A Sunny Weekend

The weather this past weekend was really nice! We had temperatures in the 70's both Friday and Saturday. This meant lots of time spent outside. I had planned to take Grace to a park Friday afternoon but then decided to try and meet Dustin on-post during his lunch break for a picnic at a park. After hurrying to get to the park I was informed that he was done for the day. We spent a couple hours at one of the many nice parks on-post. Grace had tons of fun! Before we headed home we stopped by the community office for a bathroom break (Grace is almost potty trained!!) and we got free cookies. I didn't take my camera Friday and I haven't got the pictures my Mom took that day, sorry!

When we got home we pulled out the bounce house. Grace really enjoys jumping in it! We pulled it out another time (I think it was Thursday night) too. We had some neighbors stop by to play and we talked to several other neighbors who were out on walks enjoying the nice weather. We invited them all to come back and play next time we have the bounce house up!

We pulled out all of Grace's outside toys that we have been waiting to play with. She got a Dora trike for her birthday and a Barbie Jeep for Christmas. The weather has been a little too cold for her to enjoy them much but this weekend she got to ride on them a lot!

The birthday hat she is wearing in the picture of her in the Jeep was from a birthday party we attended last weekend. A family walked by and saw Grace riding her Jeep and wearing a birthday hat and the bounce house in the yard and thought we were having a birthday party. They were so nice and told her "Happy Birthday!"

On Saturday we went to the park in Cyril. We had never been to this park! Since it is the same town my cousins live in we called to see if any of them wanted to come play too. And Papa Bill came by to see us!

There are swings and slides and Grace would rather play with rocks!

Rainy Day

It has been another wet weekend here on Okinawa. It has pretty much drizzled rain since off and on. So not exactly ideal weather to hit up the pools or the beach. So after just running a couple errands yesterday we haven't had much to do. This afternoon we decided to head outside into the rain for a bit of wet weather fun!

Grace kept saying "water, water, water"

She got to touch the water while Mommy and Daddy kept an eye out for cars!

Splashing is so much fun!

She loves her umbrella and poncho!!

This morning we let her play in her swimming pool until she got cold and had to get out. Hopefully this rain will pass soon and it will warm up enough to take advantage of the beach!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a pretty nice long weekend. Besides the fact that Grace wasn't feeling too well and it rained all weekend, it was pretty enjoyable! We didn't do much at all on Friday or Saturday. We did go to the library to get a few new books. The rain was probably 6 inches deep outside the car so we did our best to stay dry.

On Monday we met Maggie (and her family) at MonaKids Jungle. It is a huge indoor playground! It got pretty busy that day. I guess all the Americans had the same idea. Grace and Maggie both had a lot of fun! We had to follow Grace all around to keep her from getting ran over by the big kids.

There are so many tunnels that I would lose Dustin and Grace and have to look around for a few minutes before I spotted them!

I think the ball pit was probably Grace's favorite place!

She had it all to herself for the first 20 minutes we were there and that was probably the most fun she had all day!

We invited James, Kelly, Maggie, Lanie, and Kelly's mom Wendy over on Sunday night and Dustin grilled shish kabobs. After the girls all went to bed we played Ticket to Ride which is a really fun board game.

We bought Grace a bunk bed over the weekend since we found a really good deal on it. She won't use it until we move back to the states but we put the mattress down to make a bed for Maggie. Grace picked out a Dora sheet set at the BX and both the girls were so excited about it.

Best Friends!

Beach Day!

We finally had nice weather on a weekend! So we took full advantage of the sunshine and went to the beach on Friday and Saturday.

Grace LOVES everything about the beach. She could play in the sand for hours. She even found a crab to chase!

And as much as she loves the sand, I think she enjoys being in the water more. She got to test out her new floaty!

The beach was crowded on Saturday. I guess everyone was so tired of all the rain we got last weekend and wanted to get out to the beach and enjoy the sunshine.

On Friday we went to the beach for some type of Army function. It was grill your own steak night at the little restaurant which is always good.

And, of course, we had all of our beach toys and a bathing suit for Grace so she that she could get wet.

Productive Saturday

We have had a very relaxing but productive Saturday. First we started out by making a list of dinner ideas and a shopping list. We added a few new meals which should be fun to try!

Since Grace can't really help us plan out our meals (I am sure we would be eating a lot of goldfish crackers, bananas, and chocolate if it was up to her!) she got to do a more fun task.

PAINT!

She is definitely right-handed.

Then it was time to get ready and off we went to shop. We started out at the BX since we had some things to return. As we were waiting in the check out line Maggie ran up to us. What a nice surprise! Grace and Maggie got to play in the toy kitchen they have on display for a little while before we had to go. While I did the grocery shopping Dustin and Grace went to clean out the van and go to the post office.

We made it home right at lunch time. I had bought several new things for Grace to try so for lunch she had a hotdog. She had tried one at the dragon boat races that Maggie had shared with her and seemed to like it. Today she LOVED them. She ate one and then asked for more. There was not a single piece left of the 2 hotdogs we have her!

After a very short nap it was time to play again. We were needing a few things from the 100 Yen store so I took off to get those while Dustin and Grace stayed home to get the car washing stuff ready.

I came home with these cute sunglasses for Gracie!

We had to have a little snack before our next big project.

As you can see, Grace is VERY good at using her fork and spoon!

We washed the van!

Grace was such a good helper!

And now the outside of my van is finally clean.

Catch Up

It has been almost a week since I have blogged so I have a bit of catching up to do. Last week was very uneventful and seemed to fly by. However we had a very busy weekend. We kept our friends James and Kelly's little girl Maggie who is 2 1/2. You have probably all seen pictures of her on here in the past because she is Grace's very best friend (and they are our very best friends too!). They wanted to have a little get-away to celebrate their anniversary before "Little Sister" makes her appearance next month so we agreed to keep Maggie for 2 nights!

Grace was SO excited to see Maggie on Friday evening. She was just finishing up dinner when Maggie got here and since we had the patio door open we could hear them and Grace decided she HAD to be done right then because Maggie was here. So they played and Maggie ate and then they played a little more before we put on our jammies and read a few bedtime stories.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and they played some more.

Around 8:45 we left for the beach and the playground. We went to Araha beach, which we have not been to in about 2 years! They have a neat pirate ship that was fun to play on. It was a little scary too once you got to the top!

The girls enjoyed the little pirate ship (or as Maggie decided to call it "Sail Boat") a little more than the big one!

In the next two pictures you can see the BIG pirate ship! There was a zip-line on the other side that the girls got to swing on.

And then we went back to the "sail boat"

We let the girls walk down to the beach and play in the sand and get their feet wet. They, of course, loved it!

Then we decided that maybe it was time to go buy Grace a pool for this year. The one she had last year got a hole in the bottom and it is too small for her this year. So we had to find a place to clean off our feet so we could load up in my school bus and go buy a pool and ice cream making stuff.

We had carried Grace and Maggie up from the beach and so we put Maggie in the stroller since she is heavier and they were both barefoot. Then Grace wanted to ride! Maggie said it was uncomfortable so we ended up putting Maggie's shoes on so she could walk.

When we got home it was time to make homemade bread! The girls had a good time stirring the dough and Maggie is such a good helper in the kitchen. She poured in ALL of the ingredients until it was time for the flour and I let the stand mixer do the work.

But after it was all mixed up Grace and Maggie each got their own dough to knead and then we put it in a bowl to rise. While we waited for it to rise we all ate lunch. After lunch we put the bread in the pans. The girls each got to make their very own little loaf and then we made a dozen rolls and another loaf of bread.

While the girls napped we set up the new pool! They had to wait to get in so we could put hot water from the sink in it to warm it up.

Once they got in they stayed in for probably an hour! We had to finally make them get out because Grace was starting to shiver.

They had so much fun that we let them get back in the pool on Sunday morning! And it just so happened that I mistakenly bought 2 bathing suits that were matching when they were on clearance for $1 last year. They just so happened to fit Grace and Maggie this year!

After we were done swimming the girls played while Dustin and I made dinner. Dustin grilled and after dinner we made ice cream! James and Kelly called to talk to Maggie while we were making ice cream and she kept saying "we are making ice cream" over and over.

Sunday morning we let them swim again but spent the rest of the day at home. They got to watch Dora and eat their snack which they thought was pretty cool.

Maggie went home around 2:30 and then we ended up just going to the PX to get a cover for the pool and decided to just eat out so we wouldn't have to spend any more time in the kitchen. Between picking up the toys, cleaning the kitchen, making bread and ice cream plus several meals, all while entertaining two toddlers was exhausting. It definitely makes me want to sort through the toys and either get rid of some or hide some to rotate out... maybe both!

Grace enjoyed having Maggie over but I think she was glad to not have to share her Mommy and Daddy once Maggie went home!

Ready for the Weekend

The weekend is almost here!

Last week Dustin had staff duty on Saturday. That means that he is leaving for work as we are eating our breakfast. And he comes home for work and brings breakfast the next day. So, last weekend lasted less than 24 hours so we are really looking forward to this weekend. We do go and visit him on staff duty. We had lunch together, went to the new BX, and then went back after Grace's naptime.

There is a new rule in his unit - nobody works past 3pm on Thursday's. This means that the weekend comes a few hours sooner!

Not really much going on this weekend which will be nice.

I think tomorrow we will clean out the car and then go to the gym.

I need to finish Grace's Halloween costume.

We need to find a hotel in Sydney for 2 nights after our cruise ends. I have been working on this for a little more than a week now. I want a 5-star hotel on a 3-star budget.

I just got Grace's birthday favors in the mail yesterday and let me just say I am even MORE excited!!

Mommy's Girl

We have had a little Mommy's girl today! Normally evenings and weekends Grace is a total Daddy's girl but not today. If she keeps this up we might not be having dinner this week. I am going to enjoy it because I know soon she will go back to wanting only her Daddy when he is home.

Grace has been pretty ornery lately. She finds it very funny to throw her food and cup on the floor at snack time and watch me pick it up. Today in church she threw her cup which got her a "Nice throw, Gracie!" from our little friend Maggie. At lunch she kept throwing her toys and cup in the floor and then waiting for us to give them back to her. I think she finally figured out that she had lost her toys and then she decided to wanted out of the highchair.

She wants to be so independent and it bothers her that she can't just take off running wherever she wants to go. She claps her hands on demand - we just have to say "Grace, clap your hands" and she starts clapping, she waves to people when we tell her to wave, and she will hold her little finger up and wave it around when we sing "This Little Light of Mine." She is so cute! But she is growing up way too fast.

Enjoy the pictures and videos!

Grace has been pushing her spoon away with her hands whenever she doesn't like what we are trying to feed her or if she just wants something different. I thought maybe she wanted to try to feed herself and gave her the spoon. She kind of has the idea but totally lacks the coordination of

getting the spoon in the jar and to her mouth without slinging food all over the place.

She decided she had enough of the spoon and went for the jar!

One day last week we stopped by the travel agent on-base before heading to the gym. We had a little time to kill so we went to the playground and found the swings. Grace had so much fun that we had to go back with the camera on Friday after Dustin got off work!

"This is FUN!!!"

Here she is waving

I love this expression!