Grand Adventure Josie Style

I am blessed with wonderful kids in my life. I also am blessed with wonderful parents of those wonderful kids in my life. Stasia and Dave are trusting in my care and time while I "kidnap" their children for grand adventures. I love it. They love it and I am so thankful that I have this tradition with them. Today I got to whisk Josie away for our summer edition of a grand adventure. I enjoy seeing her completely by herself in her interactions without the watching/direction from her big brother and with freedom from her baby sister as well. She has a lovely, fun, mischievous (in a good way) sense of humor. She is an adventurer. She loves to play and she loves to see and explore the world. 

I must write here for my memory that when I picked Josie up, Myles very seriously and after stopping play with whatever he was playing with looked at me and said, "Miss Stephanie." "Yes, Myles." "Miss Stephanie, I'm so glad Josie gets to go on a grand adventure. She's going to have so much fun, isn't she." There was no mention or asking about when it was his turn or anything besides happiness for his sister and her adventure. I loved this. 

I picked up cracked corn at the store to take to a pond so we could feed the ducks. She adored it. Her big brother would have freaked out with the ducks surrounding him, but Josie was in heaven. So curious. So intent. So studious in her watching of the water fowl. 

Surrounded....

 Look at that sweet smile!

As I was taking this picture a duck got so close she squealed in delight as it brushed her leg.

Such awe...

Notice her bow in her hair. She was proud of it and it matched her outfit so perfectly. So girly!

After feeding the ducks we made our way to the playground area of the park we were in. Josie loved playing hide-and-seek around trees most of the way. She also greeted anyone who would greet her on the trail as well as high fiving a nice gentleman who was walking his dog.

Hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo-I-see-you!

Exploring the playground land!

After Josie slid down this slide she said very delightfully, "Fancy!"

Someone loves to swing. I see her brothers smile in her smile in this picture.

 After park time we headed to get lunch. Josie kept talking about all the "castles" in the area when she saw brick buildings. I had a random thought that we could go have lunch in a "castle." Rocky Butte, a great place with great views in Portland has the appearance of a bit of a castle-y atmosphere. So, we picked up Burgerville- it's a tradition....

 And we made our way to the Castle!

Josie climbed ALL of the stairs. Probably, easily the equivalent of 3 or 4 flights. She was a trooper and didn't once complain and refused to be carried ANY of the way.

We conquered the stairs! Now...sustenance.

Being brave and taking a picture with a view!

 Same pictures...but I like that both look a bit difference based on background/lack of.

 Exploring!

 On the way back down, and once again she refuses any help and she even carried leftover lunch down with her.

 On the way home I asked Josie if she was tired. Her response: "So tired. So fun."

Oh, and I adore her saying my name and I finally caught it decently on video. I could watch/listen to this video a hundred times over and I would NEVER ever get tired of hearing it. Ever. Love.

Once we got home baby sister checked us out and she's on her own adventure of being upright and mobile on her legs....not completely independent, but SO close. She'll be a grand adventure buddy of mine before too long! I can't wait!

I think being a Godmother is the best. I also think my Godchildren are the best. I might be a bit biased, but it's allowed.