Vacation!!!

We headed to the North Shore for a little rest and relaxation!  The weather was very hot, but we were right on the lake, so the breeze off of the lake cooled things off in the morning and the evening.  Gracie enjoyed herself but her routine was definitely shaken and we saw an escalation of behavioral issues -- hitting, pinching, grabbing, and of course biting.  Thankfully she reserved the bites just for Jeff and I. 

Gracie loved playing in the sand and the water, but only for a certain length of time.  She would play for a little while and then insist we go back to the house.  Gracie and I took a number of walks on our own to regain a little attitude balance for her and that definitely helped.  We also found a playground one day on our walk, so she enjoyed swinging and sliding too.  Grace loved dancing with her cousins and her favorite thing to do was grab their hand and go for walks.  She just didn't want the walks to end.  She loved being outdoors when the weather cooled off in the evenings.  She also loved throwing the sand up in the air - her hair was so full of sand, I think I'm still getting it all out. 

We arrived back home late in the afternoon on Tuesday.  Gracie sat on her bed and said "home".  I know she loved all the attention she received, but I know how important routine is for her and she definitely needed that again.  We took the whole day yesterday (Wednesday) to spend time with her.  She was much better behaved and other than a few errands, we stayed home all day and played.  I got a ton of kisses yesterday, she would just come over and give me kisses on her own.  Sweet!  Sweet!  Sweet!

We are experiencing a heat wave, so we filled up her kiddie pool, put in under a shade tree and that is how we spent most of the afternoon yesterday.  Gracie had a blast.  I thought she would be very tired and she did go to sleep fairly quickly.  She awoke at 3:00 a.m., after being restless for an hour or more before.  She told me she was hot, even though we had the air conditioning going.  So I stripped her down to her diaper and a light tank top.  She just couldn't fall back to sleep.  She finally fell asleep at 5:00 a.m., the very time I need to get up for work.  She awoke a little after six and she was in a pretty good mood too. 

Jeff took Gracie to daycare this morning and I'm told she was very happy to see Mandy.  I think the plan was to go swimming today.  I know she'll love that.

Stay cool.

Love,

Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie