Testing blog entry

Grady is now old enough to post on his own! Handing this over to him.
Jessica

Day Out with Thomas

Day out with Thomas

Everyone who knows Grady knows he LOVES Thomas the Train! He originally discovered the very old TV shows (circa 1985) with model trains on Netflix and got hooked on them. Now he prefers the shows where "Thomas talks" (the animated ones).

Because of this love of Thomas and trains in general, when we saw that there was a traveling Thomas extravaganza coming to Tweetsie Railroad, we couldn't pass it up. Our only concern was about the noise - Grady is NOT a fan of loud noises.

We arrived at Tweetsie around 1pm so had a couple of hours to explore before our train ride which was scheduled for 3pm. This worked out well, because as expected Grady was a bit nervous around the big train and it's loud noises - it not only had a whistle but also a bell that they rang constantly as it was pulling out of the station area. In the meantime we walked around the park; they have lots of carnival-like games and also some special Thomas related activities including temporary tattoos and coloring areas.Grady chose a "Diesel 10" tattoo... he's kind of a mean and sneaky train, so was an interesting choice.

When it came time for us to get in line for the train ride, Grady was feeling much better and not too nervous. I also got him (me) a blue snow cone so that helped distract him too.We had a nice little train ride around the mountain, and Grady kept saying we were on the island of Sodor and he could hear Thomas' whistle and see the steam. It was super cute!

After the train ride we got our picture taken with Sir Topham Hat, which might have been Grady's favorite part. He even gave him a hi-five. Then we rode the chair lift to the top play area (a first) and checked out the gift shop and rides up there. There is a panning for gold area and Grady found a friend to play in the water with, and then we checked out the petting zoo. It was cute - had mostly goats, but you could feed them and Grady thought that was hilarious.


Grady found a large wall hanging that he loved - it had Percy, Thomas and Rosie on it. He had to hug all 3 of them individually!

We of course hit up the gift shop on our way out, and got Hiro (and his fireboxes), a giant Thomas balloon and a photo memory book. Then we drove to nearby Boone and ate at Mellow Mushroom and spent the night in Banner Elk at Blue Ridge Village. It was a great weekend getaway!

Spring/Summer Update

Oh my it's been a while again! Here are a few notable events/updates in our life over the past few months...

Camping in the Jungle

Our great friend Tab got married in May on Cumberland Island in Georgia (which is pretty much Florida). On the way down we stopped in Charleston and visited Katie/Billy/Claire and Carrie/David/Dean - first time meeting Dean! It was a bit hectic packing for both a Charleston trip AND camping. I had been making lists for weeks.

Then we drove down to Cumberland Island on Sunday and met up with everyone at the boat dock. From there we loaded all our stuff onto the ferry boat. Well, Justin loaded it while I entertained Grady. Then we had a nice 30 minute boat ride to the island, where we (Justin) unloaded all our stuff onto a cart/wagon thing. We were assigned a campsite after a lengthy orientation session, and we were on our way!

Sidenote: Tab had warned about the events up to here, so we were mostly prepared for them. Not so much the next section.

So then we set out with our cart/wagon which Justin pulled, while I carried what wouldn't fit on the cart and also Grady. We had no idea how far it was to the camp site but we figured it couldn't be TOO far... well it felt like about a mile! It was super hot and muggy which led to sweaty mommy and daddy which then attracted many hungry mosquitoes which led to cursing. We didn't really realize the beauty of where we were until we finally reached the campsite. It really was a tropical jungle! There was tropical foliage along with old oak trees and hanging Spanish moss, and LOTS of lizards, aforementioned mosquitoes and other insects, armadillos, very brave raccoons but most importantly --- wild horses! Once we set up camp we headed out to the beach on the other side of the island, and there were 3 horses grazing on the beach the whole time we were there. So beautiful! It definitely made the rough couple hours getting there totally worth it.

Tab and Sebastian got married on the beach the next day which was so perfect and fun. We explored the island and saw more horses and other animals (but no wild boars which we have heard are around). Grady did a great time camping in the tent with us, except for nap time which was a bit of a struggle. All in all it was a great, memorable trip!

Quick Thoughts

These are just some random thoughts - we don't have a lot going on right now, but daily I marvel at the funny/entertaining/amazing things Grady does and learns! I don't want to forget joy of just spending time with him at this age.

Grady is obsessed with trains. Obsessed. We bought him a train table set for Christmas (with some Thomas pieces), had it out for him Christmas morning and had to FORCE him to open up any other presents the whole day!

We took him to Toys R Us to get a couple additional pieces recently, and they had a train set out for the kids to play with. He of course gravitated right to it and refused to leave, even for the prospect of picking something out for his own train set!

Baths - hates to get in, hates to get out. When it's time for a bath, first there are a few "No Bath!" arguments, then he agrees and holds up whatever toy he is playing with "he take a bath?" Luckily if the answer is no, he just picks a new toy until the answer is yes.

Tonight he ate 2 full adult-size servings of green beans!

