Fun At The Lake

Gracie girl and I spent most of the morning at the lake across from our house. There is a cute little beach area where Grace enjoyed watching fish swim in the water, throwing rocks & sticks in the water, and watching the fishing boats go by.

Gracie ventured into the water and loved it!

Grace spotted a beautiful yellow butterfly at the beach and she had the best time trying to catch it. Grace talked about the yellow butterfly all during lunch today. It was an exciting morning for us. I can't wait to bring Grace back to the lake after she wakes up from her nap!

Such A Beautiful Day...

The Very First Picture of Our Second Baby!!

I had my first ultrasound today and here is the first picture of our baby! We were all very excited to see the baby rolling, turning, and moving his/her hands and feet. A very special moment happened when Grace was looking at the ultrasound screen. Grace waved and said "hi" to her brother/sister and seconds later our baby started waving their hand. We will be finding out in late July whether this little cutie is a boy or a girl. We can't wait to let everyone know!

Memorial Day

Let us not forget those men and women who have served our great nation during times peace and conflict. Because they gave their "last full measure of devotion," we are forever in their debt. ~Laura Slaton Phillips~

We attended our local Memorial Day parade in town. Grace looked on with amazement as the parade began!

Grace loved being on Daddy's shoulders after the parade ended. She proudly waved her American flag to all of the parade onlookers.
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ~Joseph Campbell~

A Visit To Beautiful Pineland Farm

We spent such a wonderful day together at Pineland Farm today. We went there many times last summer with Grace and we couldn't wait to go back with her again this year. Grace loved absolutely everything about the farm. She saw cows, chickens, piglets, chickens, roosters, sheep, and tractors. Grace happily greeted each farm animal with a boisterous "hi" and named the type of animal followed by the sound they make. Grace's favorite part of the day was sitting on the bails of hay. She had seen lots of hay on Thursday at the Morgan Horse Farm and she was actually able to touch, smell, and sit on it today. We are looking forward to many more trips to Pineland this summer.

Daddy Is Home!

Daddy flew in from Florida late last night. Grace was so excited to see Daddy first thing this morning when she woke up. We are both very happy that he is home!

Thank You Maddy & Poppy for the Unforgettable Memories!

Here are a few pictures that were taken last Saturday in Middlebury, Vermont before I left for Florida. Grace and I are safely back in Maine tonight but how we are both missing Vermont!

Mom & Dad, I can't possibly thank you enough for taking the very best care of Grace this past week. I am amazed by all that Grace learned from you. Grace talked about her time in Middlebury the entire ride back to Maine. She is saying so many new words. Some of my favorites are: Middlebury, Burlington, and ooooookay! Thank you for filling each day with so many wonderful learning opportunities for Grace. Her exposure to the arts at Middlebury College, playgroup, Children's Day at the town green, and all of the outside play, art time, and book time has opened Grace's world to all the beautiful things Vermont has to offer. However, the best part about this week is the time Grace got to spend with you. I am deeply touched to see how much Grace loves you both and what a special bond she has with you. We are counting down the days until we will be with you again. Thank you, again for being such incredible parents and the absolute best Maddy & Poppy to Grace. We love you.

"Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow"

Friday evening

Weather: sunny with occasional downpours

Mood: quiet and so missing Rebecca and Our Grace

Poppy: reading the local newspaper

Maddy: quiet, a bit tired, waiting to play, feed, or do another fun thing with Grace!

When we came home from school and work today our home felt very different. It is so quiet and a bit lonely. We are missing the excitement of taking care of Grace. Now it is just the two of us. That of course, is a good thing. But, it is very difficult to have our granddaughter so far away. The very good thing is that the Leger family will be together and happy.....just the way life should be! We cherished our time with Grace. We feel that we really know her so well now. She is an amazing little girl! We are definitely on our next path in life---grandparents. We love it and are still in a magic state of mind that we will have another baby at Christmas time. Thank you for having us take care of Grace, Bob and Rebecca. We had a wonderful time and LOVE Grace to the moon and back!

bottom picture: doing the crossword puzzle-just like Poppy!

middle picture: saying a final good-bye to Maddy as she leaves for school (a bit sad for both of us)

top picture: leaving Maddy & Poppy a very nice and surprising message on our chalkboard wall!

