Up close and personal at the fair

The Fair season has arrived and so we decided to take advantage and give Graycen her first fair experience.  She LOVED it, all of it - the food, animials, people, "things" to see.  Graycen loves animals.  We spend hours each day reading her books about animals - pointing to the different animals, mimicking their sounds, etc. - so, of course our first stop was the animal barns. 

Our first stop was to see the duckies and chickens:

Making friends with a goose

 Next stop, the cow barn.  She was a little apprehensive at first.  Cows are alot smaller in her books than in real life, but kept telling us "more...more" as we went up and down the rows of cattle.

She was a little irritated that she had to stay in her stroller, but she kept trying to touch (hug and kiss) the cows.

On to the pig barn where she was able to touch a pig on its nose.

 Finally, the horses.  The horse barns were closed for the evening due to the hitching up the Clydesdale, but it was fun to see such beautiful and enormous horses up close.

 All in all, it was a successful/fun family night out, although really expensive.  Seriously, $12 for just a hamburger?  Not looking forward to loan we will have to take out when Graycen is old enough for the rides.

18 months

Our house is crazy town now that we have entered into toddler-hood.  I knew that she was going to be busy and always on the go, but I don't think I REALLY realized what being on the go would be like for Garrett and I...and the dogs.  Because Graycen is on the move, we are on the move, including the dogs as they try to dodge all of the love that G wants to give them.  But even with the busy-ness of our lives, this stage is amazing - full of laughter, learning, emotions, talking, imitating and love.  

18 month stats:

• weight: 21 lbs 10oz. (15th percentile)
• height: 32.5" (65th percentile)
• the very little hair that she has, is strawberry-blond
• working on teeth #8 and #9

Filling out her health forms

Her favorite things are:

•  puppies - she is obsessed with dogs.  As soon as she sees one - real, on TV in a picture, etc., she screams with glee. 
• reading - her favorite books are "Goodnight Gorilla," "The Pout-Pout Fish," "Llama, Llama..." books about animals and books about puppies.
• parks, especially the slides
• walks and outdoor time

Graycen's vocabulary continues to grow and she is trying to say new words everyday.  So far she has added:

• please ("mees") - usually followed by "daddy," which she has figured out will get her most things she is wanting :)
• ducky
• kitty
• mouse ("mou")
• mine
• no-no
• yes

"To Grandmothers Houses We Go..."

We had a great trip to Spokane to visit our families and were able to split our time between the grandparents' houses fairly easily - a perk of growing up in the same area!

While at Grammy's house,  Graycen and the dogs enjoyed playing and lounging in the fenced backyard.   We seriously need to move to a house with a yard.   Look at these faces - pure joy!

 

We also need a house with an outdoor eating area.  Graycen loves picnics outside!!!

 

 



While at Grandma and Poppa's house, Graycen was able to experience "joyriding" with Brayden.  I'm not sure who had more fun - Graycen riding passenger side or Brayden having a passenger to drive around.  Brayden is a great driver;  he would sweetly put his arm around or on Graycen when he was "chaning gears" or when turning a corner.

 

 

Lots of fun things to do and people to hang out with while in Spokane...

 

Berry picking:

 

 

Drinking (virgin) daiquiris on the deck:

 

 

 Feeding "Jimmy" the llama next door:

 

 

Reading with Uncle Grant:

 

 

Playing games with Daddy, Brayden and Auntie Amy:

 

 

Becoming a farm girl at Uncle Grant and Aunt Neshia's house:

 

 

 

Hangin' out with cousin Grady:

 

 

Snack time with Poppa: