Rest in peace Great-Grandma Arn

Early this morning, Grady's Great-Grandma Arn passed away. She lived a long life (90 years!) that was full of love and laughter. We will miss her dearly, but she will always be with us ... whenever we wrap ourselves in our hand-knitted afghans or eat a snickerdoodle or remember family gatherings .... we'll think of her and smile.

Grady and Great-Grandma Arn at her 90th birthday party.

Poolside

We are in the middle of a wicked heat wave right now - temperatures have been reaching over 30 degrees Celsius for almost a week. We've been spending a lot of time down at the river. When we are at home, we hang out in the backyard. Grady likes to play in his little little pool. He has a lot of fun splashing around and he can play in the water for a long time without getting cold.

His not-so-graceful entry!

Splashing ...

swimming! ...

and smiling! :)

He likes to carry the hose around the yard.

He knows where it goes ... into the pool!

Playing at Goose Spit with Sam

Looking out the window

A couple of months ago, Grandma Liz suggested that Grady would love looking out the front window. I wasn't sure, but since he's gotten older and become more aware of the world, he likes to stand there and look outside. First thing in the morning, I pull the blinds up for him and he checks things out for a while before doing anything else; he periodically goes back to the window all day long.

I love how he's standing on his tippy toes in this picture.

Being a little monkey and trying to climb up on the chair (The chair is there to keep him from going behind the t.v. Since he tried to climb up on it, I've moved it away and there is a little stool for him to stand on.)

Little Pooh

Grady wore this little outfit last summer, so I didn't think it would fit this year. It just fits, but he looks so cute in it that I had to put it on him yesterday. Our little pooh ...

I know this picture is out of focus, but I actually caught a photo of this new squishy-face that Grady makes all the time now! He scrunches up his nose whenever he is not sure about something.

Picking raspberries and green tomatoes (I'm trying to teach him to leave those on the vine!)

Another silly face!

Grady & his Mom

Hand-eye coordination

Grady's new meal-time skill: using a fork!

Future caddy

Sandy was getting ready to go up to Gold River for a golf tournament this weekend, so his clubs were by the front door. Grady was having fun playing around with them .... future caddy???!!!

Close-up

"Birta"

I don't know who, or what, "Birta" is, but Grady has been saying this non-stop for the past two days!

Camping

The weather turned nice just in time for our camping trip this weekend. We went to a beautiful spot on Upper Campbell Lake (half-way between Campbell River and Gold River). We camped with our friends, Amanda and Kyle, and we all had a great time.

Grady had a blast playing with the rocks on the beach, throwing sticks into the water, wading along the shoreline, eating tons of yummy food, and he slept pretty well too!

Lounging in a lawn chair on Friday night

Sporting the shades

View from our campsite at dusk

Even though Grady slept a lot better (naps and at night!), he was still up early in the morning. As soon as first light hit (5:19am), he was up and ready to go ... it was so early that the moon was still in the sky.

A tired baby at 5:30am ... we went for a walk so that everyone else could keep sleeping.

The crew out floating around (*note to self: buy Grady a life jacket!)



"This is the life ...."

Ryder's dog dish = fun!

(Grandma RonaLee: Do you recognize the fleece pajamas? We were so glad to have them! He wore them during the night and stayed nice and warm ... thanks again!)

There's a slide in the living room

The past few days have been rainy and wet outside, so we've been spending a lot of time playing indoors. We picked this slide up for Grady last week and the plan was to put it in the backyard, but for now, it's in the living room. He's been having a great time playing on it.

Back to the Beach

Since Grandma Liz and Grandpa Dave are visiting and since we are having beautiful weather, we went back to Miracle Beach yesterday. It was a short trip - inbetween Grady's naps - but we had a great time playing the sand and surf.

Grady and Grandma going for a walk.

Grady sitting with Grandpa.

Grady and Grandpa catching some rays.

Looking out at the ocean.