A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words (x 29)

Has anyone heard about global warming causing the days to get shorter? I could swear that as it gets hotter and hotter, the days are getting shorter. Certainly, there are fewer than 24 hours in a day because I NEVER seem to get everything done. Scientific theories aside, the real reason for the lapse in postings is that we have been having waaaaay too much fun to sit down and write an update! My good friend, Kary, maintains a blog for her 3-year old son, Ben, and uses photos to tell their stories (so to speak). So I'm going to give that blog-writing method a shot today, starting clear back in early June.

For GG's birthday, Pee Paw and Gma Bee gave her a one-year enrollment to Gymboree Music and Play. So Gracie and I have been going to a Family Music class every Saturday morning for several weeks, and she loves it! She plays instruments, dances, sings, and is learning about different types of music from around the world. Of course, we've picked up a few new toys since we started going. Here's a picture of GG playing in her Gymbo tunnel. Her favorite tunnel game? Chasing Norman through it, of course.

Although our little sweet pea is only 14-months old, she is already exhibiting some willful 2-year old behavior. For example, if she does not immediately get her way, she has been known to turn on the crocodile tears and throw a mini-temper tantrum. Some battles, however, are not worth the effort. Here's a pic of Gracie feeling very proud of herself because, after some resistance, we finally let her sit on top of the coffee table to play with her wire/bead toy.

The next 3 photos were taken in our yard on a warm, sunny day. Benji very generously loaned Gracie his rocket car, in which GG loves to ride down the driveway. It goes really fast, but as you can see, it delights her to no end. We are still on a quest to find a toddler-sized helmet.

For Father's Day, Chad got a brand new, 2008 Nissan Rogue. He has taken a ton of pictures of it, so maybe we can post a picture next time we check in. Anyway... he wanted to take his fancy new car on a short road trip, so we drove down to Eugene to visit Noelle and Jeremy and the kids for the day. We all hung out and visited while the babies played in the yard and Brenden rode his bike; then later we had a nice BBQ. Here's a shot of Gracie dumping her cut-up hot dog on her head.

The monkey bandage and red mark under her eye were the result of a nasty spill she took earlier in the day. GG and Rubie were playing on the grass in the front yard and somehow, G slipped and rolled down a small embankment and bonked her forehead on the sidewalk. It was her first official scrape requiring an actual band aid. It was very sad, but she shook it off and played happily the rest of the day.

Here's sweet B-Boy showing his sister and cousin how cool his wad of Silly Slime is. The girls were mesmerized until one of the grown-ups captured their attention.

At the end of a fun day, RuRu and GG got to take a bath together. Rubie Toots thought it would be fun to help by washing Gracie's hair.

The weekend after Father's Day, our little family of 3 spent a relaxing Sunday brunching at a place called Old Wives' Tale in NE Portland, where they have a really cool ship-themed play structure for the wee ones to play on. As you can see, Grace LOVED the "ship."

...but she wasn't so sure about the orange.

After brunch, we visited a local park.

The next weekend, Mike and Ashley came to visit us. They were only here for a short time, but we definitely jammed a lot of activities into the 2 days we had them. On Saturday morning, we went to a park:

After the park, we went to our new favorite lunch/coffee spot in Vancouver (Cafe Sip-n-Play). There are 3 play areas with tons of toys, books, and climbing structures for small children to explore while their adults enjoy a much-needed afternoon coffee pick-me-up.

Later that afternoon, Gracie played in her rubber ducky swimming pool...

...and we all took turns giving her rides in her wagon.

On Sunday, we paid our first visit to the Children's Museum. We had so much fun that we got a one-year membership so we can return again and again. Everyone's favorite exhibit was the water room.

But we also had fun painting...

Creating things with clay...

Playing "dentist"...

... and walking like dinosaurs.

It was a great weekend.

Believe it or not, we have a bunch more photos to share, but it has taken me two hours to write this post and my hands are going numb. I will log on later to finish our update...