Vada Came to Play

Cousin Vada came over to play tonight so her mommy could have a girls' night. We were so happy to be able to spend the evening with little Vada.
Grace was so excited for Vada to come stay with us for a bit.
The kids wanted to keep her well entertained.
Gabriel has enjoyed holding babies lately.
It took about 5 takes to get a picture of the three of them together. I had to bribe/threaten Grace to get her to look at the camera. Grrr!
Vada gave Gabriel and Grace some really big grins while they talked to her and played with her.
Grace wanted to hold Vada too, but Vada was not the happiest camper in Grace's lap.
Grace wanted so badly to give Vada a bottle, so Grace sat in my lap and Vada sat in hers while taking her bottle.
Grace climbed in the basket with the clean laundry and said, "Look, Mom! I'm laundry now!"
Silly girl was wearing her shorts AND PANTIES backwards tonight. She had cute flowers on her bottom and pockets in the front. Ha ha!
Vada hadn't had a nap since about 1 p.m. and was getting pretty tired. Daddy hasn't lost his touch. He swaddled her and rocked for a few minutes, and the little princess was out.

Staying Home with Under-the-Weather Mom

Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I was SICK. I tried to deny that I was sick on Tuesday and proceed with my errands and housework. Once I had to pull over to the side of the road to get sick while out running and errand, I gave in. I got home, laid down, and could barely lift my head up for the next 48 hours. This required the kids to be rather independent. They fixed their own lunches of PB sandwiches or Lunchables, prepared their own drinks, and cleaned up their own spills. They entertained themselves with WAY too much screen time, and helped me anytime they could. I could not have asked for anymore cooperative kiddos.
Grace found her Hello Kitty nail polish in a box. So she quickly took to painting nails.
Gabriel was the first client for my little nail tech. Throughout the day she painted her own finger and toenails repeatedly, my toenails, and 7 of Grandma's toenails. (She got a little distracted when it was time for the last 3 toes. Ha!)

We did a few other things during the two days home with a sick Mommy. We played a few games of Uno. The kids found some craft supplies and used them to make wet messes all over the kitchen table. They found a chemistry set, and Grace soaked a coloring book with fizzy dye. Ha! It was an interesting couple of days, and I am SO glad to be feeling better. Say a prayer for us that no one else comes down with whatever that illness was. We are looking forward to a fun weekend celebrating the 4th of July!

Ballet

Forgot one . . . Grace started taking ballet lessons last week with Stretch-N-Grow. She had such a good time. I can't wait to see their recital in August to see all she's learned. I'm still working on getting her the proper attire for ballet though.

The End of Tee-Ball Season

Saturday was the last day for tee-ball season. It was a fun season, but we've been so busy I don't feel like I got to enjoy it like in past years.
Grace was always excited for her games. Her main issue was the coaches (???) kept forgetting that she is a lefty, and they would put her on the wrong side of the tee.
She loved running the bases, as all three-year-olds do. At one point during the game Saturday, she ran to second base, left the field to come get a drink, and then continued to third base and home. Ha! That is so typical of the three-year-old league.
I'm not sure what she was doing with the bat here. She had her own agenda which included more socializing than playing baseball. At one point, she was lined up on the fence with the opposing team's batters while her team was fielding.
We had a short break between Grace's game and Gabriel's game. Gabriel has been really competitive this season.
He has also really enjoyed having friends on his team. He and Jackson can act so silly together between innings. I'm so glad the boys had fun.
Our team was pretty competitive about fielding the ball. They ran like a little herd toward the ball when it was hit. Gabriel got to it first several times. Then he would just look over at us and grin.
Damon was a great coach. There were times when I just shook my head because it looked like he was trying to herd cats on the field. He was patient though, and all of the boys had fun.
Thanks for a great season, Coach Damon and Coach Chris!
Here is Grace with her medal.
Here is Gabriel with his medal. He is convinced that they won the game because his team got medals.
Grace found a frisbee on the playground and organized our family into a circle to play.
We did as she asked and stood in a circle and tossed the frisbee a few times.
She was disappointed when we told her it was time to leave, but she was pumped because we let her keep the frisbee she'd found. (We felt pretty certain that it had been abandoned. We certainly wouldn't try to take some other kiddo's toy.)

