Gracie and I had a date tonight. I have been lonesome for some one-on-one time with Gracie. It always seems that I'm hanging out with the boys and the girls (Mom and Gracie) are out doing their own thing. I decided tonight would be a good night for just the two of us!Gracie got to pick the dinner location--Pizza Hut. As we waited for our pizza to come out, we colored and just talked about life. I told Mom later that evening that I just kept staring at her and thinking, "Wow, this is my little girl!" She is so precious! And boy, does she have my appetite! She and I each ate four pieces of pizza. She was keeping pace with the pace car!
We next traversed to BAM (Books-A-Million), one of Gracie's favorite places. BAM is like a cool library, with less pressure to be quiet. There, we read stories Gracie picked out. Most evenings I'm pretty exhausted just reading. In fact, I often fall asleep while reading to her. I guess when my body slows down it seeks rest. But tonight, I had all the energy in the world for her. We were captivated by the stories of Tinker Bell trying to get to Neverland, by Daisy Jo Pony fearing the Garden Monster, and by Princess Anneliese and Erika trying to escape from the dastardly plans of Preminger. Never had reading to Gracie been so exciting! And the audience (Gracie) was captivated!
After her last book, we played with a few toys and then headed to another of her favorites, TCBY, for dessert. She had been craving their Cotton Candy yogurt, which I must say, is pretty tasty. Again, sitting across from her, watching her eat her frozen treat, I kept thinking again, "Wow, this is my little girl!" I broke my "ga-ga-ness" with a quick switch to silliness. She appeased me (see pics abose). The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! We laughed and laughed.
We came back home and we got to tell Mom all about the fun we had. She quickly skirted in to join the boys watching The Phantom Menace. And it was like the memory of a fun night was quickly stored away as she moved on to the next great thing. I started to wonder, "Is this what it will be like when she gets married, when she leaves her mother and father to start her own family?" And I reminded myself...Cherish these times. These silly, fun, endearing times. They will be gone in the blink of an eye. May I never blink!
We stopped right outside of the Native American Conservation Museum to set up shop. We bore the sweltering heat, but we're always open to 
They live in an impressive artificial habitat right in the lobby of the hotel. We'd never seen anything like that. 
The fun was short-lived, however, as there was an incident in the pool (Have you ever seen 
Beedle had a silly night tonight. He had been begging to go to the Incredible Pizza Company (according to Beedle, it is the "best place in the world".) so we thought tonight would be a great night. He has also been begging for Jacob to come over, so we thought we'd invite him to join us. As you can about imagine, they had an incredible time. Not so much interested in eating pizza. But, infatuated with the sights and sounds of the action at the arcade. They did everything from playing mini-golf, to hunting for antelope, to whacking sharks with a mallet, to driving a squad car. What else could they possibly do to top an evening like that? Oh, yeah, have some ice cream! 
What a silly bunch of guys! Thanks to Jacob for joining Beedle and Dad. We wouldn't have had as much fun without you! Beedle's looking forward to the next silly night!
Can you just imagine her thoughts "She will never think it was me ;)" I went back in five minutes and saw that she was indeed fast asleep. On my way out the door I caught a glimpse of this...
I asked her when she woke up why her baby was in the corner. Without any hesitation she told me that her baby was not having a good day. She had done lots of naughty things. With that beautiful smile that Gracie does so well she told me that her baby "has lots of good days but just today she had a bad day." She said just as sweetly that her baby was going to choose to have a better day tomorrow-- And she did!
Nothing like a little outdoor activity--fun and exercise!
