Todd Lake Hike

One Sunday afternoon (after church and nap) we took Glen to mamaw and papaw's house to stay with papaw while mamaw, Carol, Shannon, Mike, Amy, Adam, Austin, Matt, Grace, and I went for a hike at a place called Todd Lake.  Todd Lake is about 20-30 minutes away from where we live so it was a nice scenic drive.  When we got there. 

 The hike was level, and lovely.  Grace loved the rocks and trees and leaves and wanted to examine everything.  Adam was great about telling her everything he knew about nature.  Oh, I forgot Carol's dog, Lacy, also came along.  She was a great motivator to keep Grace moving too because Grace wanted to be near her at all times.

 A mile into the hike we found this stream and took some pictures.  It was then we also realized that it was time to head back to the car.

Grace did fantastic hiking 2 miles all by herself (not being carried).  I hope that we can do that again, maybe when it warms up.  This was the perfect hike for kids (maybe Glen can join us in a year or so).

Preschool

Our local community center has a great preschool program.  I learned about it from my sister who first sent her children there, and then became a teacher there.  I was so impressed with it that I was determined to get Grace in (there are only 16 openings for the whole city).  I got in line to sign her up one and a half hours early.  I was the only person sitting there (except for mom who was there with me) for about 15 minutes, then people started coming in faster and faster to line up for the openings.

Grace got in!  

 School started right after Labor Day.  She has made many crafts and friends.  Most of her friends that she had before preschool are in the 4 year old class next door, but they have about an hour of play time with the 4 year old class so she gets to see her friends too.

I am so glad that we have this program and that she is able to get a taste of what school is like.  But more than anything I am glad that she is meeting new friends and getting new experiences with her teachers.

Side note:  Before preschool started, Grace said that she would only go if they gave her homework!

Random pictures

One of the joys of living out in the country as we do is that there are very interesting encounters that you can have with wild life.  In this picture you can see that Grace and Glen got to have an up close and personal experience with a groundhog.  They learned that groundhogs do not like to be trapped, they also learned that groundhogs do not like to get wet (at least not sprayed with a hose).  They also were told many times to keep a safe distance.  

We were at mamaw and papaw's house one day and Adam decided that Grace's trike and Glen's car needed a bit of decorating.  I think that he did a great job on both.

Go this way daddy!

Grace

One day I saw Grace playing with her farm.  But only one problem...

NONE of the animals were allowed in the farm!  Grace was so proud that she locked them all out.

Another pride moment recently was that she got her "first" piece of mail.  She has gotten mail before, but this is the first time that she noticed it or cared about it.  It was a reminder for a dental visit.  But it was a post card that had puppies on it, so I know why she cared about it :)

Glen

This summer I took Glen to the doctor for his 18 month visit.  Just so I can remember, his height was 32 1/2 inches and his weight was 24 pounds (but I am sure he is MUCH more than that now, at least he feels that way when I carry him!).

Driving...Already!

Glen has learned how to drive.  He has taken to the motorized car quite well.

 He did end up in a few bushes, but that only added to the laughter of the driver.

 He was quite proud of himself that he was able to drive all by himself!

But it made him very tired.  A well deserved nap for this future Indy car racer.

Camp

Last year we were members at the local children's museum.  Due to that I often got updated information of what was going on at the museum throughout the year.

This summer I got a message saying that there was one opening for a summer camp that they were holding that would start the next day.  The camp had been full for many weeks but one child backed out that the last moment and created this one opening.

I quickly contacted Matt and asked what his thoughts were.  My thoughts were...

1.  this would be a good test for when she goes to preschool in a few months

2.  it would be good to get her in an activity

3.  Glen might like to have me to himself for a bit

Well, Matt thought it was a good idea too.  So we got her in that last space.

It was Fairytale Theater camp.

 The first day they learned about The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  They ate dirt and grass (chocolate pudding with green coconut on top).  They acted it out and Grace had the part of the troll.  But in this play at the end instead of the goat throwing the troll off of the bridge they decided to become friends and the troll protected the goats for the rest of their lives.

 The second day they learned about the Little Red Hen.  They ate chicken feed (a snack trail mix).  They acted it out and Grace had the part of Turkey Lurkey.  Above you can see her in her costume.

 On the third day they learned about Too Many Fairies.  It was a story about a woman who hated to work so fairies came and decided to help her but there were too many of them and they were too loud so she got rid of them.  Once she got rid of them, she did not mind doing the work herself.  They ate fairy wands for snack, and I am not sure what they were made up of but I do know that it involved quite a bit of sugar and icing!  Grace acted out the part of the third fairy who came in and took over the job of taking care of the dog bed.

On the fourth day they learned about the Princess and the Pea.  Grace got to make her princess crown and also decorate and stuff her own pillow (mattress).  The snack was Graham cracker beds with marshmallow mattresses.  During the play she played the part of one of the first "princesses" who slept wonderfully even though a pea was under the mattresses.

She loved her camp and I think that it was a good week of practice for her in learning to listen to a teacher and being in a classroom with other kids.  It was a good camp.