Wish you were here!

Mommy decided to schedule this beautiful picture to be posted for all you loyal readers still checking out Jace's blog even as he basks in the sand and surf. Yep, even though Mommy is technically writing this before she has even left home, she is pretty sure this is the view she, Daddy, and Jace are seeing right now. Oh yes, wish you were here!

Farvel, Adios, Ciao, Auf Widersehen, Goodbye!

This is it dear readers! Tomorrow Jace will be headed to his beach vacation:



Via his first airplane ride:



Of course Mommy does not want to leave any unfinished business so please allow her to share some recent pictures, including Jace's weekend visit with the Aunt formerly known as Rita. (In case anyone is wondering, she is now RIta..with a long I.) Apparently Jace's inconsistent pattern of turning the long E sound into a long I persists (and continues to throw curveballs at Mommy's Speech Pathologist attempts at interpreting these errors).

Jace, of course, scored plenty of new loot with Rita in town. He is modeling a few in this picture...although the expression seems to say, 'MommI, RIta is CrAzY'!



ElmoPalooza!



Yummy, Corn on the Cob!



Has anyone ever heard the country song that says, "Daddy, I've been watching you"???
Guess that tune rings true in Jace's house as well....

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Mommy so did NOT get lost on her trail run this week. Of course she would never try and squeeze a 3 mile run in over her lunch hour (or two). Mommy is very responsible and would never get so turned around that she would run by the same window 5 times (and see the same people). She is so responsible in fact that her inconspicuous run on the trails would never turn into 5-6 miles on the highway for all of the free world to see!

And since we all know that Daddy NEVER does anything silly, it's a good thing he did not get preoccupied by Mommy, Jace, and his friend Nate after a run last week. He wasn't so oblivious to anything that he drove to work the next day and back and to get Jace's haircut before being stopped by a state trooper. And since Daddy is full of common sense he didn't have the state trooper hand him his Ipod off the back bumper of his car! Nope, Daddy didn't forget he put it there after his run and drive around for nearly 2 days!!

You found a WHAT?!

Friday was Jace's last day of daycare for the year. It was a bittersweet time because although Jace and Mommy are thrilled to have time for some R and R, they will both miss his school so much! He has had the best time this year and has learned so, so, much. Mommy was unaware that kids in the toddler room could learn the days of the week! Anyway, Mommy and Jace wanted to do something special for his friends. When Mommy first asked Jace what he would like to take for them on Friday....he said 'Shoes'. At first thought, this seems silly. After more contemplation however, Mommy realized that this was actually very generous because:

1)Mommy did not specify that she was thinking more along the lines of taking food.
2)One of Jace's absolute favorite things in the world is shoes (the apple doesn't fall far) so offering them to his friends was actually a wonderful gesture.
3)Jace has enough shoes to clothe not only the toddler room but probably the entire center.

Anyway, Mommy was able to divert Jace's attention and suggested cookies or cupcakes. Jace decided he wanted to take an Elmo cake. So, Thursday night, Mommy and Jace made this wonderful creation. (Sidenote: Mommy drooled all day thinking of the leftovers. When Jace arrived home that night he had....an empty pan! The horror!)





Friday morning Jace was off to spend his last day with his friends and Mommy went to finish up a smidge of paperwork.



Ok, the smidge of paperwork ended up taking Mommy an extremely small amount of time. She couldn't pick Jace up early however because she had a 3:30 appointment to get blonde and beautiful. Soooo, she spent the day doing totally fun, relaxing things. Ok, so 3:30 comes and Mommy is sitting in her chair in the midst of getting pampered. She is honestly thinking about how great life it and how good she has it. She is going over how great her job is and how perfect it is to have this stress-free summer....When ALL OF A SUDDEN, the hairdresser says, 'Oh my, a gray hair!'. Mommy was flabbergasted. What, How, WHY?!! The lady goes on and on about how it is much to early to have gray and how Mommy's job must be so stressful!!
Nix everything Mommy was just thinking!!

Drumroll Please............................

Our scraggly boy before yesterday morning........





....and after!!




Thank God for scissors!

Mommy Needs a Hobby.....

But aren't you so glad she has time to do things like this......

Counting the days till the beach.........

Vacation is a little over a week away and Jace is trying to keep his mind off of that giant sandbox and pool called the beach that Mommy and Daddy keep telling him he is going to. How does a 2-year-old keep his mind off of something so exciting?

He rides his monster truck around the yard over and over again.



Funny story: The first time Jace tried out his monster truck he couldn't do it. His legs were a little too short to reach the gas so Daddy basically had to push him. The other night Jace wanted to try again. Mommy stood behind the truck ready to push him and asked him if he remembered where the gas was. Uh YEAH he did. He pounds on the gas, only to have the stupid thing in reverse. Mommy gets plowed down and is frantically trying to find the gear shifter to put it in drive. Finally she gets it going forward but then discovers that Jace doesn't know how to brake or steer! He is going at like 10 mph (this may not be an appropriate 2-year-old toy) down the sidewalk as Mommy chases him and tries to hold him back! Luckily Daddy was outside mowing the grass and saw the commotion. He was able to keep the thing under control enough to let Jace go around the house many, many times. The trouble is, Jace has no interest in learning to break or steer. He gives a big holler and slams the gas every time. It's great fun for him but exhausting for Mommy and Daddy!



Another way to keep your mind off an impending vacation; watch your hair grow. Jace's hair continues to grow and Mommy is proud to say there is some evidence of the hair laying down nicely.



You can slide....



Or just lounge around.



Hanging in the garage is a good way to spend your time.



Hitting the farmer's market is a nice way to pass time....and is vital to looking svelte in those swimming trunks Mommy bought you.



Of course teaching George how to smile for the camera is important too. Jace's one request for the airplane is that George go too.