Better Late than Never

On one of the first warm days of the Spring (months ago now!!), Heidi, Bradley, and Alayna joined us at the Locks Park for a picnic, playground, and a small hike. I had no idea that there was a little trail that went around the water! We had a great time just chatting, watching the kids play, and checking out the water.

Heidi, here are the pics I said I'd share with you!

Grandpa and Gran Time

So as I'm finding out, the relationship Grayson shares with my parents is rare. Not rare in the fact that they love him to pieces and spoil him, but that they love spending time with him and have made it a prority to do so since he was 9 months old. We only live 4 hours apart which makes it easier for us to trade off once every 6-8 weeks. Grayson revels in the attention he gets from them and being at their house "all by himself". Trevor and I of course also benefit from this because we get 4-6 days to reconnect, get caught up on things around the house, and have dates galore!!

Grayson had his last visit to Grandpa and Gran's Memorial Day Weekend. They had a great time together. Uncle Joel, Aunt Sara, and Aunt Megan also got in the action spending time with him as they opened the pool at my parents over the long weekend! They went to a vehicle show at the pre-school where my mom used to teach, they went to the park, they went out for special lunches, and took a trip to Roanoke to the Chuck E Cheese!! It was a fun-filled week for the and for us! Thanks Grandpa and Gran for a great week!

Back to the Land of the Living

Okay...I'm done messing with my blog. Nothing is striking me as fabulous and so I'm done!!!!

We've just got back from vacation and I have no more energy to get pics and stories loaded. We are home, we are exhausted, we are not doing VBS with everyone this week, we are unpacking and regrouping, we will catch up later.

Transition

Forgive my crazy looking blog!!!! I wanted to change it up and am so frustrated after losing stuff and being at the computer for over an hour. I was getting tired of the stripes. I'm going to bed, and this will have to be a work in progress.

Strawberry pickin' in the country

Grayson and I had such a blast last year that we couldn't wait to get out there and do it again! We decided to go out into the "country" and pick this year. The weather last week was ideal for a day out picking, so we pulled on our rain boots, got our buckets,a nd off we went. Perfect time to go as there were 5 other people there. We had a great time, although Grayson wasn't as much help this year as he was last. He really wanted to get his bucket filled up to the top, so as I picked away, I found my yield getting less and less. Grayson was sneaking up and pulling the berries out of my bucket and into his!!

One of the best moments came when Grayson and I were walking down a row filled with water and mud. I had just finished telling him to walk because the mud was slippery and thick and he didn't want to get stuck. Well no sooner had I said this than he lost his balance. His boot was buried so deeply in the mud that he couldn't get it out to right himself and ended up seat first in the mud puddle. I had to laugh as he looked at me with those big brown eyes, 1/2 of his strawberry bucket spilled. Good thing this was early on or all my picking would have gone to the birds, literally! We had our good rain boots on and wind pants so by the time we left, he had already dried off.

We came home with some great strawberries, although I'm afraid that we'll be headed back out for more as I ruined most them. I am not an expert to say the least at what to do once the berry picking is done. No further detail needed, and Heidi don't you share my huge goof/blond moment!! Let's just say that I'll know better next time what to do with these berries as soon as I come home!!

As we were leaving the house in the morning, a stray cat came up purring and rubbing against our legs. I paid no attention and went straight to the car, but Grayson made a new friend. it took us a while to leave the driveway, and that was only after Grayson asked me 2-3 times if we could keep the cat!! He knows about allergies so I tried to nicely explain to him that we would never have a cat as a pet, outdoors or in!!!

Carnival Fair

Or so Grayson called the Jubilee Festival as he prayed last night. We knew we wouldn't make it over there the rest of the weekend, so with the impending bad weather, we struck out for a short evening of fun at the Festival. We stopped by the ATM first, you know how expensive a short evening can be!!, and then we were off. After dropping our first "5" to park, we walked across the field to the park. Grayson was so excited as we missed it last year, and we will miss the Strawberry Festival next weekend. This was our one night of enjoying the small town feel of a carnival/fair.

We got our food and found a place to sit and eat. Trevor always loves these things because they have great BBQ. This one didn't disappoint. They claimed to be one of Chesapeake's "Best" and it was. I am always up for the fresh-squeezed lemonade, although after tasting it, it was more like 'crystal light in a glass'. Oh well, better luck next time!

We walked around deciding how many tickets we needed and how much money we needed to drop at the ticket booth. We all went for the huge ferris wheel first and rode as a family. It was fast and really high! We had a great time doing this together. Can't get that ride at Busch Gardens!! We then let Grayson choose 3 rides of his own. We walked by the swings, which boasted children only, so we asked Grayson if he wanted to go. He said yes with a lot of jumping and clapping so off he went. As we were waiting, I told Trevor that I though this was actually going to go up in the air and spin like a "real" swing ride, not be a little "joke" like the children's one at Busch Gardens. I was a little worried. It was at this time I saw another mom get on a swing by her child, so I went and asked if I too could swing. The operator said sure, so I gave my $3 tickets adn got on the swing next to Grayson. As it began and immediately lifted us off the ground, I reached over for Grayson's swing only to find he was grinning from ear to ear and proceeded to push my hand off saying, "It's okay mommy, I'm alright!" I'm so glad I gave Trevor the camera to capture this moment. I screamed the whole time and had a huge smile as I was in shock that Grayson was not only not freaking out, but loving every minute. I am so glad for that other mother who got on the ride first that allowed me to share this BIG moment with Grayson. Good thing it was me and not Trevor, he surely would have puked with all that real swinging!!
Although we couldn't convince him to ride either of the children's roller coasters, even with one of us, he accomplished something big last night. I still smile just to look beside me on the swing and see him beaming from ear to ear on that big swing ride. Another one of those moments, "yup, he's really growing up and letting go a little bit more".
Sweet Grayson, I loved seeing you take this big risk, even though at first glance it didn't look like a big one. May you always go after things that may seem a little bit scary, because you never know where the biggest blessings or enjoyment is going to come from. Take a step out of your comfort zone once in a while, you will surprised at what you may find there. Your Daddy steps out there too and has never been disappointed!!

Smitten and Bitten

I am smitten--I had my first visit and first hold with Madeline a few weeks ago. What a perfect little bundle she was! Sooo tiny! Grayson was small, but not even that small. It just took me back to the enjoyable moments of those first few weeks of having a newborn. Sue immediately put her in the one little sleeper we brought over and I got to hold the precious girl. I couldn't get over all her dark hair. She had that sweet newborn smell, the soft beautiful skin, the tiny limbs.

I think this mom of 1 is ready to be the mom of 2. At times I wonder if I will return to motherhood easily since it has been so long in between Grayson and the impending #2, but God will give me the strength and grace to handle it, and bring back to memory the natural tendency that is a part of every woman. When it is His perfect time for us to expand our family, I will be ready. Of course so will my extended family be too!!! So here's to being bitten by the baby bug!!