High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of my favorite happenings from the past week.

1) On Saturday we had a yummy picnic at a local park (Kids Together Park) with my friend, Elizabeth, and her little guy, Henry. Neither of us had been to this park before but we were both glad to check it out! It rained some but that just made the park less crowded. Grant loved the dragon sculpture/statue that they have on a hill for the kids to play on!

Dragon statue!

Brave squirrel trying to steal our yummy lunch!

2) On Sunday, we took Grant to his first birthday party for one of his school friends. It was at Jumping Jax in Garner and he couldn't have had a better time. Jumping in the bounce houses, climbing all through their floor-to-ceiling jungle gym thing, and playing his first arcade games! 

Way up in the jungle gym!

3) With Grant's 3rd birthday party about 6 or so weeks away, I went ahead and ordered him a birthday shirt like I did last year just in case the seller on Etsy was backed up. It came this week and I love it! I showed Grant and he was so excited that he gasped and then jumped up and down. He's so looking forward to his Cars birthday party!

Shirt made by lilshabebe on Etsy

4) I bought a shirt for Grant about two months ago that I thought was adorable and hilarious. I've been on the hunt for coordinating shorts and I finally found some. So he wore this outfit to school Wednesday:

I love the fake tie.

5) I started packing for vacation! We're leaving today for a week vacation in [waaaay] upstate NY to see my family!

HAPPY FRIDAY AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Spontaneous Beach Trip

Since having Grant, we haven't been able to be those parents that just pick up and go off for spontaneous over night trips. Because we had Brodie. We had to make arrangements for my mother-in-law to come stay with him because he freaked out in the car. So taking him somewhere to board was out of the question. We were limited to spontaneous day trips, which are nice too. But with Brodie's passing, we vowed to make trips that we haven't been able to take in the last 10 years.

The Thursday before Father's Day we had a storm that lasted maybe 10 minutes. It wasn't as bad as what the weather folks were making it sound like, in my opinion anyway. But it knocked out our power...and by Friday morning it was still out. And the power people weren't giving us hopes of having it that day either. So Husband made us reservations in Wilmington, NC with the promise of spending Saturday at the beach. When we got home from work Friday, the power was on. Who cares! We had plans :) 

Packed and ready to go!

Friday after work we packed up as quick as we could, ate a quick dinner and hit the road. We got there a little later than we wanted to and Grant was pumped about the promise of the beach. It was tough to get him calmed down for sleep. But we got there eventually.

Grant and Daddy relaxing at the hotel after our drive

Grant - too excited to sleep!

So after breakfast the next morning and packing up the car we head to Wrightsville Beach. Only to realize after over an HOUR of driving around that there was no place to park. Honestly, I was ready to go home. But Grant was too excited. "You gonna find a place for the car? We gonna park? Is this the beach?" So we left there and continued down the coast. Finding no where to park until almost 2 hours after leaving the hotel we got down to Kure Beach and were finally able to park and make our way to the beach. With me 110% irriated and vowing to either get a pool or find a lake near home because a day at the ocean in season is just not worth the hassle.

Except that it was.

Because Grant had probably his best summer day to date. He played in the sand and buried our feet. Made sand castles. Picked up sea shells (that are now in a little jar in his room and he loves them). Then made them closer to the water so he could watch the waves take them. We went out in the water. Then we just stayed close to the water because he loved it when the waves hit him. He had a blast. And we had a blast because of him and my irriation disappeared quickly. By the time we left I was talking about "next time". So it ended up being a really good little trip.

So happy :)

He loved burying our feet

Daddy showing him how to build a sand castle

His "sword" (very into pirates right now!)

Beachy feet

He loved being in the waves. He kept yelling "Here
comes a big one! And another big big one!"

Me and my happy guy!

Father's Day 2013

I debated skipping a Father's Day post because I didn't take any pictures that day. But I decided I'd do one because as part of Husband's gift, I did a Daddy questionnaire and I thought some of Grant's answers were so cute and funny. I figured I'd share.

I made it extra big so you could read it.

Some of the questions I had to help him with. Like explaining what a "job" is. He really thought about the answers he gave me and it was so fun to do. I love how the mind of a child works.

