A little while ago, we let Gracen try some plain stove-popped popcorn for the first time… And boy, oh boy, does she ever love it.
Apparently she also loves flinging it out of the bowl and all over the place.
Time for a smaller bowl and fewer pieces…
Bradley had the day off today and since I didn’t get a call to sub until it was too late to actually make it out to Surrey on time, we got to have an unexpected family day… Yay for that. We’ve been kind of missing living on the westside of the city lately, so we decided to head down to Broadway to browse the shops and grab some coffee.
Uncle Brett works on Broadway, so we were hoping we’d see him when we stopped to peek in the window of his store. Sure enough, he was there! We popped in for a little visit, and lucky for us, he was able to escape for a bit and join us for an afternoon snack at the sushi restaurant next door.
Afterwards, we visited Kidsbooks (which was amazing as always) and a few other shops before stopping at Caffeé Artigiano for a hot drink. Even Baby G got a little steamed milk with cinnamon. She was beyond excited about it and slurped up her last bit before I had even had three sips of my coffee. That’s our little milk-loving monster. :)
First of all, a little background info… Lately Gracen has really been into hearts and stars. I’m not sure how this interest came about really, but we do have a wooden shape puzzle that we play with daily and we’ve borrowed several books about shapes from our local library. Either way, the girl likes hearts and stars. She sees them everywhere (on posters, in store windows, in books, at the playground) and enthusiastically points them out while declaring, “Heart!” or “Star!”
Well today, just before her guests arrived, she was happily drawing on her chalkboard when she stopped, pointed, and said, “Heart! Heart!” Now I know that every parent thinks that their child is a genius and I’m 100% guilty of thinking Grae is quite clever, but is it just me or does this really look like a heart?!
Here’s a closer look. Am I just crazy? Does anyone else see the orange heart? Now I’m sure it was just a fluke, but either way, this mama is impressed.
Gracen and I had a jammed-packed fun-filled Valentine’s Day today and it all started out like this.
With heart-shaped pancakes, strawberry slices, and fresh whipped cream. Gracen was in heaven.
After breakfast, Grae opened her little Valentine’s Day bag from Bradley and I.
Inside she found a new photo book called Gracen Loves…
A pretty little shirt (that she helped pick out last week)…
And a new set of felt hair clips made with love by Mama.
With the help of her Papa, she got dressed and ready for the day while I zipped around the house doing a few last minute things for the tea.
This morning when she woke up Papa for breakfast, she marched into the bedroom and proudly presented Bradley with this card she made. (From the bottom of my heart…)
(To the tips of my toes… I love YOU!)
And before he left for work, Grae snuggled in closely and they danced around the living room for a few minutes. ♥
Before her guests arrived, Gracen tested out the mess-free finger paint station we set up on the front window.
After a wonderfully busy (and slightly crazy) Valentine’s tea (separate post to come) and a much needed nap, Grae had an afternoon snack of strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
And then we headed to the park to get some fresh air and enjoy the day’s last hour of sunshine.
When we got home, my sous chef and I started working on dinner.
This little lady loves helping in the kitchen. Not to mention that having her cook with me has solved our recent “witching hour” dinner making disasters.
For Mama and Grae – chicken, sundried tomato, roasted garlic, and feta pizza. (I’m embarrassed to say that Grae ate 5 – yes, FIVE – mini heart-shaped pizzas at her little party today and I had already planned pizza for dinner too. BIG helping of steamed green veggies needed on the side!)
And for Papa – prosciutto and caramelized onion pizza.
And if we hadn’t overdone the heart thing yet, heart-shaped bananas for dessert.
Overall, a wonderful day with my little valentine. ♥
Tomorrow morning Gracen is having a handful of little friends (and their mamas) over for a Valentine’s Day tea, so this afternoon was all about party prep. We ran errands, picked up some groceries, cleaned house, and got things ready for her pint-sized guests.
Gracen helped out by testing out the mural paper I hung on the wall while she was napping.
Then we headed outside to do our usual sidewalk chalk thing.
Gracen is all about hearts and stars right now, so she was quite pleased that we were filling our walk with all hearts of all shapes and sizes.
Now let’s just hope it doesn’t rain overnight!
Gracen never tires of this game…
Hmmm… Has anyone seen my Gracen Girl?
