Travelingjenny

Today it was 50 degrees and sunny! And we noticed an oasis of grass around the swingset! So Grace put on her rain boots and we climbed through the snow to the swings. I swear that kid laughed and squealed with joy for a solid five minutes as she finally, finally, got to swing again. Then her boots (accidentally) fell off and her socks (inexplicably) fell off and she was reveling in the sun and the breeze on her toes.

And then she slid down the slide right into a pile of snow and said, “Why isn’t it spring at my house yet?”

Grace continues to get creative with scotch tape. The other day she made herself kitty earrings – I drew the kitty faces and cut them out, and she designed the method of attaching them to her ears. Pretty smart, and pretty darn hilarious. She received quite a few compliments on them when she accompanied me and Tess to our music class. Of course, that made her very proud.

While we were in Austin, the weather was a bit windy, and Grace was able to fly a kite on two different days! I’m not sure which she loved more – the pink kitty kite her Nana bought or running around like crazy – but it doesn’t matter. I do know that she thought she was pretty cool – on more than one occasion she purposefully ran straight through an informal soccer game that was going on in the park, as if to say, “Look at me!” Typical Grace. Her spunky self-confidence amazes me sometimes.

Grace had so much fun at the ranch that she did her best to become a mini-cowgirl. Perhaps she was hoping we’d just leave her there, so she could spend her days riding ponies and standing around campfires. She acquired her very own cowgirl hat, and her very own stuffed (purple) pony, which she insisted on carrying with her everywhere she went. And because she was already carrying a flowered purse and a fancy bubble wand, this made running and playing a bit cumbersome. Of course, this didn’t slow her down at all.

What is that funny sticker on Grace’s dress, you ask? Oh, that’s the “I got an x-ray” sticker from the emergency room where we spent four glorious hours – instead of attending margarita (!!) and mexican food night at the ranch. Since she refused to walk for an entire day, we thought she might have an actual injury. But not to worry, she just had an ear infection – and presumably sore muscles from toting around all of her mini-cowgirl accessories. Either that or it was some weird reaction to all of those roasted marshmallows she ate. It’s a good thing she’s not a real cowgirl.