Mommy and Gracie Time

From the time the grandparents left (at the beginning of July) until Grace started school on August 15th, I was a stay-at-home-mom. Of course I was working on finishing up my dissertation and we did some traveling, but in-between those things, Grace and I got to spend a lot of quality time together. We had so much fun!

We spent some time at different parks.

We visited "The Farm" which is a fantastic city park that is a real, working farm. Grace loved it. We took Mark a few weeks later and then promptly bought a year pass. It's the perfect size for a quick trip and Grace LOVES feeding the ducks!

Grace helped me run errands and the promise of riding this horse often got us through the grocery store (and the free cookie in the bakery section got us to the half-way point!).

We made a few mall trips and Grace got to ride the rides. She was so good. She actually sat in the fitting room with me and would say "Oooo, Mommy! That dress looks pretty! Now try on the blue one!" Of course, everything looked pretty in her eyes! Love her!

We did a few trips to the local library. It's within walking distance and every time we drive past she asks for more books and lets us know that they have "'puters" there.

We went to "mommy's school" to get my new ID card and had lunch in the student center.

Of course, we had our occasional breakdowns.

We met Alice, Richey, and Joey for a few play dates. One at the Farm and another at the City Pool which is amazing but I didn't get any pictures of.

We went to the City Gardens. They were so cool and FREE!

They even had a "Dr. Seuss house"

We went to the soda fountain and shared a root beer float (Daddy came with us on this excursion!)

And we even spotted things that reminded us of West Lafayette in the local hardware store...

We had a great summer together! I have such a new respect for stay-at-home-moms. I loved my time with Grace but WOW! It is hard to entertain a 2 year old all day long! It's nice to have a routine again now that we're back in school. But, I must admit, I am already looking forward to holiday break when I get more extended time with my favorite little lady!