Day 3

On the way to Matt's Gram's house we discovered a park that we decided to visit, many times, during the week.

 The park had a play ground, a lake, a running trail, and DUCKS!  And that made one little boy who is fascinated by birds (Glen) very, very happy.

 The ducks came very close looking for food, and we were happy to offer crackers.

 The ducks were very friendly, and Glen was in his glory looking at the ducks and squealing about them.

 Here is Grace and Ellie feeding the ducks. 

 Then back to Matt's Gram's house and time for stories and lunch.

 Picnics on the floor with cousins.  Who could ask for more?

 The days got to be a bit long, Glen got his naps when he could.  Grandpa Steve was more than willing to help out with those naps.

 Then we went to visit Matt's uncle David.  Till he was able to have us visit we played at a park nearby.

 Glen loved the slide.

 Glen really loved the slide.

 Here is Matt's uncle David.

 David, Gram, Sue, Glen, and Steve.

 After lots of visiting, we went out to dinner with David at Olive Garden.  Which led us to go to the park the next day to feed the ducks all of our left over bread sticks :)

Day 2 (and some left overs of day 1)

At the airport Grace found a wonderful toy.  She found some signs that were set off to the side and decided to start marching on them.  She loved the sound of it and Glen joined in.  Easy entertainment, you have to love it!

 Grace looked like such a world traveler with her SkyMall magazine and her window view.  She did very well on the flights.

 She especially did well after the flight attendant decided to give her an apple juice with an umbrella in it and a pair of wings to put on her shirt :)  She also gave Glen a box of first class snacks to play with.  She was a great flight attendant.

 On Monday we started the day out at IHOP for a wonderful breakfast and then promptly went to Kroger to stock up on food for lunches for the rest of the week.

Then we proceeded to Matt's Gram's apartment.  Matt's uncle Mike met us there to spend some time with us.

 Above is Mike talking to me, below is Matt's Gram (or Great Gram as Grace called her).

 Grace and Ellie loved all of her stuffed animals, especially the white cat in this picture.  Here Grace is trying to decide whether to eat lunch or play animals with Ellie.  Oh what choices!

In  addition to the animals, the girls loved to play with the foam blocks and play-doh.

If you look in the above picture you will see a door with a white mat in front of it.  During the morning it was a play area for the kids.  In the afternoon, it was a nap place for Glen.  And no, nothing would wake him up!

 I had suggested going to the cattle drive since we were going to go to dinner near it anyway.  Mike was a bit hesitant saying that it is a tourist trap.  Well, Mike, we ARE tourists!  So we went and I think a good time was had by most (if not all).

 This box was great for pictures, but it was really used to sell tickets and hand out brochures.  But it was not being used at the time, so I took advantage of it.

A good picture of Glen, without his pacifier!  Who would have thought?

 Grace and I waiting for the cattle to come.

 Here come the cows!

 And the cowboys!

 Grace and Glen loved seeing the cows and cowboys.  She still talks about cowboys (in fact her farmer in her little play set is not a farmer to her, it is her cowboy)

 Playing around in the shops we got some good pictures of Grace and Glen on a saddle, and with crazy hats.

 Grace is just the perfect height!

 Looking around at the streets of Fort Worth.

 After the cattle drive we went to a Mexican restaurant called Joe T. Garcia's.  It was very nice and I am very grateful that Mike took us there.  The food was good and the grounds were amazing!  There were many water fountains to see.  Mike was smart and thought ahead, after dinner we went to see the fountains and he pulled out a large bag of change.  He let the girls throw penny after penny, dime after dime, nickle after nickle, and I am sure quarter after quarter into this fountain.  They had a blast!  I am sure that no wishes were made that day, but it still made for two very happy three year olds!

Glen was just happy to see the bushes and grass.  Life is simple at one.

Day 1

May 12th we began quite the adventure.  We woke early that Sunday, finished packing and drove to a local airport. 

 That airplane took us to DC, so that we could catch our flight to Dallas, TX.

 At Dallas, TX we drove half an hour to get to McKinney, TX.

 At which location we would meet up with Matt's mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and his grandmother and two uncles that live in that town.

A great family vacation, and a wonderful time meeting the family.

One Year (and 35 pounds)

A year ago this week, I do not know what got over me, but I decided to start my weight loss journey.  I was at my highest weight ever.  Now I am a year into it and I have lost 35 pounds.  I have dropped from a size 18 to a size 12.  But what amazes me are the changes that I can see in the pictures, especially the two family pictures below.  They were taken almost a year apart to the day.

 

I am far from done with this journey.  I am hoping to continue and get more of this weight off, but I am just rejoicing in how far I am come in 12 months.

Gymnastics

Just by chance one Sunday I was in nursery with a couple who was talking about putting their children in a gymnastics class.  I asked a bit more and realized that there was a class for Grace's age.  I also just happened to be subbing at the same school that it was going to be held at, and I knew the person who was in charge.  So I spent the next week trying to figure out if there was an opening for Grace, because the classes started that Saturday.

Grace got in!

 She loved going to school.  She loved listening to her teachers.  But more than anything she loved doing flips (somersaults) and jumping on the three trampolines.

 Each class started with the children having some time on the climbing wall.  (we WILL be putting one of these in our backyard)

Glen liked to watch, but he wanted to run and play with Grace so badly.

After about two months of the classes, they are now done.  Grace still talks about her flips and her trampolines.  I might just have to look into getting her into another session of classes this fall.  It was good to get out.  It was good to see Grace playing as instructed.  She got to climb, jump, run, walk on the balance beams, flip on the uneven bars, swing on ropes to name a few activities.  She was also almost always asleep by the time we got home.

Yeah, we might have to do this again.

Glen at 15 months

It is a little late in coming, but a week or two back Glen had his 15 month check-up (which was late also).  He is 32 inches tall, 24 pounds.  75-90 percentile for everything.  He is most likely going to be a big boy.  He did great the whole trip.  Grace needed everything that was done to Glen done to her (except for the shots!)  And the doctor was kind enough to play along.  I am so glad that he is understanding in that way.

Crazy Idea

Sometimes I have some crazy ideas.  I am glad that Matt is there to balance me out and either talk some sense with me, help me see a different side of things, or to run with my crazy idea no matter how crazy. 

This is one case that I am so glad that Matt is right there with me in running with this crazy idea.

We had three very large, over grown, and to be honest...not very pretty bushes in our backyard.  We knew that we wanted to take them out as soon as we moved into the house.  It wasn't till this winter that we got them down.  But in the meantime they left a very large dirt area where grass would not grow beneath the bushes.  Matt wanted to know what we should plant or seed in that area.  I told him NOTHING!  I stated my desire to leave it as a dirt patch to let the kids play, dig, and get dirty in an area that is not my garden and that I do not care about.

 Every night this week I have been in the yard either working or just sitting with the kids watching them play in the dirt pile.  Grace loves to bury her feet with the dirt that she digs up with her shovel.  Glen likes to pick up the dirt and put it on top of his head.  I am ok with that!  Yes, they always need baths afterwards, but they have so much fun and they are so tired afterward because they have worked/played so hard.

 Thank you Matt for running with this crazy idea.  I am so glad that our kids will have an area of their own to explore, learn, dig, and just get messy in.