My mom's birthday present to Grace this year was a trip to the American Girl store in Chicago. Gracie and I rode the train from Kirksville to Chicago. It was so much fun. I highly recommend taking the train! It took less time than driving, and if Gracie was hungry or had to go to the bathroom I didn't have to waste time pulling into a gas station. It was very relaxing for both of us, I loved it!! When we got into Union Station downtown I had to figure out a way to get to the hotel. I was looking at the bus routes when I decided to just pay for a cab. Best decision of the day. We just got in the car, held on for dear life, and arrived at the hotel without having to look at one street sign! Mom met us there later and then we walked to Navy Pier. I took some pictures but they came out really dark, so I didn't want to post them. Gracie liked walking by the water and seeing the boats. We walked a lot and she got blisters on her feet, so that put a bit of a damper on the evening. We didn't go swimming because she didn't want to get her blisters wet. Poor thing!!
Here we are at the American Girl store. This place is amazing! It has three floors of shopping. It's so hard not to buy everything you see, except when you look at the price tag then it get's pretty easy to restrain yourself. Gracie was hilarious. Without any prompting she started walking around the store and pointing at things like a model from the Price is Right. Saying things like: "Here we have dollies sleeping in their sleeping bags. Here is a dress for you to wear." She even said in an adult voice: "And if you would just turn around Nana, you will see Niki and her horse." We couldn't stop laughing at her. I have no idea where it came from!
You can make reservations at the cafe for brunch, lunch, or dinner. We were there for brunch. Everything is decorated in black, pink, and white. The lamp shades are covered in hot pink flowers, the chairs are black with pink circles and a big white button on the back, and they offer black and white chairs for you baby to use at the table. Grace brought her itty bitty baby with her. The napkin rings are black and white scrunchies that you can take home. Grace used her's as a headband for itty bitty. The food was pretty good, and we were able to sit by the window and look out at downtown Chicago! Our waiter was unique. He had a little pony tail with wispy bangs. I told mom that is would take a "special" kind of guy to wear a black and pink apron and serve heart shape pancakes to little girls. But he was nice and we enjoyed our brunch.
I hate that this picture of mom and Grace is fuzzy. But you can tell by their faces that we had a good time! Thanks mom!!
Gracie's preschool had a fall party last night. The kids got to dress up and there were a couple of games to play. They also got to decorate pumpkin shaped cookies. Gracie got a lot of compliments on her kitty costume. This is the cheapest halloween costume we've ever bought. The ears, bowtie, and tail were $3.00 at Wal-mart. We just bought a black leotard and tights to go with it. She looks so cute!! Scottie painted some whiskers and a black nose on her.
This is a picture of Gracie with her "boyfriend" Landon. Well... she told me the other day that he isn't her boyfriend anymore. Then she said "I just decided that I'm everyone's girlfriend. Wait, wait, I didn't mean to say that. I'm just everyone's friend." Sometimes it feels like I am talking to a twelve year old instead of a preschooler. 
This is Gracie doing the cupcake walk. She finally won a cupcake after SEVERAL walks around the rug. It was a cute game.
This is Gracie's favorite teacher Miss Jenny. She loves all her teachers, but she talks about Miss Jenny the most. The other little girl is Catherine. They are always playing together when I pick Gracie up from school. I think eveyone had a good time at the party. I really like her school. The teachers are so sweet and do so many fun things with the kids. I'll be sad when she has to leave it this summer.
Here are a few more pictures from the store and dowtown. After brunch we saw the bitty bear show. There is a little bear that comes with all the itty bitty dolls, like the one Gracie is holding. She is sitting with bitty kitty, bitty bear, and bitty puppy. She was scared of them during the brunch, but I think watching them in the show made her a little more comfortable.
These are pictures of us hanging out with my Uncle Chris, Aunt Christine, and my cousins Mason & Colton. They live in a suburb just outside of Chicago. Gracie had a lot of fun with Colton. Unfortunately we didn't see a lot of Mason, he was really busy with football stuff. Although we were able to get him to come with us to the pumpkin farm. I'm sure that is what every high school guy wants to do on a Saturday! :) This farm was so cute. It had a ton of pumpkins!! There was a petting zoo, a haunted house, and a corn maze. The only problem was that is was almost 90 degrees!! It's hard to get into the fall mood when there is sweating dripping down your back. We still had a lot of fun.
Here are some pictures from Gracie's birthday party. You may have to click on the pictures to see them better. The first picture is of Grace and her best friend Gabby. I could just cry when I look at this picture. It seems like yesterday that they were in the nursery together at church. Everytime the girls see each other they run up and give each other a big hug. It is so cute. Gracie misses her so much. The second picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it. The kids had found a giant stick in the park and started playing with it. It was really big and I'm sure it wouldn't have taken long for someone to get hurt. Jake took the stick away so the kids wouldn't get hurt. But to see all the kids standing there watching him take it away, you would think he was dragging their favorite pet to the pound. It cracks me up! The third picture is of Grace and Gabby again with Gabby's mom Kim. I miss Kim as much as Grace misses Gabby. Luckily she is really good at talking on the phone, because I am terrible at calling people. So I still talk to her every week, but it makes me miss living in Indy! :( The last one is just a cute picture of Gracie playing at the park. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Grace with Stuart, or Macy, Cy. Parties are always hectic for me and I forget to take pictures! But I do have some family pictures to put up on the next post.
