Hurricane Ike... A Week Away From Home!

Well, hurricane Ike came and went and we had little suffering, especially in comparison to the stories we have heard since we've been back. Before the storm hit, we were very blessed to have friends calling to see what our plans were and offering us places to get away to. We decided Friday morning that we would head to McKinney and visit Alyssa, Rick and Jordan. We planned to stay for a long weekend and without power back home, that quickly turned into 5 nights. We are so grateful to them for all they did to make us feel at home during our stay and we know that the boys really enjoyed themselves.

One evening we went to Kate and Ryan's house for dinner and our three kiddos had a good time playing together. This is what happens when little boys play at a little girl's house!



Logan and Jordan go "sweepy" on the ottoman.
Jordan and Alyssa coloring. I just love when he smiles like that!

Ring around a rosie, pocket full of posies....
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down! (and Jordan runs away!)
They did this over and over and over and over again! It was great fun!

We had another FIRST on this trip... we went to Chuck E Cheese!
We all went together and Uncle Mike met us there, so it was lots of fun.

Driving the tractor with Bob the Builder...
Learning how to play skee-ball...
This was hilarious... there wasn't immediate gratification, so he quit pretty quickly!
Learning all about how the tickets worked... then he just wanted to play a game so that he could tear tickets off the machine. Very fun to watch him take it all in!
Playing basketball with Uncle Mike looking on... I love how he's acting it all out behind him!
He loved playing the big games with Uncle Mike!

Logan wasn't scared at all of The Big Giant Mouse... he actually wanted to go dance by the stage!


Our visit in McKinney was wonderful! On our way to our next destination (as we still didn't have power) we decided to stop by Uncle Mike's work on our way through Dallas. Logan put on quite a show for the people Mike worked with and really enjoyed "playing" with all the office things!

We stayed the last two nights away from home visiting Tommy and Debra (Grana and Papa) in Granbury... but by this time I was so ready to get home that I didn't even remember to take out my camera. Jeff and I came home Friday and arrived here ten minutes after the power was restored! What a blessing! We did leave Logan in Granbury and that ended up being such a blessing as getting our house and yard back together was a lot of work. We are very blessed to have had such great friends and family that made our week away from home much more comfortable! I'm sure Logan just thought it was a nice, long vacation, but we were all very happy to be home together on Sunday night!

San Antonio in July

Alright, so I said I would post pics of our trip to San Antonio and I know it's been awhile, but there are some cute ones you just have to see. It was such a memorable trip for us and we really enjoyed getting to visit our good friends, the Curries. Logan and Brynn played really well together and he just LOVED baby Camdyn.

It was Logan's first time on a plane in his OWN seat (what a relief for mommy!)
Here he is eating his pretzels, waiting for take-off. This kid was awesome on the plane and wanted to talk to everyone. Let's hope the flight to NY in October goes just as well, though it will be 3 hours LONGER!!

This was his first meet and greet with baby Camdyn... and he gave her LOTS of kisses.
Every time he would sneak away I would find him pushing her in her swing or leaning over wherever she was giving her kisses.

Here he is pushing her in her swing... making sure she was well taken care of.

Here he is having his first experience with corn on the cob. He LOVED it and has had it many times since. The holders on the ends are definitely a must, because if he even thinks something is too hot to eat, he won't even attempt a bite!

Here Brynn and Logan are throwing rocks in the river. I think they were having a serious conversation about how to do it... at least that's what this picture shows. Oh, and we do need to apologize for Logan's lack of aim, as he did hit Avery in the head once! Sorry Ave.

Entering Sea World... Logan had no idea how much fun he was about to have!

Brynn and Logan watching the dolphins while Avery was buying the fish to feed them.
I kept wanting Logan to turn around to the camera and he wouldn't take his eyes off of them.

Now here he is getting a little too close for comfort.
He definitely wasn't afraid of them, as you can see.
And here we are feeding them their "fishies."
Logan can tell you all about this experience and now he knows what dolphins eat. He was truly amazed by the whole thing and when we were done here I think he'd have been happy to call it a day... little did he know there was so much more to see and do!

I think this was the shark exhibit. He was very impressed and as you can see
by the look on his face, he was also quite amazed.

Here he is walking around the park like a big boy. It was such a nice day and there were parts that weren't very crowded, where we could let them out to walk a bit.

We visited the water park and he was overjoyed to find out he was going to get to swim.
The kiddie area was wonderful...
it was only a foot of water and we just walked around alongside them.

Getting as close to the fish as he could... not sure if this was allowed, but he enjoyed it!

His absolute FAVORITE part of the whole day was Shamu and boy did we save the best for last!
Here he is dancing in his seat during the show. He can tell you all about Shamu now... that he's a black and white whale, that he eats fishies, and that he jumps really high and touches a white ball with his nose. Shamu was definitely a big hit for him!

Here are Avery and Brynn during the show too... we had to sit a couple rows apart because apparently Shamu is pretty popular and the place was packed.

Mommy and Logan during the Shamu show

Heading out of Sea World, this is my little man giving his girl a kiss...
saying thanks for such a special day! hah!


The next day we went to the pool and here is Logan chasing Brynn.
I think she likes playing hard to get and Logan loved the game of it all!

Then we met up with Nancy for lunch. Can't wait to meet baby Race!

Oh, and here he is again on the last day... He really was just trying to be sweet to her, but how uncomfortable does she look? Poor baby, getting lots of love from a pretty aggressive little boy. He sure did love her though!
Avery and Jessica

At the airport, Logan waited for the plane while eating his pretzel from the mall... he was so excited to go on another plane ride and mommy was ready to get home after a busy week!

We had such a great time on that trip and can't wait to go back to visit once they get all settled in their new house! Logan still talks about Sea World and all he saw there and whenever we see a baby he says "baby Camdyn" with a big smile. One day he's gonna be a great big brother!

BUSY Summer!

Well, a busy summer it has been... and one big 11 day trip ended up being canceled, so I can only imagine how I'd be describing it if we had gone to New York. Our busyness started back in June with trips to Granbury (the new home of Grana and Papa) and

then to our first Grace family reunion.

Logan in the lake... he really just liked reaching down for rocks and throwing them back in.
This is how he bathed at the family reunion. The campsite only had showers and this was just much easier... and less of a fight with him than a stand-up shower would have been!
SO TIRED. For a kid that only likes to sleep in his bed, this was his way of telling us that the weekend at the lake had worn him out! He slept here for a good 45 minutes before we were all done eating lunch and packing up the cars. What a trooper!

Following that, Logan spent a week with Grana and Papa at the lake house in Graham and Jeff and I went to get him 4th of July weekend. We even had a two night getaway for just the two of us, which was a very nice break! Logan went fishing with Papa, learned how to jump on a trampoline, spent lots of time swimming, enjoyed looking for and chasing frogs, and was always found eating "pockles" (popsicles)!It was a great vacation and a break from things here, but that's when the traveling really started to kick into high gear!

The naked cowboy playing with his fridge radio...
singing "Old McDougal" (That's what he calls Old McDonald)
The only one of us that really had a 4th of July outfit... and he was at home in bed during the fireworks show! Probably would have scared him anyway! :-)

After Graham we spent some time in McKinney visiting our good friends and Logan loved seeing "baby Jordan" What he doesn't understand is that Jordan is only 6 months younger than him, but to him he is still "baby" Here are some pics from our visit there...

They really did enjoy each other's company and played very well together.

Their faces are saying "seriously?" At least I have this for later when they are teenagers!

This is the cutest thing... the face Jordan makes when you ask him to "smile" for the camera.

Logan practicing his kicking at the beach club. It was so fun to take him to a
pool that I grew up going to. We really had to fight to get him out of the water to eat,
except when it was time for CAKE!

The end of the party... he was pooped! He wanted to lay down on the cement picnic table and was there long enough for me to get my camera! Now that's tired!

On the visit to North Texas we also stopped in to see "Humble Mike" Logan says "Uncle" very well until you ask him to say it with the word "Mike" Then it suddenly changes to "humble"
Anyway, here are some pics from them spending some quality time together...
High fives all around!
On the dizzy toy at the park... Logan really liked this one,
but I think Uncle Mike liked it just as much, if not more!
Oh, now isn't that just adorable!
Playing basketball and showing off his throwing skills!

Another great thing this summer was having Aunt Rachel come to visit us. Logan just adores her and was very happy to show her everything he knew how to do. We took her to his new favorite place... the "moose-eeem" (museum- the Woodlands Children's museum)
Showing her the fish tank, and he LOVES fish (all animals actually)
Digging for dinosaur bones in the excavating area.
Brushing the teeth together in the dentist's office
Putting on a puppet show with mommy!

So, after Aunt Rachel's visit we headed to San Antonio
for four days to visit The Curries and see new baby Camdyn.
Logan was such a good traveler, having his own seat on the plane for the first time.
It was a good practice for our NY trip this fall, though that one will be quite a bit longer!
Logan LOVED baby Camdyn... seriously couldn't get enough of her. He and Brynn also played very well together and we all had a great time at Sea World.
Hopefully how happy he was with that baby is a tell-tale sign of how good of a
big brother he will be (though that won't be anytime soon!)
These pics are on a chip that is not currently in my possession, but I promise to post as soon as I get it...




BACK TO NORMAL?
So now we have been home for a few weeks and things are starting to get settled. We had our friends Dave and Mary in town this past Saturday and they brought Logan a bean bag that he is absolutely thrilled with. He loves climbing on it and we are sure it will be worn in nice and quickly, like everything else he owns!
Here he is sitting in it, but as you can see by the look on his face, he obviously was annoyed with me interrupting his watching tv to take a picture... so no smile here! haha!

This is a video taken today of him playing in the box.
Shows how little it really takes to entertain an almost two year old.

Sorry for the longest post in the history of the Grace family blog, but as you can hopefully see, we have been a busy family this summer. We are planning on staying home through Logan's birthday weekend and then I'm sure things will get busy again with our trip to NY scheduled in October... Oh my, and then the holidays will be here before we know it!

Welcome June, Welcome Summer!

Here is a video of Logan playing in the backyard in the pool we bought him for this summer. He goes in it almost every day, but today I decided to try something new. We put the pool under the slide as we were filling it up and had quite a good time with it. You will see that Logan is a pretty tough little fella. Most of his falls he bounces right back from and you will see that in this for sure. Please don't think I'm unsympathetic, I have just gotten used to him falling and most of the time being ok. I'm sure I'll get my hands full one day though.
And before you comment... Yes, I know that I am telling him to put the hose "back in the grass" when I really meant "pool." No wonder why he wasn't listening!

Yesterday we went to the YMCA Family Fun pool and Logan now has a new favorite place. The pool is full of fountains and water shooting out everywhere. There is even a water-slide that is formed as a tunnel and shoots water all over you while you go down. Logan was all about going down the slide over and over again. He was all over the place, jumping in to us off the edge and walking very independently in the water that was about 1-2 feet deep. He tripped a few times and got his share of water up the nose and in the mouth, but that kid never wanted to leave.
Jeff and I think that next time the grandparents need to join us because we were a little worn out by the end of that "outing." I couldn't get any pictures because there was way too much risk in getting my camera wet, but if "Yaya" and "Papa" come next time,
you can be guaranteed some good shots!

Logan's list of favorite things is growing rapidly... everyday it's something new. He LOVES...
blueberries "boobewewes"
Backyardigans "my soo" for show
Baby Signing Time "baby sy ty" with a little dance!
waffles "faffles"
toast "toas" (cinnamon-raisin to be exact)
looking at photo albums "pic ters"
babies (which he says very well)
big pool at G and G's "bee poo"
his sand-box (he just calls it his "box")
coloring "coowa"
Uncle Mike "uh my" with an extra emphasis on the "uh"
chips "ships"... and I'm not kidding when I tell you that "more chips" sounds like "bullshit"
It's all very funny sometimes!
For even MORE pictures, click here
He talks non-stop right now and repeats everything you say. If I am on the phone and he is playing, I can hear him repeating me in his own little world. It's great fun to hear his vocabulary grow each day as we try to experience something new as often as possible.

Logan's Favorite Things

For my dad's birthday we went to Logan's favorite restaurant.... SWEET TOMATOES! Here is grandpa having his birthday sundae and sharing with Logan as he enjoys his jello with his hands! Logan loves getting to eat lots of different things at the buffet and the desserts there are delicious! He especially loves GRANDPA, his PAPA!

Logan loves Grandma's TURTLES. He has a whole routine with them, taking them out of their tanks and putting them in their cage and looking at each of their bellys. We will never get turtles of our own because he loves the experience every time he goes to see "Yaya" and "Papa"

Another of Logan's favorites is TRASH DAY! He can hear the truck coming from around the block and runs to the garage door. Even when he spends the night with Grandma and Grandpa he wants to be a part of "taking out the TWAS (trash)" Here he is helping Grandpa bring back up the cans after the garbage men drove away. At our house he literally chases them down the street saying "all done" and waving "bye-bye"

Aunt Maureen came to visit in April. Another of Logan's favorite things is COLORING! Grandma bought him his own play table and chair set and he really enjoys getting to "cowa" (color). He loves to use "maw-maws" (markers) but of course, mommy prefers the crayons!