Today, Gracen and I got dolled up and headed over to the beautiful Mackie House for the wedding of my good friend Karli. The weather was the perfect blend of warm and breezy, the venue was gorgeously set overlooking the lake, the ceremony space was filled with beautiful little details, and the bride absolutely stunning. It really couldn’t have been a better afternoon.
Knowing that she’d appreciate the time to walk around and explore before having to settle in on a seat, Grae and I arrived plenty early. We picked a couple of aisle seats in the shade of a giant old tree, placed our belongings on them, and explored the grounds for a while. When it was time to begin, Grae climbed up onto her seat, enjoyed some of the special snacks I’d tucked into my purse for the occasion, and quietly smiled and waved to the guests sitting around us. Before we knew it, the bride and groom were announced husband and wife, the crowd let out a huge applause (Grae’s favourite part), and it was time to mingle on the grass. Gracen was reunited with her good buddy Sloan, whom we haven’t seen in a while, and the two were inseparable. They celebrated with countless hugs, kisses, and healthy dose of hand holding. It was cuteness OVERLOAD.
Here’s our afternoon in photos…
‘Found my seat.’
Off to explore.
Patiently waiting.
Loving the paper fans.
‘Mama, Grae Grae climb dis tree?’
Greeting the bride.
‘Oh Sloan, how I’ve missed you!’
Kisses.
Pretty girls.
High school besties 17 years later…
♥
I will readily admit that filling Miss G’s room with balloons late last night while she was sleeping in a room / pack and play she doesn’t sleep well in in the first place was maybe not my best idea… However, watching her march through them with glee this morning as I sang her Happy Birthday cancels out the fact that I’ll be operating on very little sleep and a whole lot of coffee today.
With a camera full of photos and the grass sufficiently brushed off her pajamas, we headed inside, and slowly made our way through her usual bedtime routine. Tonight, when she asked for just one more story, I read it to her more than happily. We snuggled a little longer than usual, sang our normal bedtime songs twice, and when she asked for “More kiss!” each time I had almost closed the door, I went back, again and again… Because tonight is the last night my little girl is one and these little moments pass by all too quickly.
I think we could visit once a week, every week and never tire of it.
Grae left with a belly full of 2 ingredient mango ice cream, a dress covered in sand, and a personalized construction hat of her own. It was a good afternoon. 
“An-gee.”
“Sad.”
“Hap-PEEE!”
“Sur-pised.”
Doesn’t she look concerned about the mess she’s made?! Ya, right. After a little chat about dumping food all over the floors, we agreed that we needed to get a bag so that she could pick them all up. 
I left her in her room, with her bag and apple-covered carpet sneaking peeks {and photos} from the doorway every now and then. And you know what? The little monkey picked every single last apple up without any help or reminding.
The little monkey back at it! She had opened our bedroom door (this is new – up until now, she just respected the fact that a door was closed and continued about her merry way), closed it behind her, climbed up onto our bed, and made herself comfy with Papa’s iPad. Goodness gracious!
Baby must be going through a growth spurt… She gobbled up all of Gracen’s apple slices this morning and all of Grae’s snap peas this evening!
Pool time!
Twirl time.
Wild water baby.
‘Hey, look what I can do!’
Stomp, stomp.
Catch with Poppop.
Dinner time!
Happy birthday, Poppop!
Sprinkler fun with Papa.
Preparing a snack.
Straight from Grandma’s garden.
The other thing that’s come of these walks is the realization that there were several currant bushes bursting with berries down at the farm. So this morning, rather than sending Gracen and GC on their way, we all headed down the narrow dirt road, pails in hand, with the goal of clearing the bushes and using the currants to make something yummy.
Of course, we had to stop part ways to allow Gracen to give Bella a treat. During the past week, she’s become the official doler of puppy goodies and she takes the job very seriously.
We arrived at the bushes to finding them bursting with tiny, dark berries. While Papa whined pretty much the entire time (hi Babe! ☺) and even tried to sit in the grass and just watch us pick, Gracen loved picking berries. She carefully plucked them off of the branches, gave them a sideways glance, and then popped them into her yellow bucket.
Of course, she made some time to sample them as well.
Before we knew it, the bushes were empty and we were on our way home with a bucket full of currants and a plan to make my yummy baked berry oatmeal for breakfast the next day.
♥
What summer’s all about…