Golf, art, ponies, and parties!

We have been very busy over the past few weeks. Grady has had lots of special activities and events and we are preparing for the imminent arrival of Baby Bean!

Eric brought him to Frankie's Fun Park a couple weeks ago and there is a Johnny Rockets there, so they also had lunch. He wasn't sure about the hat but his eyes just look so pretty here - I had to post the picture.



He actually mini golfed - and loved it! I can't believe he could really do it! Eric said he played all 18 holes and even held the club right (mostly) once he showed him.







That is the outfit he will be wearing the first time he comes to the hospital to meet the Bean. Baby Bean has a matching "Baby Brother" onsie. Love the coordinating options when you have 2 of the same gender!

Here he is at "Creative Hands" - his school had a special evening event where they could do all sorts of messy art projects outside. It was a beautiful warm evening, so it was just perfect. Grady talked about how much fun he had NON STOP the whole way home.



He LOVED this and did it for almost an hour - spraying big white sheets with this watercolor paint spray. I really want to do this activity at his next birthday party!





Grady's girlfriend Jenna had her birthday party on Saturday - pony rides...



and bounce house



eating with the girls from his class - surprisingly he is not sitting with the birthday girl - they are together all the time at school





Our pool opens this weekend, and we could not be more excited! Grady has been talking about it for weeks!

A Day at the Zoo

It was a beautiful day again yesterday - about 85 and sunny - so I thought it would be a good day to take G to the zoo. We have not been in quite a while, since our membership expired, but we will be renewing it soon.

Grady had a blast, probably partly due to the fact that it had been such a long time since we had been. Here are a few pictures...

In front of the incredible azaleas that were all in bloom



Always super excited by the goats - can you tell he is doing this full-body excited dance that he does?





Checking out the beautiful toucans





He really wanted to go to the playground inside the zoo too, and he just played so nicely with the other kids. Mama got to relax in a rocking chair, which is especially appreciated at 8 months pregnant!

Here he is pretending to be a pirate - he even said "ahoy matey!"





bouncing







Love this one - he is running through the cool mist machine since it was hot - it so captures Grady though - always moving!



Um, why is the big boy trying to drink the water?



He loves Jeeps, so he had to sit in the pretend one

My Little Gardener

I just had to post about Grady's love of plants and gardening. He loves to go with me to the nursery (like he wants to buy everything there!), loves flowers, and loves to plant things! He has always been like this. Since he was big enough to dig he has been helping us with our yard. This year we have planted strawberry seeds, zinnia seeds (an Easter gift for him - they are already sprouting!), tomatoes from seeds, and flower boxes. Last year we planted sunflower seeds that grew into HUGE flowers by mid-summer. It's not like he just wants to plant and be done with it either. He wants to check all the plants every morning and lovingly cares for them. I just love all of the lessons that a child can learn through gardening. And I really hope that we get some tomatoes from these seeds so he can actually eat what we grew!

Here he is planting his Elmo tomato garden (it starts like a little greenhouse and then you can put them in the ground when they get bigger)







Another bonus of his love for plants is that whenever Eric and Grady go to the grocery store together I get flowers! Eric says 9 times out of 10 it is Grady's idea. And even if Eric suggests it, Grady always wants to pick them out. Then they sit on our table for the next 1-2 weeks and he asks all sorts of questions about them and notices every tiny change. Just this morning he was commenting on which buds had opened since yesterday and was asking when I thought the other ones would open.

Easter Weekend

We had a fun-filled, relaxing, productive Easter weekend. Not sure how all of those things go together, but we managed. We also enjoyed lots of nice weather, though I think we may have skipped spring and gone right on to summer, because the past week or so has been super hot. We have even had a couple days over 90! It's looking like our summer weather is here to stay for a while too!

The weekend started with "productive" - here are my new flower boxes that I planted



and all of my tulips - silly me forgot what the heck kind of bulbs we planted last fall and kept saying they were going to be daffodils - no wonder they didn't flower weeks ago!



water fun on Friday - it was SO HOT (like 95)









We headed downtown on Saturday - Grady has a big bag of "yucky bread" for the ducks



wishing in the fountains - that could go on all day (or as long as my pennies hold out)





feeding ducks



chasing ducks





A new obsession - climbing trees



Check out the cool toy at the Michelin store - Michelin corporate offices are here, so there is a giant store downtown





Dyeing eggs on Saturday





Back in the chef hat - making carrot cake cupcakes. I totally tricked him with this one - didn't mention the carrots, and he loved them!





Playing soccer on Saturday afternoon. He must take after Eric because he is a good little goalie







The bunny came for Grady! And yes, that is Grady's $45 Easter basket (just the basket - not the treats) that Eric gets mad about every year.



plant your own flowers kit - Grady loves to garden!



Toy Story dive sticks - he was diving for rings at the bottom of the big pool last year, so I am sure he will be into it this year!



Reading his new little kids Bible with Daddy - he is fascinated by Bible stories and anything about God - must be the good influence of his school!




Looking serious as he started his egg hunt



crazy dance he did to show his joy over me letting him have a chocolate egg





He LOVES the flowers and wants to check on them every morning



We had a nice little Easter lunch on the screen porch since it was so warm



trying a deviled egg



Ready for our Easter egg smashing contest (he won)