Each time she popped out of the blanket she shouted an enthusiastic “BOO!” and let out a pleased-with-herself giggle. Come to think of it, I never really tire of this game either… :)
Brad had the day off today, so we all headed down to Hillcrest Centre for their Sunday morning family social and play gym session. Here are a few snapshots from our visit:
The rest of the day involved the usual Sunday activities – snuggles with our little lady, some work around the house, and some time outside.
Just like Mama. ♥
You think this little lady had a good time at the pool this afternoon?!
We swam, splished, and splashed for two full hours before I pretty much had to pull her away from the water. There’s no doubt she’s a little fish.
We woke up to the most amazing news this morning… Our very good friends welcomed their gorgeous baby boy, Tate, to the world late last night. The second Gracen woke up from her nap, we headed out to Langley to meet the new little man. Goodness gracious… He is PERFECT. Grae was very into seeing the “bubba” and even tried sharing her apple and book with him. Congrats, Steph and Micah! We couldn’t be more thrilled for you guys.
This little parcel arrived for Grae first thing this morning…
Of course, she wasted no time opening it.
Inside, Gracen found all kinds of pretty Valentine’s things from her “Manmaw” Charlotte.
Including this Valentine’s stamp set. When you see red splotches all over Gracen’s face and hands in the next few days, you’ll know why. :)
Ponies.
Morning reading.
Serious colouring.
The Rainbow Fish on storylineonline.net.
Errands, round one.
Usual post-nap scene. A cozy blanket, books, and a little snack.
Errands, round two.
(On a side note, we can’t go to Superstore without going to see this little duck. He’s been the only duck amongst a crowd of bears since we moved to Vancouver 6 months ago, and Grae loves him. Every time we walk through the doors, she starts signing ‘duck, please’ and proceeds to point you in the right direction. We stop by, she visits with him, and that’s that. Not quite sure what we’ll do when the duck eventually finds a home one day…)
Crayon transferring.
Messy dinner.
Pre-bedtime apple.
Gracen got the sweetest little Valentine’s package ever today! Her cousins, Auntie, and Uncle sent her a Dr. Seuss board book and this adorable ‘5 little thumb buddies ♥ you’ valentine. Melt my heart! Thanks for making our little lady’s day, Kossowan Clan. Grae loooooooves mail!
This is what could be seen at our house for most of the afternoon… It was Gracen’s first ever Super Bowl Sunday, and although she was happy to hang out at home with her Papa, she was more interested in her books than in the game.
Sadly, it wasn’t the Patriots turn this year, but I have a feeling that they’ll be Super Bowl champs several times in this little football fan’s future. :)
This morning we packed up our things and headed out to Granville Island bright and early.
The air was crisp, but we layered up and did some exploring.
Naturally, we ended up at the Kid’s Market. It was Grae’s lucky day. We were there so early that she was asked to test drive this ride to make sure that it was working well for the day.
After riding in a corvette, we popped in and out of stores until we came across this guy. She patted his leg, said “neigh”, and desperately wanted to climb on his back.
All of the rides caused Grae to work up an appetite. (Have I mentioned that she’s been a bottomless pit the last few days? I think she’s making up for all of the days she spent sick and not eating last week.) We headed to the market area where Gracen devoured a Terra Breads cheese flute and half of my souvlaki platter. This little lady is all about Greek food right now. Tzatziki? She LOVES it.
After a yummy lunch, we headed back outside to enjoy some more fresh air. Gracen is all about being able to let loose and run around without having to hold someone’s hand.
Of course, Gracen walked right up to the local musician who was performing and started dancing to his music. (Side note – If you look closely, you’ll see a couple with a dog and a stroller sitting on the bench behind Miss G… You’d probably think that they had a baby as well, but no. That wasn’t the case. The stroller was actually for their four-legged furry friend! I’m all about loving your pets – I did miss a funeral for a human being on the day I found out Titan had died because I couldn’t get my butt out of bed after all – but a doggy stroller? Really? Anyways, moving on…)
Besides enjoying local musicians, Grae’s other favourite Granville Island activity is running amidst the birds.
I’m not going to lie. This freaks me out. Sometimes I think that one of these human-sized seagulls is going to pluck my little girl up by the sweater and fly away with her. Of course, Gracen doesn’t seem to be the least bit worried.
We had a lovely morning {mostly} outdoors, which will make up for the afternoon we’re about to spend indoors watching the Super Bowl… Go, Patriots, go!