The Day We Have ALL Been Waitng For . . .

THE RELEASE OF THE CARS 2 MOVIE!!!!

Seriously, we'd had this date marked on the calendar for six months.

We decided to see the movie in style . . . at the Georgetown Drive-in. Dan and I hadn't been to the drive-in since Bobby and Ben were about 8 years old. Gabriel and Grace had certainly never been to the drive-in. We knew it was an experience they would enjoy.
We set up our area with camp chairs, pillows, blankets, and our cooler. The kids thought it was a lot like camping.
We immediately spotted the giant stick of cotton candy. Gabriel dove in head first.

The cotton candy was quickly devoured, and Gabriel was a sticky mess.
While waiting for the movie to start, we played Uno.
Finally, the movie began. We all settled into our places.
We broke out the popcorn and watched the long-anticipated Cars 2. It was cute, but it just couldn't top the first one.

After Cars 2, we moved to screen two so Dan could watch X-Men. Gabriel stayed awake and watched it too. I happily slept through the second movie. Grace slept too, but Daddy had to hold her to get her to stop wiggling and talking so she could sleep. We got home from the drive-in about 3 a.m., and the kids were so sweet to sleep until 9 a.m. for us. I think that makes for one successful first trip to the drive-in movies!

A Little Outta Order

Friday morning Grace and I attended her third zoo class. The name of the class was S is for Snake.
We got to the class late due to some traffic issues so we missed the first part. They talked about how salamander starts with S.
Then they finger painted a salamander picture and talked about how a salamander feels cold and slimy like the paint.
For the last part of the class, we walked over to the herpaquarium so the kids could see some real snakes and spiders.

Bob Hedge Park

Gabriel and Grace's classes at daycare went to Bob Hedge Park Friday for a field trip. Gabriel was at school in the morning while Grace and I did her zoo class, then we went to school for the field trip.
Gabriel hit the swings first.
Grace and her friend Makenzi shared one of the big swings.
Gabriel was nice enough to push some girls in one of the big swings.
Another boy in Gabriel's class pushed Grace and Makenzi while I took a few pics.
Grace pretended to be a rock star at this area.
Next the kids headed over to the water pole for a little spray.
They were telling kids to look at the bug in the hole. When the kids bent down to look, they hit the button to make it spray water.

Gabriel is part monkey.
Before leaving the park, the kids had crackers for a snack. They worked up quite an appetite because 27 kids ate 6 packages of crackers.
I know my two made a dent in the crackers. We had fun hanging out together on a gorgeous summer day!

All Tuckered Out

Tuesday evening when I picked the kids up from daycare, Gabriel was not feeling the best. He'd complained about his stomach hurting since Friday, and he just seemed so lethargic. He immediately fell asleep in the car on the way home. Even after we got home, he stayed asleep in the car for about 45 minutes. I was sure he was sick, but once he woke up, he seemed like a new kid. Poor thing was just TOO TIRED.

The Tee-Ball Game that Wasn't

Thursday evening Grace had a make-up tee-ball game. Four players from our team showed up and one player from the other team showed up. We did not have a game, of course, but one of the dads, Steve Lee, was kind enough to get the kids started on some batting practice.
Grace ran the bases about a dozen times during practice.
Steve helped Grace with her stance for batting.
Then off she ran.
We've missed so many games that no one was certain whose turn it was to bring snacks and drinks. Of the 4 families representing our team, 3 brought snacks. Ha! Grace showed off her blue tongue caused by her blue Kool-aid pouch.
When we got home Daddy was weed-eating. Grace ran down the driveway toward him.
I don't know what the conversation was about, but I love seeing Daddy with his little girl. She was so excited about talking to him.