My first sandcastle

This is my first sandcastle. We built it behind the Seven Days' cabin near Paradise, Michigan in the Upper Pennisula. As you can see, Daddy doesn't mess around with simple scale models. I knew he was serious when he brought a full sized shovel and dug a hole deep enough to cover my cousins (Emily, Nathan, and Katie) who are much older than me.




We enjoyed playing in the castle and defending the structure from various intruders and aliens. My cousin Nathan is demonstrating effectiness of using the castle when hiding from others.




He I am doing my part to protect this valuable structure. My Wonder Woman onsie should be more than enough to scare away anyone trying to invade our castle.





Daddy was taking a break so my cousins could perform test trials of the entrance ramp and ensure the interior was large enough to fit everyone. Minor modifications were necessary and resulted in a fortress not to be reckoned with...

Crisp Point Lighthouse

When we were on vacation, we got to do something really cool - we climbed up a lighthouse! The Crisp Point Lighthouse, northwest of Paradise on Lake Superior. It was so neat. Mommy and Daddy decided to take a drive one afternoon, looked at the Gazetteer and decided to go check it out. Described as the "one of the most magnificently desolate locations," it was the kind of location my mommy loves...miles down a sandy old logging road that dead ends at the Lake. Daddy on the other hand was worried about the car getting dusty. Silly Daddy.

"At the lighthouse you are about 18 miles from a paved road, 23 miles from the nearest electricity, and 27 miles from the nearest gas station, restaurant, and grocery store." Yet, at the lighthouse, you are at peace.


This is a borrowed picture of the scary stairs that we had to climb to get to the top. Mommy made sure that Daddy was holding on tight to me because she was nervous about Daddy dropping me because as many of you know, I'm a little wiggle worm.


This is Daddy and I in the lantern room. The lens has been removed as the lighthouse was decomissioned years ago.


And here we are out on the balcony of the lighthouse. It was so neat. The wind was blowing but we could see for miles. We could even see Canada.


This is the view looking west, towards Munising and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Isn't it pretty? So much sand to dig in and so many rocks to chew on. Ahhhh....a toddler's paradise.


And here is the view pointing east toward Whitefish Point. Absolutely gorgeous.


And finally, here is Daddy and I dancing in Lake Superior. I have to admit, I get to do pretty cool stuff with my parents!

Mommy's favorite picture

This is one of Mommy's favorite pictures from our vacation. It was taken at the Crisp Point beach and we had the whole beach to ourselves for awhile.

Family Vacation in Paradise

I just got home from da' UP (that's the Upper Peninsula for all of you out of staters) where I had a wonderful time playing with my Mommy & Daddy, my cousins, Auntie, and Gamma & Gampa. Here we are sitting on a log...in the forest. That's my cousins Emily, Katie & Nathan too. We had soooo much fun together. They included me in a lot of their games, which were really fun.

I had so much fun playing on the beaches of Lake Superior, chewing on rocks (quite tasty, yet crunchy) and getting sand into every body crevise I could. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to think of the sand, but quickly I decided it was fun to play in and I especially liked sitting in the cold water of Lake Superior and picking up pretty rocks (just like Mommy!). Daddy never understood why Mommy would bring home more rocks each time she visited the beach, but now he'll have twice as many at home!

Mommy's family has a "rustic" (that is real estate language for no running water and limited electricity) cabin in Paradise, MI near the Tahquamenon Falls. She grew up going there with her family and she says that it is still her favorite spot in the whole wide world. Mommy says that she could just sit in the woods for hours, or go lay on the beach at Whitefish Point and watch the freighters sail by. Here I am enjoying a bath in an old tub. Fun!

One of the family traditions is picking blueberries behind the cabin, but this year it has been too dry for a good crop. So, we just had to settle for blueberry pie and ice cream from the Paradise Bakery. I've never tasted anything so yummy. Thanks Gampa for sharing with me!

Playdate

Last weekend, I got to see a lot of my friends from my old school, as we all had a playdate together. I got to show off my groovy new tricks (blowing kisses and walking!) to my teachers and I think they were quite impressed. I got to see my buddies Luke and Rahul, but Mommy was too busy talking to remember to take my picture with them.

I'm walking!

Guess what?!!! I've taken my first step! On Monday, Mommy turned around to look at me, and saw me take my first step (that she knows of) as I walked towards some big fluffy pillows to jump in. It's fun! Already I'm taking 5-6 steps together, so I'm going to be running in no time. Mommy hasn't been fast enough to catch me with the camera yet though, but she'll keep trying so you can all see how "amazing" I am.

