The Pool Boy

Luke has been swimming before, but it's a completely new experience this year. And I must say, he LOVED it. In fact, he loved it so much, it really scared me. He was clearly not afraid of the water.

He kept putting his face in the water, but he knew exactly what to do - he knew to blow out his nose and mouth!

He wanted to jump straight in. So I let him stand on the steps and jump to me. But then he wanted me to move out of the way. I said "No way - I'm catching you." So he gave in and let me catch him.

And if you'll notice, he's got a little Matchbox car in his left hand that he held onto the whole time he was swimming.

For a special treat, we gave Luke an ice cream bar. As you can see, he enjoyed it very much. However, he didn't feel the urgency to eat it quickly - doesn't understand the whole melting problem. Anyway, that's why we were outside!

This is his newest thing ... hiding his face with his hand. He's done this in various different situations - when he acts shy and then when he's mad at me and doesn't want to look at me, and also when playing peek-a-boo. I think it's funny. Who knows where he learned that one.

Fun Outside, Part II

We took Luke to the park one evening to play on the slides...

He loved "driving" this "car."

At first he wasn't sure he wanted to slide down the slides by himself. But it didn't take long until we were sitting on the bench watching him go up and down over and over again...

This is him going down the slides all by himself...

Wheeeee.....

Luke and Daddy sitting on the bench saying "cheese."

Then I showed him how to blow the dandelion seeds. I think more got in his mouth than out...

After this park outing, we stopped by Little Caesar's on the way home and picked up a Hot 'n Ready! Yum. Luke's favorite.

A Night in the Mountains...

We got a cabin in the mountains for the weekend. It was really for the purpose of having a Bachelorette Party for my good friend, Jennifer... (below)

But since the cabin rental, Black Bear Lodging, required a 2-night minimum stay, Greg and I decided to take advantage of the first night for ourselves. Luke stayed at Mimi's house (aka my mom), while Greg and I enjoyed a free night alone. Saturday night was reserved for the girls. And boy, did we have fun!!

Well, Greg and I enjoyed the cabin so much that we added a third night. Greg brought Luke up after church on Sunday. We hung out in Pigeon Forge, did a little shopping and then went to a "RainForest Adventure." It wasn't quite as cool as the ad suggested. But as you can see from the pictures, they had some very serious animals and reptiles, such as a Red Mamba.

Sorry for the crazy blurry shots. We finally did get a new camera, but we were still trying to figure out how to work it. (Probably need to read the manual, what do you think?)

At first, he was scared of the bear, but then he warmed up to it...

Here we are at the RainForest Adventure...

Check out this HUGE python...

This was our favorite... the lemur. This little guy was so funny. He really liked Luke - kept enticing him to play.

Afterwards, we went to A&W and got Root Beer Floats. Luke didn't care for the root beer, but he liked the ice cream part. In that second picture, he is showing how the ice cream made him "code". (That's "cold" for any of you who don't speak Toddler.)

Fun Outside

Here we are having a nice Sunday afternoon outside. Greg is washing the cars... and Luke is helping... sort of.

He wants to watch, up close....

But as the water gets closer to him...

He really starts backing up....

I guess he's inspecting the work here...

The kid loves shoes....

One of my favorites...

Playing on the front porch while Pumpkin watches....