Grace under Pressure

Earlier this afternoon Grace and I rolled back into town. We have spent the last 10 days in Chicago having fun with my family. Our second night there my younger brother and sister were participating in a dance festival at our church. Their group had been assigned to dance Latin style. I was amazed at how great they were. The girls all got flipped around and my favorite part was when Troy and Ashton were dancing on a box- I had no idea they were so good at shakin' it! I tried to take pictures of the dancing but it was too dark. Here is one of Grace in the bleachers.
Well during the show Grace got a bit fussy so my dad took her out into the hall. Once there she screamed her first totally legit sentence, "I WANT MY MOMMA!" It seems stress brought out her language capabilities. The rest of the trip she was jabbering away. When she dropped a gold fish she exclaimed "Where did it go?" and my personal favorite occurred when my cousin Kirsten was blocking Grace's path. Grace turned to me and said, " Help, oh, help." One day of the family reunion my dad volunteered to watch Grace so my mom, Ashton, and I headed to the city. We met up with some of my cousins for lunch and then went on a shopping spree, (thanks again Mom and Dad:) We met another cousin and an aunt and uncle and went to the Grand Lux for dinner. And my favorite part was the show that night. We saw Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol, the original main character from the movie. It was great, and I am a really picky critic about shows! Another day we went down to Navy Pier and rode on the giant carousel. Here you see Grandpa, Aunt Ashton and Grace.
Next the entire family headed out on a boat tour around the lake. Here is my Dad, Grandma and Aunt Lisa cruising.
Here is a candid of my brother Troy, a teen. Doesn't he look like he could join the cast of Twilight?
Grace enjoyed the boat ride here she is just chillin'.
And one of Grace and her Grandma snuggling.
It was also fun to spend time with a bunch of my younger cousins who I had never really hung out with before, they were wild and crazy fun :) So I must say the reunion was a smashing success. After the reunion ended Grace and I had fun at my parents house. Before my Aunt Judy. Uncle George and cousin Riki left town they came by for lunch. We had put together fruit plates, like so-
As I was setting the plates on the table downstairs Grace grabbed one of the watermelon garnishes and by the time I turned around this was all the was left
Here she is with the evidence in hand
Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!
When Grace and I got home today I felt like it was Mother's Day instead of Father's day. Neil had cleaned our entire house, worked on the yard, done the laundry, and bought us a new mattress while we were gone. He even had a frozen lasagna waiting for us (I think he missed us a bit). So happy Father's Day to all- I will probably wax eloquent on that subject tomorrow :)