On the way to daycare each morning, Grady and daddy look for school buses and firetrucks. When stopped at a stop light, Grady yells "Go daddy go... chip chop chip!"

He knows the names of ALL the Thomas the Train characters, and corrects us when we say them wrong which we sometimes take advantage of... "This one is Steve?" daddy says. "No daddy that's Gordon!" We did just get him to name a monster truck Steve, which is pretty awesome.

Has been a bit of a mama's boy lately, which is sometimes so sweet and sometimes a bit rough. Sometimes he calls me mommy, sometimes mom (which I try to correct to mommy - just not ready for that yet) and tonight during his bath kept saying mama.

Notable Grady-isms:
I'm not sleepy now (after he's been in bed 30 minutes and just decides to get up)
I want more strawberries
I want more blueberries
I want more milk
No Maya don't eat it!
Lets play trains
I want my iPad
I see the moon (he can find it at any time of the day!)
I see a big truck
I love you mommy - the BEST!

2012 Photo Book

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December Update

Apparently this has become a quarterly blog...

We celebrated Grady's second birthday with family and friends at Malvern Hills Park in West Asheville. I had probably a little too much fun preparing for the Yo Gabba Gabba theme preparing decorations, party masks and favors. We ordered a cake based on the design John did for the invitations, and Catherine and I made cupcakes to supplement. Note to self - don't use too much food coloring in standard white icing, or it melts off! Luckily Ingles came through and we got a rush order of cupcakes in time for the party.

Grady had a great time at the party playing on the playground with his cousins and friends, and eating a giant cupcake.

In September we celebrated my "big" 30th birthday in Charleston, SC. We stayed at the Church Street Inn and had a great time spending time together and with our SC friends! Katie and Billy (along with Claire) offered to watch Grady one night so we could have a nice dinner out - they had lots of fun!

Time to get caught up!

Well the summer has come and it's now August! I see my last post was about swimming lessons - we have continued them for 4 months now, and Grady can put his face in the water, jump off the side, and actually doesn't hate floating on his back. He has NO FEAR in the water, which is in some ways good but also makes me nervous. We've taken him to the river a few times and he loves climbing over the rocks and looking at the "bubbles", aka whitewater ripples. We went swimming at the pool at John and Bonnie's housing development and they have a great little kids area that's about 18 inches deep. Grady would get himself going in the water and his legs would fall out from under him and he'd dunk under! He would probably have been able to get himself up, but I whisked him out of the water so fast he didn't have a chance to.

Alisa got married at Hilton Head in May, so that was a nice mini family vacation. We had a great time with the old crew, and even found out Carrie is going to have a baby in the fall!

Grady and Jessica

Grady and Justin

The day after the wedding with the girls

Big news from Carrie

Spent time with Claire

We had a nice Hunter Family Camping Trip over the 4th of July weekend with John, Bonnie, Anna, Jack, Chris, Sarah and Lucille at Cataloochee Campground. It was Grady's first ever camping trip, and it was a great success! Luckily our huge tent was big enough for a queen-sized air mattress AND his pack-&-play so we all slept comfortably. The sound of the river in the background was a big help too! We went on a long hike, and saw the wild elk too. Grady had a wonderful time bonding with his cousins and we also found out Sarah and Chris are going to have another baby in February!

Jack, Anna, Grady and Lulu at our campsite

Time to roast marshmallows!

Wild elk - they were beautiful

Hiking fun

Owen LOVES chocolate!

Bele Chere was a couple weeks ago -Amy, Andy and Owen came to visit and we had a great time! Two 1-1/2-2 year olds are not the best company for a hot downtown Asheville amongst 10,000 people, however we still got to check out some crafts, bands and even had a couple beers. Grady and Owen's favorite? Not the kids area, or the music or the art... it was the curb in front of the Grove Arcade. They had a BLAST trying to jump off it. Ahh to be young!

The 2012 Summer Olympics have been a big hit at our house. Justin and I have always loved watching them, and Grady is no different. He especially enjoys the diving - both individual and syncronized. He says "woah!" and claps after each dive. Michael Phelps just won his 19th medal (an Olympic record) and the USA women's gymnastic "Fab 5" won the team gold medal.

Fun with "jumping"

We definitely have a fully speaking child. For a while he would point and grunt when he wanted something, but he has gotten much better at voicing what he wants/needs lately. The most popular phrase is "I want more ____", usually crackers, banana, blueberries, grapes or milk. Yesterday we were driving home from swim lessons and we went over a speed bump and I heard "Woah mommy, be careful" from the back seat!

His favorite toys are "choo choo trains" - the set I got at Ikea for $10 - steal! Also is really into cars/trucks in general. One night he had all 3 of us crawling around the house with trucks saying "beep, beep coming through!" Favorite books are Goodnight Moon, a Truck book where you match up photos of trucks, and an animal book - he and Justin love to make animal sounds together.

We are still plagued with watching Yo Gabba Gabba quite often, however he also really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street (mainly just the Elmo's World part - makes us fast forward to it) and Blue's Clues.

All in all, we are having a great summer and feel very fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends.