My Little Prince

My little prince is wearing a crown his daddy made for him as he plays with his Leappad (a Christmas gift.)

In the second photo he is in his toddler bed (no more crib!) surrounded by his babies (stuffed animals.)

My sweet Jace the Face is growing up very quickly.  He will soon be three years old!

He was at our house today for a while as I worked on a calligraphy project.  Maybe one day he'll be running my calligraphy studio.

Halloween with Jace

Halloween with Jace is always fun. This year he went as an airplane pilot. His mama found the cutest authentic looking jacket and hat with flaps. They added some goggles, brown pants and shoes. I bought a glow in the dark ghostly bucket to hold his candy, and he was all set to beg for candy on my mother's street - arguably the very best trick-or-treat neighborhood for generations!

Here's the Jack-o-Lantern that met Jace at our house.

Second cuz Celeste rocks his goggles!

We all had fun. Jace's great grandma enjoyed all the kids who stopped by in costumes, and of course she enjoyed seeing her own grandson and great grandson. Great Aunt Angie and her family, just down the street, had fun with Jace too. It's a whole 365 days til the next time!

Jace in the Park

About 60 degrees on the 5th of February. Sandy and I took Jace to a new little park in my neighborhood.

Jace loved the sliding boards, loved the swings, and loved the big climb-on-me dinosaur.

Here he is getting down when I told him to 'shake his booty'. My little guy is Mr. Personality. We had fun.

Jace will be two years old next month. Unfortunately he still tests things by putting them into his mouth. I wish people wouldn't throw their cigarette butts all over the kids' park.

Jace the Face - December update

We met Jace, Sandy and Steve at Bass Pro Shop to see Santa for a photo. This place has lots of interesting displays all year round, but at Christmas time there are even more, including a train, a carousel and Santa and his elves and reindeer.

Here, Jace sports his 'run-a-way style' in the parking lot.

Jace enjoying the unusual experience of being on top of Pappy's car.

Jace pointing to one of his favorite things - an airplane flying over. (Pappy is wearing his IU gear following IU's win over then number 1 UK.)

Jace with Daddy riding a polar bear cub on the carousel.

Jace with Pappy, riding a reindeer.

Boys do love trains.

And finally, Jace with the main event. He was not impressed.

So, We All Went to the Park Last Night

We went to the park last night, and followed up with Mexican food at Puerto Vallarta restaurant. Naturally, Jace was a hit at the restaurant, with all the waiters talking to the little muchacho. We had fun at the park too.

First Jace tried out the swings.

Then a slide. He LOVES the slides.

After that we hiked to the creek where I snapped this shot with his daddy.

Back to the slides.

And then we met Bubba who, when he saw my camera, asked me to take his photo. Bubba has fun!

Jace liked this flip puzzle toy on the side of the slide set.

Then we headed out at dusk, when I got this photo of the moon caught in a tree limb maze.

After eating at the Mexican restaurant, Jace played in the shrubbery.

Another fun adventure with the marvelous Jace the Face!

Summer Time!!!

We had a good week. Here are some photos of Laura's Beautiful Garden. No pictures of the vegetables, but I hope to get some up close at harvest time. (Hint, hint.)

We went with Sandy and Steve to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. The first person we saw was Summer Santa. Christmas in July! We had him all to ourselves, and Jace sat on his lap. Hmmm - I totally forgot to tell him what I wanted for Christmas this year.

What a handsome Santa he is!

Anthony rode up and down on this ride in the Christmas section of the park. It must have seemed pretty tame after the two humongous and wild wooden roller coaster rides we'd already had.

Jace was too small to ride on this one, so Alexis rode it without him.

Pappy took Jace on the carousel. Jace likes horses.

Sandy was so scared that Jace would cry and be afraid when she left him all alone on this ride. He fooled his mama! He loved it!

We spent most of the day in the Splashing Safari area of the park - swimsuits, hot sun, wave pools, water slides, etc., etc. My camera was safely stowed in a locker. No swim pix. Probably a good thing.

Holiday World was called Santa Claus Land in its early days when Pappy was a toddler enjoying it with his grandparents. It was still Santa Claus Land when our sons were small. The name has changed, the theme has expanded (as has the acreage and thus the walking) to include all the holidays, but the family nature of the park is the same. Holiday World has free soft drinks and water all day long, and free sunscreen in the water park. There is free parking too. In addition they have free-to-use swim vests for those who want them. We were totally worn out after 9 hours, but the kids stayed til the park closed and we took Jace home with us a few hours earlier. Everyone was happier that way. Jace slept most of the way home.

Due to a large 'rush' calligraphy job, I was forced to miss my high school reunion. Booo! Everyone had a good time though, I have heard. We were a good bunch - and we still are!