bonus video

It's been a while since I posted a video and I wanted to post this one before it got too old. I temporarily lost my video cable, but now that it's found we will make up for lost time.

Working With Dad

This little boy helps Dad build his new desk. Derek needed a place to put all of his books and the laptop, since the desk in our bedroom is really for bills and my photography stuff. So we got a mission style desk from Pembina Valley Online last night, and Derek and Luke assembled it. Luke especially liked the feel of the styrofoam padding in his mouth.

If you ask Luke where his nose is he will now point at his own and then at yours! I'm hoping to have a video of this for you before the week is through.

Another thing I've been noticing lately and trying to capture on video is Luke's walk. It is distinctly Walter-esque (my grandpa). Luke puts his arms out behind him like little wings when he walks, and sometimes when he's just standing around he puts the top of his wrists on his hips. These things aren't learned, they're genetic!

Summer Fun

Jaime and Helene came over with Cameryn and Roehn for breakfast casserole and fresh fruit.

Flowers from my garden for our breakfast table.

Summer brunch with grandma and Cammy.

Berry Pickin'

Yesterday after lunch Luke and I went berry picking at Katie's house. Sure enough, it's strawberry season! Finally! Today we are going to the Farmer's Market to get as much produce as we can get our hands on...including strawberries. We love strawberry jam, so I am going to buy enough to make it for the first time. Yesterday we just got this little pail full, which was just perfect for snacking on. Luke pulled a few green strawberries off the bush and squished them in his fist before shoving them in his mouth, stem and all! It was hard to keep his dirty little fingers out of the pail. Luke sure liked berry picking.

Today is also Derek's birthday. I bought him a bicycle for his birthday a few months ago, but we will celebrate again this evening with his favorite meal - warenika and farmer sausage. We are going to celebrate again on Friday with the whole family (it's actually for all July birthdays - we have 4!).

27 Hour Camping

some scenery from our morning drive

playing in the bed of the truck (aka a secure place to leave your wandering toddler)

Our camp

Well, camping was perhaps not all that it could have been. We didn't leave until Friday morning because we were worried that if Luke didn't sleep well Thursday night we'd have a miserable day Friday and end up coming home right away. So we left Friday morning and we had a very nice day, Luke took all of his naps in the tent just fine, it was sunny and warm, and Derek and I sat around reading the entire day. Then we roasted wieners and after Luke went to bed we roasted marshmallows.

The night went well too, I guess. Except that Luke woke up at 5:30am. We stayed in bed until 8am with Luke crawling all over us and into suitcases and tossing all the diapers around the tent. When we got up and went outside - it started to rain. Instead of sitting in the rain we decided to go for a drive. We picked up some coffee, Luke immediately fell asleep, and we drove around some really amazing countryside. When we got back to camp it started to rain again so, you guessed it, we went home. And after my two hour afternoon nap, I was glad we had come home so I could "sleep in my own shower" as my grandma once said.

The Petting Zoo

Yesterday Luke and I braved the crowds to visit the petting zoo. I re-discovered I am not a "crowds" kind of person. And as it turns out I am also a party-pooper. We walked through the fair, up to the petting zoo, petted the animals, snapped some pictures, and walked back to the car. Luke tried to stop and dance to the children playing violins on stage and I only let him dance a little before I dragged him off again towards the car. Oh well, we saw the animals. Which was a very serious business for Luke. He didn't smile once, although he was brave and reached out to pet them all on his own.

We are leaving to go camping as soon as Derek gets home from work this evening, so there won't be a post tomorrow. We'll return with a very colorful post on Monday with all the weekend's adventures!

He's a Reader

Sure enough, this little guy is a reader. Last night Derek and I were laying in the living room reading our books and Luke walked over. First he sat down on the floor with Derek and picked up Derek's Greek Reader and started paging through it as if he was interested in purchasing a copy for himself. A little while later when Derek and I were both on the couch Luke walked over carrying two of his own books and tried to climb up on the couch with us. I helped him up after he set his books on the couch and he sat in between Derek and me and read "On the Farm", and "God Always Cares" before he ran out of steam and had to go play with a ball or a guitar or something more tactile. Still later it was awfully quiet and I found Luke sitting under the coffee table going through a stack of books I had put there within his reach.

Today is Canada Day (like Independence Day), and Luke and I are celebrating by going to the petting zoo which is being held in the parking lot of the grocery store this afternoon and evening. There's lots of other kids' entertainment that Luke is not quite old enough to enjoy, and live music and steak dinners for $5! We may also be eating steak. We're not really doing anything to celebrate this holiday other than taking advantage of the free petting zoo, but we ARE going camping tomorrow night through Sunday. I am excited and anxious about our first camping trip with a toddler - hopefully Luke doesn't wander off!

If you were wondering, my allergy tests all turned out negative. At the end of the test my arm was no more red than it should have been after being poked fifty times with sharp little sticks...but it was more blue!