Dude Camp: Just a couple of dudes doing dude stuff.

This past weekend, Jen went out of town to visit a friend, and I was left to wrangle Graham. Now, I don't want you to think that I was worried about a weekend with just the dudes. We have had the chance to hone our dude skills each Monday, while Jen is at her community chorus rehearsal. We've gotten pretty good at the mom-free supper/bath/bedtime routine, although it's always more fun to have her around. 

A mom-free weekend was something the likes of which we had not yet attempted.  Our level of success would be clear to all involved (and probably the neighbors).  My strategy was to hit the ground running Saturday morning and not stop until Mommy was back on Sunday.  To do this, I would be enlisting the help of... wait for it... CAFFEINE!

Our first stop of the day, as with many Saturday mornings, was Starbucks.  I told Graham that it was a special day full of surprises, and the first one was his very own overpriced drink from the coffee shop.  For those of you who may not know, Starbucks serves non-coffee drinks! Apparently, they have been doing this for years; I just never had any reason to investigate that far down the menu.  Personally, I'm still holding out for the espresso-in-an-IV-bag (fingers crossed).

Needless to say, Graham got super excited when they called his name to get his drink.  Unfortunately, the coffee shop was packed, so we had to camp out in the backseat of the car to enjoy all the frothy goodness.

Our next stop was the big surprise for the day.  There is a local general store/sausage factory/wedding pavilion outside of town (everybody has one of those, right?) that was hosting its annual Family Fun Day.  I had heard from co-workers that there would be lots of kid-friendly activities, so we decided to go for it.  What I didn't realize was that this general store/sausage factory/wedding pavilion was out in the boonies.  Had I known that, I might not have given our two-year-old a cup of warm milk before the half-hour ride.  As it stands, I had no such prior knowledge, so the last couple of miles were completed with the windows down and music blaring to avoid the dreaded late-morning (please don't sleep through your lunchtime because it makes you hateful) nap. 

Luckily, Graham only gave in for a couple of minutes, and I was able to wake him before he entered REM sleep.  When he awoke, it was into (for him and me) a whole new world.  For those of you who may have forgotten, we live in Tallahassee, Florida, so this little jaunt into the woods took us pert-near the Georgia line.  Now, when these good natured, honest folk get together it is something to behold.  Like any local festival, there were the requisite bounce houses, food vendors, pony rides (more on that later) and the like.  What was unique were the "art" vendors.  Graham and I cruised right on by the "put the rebel flag on anything" stand, and we did not feel obligated to purchase a hillbilly wine glass.  (By the way, if you're wondering what qualifies a wine glass as a hillbilly wine glass, I would assume it has something to do with the volume of the Mason jar, but I wasn't about to inquire.)

By the time we got to the festival, parked, and got truly immersed in southern culture, food was a top priority.  Luckily, we can smell sweet corn a mile away.  After a summer visit to Iowa (complete with teeth this year), Graham is a seasoned vet when it comes to getting every. last. piece. of corn off of an ear.  In case you were wondering, he was gracious enough to share a bite or two with me.

Om-nom-nom-nom.

I've got this.

Seriously, Dad, I've got this.

After breezing through his sweet corn, we headed to the ponies and the petting zoo.  Daddy quickly made the executive decision to bypass the petting zoo, even though we both are up to date on our vaccinations.  When we got to the ponies, we had to wait in quite a line (see the picture).  We had to harness all of our hard-earned Disney line-waiting tricks.  This was made a little easier when we realized that we were in line next to a couple of Graham's friends from the music class we attended last year.  This allowed for lots of feigned shyness and eventual flirting.  What can I say... He's got charm!

The pony ride was a success.  Mr Independent chose the biggest pony in the bunch, and refused to let me help hold on to him.  He insisted on more once the ride was over, but since there were scores of young uns waiting in line, it was a no-go.

The Great Pumpkinhead rides again!

"More, Daddy, More!!!"

We wrapped up our day of fun at the general store/sausage factory/wedding pavilion with a ride on the horse-drawn carriage around the pond.  Once we made it back to the car, I knew Graham didn't have much steam left.  He crashed hard in the car on the way home, and ended up with a 3+ hour nap.  Somehow, we made it through the rest of the weekend until Mommy came back (most of that was a blur, at least for me).  And while we had a good time being dudes doing dude things, it's always better when we can share our adventures with our main dudette.

"Dude?" "Dude."

 

 

Oh, and I think it goes without saying that there were other dude-type activities at the Reece household this past weekend.  Some of them may or may not have involved butt-flops on the bean bag in big boy underwear...

Yo Ho Ho and Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Jake, Izzy, and Cubby!

Now, if you don't know who they are, you obviously do not have a little one nor do you spend much time in Disney Junior land!  Allow us to enlighten you:  http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates

Graham is obsessed with Jake and his crew.  Not that he really sees it all that often, but he loves the show, characters, music, and songs!  To be honest, I find myself singing some of the pirate tunes occasionally too!  Needless to say, our costumes were a no-brainer this year!

We had a wonderful time trick or treating!  The weather was beautiful, the company was great......

and the candy is sitting on the kitchen counter taunting me!  Any pirates out there want to come over and plunder our candy stash?  Please?  Pretty please?!

Beach Day!

Sad to say, this was our first beach day of the summer.   And yes, I do realize that summer ends this week, so we are definitely sneaking it in under the wire!  So, after a little bit of drama and a detour or two (you know, the kind that only pop-up Florida rainstorms can bring), we happily settled on Mexico Beach!

Though a little hesitant at first, Graham had a blast!  He loved the sand, shells, and surf.  He had a great time chasing the "ducks" (gulls) and then stopping to examine every little, teeny, tiny grain of sand or piece of shell.  By the end of the afternoon, he was jumping in the waves and happily running (and squealing) along the shoreline.

                                  



















While I have always loved the beach, Chris has not been the biggest fan.  However, seeing the excitement and newness of everything through Graham's eyes may have changed his mind.  Tonight when Chris put Graham to bed, he told him that today was the best day he had ever had at the beach!

With family and day like this, I think he may be right!

Busted!!!

The lesson for this week has been that there are no secrets to be kept when Graham is in the know!

Chris and Graham went for an innocent trip to Publix last night to get mushrooms for supper.  However, when they arrived home and I asked Graham (in front of Chris) what they bought, he proudly announced, "Cookies"!  I gave him the raised eyebrow, quizzical expression and asked, "Cookies"?  Chris immediately jumped in and said they were for him classroom and asked what else they bought.  Graham responded with "Mushrooms".  And that was that....

Until later when Chris was cooking dinner with said mushrooms and I was playing with Graham when he out of the blue says, "Daddy push stroller".  I said, "That's right.  Daddy pushed Graham in the stroller.  Where did you go?".  Graham replies "Grocery store".  So I started again with the what did you get questions.  "Cookies", "Mushrooms".  I very honestly asked, "Did you get anything else?", expecting him to say "No".  Instead he looks at me and says, "Beer"!

Sure enough...

Chris was "appalled" at his confession, but learned a very valuable lesson about what can and can't be said and done in front of our so-close-to-2 years old son!

Shockingly, the story does not end here!  As I was relating this story to my father on the way home from school today, Graham heard me mention the beer, and began giggling hysterically and repeating one of his favorite phrases ("A drink of water, milk, juice, etc.) with the ever so inappropriate substitution "Beer" all the way home!  Yes, I heard "A drink of beer" come from screaming up form the backseat at least 25 times on the 10 minute drive home!  I just can't wait to see what his teachers and friends at school (First Baptist Church) will think of that one!  We are so busted!!

First Day of School

Yes, I do understand that my son is not quite 2 years old!  But, if you are going to start a tradition, you might as well start it young, right?! 

So, I proudly present Graham's First Day of School!

Ready to roll!

 We were fortunate enough to receive a place for Graham in the Weekday Program at First Baptist Church.  From the moment we visited, Chris and I fell in love with the people and program at the church, but as is the case with lots of great places, even though we toured in April, we had to be put on a waiting list for August.  We had been hoping and praying all summer that a spot would open up, but not hearing anything, had already made plans for another local child care facility.  Fortunately, on the Tuesday before we were scheduled to leave for Iowa (on Thursday), we got a call that there was space available!   We made the decision to enroll him there, and we are so excited! 

Graham has also been very excited to go to school!  We spent the better part of the weekend talking about how Graham was going to go to school and _fill-in-the-blank-with-all-the-fun-things-he would do__.  Sunday night, he chose which backpack ("packet" in Graham speak) he wanted to take, and after it was packed, he attempted to carry it around the house.  (I say attempted only because it was so heavy that he was pulled backwards and even fell a few times!  Oops!).

The anticipation of this big event was still evident early this morning, when the first thing Graham said when he woke up was, "Graham school!"  Luckily, his excitement seemed to carry him through the school day!  Despite a few tears when I left, and a few more when Chris and I came to pick him up, his first day of school was a success!  And tonight, we have heard lots of great stories about "Graham school"!

Let's just hope he is this excited about the "first" day of school for the next 18 years or so as well!

Thanks for the Caterpillar "packet", Natalie, Emme, Clee, and Andrew!

Happy Father's Day

to the best Daddy Graham could ever have.

It's really too bad they don't look anything alike, right?!

Like grandfather, like grandson

For Christmas, my dad gave Graham a gift card to Dairy Queen.  We finally got around to using it Saturday.  Naive me, I thought that we would walk to Dairy Queen, Graham would have a few bites of my blizzard, and we would call it a night.  Not so much...

Ice Cream Drunk!

2/3 of a Blizzard later, I think Graham is even more excited for Grandpa's visit next month.  I assured him that Grandpa could probably be convinced to make a trip to Dairy Queen too!  Maybe Grandpa will share and I can have a few extra bites?!

First Week of Summer...Whew!!!!

Graham and I have officially survived our first week of summer vacation!  That being said, I am a little confused why they call it vacation.  I am beyond exhausted, in a completely good way!

I don't know if you are aware, but being in charge of a 19 month old means living life in the fast lane...or going completely insane if you choose to slow down.  So, may I proudly present our first week of vacation.

We spent Monday and Tuesday morning running errands, which means no pictures.  However, I thought you might appreciate the yogurt face I sat with at breakfast on Tuesday!

And let me show you how much fun it is to try and reinforce using utensils at lunchtime!



Wednesday morning found us out and about again as we headed to get a new big boy haircut.  Graham was super excited to sit in the airplane to get his haircut.  So excited, in fact that I really couldn't get him to look at me for anything!  I am so not cool in comparison to an airplane.  After the haircut, we headed to story time at the library, where Graham was thrilled to see Mr. Garry play his guitar!

Wednesday afternoon, we met our fabulous photographer friend, Claire to take Graham's 18 month pictures.  We are a little behind, but oh well!  Graham had a blast at Maclay Gardens, pointing out every bird, puddle, ant, plant, flower, and rumble of thunder!  We did manage to get the pictures taken before the storm hit (and by storm, I really mean Graham's full tornado status)!

On Thursday morning, Graham and I headed to Trousdell Pool where they offer a tot only (5 and under) swim time every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  Graham had so much fun!  He loved splashing and playing in the fountains.  He even got up the nerve to go down the slide once!  I think he had fun!

 On Friday, Chris was home, the weather was beautiful, and we ate lunch outside at Tropical Smoothie.  Graham loved watching the cars and even put on a little "dinner show" of his own.

Whew...is it any wonder, he slept so well this week?!