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!
After months and months of begging and pleading, the kids finally got a chance to work on a project they've been waiting to use their scientific minds for--building a tin can robot! Gus got a "build-a-tin-can-robot kit" as a present a while back and we waited for a free afternoon to build it. The kids worked dilligently on building it. 
They learned about wiring, batteries, screws, nut, bolts, axles and motors. And Dad got to brush up on his skills, too. Once it was finished, it was time to hit the switch..........nothing! Not to panic. We went to the wiring first and figgled with it. We hit the switch again......and their "frankenstein" came to life! The kids were amazed as their little tin-can robot (yet to have a name, but the favorites are "R7" and "Seven Up") glided across the living room floor. They were amazed at what the robot could do, but we were more amazed at what they could do. They accomplished it! Now I think their plans are to build C3PO. Good luck with that!
Dad said he remembered his parents having card night and they would always play nickel bourre. He said he had fond memories of the excitement of card night because there was always a lot of energy in the house--a lot of raucous laughter! GiGi, in an effort to recapture that fun, decided to have a bourre afternoon. 
We played for a good few hours, and what do you know, we recaptured the fun. We laughed and laughed. 
Everyone, even those who weren't playing, kept us laughing. 
We look forward to the next bourre afternoon at GiGi's. If for nothing else, laughter should be in the cards!
and how to use a microscope to see small particles. 
But the attraction that kept calling for their attention was the Star Wars Lego exhibit. 
There they re-enacted all of their favorite Star Wars moments. It seems like all nine kids in attendance were fanatics. Our final stop was in the planetarium for the Star Show. Inside, the kids got to see the summer nighttime sky. They learned about meteors, asterisms and constellations. For the dads, it was hard to stay awake in there. We're kind of like parakeets--if you turn off the lights, we'll eventually fall asleep. Dad enjoyed his nap.
While Dad fired up the pit, the kids spent some time in the sprinkler. Nice to do on a triple-digit temperatured day! 
Before supper, we had a little ceremony in front of the flag to honor our nation's birthday. We prayed that God would continue to bless and protect our nation. We next showed honor to our nation by saying the pledge and singing our national anthem. We were proud of the kids for being so participatory.
It looked incredible and tasted even better. Kudos to them for their hard work!
