Fun weekend trip!

Wow, it's almost another weekend! Between traveling home on Monday instead of Sunday, a very slow computer, and a workshop all day on Wednesday, I am just now getting around to completing this post about our trip to Fort Worth.

Mike, Tanner, Grace and I left on Friday morning headed to Texas. We had not been to Mike's folks since April of 2008. Needless to say they were all ready to see Little Miss Grace! She traveled pretty well, thanks to the DVD player. She really only slept for about 45 minutes on the last leg of the trip. She doesn't have her paci anymore so it was not as easy for her to fall asleep. We made good time, though, and pulled into Mema and Papa's at about 3:00 p.m. Grace went to the door by herself, with Tanner around the corner, because Papa didn't know we were coming. He was very surprised to see that little girl at the door and at first didn't know who she was! It didn't take him long, though, and he was thrilled to see her. It was okay with him that we were there too, but she was the one he was really wanting to see.


Here he is just watching every move she made. He couldn't believe how big she had gotten and how verbal she was. She talked nonstop once she got comfortable in her surroundings!

There was a picture of her with Mema right here, but I accidentally deleted it! I will put it in another post later. She also was thrilled to see Miss Grace. She had seen her in February when she came up here for Grace's 2nd birthday but she was really ready to spend some more time with her. She, too, was amazed at how much she had grown and how much she was talking and making sense.


One of our all time favorite places to eat in Ft. Worth is Joe T. Garcia's. Mike craves it all the time, so I know we will eat there at least once any time we are in town. We went there for lunch on Saturday and it was just as good as it always is. Mema, Tanner, Mike, Brenda (Mike's sister), Grace and I stuffed ourselves to the hilt. Everything was fresh and hot! I had to send Taylor a picture of our table since she didn't go with us. She was not too thrilled!
After Joe T.'s, Brenda, Mema, Grace and I went to one of Brenda's friends and picked up their little girl who is the same age as Grace. We then went to Forest Park to ride the train. It was a lot of fun. The train was a little bigger than the one in Ft. Smith that Grace, Granny and I had ridden. The ride lasted for about 45 minutes and we saw some pretty scenery. Brenda was excited to be able to take Grace on the train. She remembered when she had taken Taylor and Tanner on the same one.

This is Audrey. She was more bashful than Grace at first, but she finally came around. Grace wanted to hold her hand and sit by her on the benches while we waited. She wouldn't even look at Grace at first. Grace couldn't quite understand why she wouldn't have anything to do with her. It was fun watching them interact. Grace is never around kids her own age. By the end of the train ride they were best friends and hugging each other. When we got Audrey back to her house she didn't want to go in! Don't they both have beautiful blue eyes?
Back at Mema and Papa's we had gotten popsicles from the ice cream truck. Grace obviously got a red popsicle! We stripped her down to panties and kept her outside and she had a ball.
When she finished it, Brenda got the water hose after her! She loved it, too. She loves the water as much or more than any kid I know. She stood still for a while and then she ran off. It was funny watching Brenda go after her with that hose.
On Sunday morning we left Ft. Worth headed for Lake Texoma to spend the day with Chadd, Jeannie and Brett. We met up with them at their boathouse. Immediately we put the life vest on Grace. I was a nervous wreck when we first got there. Grace is not really afraid of much and we were surrounded by water! They kept telling me that she was okay, even if she fell in her head wouldn't even go under water because of the design of the vest. She got pretty hot and kept wanting it off, but all in all she did pretty well. Jeannie got out the little fishing rods and let her fish right up there where we were sitting on the dock. She caught 2 almost immediately! She seemed to enjoy seeing them, but didn't really want to have much to do with them. Ranger, the dog, on the other hand was very interested in them!
After we snacked on some sausage stuffed peppers, we took off on the boat! Grace really enjoyed that. I was very nervous once again, trying to keep her still! We went off a ways and let the boat drift while Tanner, Jeannie, Brett, Chadd and Grace did some lake swimming! Tanner took very good care of his niece! The boat drifted quite a ways away and Chadd ended up going out to help bring Grace back. She was not so crazy about swimming with Chadd! It all worked out fine, though.
She did okay with Jeannie as long as she stayed close to the boat!
Tanner and Jeannie had to 2 seats at the front of the boat that they fish from so of course Grace wanted to be up there. She is pretty crazy about her Uncle T anyway, so she likes to be with him.
We had a great day at the lake! After our boat excursion we headed back to the boathouse for some delicious fajitas. When everyone had their fill we headed into Chadd and Jeannie's to spend the night. We were all pretty tired from the sun. On Monday morning we headed back to Arkansas! We stopped off in Alma to spend some time with Granny and then took Grace home. She didn't want to go home, she wanted to go to our house! We, however, were ready for her to go to her house! I love her dearly, but it was good to drop her at her house after having her for 4 days straight. I am reminded every time we have her for any length of time like that why we have our kids when we are younger!

We really did have a wonderful trip and I hope we get to have many more with her!!!

