Poor Travis has had a super busy summer this year with boards (a BIG medical school test) in mid-July (and weeks beforehand to study for it), and more school tests at the beginning of this month to study for and take. So while he's been hitting the books hard, Grace and I have kept ourselves busy with playdates and library story times (it's a pretty rough life, huh? ;) But we have sure missed having Travis along on our adventures :( ).
Anyways, we are so blessed to be in a ward with lots of other great podiatry student and other young families, and Grace and I have enjoyed getting together lots with them this summer!
Our most regular adventures have been going to library story times on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and play dates at the park with some other moms and kids from the ward on Thursdays.
On June 29th, our little park playgroup went to Preston's Hope Playground (in Beachwood).
We had gone here last summer too, but now that Grace is super mobile, she enjoyed running all around the playground by herself!
Taking a break from exploring to swing with mom:
She's really become a great climber lately, and climbed up the stairs...
...and onto the dinosaur all by herself!
The sandbox was a big hit with all the kids:
Grace having fun on one of the rockers with "friend Grace":
Big smiles!
We LOVE getting together to play every week with our friends!
We decided to buy a Zoo pass this summer, and it's been SO nice to have! We've been at least 5 times already (whether it be just Grace and I, as a family, or Grace and I with friends). We love the whole zoo, but our favorite exhibits are the bats, fish, wolves, birds, sea lions, turtles, and elephants. We're excited to use our pass in the fall and winter too!
Watching the birds in the Zoo Rainforest:
Last time we were there, the same pink birds from the above picture jumped down and walked around by us! We thought it was pretty cool!
The beautiful foliage outside the Rainforest:
On July 29th, we headed to the Memphis Kiddie Park for some fun with our friends Elizabeth and Conner.
Grace was super brave and went on the boat ride all by herself. I was SO proud!
She loved "driving" it and ringing the bell (and eating the string):
Grace opted out of the carousel ride, but Conner had a couple of great rides on it:
The big hit ride of the day (for Grace and me) was the train ride. I just loved snuggling my girl as we took a ride (or two ;) ) around the park, watching all the rides and people go by.
Grace and Conner both decided to be brave and try the car ride together.
Cuteness!
Riding away together. :)
Their feelings about the car ride were a little mixed, and a few tears were shed, but they finished it and Elizabeth and I were proud of them!
Thanks for sharing the morning with us Elizabeth and Conner! We had a great time with you!
On Monday (this week), our friends Courtney, Luke, and Leo invited us to join them at the Museum of Natural History. (Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera :(, but) Grace had a great time with Luke and Leo coloring, "digging," and playing with blocks, puzzles, and dinosaurs, and I enjoyed watching Grace learn and explore, and having girl talk with Courtney. :) Thanks again guys for bringing us along!
And this past Wednesday our good friends Misty and Grace invited us to play with them at one of our favorite places: The Great Lakes Science Center. We always love getting together with Misty and "friend Grace," and had a great morning playing and talking together there!
Grace checking herself out in the funny mirrors:
Grace LOVES playing in water, and had so much fun playing in the (new-to-us) outdoor portion of the kids area:
The Graces :)
Checking out the touch and feel wall:
Grace thought the ball-sucker toy was pretty neat...
...so neat in fact that she thought she'd stick her arm up in it to learn more about it :)
Ahhh...a kid-friendly computer. Grace loved it, and I loved being able to let her have free reign on a computer (for once)!
The Grace's experimenting with the headphones. The cuties!
We had SO much fun! Thanks again Misty & Grace for letting us join you!
It's been a great, busy summer. And it's really flown by; I can't believe it's almost over! So, here's hoping we'll have a nice, long fall, so we can enjoy more fun times with our friends (and now Travis too)!