On Thursday before Father's Day we had a 2 minute storm that knocked our power out for close to 24 hours. They weren't promising power for Friday even either, so we made reservations to spend the night in Wilmington, NC (so we could spend Saturday at the beach). Our power came back on but we went anyway and had a great time. Post coming soon! We got home Saturday evening and then spent Father's Day hanging around the house until a cookout with my Father-in-Law and his wife over at their place.

An exhausted Husband and a very excited Grant
at the hotel on Friday.

I hope all the Daddy's out there had a great day!

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1) We finally got Grant's hair cut over the weekend! It was long over due (hadn't been cut since February). He was so good! He didn't give us or the stylist any problems and his new cut makes him look even more handsome! Just also a whole lot older :(

Look at that handsome devil!

2) On Tuesday there was a bake sale in the lobby at work to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I totally forgot about it until I got there - surprise! I can totally justify a fattening, delicious treat to help a good cause.

The baker of this yummy "Knock You Naked Brownie"
even attached the recipe - so thoughtful!

3) Also on Tuesday, I got a much needed hair cut.

4) Grant and I have been going for walks around the neighborhood (well, he rides his "bike"). And after one of our walks this week, I even managed a short run around the neighborhood as well. It wasn't a long one but it was my first in the summer heat and I felt great afterward. It was a nice confidence boost.

We even saw a bunny one night!

5) I made some play cinnamon rolls out of felt for a friend who has tea parties with her granddaughter when she visits. I think they turned out so cute!

HAPPY FRIDAY! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Conversations With My Toddler: Dinner Time

Dinner time at our house is usually one of two things: frustrating or enjoyable. Sometimes it's nice and we all eat and talk and listen to Grant tell us what he did at school that. Sometimes, its less than nice because Grant eats at the table with us now (instead of a high chair) and is learning to eat without a bib. He gets distracted and food ends up anywhere except where it should be. It's not always funny.

Last night was funny. I made BLT's and some potatoes. Grant isn't a big sandwich fan in the traditional sense. He likes to pull them apart and eat them little by little. We always try to tell him "eat it like a sandwich" but he rarely does. Grant's was done first to cool down enough so he was already stationed at the table chowing down when Husband sat down.

Grant *to Husband*: "You need to let it cool down. It's too hot. Let it cool down."

Husband *waiting patiently for 30 seconds*: "Now?"

Grant: "No."

So Husband waits another minute or so and then picks up his BLT.

Grant *picking apart his BLT and then points at Husband*: "Hey. Hey. Eat it like a sammich."

This kid cracks me up!

Rainy Day Pictures

Photographer, I am not. I'm 99% sure I'm not even one of those people that can recognize the artistic-ness of a situation. But for Grant's 2nd birthday, he got this adorable tractor umbrella that I knew would be a cute photo prop. And I have a really nice camera that Husband got me for an "early Mother's Day present" last year specifically because I wanted to take better pictures of Grant. 

Yesterday, we got home from dinner and it was a little drizzly outside and I was struck with the idea to do a little rainy day "photo shoot". We were out side all of ten minutes before a loud boom of thunder scared Grant so bad he started crying and running for the house (thank goodness we were only in the backyard). It had also started raining more than a drizzle so it was best to head inside. I didn't think I'd taken any good pictures but I was surprised when I looked a the few shots I managed before the storm.

Again, not a photographer by any means. But I love them. I've been reading a little bit about taking pictures of kids (specifically, your own) and how you shouldn't really direct them to do anything. So I tried really hard to let him do his own thing and I'm kinda loving the results :)

High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren to share some of my favorite things from the past week.

1) On Saturday, I took Grant for a yummy snow cone (one of his favorite treats) just because. It was a gorgeous but hot day so the giant snow cone (that he generously shared with me) tasted great.

2) On Sunday, since I had all the stuff at my house I decided to surprise my co-workers with some cookies and employed Grant's help. He had so much fun being as involved in the kitchen as he could be and I had fun helping and watching him learn.

3) I try to plan my meals weekly when I can or am ambitious enough to map out my week that way. I was able to do that this week and planned some great meals! One of my favorites was grilled chicken (using this recipe) with sauteed zucchini and rice with homemade sauce like they serve at the japanese steak house places.

(Having left overs for lunch was a huge plus as well)

 4) I got to make cupcakes for my friend, Elizabeth, to take on her birthday beach weekend. I hope they help make her birthday a little more special. Happy Birthday Friend!!

5) That very same friend surprised me with a new cake carrier! I forgot to tell her, but I actually broke my cake carrier this week (one of the plastic hinges snapped) so how great of a surprise was that! Now I need someone to have a party or a picnic and invite me so I have an excuse to find a fabulous new cake recipe and use my super cute carrier.

How cute is that!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Mama's Kitchen Helper

Anyone who has been in the kitchen with me knows it's difficult for me to relinquish even a little control over something I'm doing in there. But its worse when I'm baking. On Sunday, I got a wild hair and decided to bake some cake mix cookies to bring to work on Monday. And I decided I'd let Grant help with as much of the process as he could. I knew he'd have fun with it.

He got to add all the ingredients except the vanilla. And only spilled a little of the eggs. He even helped me portion out the dough on the baking sheet.

When he squeezed the trigger on the scoop and the dough popped out he said "Ka-chow!" (which is Lightning McQueen's catch phrase, just in case you have seen Cars or Cars 2 847 times like we have). He had a blast and was soooo proud of himself for putting the dough on the baking sheet.

I obviously did the stuff with oven but when the cookies cooled and it was time to frost, I let Grant have a go at that too.

He was surprisingly stingy and neat with the frosting. I had to coax him into putting more frosting on. After that it was huge mounds of frosting and Grant going "Ah! Look at the big mountain!" I think getting the frosting on his fingers was his favorite part.

Eventally we got them all frosted and turned into sandwiches, with one set aside so Grant could enjoy the fruits of his hard work. He was so proud of what we made together!

FYI: This time we used pink lemonade cake mix and pink lemonade frosting that I found at Target. It's a great summer time treat!

Sight-Seeing in Lake Lure & Chimney Rock Village

My previous post was about our Memorial Day weekend trip to see Husband's aunt and what a great time we had. I mentioned that we did some sight-seeing which is always one of my favorite parts of being in the mountains. When my mother-in-law mentioned that there was a craft fair in Lake Lure on Saturday, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do...and Husband, I'm sure, was hoping we'd get lost on the way. But we didn't :)

It took us 20-30 minutes-ish to get to Lake Lure from Debbie's house and the drive up was so pretty! And I saw no less than 100 places that I would happily call home...you know, if that lottery thing ever pans out. So we found a place to park for the craft fair...and I looked to my right...and I said "OMG is that...? I think that's...! OMG!" I'm pretty sure I started sweating.

You see, they shot parts of Dirty Dancing in Lake Lure and that is one of my all time favorite movies. And when I saw "Johnny's Cabin" I got all stalker-ish and ran over with my camera. Upon further inspection, found "Baby's Cabin". My mother-in-law and I looked a little crazy but it was pretty cool. I'm not entirely sure anything for the movie was done in or around those cabins...but I was a little star-struck all the same.

So then we spent a while wandering around the little craft fair. There was lots of neat stuff (man, I love those things!) and there was a Great Dane Rescue program there with some of their adorable giants collecting donations.

Grant was rather attached to this sweet girl. Even gave her kisses!

Grant found a fountain to play in too

After the craft fair (and a very yummy snow cone that Grant and I shared) we took a walk along Lake Lure just enjoying the sights. There were lots of ducks, birds, and even a turtle that we saw and Grant just loves being outside look at things like that. He had a great time.

Gorgeous scenery!

Excited about the turtle sighting

Checking out the ducks

On Sunday, my mother-in-law suggested checking out some of the shops in Chimney Rock Village (a little farther than Lake Lure). Shopping? Yes please. I didn't take too many pictures that day. But we did manage to get Husband to pull over so I could take a picture of this nifty covered bridge:

We even trespassed.

That's Chimney Rock.

We did a little shopping and went down to this stream that runs along the town.  

It was so pretty down there! Grant was super excited about the water. One word from me and I know he would have stripped down to his undies and played in there for hours. But, no. However, I kind of wanted to play too. And have a picnic. And live there. It was really pretty.

After a yummy late lunch, we headed back to Debbie's house to hang out some more. We were exhausted. Well, the adults were exhausted. Grant was still riding his vacation high and getting anyone who wasn't comatose to play with him.