Birthday week and fun with Granny and Grace

This post actually begins with last weekend when Grace was over at our house. Mema Betty had sent her a package to our house and she thoroughly enjoyed opening it. There were several little things, most wrapped individually inside the box. The prizes included 2 pair of high heels, a head band, some pink hair, and a tinkerbell dress complete with wings. There were also some movies in there and a stuffed animal dressed up in a frilly dress and on a stand. She immediately started putting the shoes on and wearing them around the house and then it was on to the pretty dress. She looked adorable as some of the pictures below will attest. As far as I know, this was her first dress-up dress but I don't think it will be her last!

Digging into the box.

Front view

Back view (there was a toothbrush, too)

Head band and pink hair

and some new jewelry!

On Monday Grace and I headed to Alma to spend a few days with Granny. We always call for reinforcements when we go to Alma, Courtney! She is a lifesaver. Grace loves her and she loves Grace so whenever we are down I always call to see if Courtney is available. She is always ready to spend some time with Miss Grace, so she came up after we got in from the running around we did Monday afternoon. Grace absolutely wore her out, I think. But, if you look closely, you can see smiles on both faces!

On Tuesday we decided it was time for grilled burgers. There aren't many things in this world that Granny likes better than grilled burgers. If I am down for any length of time I always grill burgers and hot dogs for her. Courtney and Granny Ima came up to enjoy our burgers and dogs. While waiting for the coals to get hot, Courtney and Grace did some cooking of their own. I don't know how many pork chops and cookies they cooked out on that patio before our burgers were ready. It was shady on the patio and there was a slight breeze so it was not too hot to be out there. It's a good thing because Grace loves to be outside.

Wednesday, the 17th, was my birthday. Mom went over to Paul's Bakery in Van Buren and got a birthday cake for me. We were planning to go out on Wednesday so we had the cake and ice cream with our grilled burgers. It was soooo good. We have been having all kinds of cakes and cookies from Paul's Bakery since I was a little girl. Isn't it pretty?

When I was a little girl, a very long time ago, we used to have many picnics at Creekmore Park in Fort Smith. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many hours we have spent there over the years. It was a great park then and still is today. They have a train called the "Creekmore Express" that still runs most days. When we were kids, it was a steam train. Now they only use the steam train on holidays, but they run another one the rest of the time. I have been wanting to get Grace over there to ride it and we finally made it. We went on Wednesday about noon before it go too hot to be outside. It costs a whole quarter per person to ride it! Is that highway robbery or what? Anyway, we made it to the park and only had to wait a few minutes until it stopped for our turn. Grace, Granny and I loaded up, paid the man our 75 cents and waited until time to go. It was fun. Grace didn't have too much to say about it, but I think she enjoyed it too.

Waiting for the ride to start!

Of course, on the way to the train we passed all the other play areas, most of which were in the direct sun. After we got off the train, Grace headed for this slide. It was just her size and it was curvy. She had a ball. There was a swing not far from the slide and in the shade, so Granny sat down for a few minutes and we let her go down the slide.

At the top of the slide

At the bottom of the slide

She really wasn't ready to go when we were, but her cheeks were beet red and it was time for lunch. I met her at the bottom of the slide and scooped her up and started walking, eliminating much opportunity for fussing. I told her we were headed to eat lunch and since she is always hungry she gave in.

We had a great visit with Granny and came home on Thursday. I was tired, but it was worth every minute. I know she isn't going to be little for very long.

On Friday morning, I got a text message from Taylor telling me that I had plans for the evening. I was going to girl's night with her and her friends. I knew she had one planned and that they were going to dinner and then to see The Proposal. I had really been wanting to see that movie and I love to eat out so I was in. I asked her where they were going and she said that they were going to let me decide since they were helping me celebrate my birthday! Wasn't that sweet? I opted for Noodles. I haven't been there very often so it was some place different and I had a $10.00 coupon. It was great fun and the food was delicious. Taylor has posted some pictures that Stephanie and our waiter took. They surprised me with the sparkler dessert since we were celebrating my birthday. Thank goodness all the waiters and waitresses did not sing to me! It was nice to be the center of attention for a few minutes, though! Thank you girls for letting me be a part of your girl's night!

While we were at dinner, Taylor gave me my birthday card from her and Tanner. They gave me a gift card to Target so I could go get my NintendoDS!! I have never been one for playing video games but when Courtney got one for her birthday and started telling me all about it, I decided that I just had to have one! Both of my kids thought I was crazy, but they got it for me anyway!

I got the pink one, surprise, surprise! I also found the kit shown with it that has a case in it, a game, a car charger and some extra stylus pens. I looked at the games at Target, but they didn't really have any I wanted. I have been scoping out games since May! I had to go to Wal Mart for groceries so I looked at their games and found several that I want. I settled on this MillionHeir Mystery Case Files game to start with. The one that is with the case is a puzzle collection so I have some variety to start with. I was a little nervous to get it opened up and dig in, but I have played some of both games already. It is going to be easy to get addicted!

Anyway, that ends my week's activities. I do so love the summer time with very few committments! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm off to play my new games! Housework, what housework?