throwing feed on the ground was fun too!

The next day we went to the Louisiana Children's Museum. Mommy was very disappointed. I went there quite a bit when I was little and it was not what I remembered. Jared pressed every button he could find and not one worked. It was all very sad. Fortunately Grace didn't care. However, she did not appreciate the pushy little children who felt like she was moving to slow. She let a couple of them have a very stern look. And her looks are scary!






Then we wrapped up the weekend with more swimming.

Playroom

I finally got around to a project I had been wanting to do for a while; a playroom for Grace. I really needed to move some of her stuff out my living room. She has been taking over the house since before she was born.
It took a while to decide what I wanted to do, but I finally settled on a combo of a few things. I'm not looking forward to every having to re-paint this room. Like, EVER! I liked how it all came out and so did Grace. While I was working she would periodically come up the stairs and say, "Oh Mommy, it's so pretty!" Sweet, huh? I love this kid.

Hospitals and Fireworks

Forth of July weekend we headed over to Granny and Papaw's to celebrate Papaw's birthday and visit Memaw in the hospital. It would have been nicer if everyone was home but that's the way it was. We got to spend quality time with Papaw. Memaw and Granny were able to come home for a little visit in between.
We got in on Saturday, and Sunday Granny brought Memaw home for the day to celebrate Papaw's birthday. I made hamburger cupcakes and we all had a nice time eating, opening presents and visiting.


Gracie had lots of fun Saturday night picking out stickers to plaster on her father and grandfather. They took it willingly, it was hard to refuse with all the giggling.


We were all off of School and work on Monday for the 4th, so it was a busy morning of running back and forth to squeeze in some quality last visits before we made our way home. We grabbed lunch and headed back to the house before we hit the road, and Grace got the best kid's meal toy ever. It was the crazy glasses, nose, mustache combo. She wasn't fond of the nose and mustache, so I took it off and we all had a blast with the glasses.


Just in case you haven't noticed. That's Grace's pretty smile. Please don't worry, she's not in pain, she's beautiful. I love that smile!
We laughed so hard it hurt.

Lion and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

Lion and Tigers and Bears, Oh My
Another first for Grace was going to the Circus. It was a lot of fun. We had really expensive great seats, so she could see everything. Her favorite thing was definitely the elephants. She even got to take a stuffed one home, which she would not let out of her sight. The cotton candy was a big hit too. There were also was a motorcycle on a high line, which she was not so happy about. All in all it was a very fun day and I'd really like to do it again. Maybe though without the horse pooping in the middle of the act.
And a fun fact: apparently the circus wears out little people at about the same rate as swimming all day.

Pool Party

This past summer brought a cool new pool for Grace. She LOVED it!!! I really would like to get her into swim lessons but it'll have to wait until next year. While she was pretty nervous, she did a really good job of letting go and trying to kick her legs. Mostly it was a lot of "floatie" and tummy floating around, but it's a start. And she loved her cool new tankini Granny and Papaw got her.

Daddy's Birthday

The beginning of May brought Daddy's birthday. As always we had cookie cake and Grace was more than happy to help Daddy finish it off.

She also had no problem helping him open his presents. She was particularly proud of the mug she made him. We got a pay-per-view fight the next weekend as one of his birthday requests. Nanny's son Owen came over to watch, and I was so happy to see how great they played. Owen couldn't have been more sweet or gentle with her.

Busted

About a week and a half before Grace's baptism, I got a phone call at work that Grace fell on the playground. They even said she wouldn't sit still for ice, because she wanted to keep playing. When I got there, she seemed fine and was still playing outside. She didn't look so bad, I'd seem her look worse. The side of her nose looked pretty raw, and she had a scratch on her nose, but all in all, no big deal. Then I saw her little face the next morning.
It looks better in this picture then I remember. I took her to the grocery that weekend and she was being a little wild, and I didn't notice "the looks" until the 3rd or 4th time I corrected her. I just bet they all thought I(the horrible mother) was beating the sweet girl in the pink flower dress.