Daycare news!

Good news! I will start at a new daycare in a few weeks! It is a Montessori center and I will be able to start right when Mommy and Daddy need me to. It is also managed by Bright Horizons, like my former school, so some things will be very familiar to me and M&D. I sure have enjoyed spending time at home this summer with Sopha and Katelin though and having my own personal assistant/teacher! But I guess I am looking forward to playing with other friends my age again too. Sopha and Katelin don't appreciate a good toe chewing like my old daycare buddies did. Mommy is excited (and enormously relieved) because now she said that she can take me "back-to-school" shopping since I can't wear my jammys all day anymore.

Tonight I got to have dinner with one of my former teachers, Ms. Kim. Gosh, I miss my teachers. Ms. Kim always let me snuggle with her whenever I needed a hug. The kids she is watching now are lucky. I also miss Ms. Darcy who always gave me fun hairstyles each day so M&D never knew what I would look like when they would pick me up. Ms. Debbie was so kind and friendly. Mrs. Krystal always had a hug waiting for me. And Ms. Ashley was fun too - she loved to laugh with me. I am looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend at the water park!

Mommy wanted to show people this picture of me and my kitty cat, Sydney. Syd is fun to play with - she let's me body slam her and then pull out fistfuls of her fluffy grey fur. This picture also shows how I enjoy playing in an empty shoe box, instead of all of the expensive toys that I have!

I miss you Daddy!

Taters in my ears

Daddy is teaching me how to clean the taters out of my ears. He teases me that they grow there since I'm part Idahoian. Mommy calls me his "Lil' Tater Tot."

(Note from Kris: Don't worry. Grace is safely supervised when she is sticking anything in her ear. Well, she is safely supervised when we are aware that she is sticking anything in her ear anyway.)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

This week has been a busy one! I got to go to both a Tigers and a Lions game this week. No wonder I'm so tired tonight. I sure did have fun at both games and I was the hit of the crowd. I didn't make it onto the JumboScreen yet, but I made a lot of friends.

At the Tigers game, we got to see a lot of our friends from Northern, as Mommy's alumni group got together for the game. The Tigers didn't play very well (Tigers 1, Tampa Bay 7), but I did have a bite of my first ballpark hotdog and it was yummy!

I also learned how to do the "wave." I need a little practice though, because I was about three seconds late each time, but everyone thought I was cute!

The Lions game was fun too! They weren't playing very well either, but Mommy read in the paper this morning that they actually won after we left the game (Lions 27, Bengals 26). We had to leave the game early because someone in our family was tired (and it wasn't me...it was Daddy!) Daddy is trying very hard to be a Lions fan here in Detroit, but he says that they aren't making it easy for him!

'Da Bears...those were the Teddy Grahams that I was sharing with Mum & Dad at the game.

Dad's early-parenting philosophy

"Our job is to make sure Grace is the one buying the fries, and not the one making the fries."

Learning to use a spoon

So, think back if you can to when you learned to use a spoon. It's kind of hard isn't it? Which end goes in my mouth? How do I keep the food from falling off? And darn it, I keep forgetting that I need to "reload" my spoon before I put it in my mouth! Of course, it is not helping that my Daddy shows me that your spoon belongs on your nose. He's so silly! I love him. He gives me good snuggles. What do you think though...am I going to be a rightie or leftie?

I am eating well though, and my parents often poke my belly after each meal to make sure that it won't pop because it usually sticks out a lot. I love watermelon, popsicles, ice cubes, fruit, and most veggies. If you put it in front of me, I'll at least try it, and if I don't like it, I will pull it out of my mouth and hand the half-chewed piece of food to Mommy. I can't figure out why she looks at me funny then. She won't eat it either!

We are still in the midst of our daycare dilema too. I love my friends Sopha and Katelin who are watching me this summer, but they will go back to school full-time in a few weeks. Mommy found out that we are still on the waitlist for the great center where she works, so they put my name in at another center, but they have a waitlist too. So frustrating...doesn't anyone want me?! Mommy thinks that she should have attached a picture of me on the applications, because no one can say no to me! When Mommy and Daddy tell me no, I just sit down, fold myself in half and wail into the floor. (Don't tell them, but it works every time!)

I've been "Simpsonized!"

Daddy "Simpsonized" me! My kitty, Sydney, is actually a lot cuter than this scraggly thing though. As you know, I really have a lot more hair than this too.

The other picture is my Daddy. Mommy told him that his hair needed to be a little more gray, but he just laughed.

More birthday party photos