Grace and Her Uncle Adam

Grace loves her Uncle Adam. It was great for us to spend the day with Adam. Adam is very happy that he will become an Uncle again around Christmas. He thinks that Grace is so precious. They are good friends!

Spending A Day At The Morgan Horse Farm

Okay, we know that we (Maddy&Poppy) said that our last post was Tuesday evening but we just couldn't help ourselves. Besides, I really think that Rebecca is a little tired and not feeling all that well tonight. Rebecca and Grace will be driving back to their home tomorrow. Bob will return on a "big airplane" on Saturday. It will be so nice for their little family to all be together for the long weekend.

It was fun for Grace to spend the day with Mommy and her Uncle Adam. They went to the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm in Middlebury. Grace loved the Mama horses and their babies! Every Mama approached Baby Grace and greeted her with a gentle nuzzle. Ella loved spending her day there, too!

Tuesday Afternoon

Here is the last post from Maddy and Poppy. Tomorrow afternoon Rebecca (Mama) will be back with Grace. We are sure that she will post tomorrow evening. Grace has asked for Mama and Dada many times. We have told her that they took a big airplane that went up very high to the beach. We told her that they found shells for her. We have been counting down the days until the big airplane brings Mama home.

Grace has handled this all so well. She is such a sweet, happy, smart and precious little girl. We have loved our time with Grace and have memories that will be with us forever.

This afternoon we went to the hardware store to get stain for our deck. Grace loved the hardware store. A very nice man gave her paint chip cards when he heard her say all the colors. She relaxed in a lawn chair while Poppy shopped. We came home and Grace lined up all of her favorite books on our couch and enjoyed reading to Willie. Really and truly, Bob and Rebecca.....this DID happen just as you see it......Grace lined up the books all by herself and cozied up to Willie! Then we drove to the Arts Center at Middlebury College. Grace loves the arts. We walked through the Art Museum and saw paintings and sculptures. We saw a long dragon kite and found our "BEST" photograph with our best girl! Grace said all the letters in the BEST picture and a professor from the College stopped and commented about how Grace was well on her way! We went in and out of a huge twig house exhibit. Grace laughed and laughed when we played hide and seek with her in the houses.

Thank You, Our Amazing Grace for teaching us so many new things during the past three days.

We Love You,

Maddy & Poppy

Tuesday Morning

Tuesday morning on day#3.

Weather: sunny, breezy and a bit cool, 65 degrees at 1:00PM.

Grace: napping

Poppy: reading the newspaper on the couch (he is sooo happy this week!)

Maddy: blogging, cleaning up, and smiling from ear to ear!

This morning Grace and Maddy went to the playgroup for toddlers in town. There were over 30 children there ranging from newborns to Pre-K. Grace joined right in and had so much fun making new friends. She connected right away with the little girl in the picture named Rose. I think that she liked her because of her cousin Rose! They enjoyed the rice table together. Grace painted, colored, went through the fabric tunnel, went down the slide, played with the big trucks, and the dolls. When it was time to clean-up all the children did their share. Grace carried a big wagon over and put it away. Then we had crackers and juice. After we all sat in a big circle and sang The Farmer in the Dell, Head and Shoulders, The Wheels on the Bus, Ring-around -the-Rosie and the Goodbye Playgroup Song.

Poppy met us at the end of Playgroup and walked Grace home in her stroller. We played outdoors before lunch. What a great "kicker" Grace is! Don't you just love our sidewalk art!?!

Amazing,Sweet,Precious,Irresistible and Enchanted

Monday evening and Grace is asleep. We had another incredible day. We thought that we would leave a magical picture of Grace to end our day. We hope that you enjoy it.

~Mary Ann/Mom/Maddy

~Walter/Dad/Poppy

Beautiful Mama and Rebecca

Bob emailed us these two beautiful pictures of Rebecca at Marco Island in Florida.

She has no idea that we are posting them but, we just couldn't help ourselves we think that she is so lovely.

What We Did On A Rainy Monday Afternoon

Monday afternoon

Weather - rainy:

This is how we spent our rainy Monday afternoon. Poppy just came home and I thought that I would post these pictures very quickly before we take Grace for a ride to Middlebury College.

We drew with chalk, sat in a box, petted Willie again, played dress-up, and even went out in a "little" rain to watch the men cut the lawn with the "cut, cut" machines.

PS. Notice the important information that Rebecca left for us on our chalkboard wall.