HILL RIDGE FARM

Last Saturday, we decided to do a family day at Hill Ridge Farm. It's about an hour away, and they have a pumpkin patch, hayrides (for my South African readers, a hayride is when you sit on bundles of hay, in the back of a large wagon, pulled by a tractor), a kids maze, corn house (big 'sandpit' but with corn kernels), an awesome 80ft pipe slide, and lots of other fun things to do! Luke really enjoyed the time outside... it was a surprisingly HOT day considering the weather lately.

We had a great time, and lots of fun!

Walking through the little kiddie maze!

The animal enclosure! He was fascinated, but not nearly as excited as when he sees a dog... we're still trying to convince daddy that Luke needs a dog!

 Stopping for a drink

 The Sand Pit... Luke mostly just loved the truck. I hate the feeling of sand all over me too!

 How Tall This Fall?

 The 80ft Tube Slide... sooo fun! Jake went down first so he could get pictures from the bottom of me coming down with Luke... Luke cried when he saw daddy disappear into the black hole. LOL.

Fall wouldn't be fall without enjoying some corn on the cob... this was the  most delicious, buttery corn! SOOOO good! (We had awesome apple cobbler too)

 Picking out Pumpkins in the pumpkin patch!

In other events, Luke is learning how to use a spoon. We didn't push it much, until he started showing signs of wanting to feed himself.. he would grab at the spoon/fork etc and insist on holding it himself. We showed him a few times how to scoop up some food and put it in his mouth, and now he enjoys trying himself.

 This is how Jake gets the mowing done. Luke goes completely crazy if he hears Jake outside with the mower, and he can't be out there with him.

Some cute pics of Jake and Luke 'playing golf' in the yard!

A LITTLE ARTSY

Jake always laughs at me, because I am such a planner... I compulsively plan things WAY ahead of time! Well, we plan to move Luke into a his big boy room around his 2nd birthday... that next May... 7 months from now. However, I have already spent the last couple months looking for a good deal on linen, and working on theme ideas etc. So now, 7 months before he even needs the room, we have his big boy linen, matching valance, wall decal stickers, dressers, and nightstand... all we need is a bed, and we're completely ready for him to move over. LOL...That's just how I roll! LOL.

Anyway, I found some linen on clearance on Target.com... it is a cute trucks and cars themed comforter set, so I grabbed it up (just in time too, cos the next day it was no longer available).

This is just a stock photo of the comforter set... it is really brightly coloured when you see it in person, and the underside is in blue, red, green and yellow plaid... very cute!

I decided to do a little art project for his wall, to match his linen. I had seen some little paintings that a friend had bought for her little boy, that matched his bedroom theme, and loved the idea, but being cheap and on a budget, I decided to try my hand at painting some myself. I am not an artist by any means, and don't have the steadiest hand, but I figured, it's for a toddler room.. I hardly think he'll care if his mom doesn't paint like Picaso. LOL.

So, I bought a 3 pack of canvases from the art shop for just over $3, and some $0.75 ribbon I found in the clearance section, and started my project. (I already have paints)
I chose 3 vehicles I liked from the linen I bought, and painted each one onto a canvas.

And, this is the result! About $5 and 5 hours later!





Though if you look closely, you'll see the definite proof of my unsteady hand... I was pretty chuffed with my accomplishment.. not bad for an amateur! :)

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE WHINING AWAY

In the past we have tried giving Luke apple... I've tried cutting up apples into slices for him to eat, but usually he just takes a few bites and then spits the chewed bits onto the floor. 
On most mornings, Jake will grab an apple on his way out the door to work, so he can eat it in the car. Luke likes to have a bite of his apple before he leaves. Lately though, Luke has been getting pretty upset when his daddy leaves for work in the mornings, so the other morning to keep him happy, Jake gave him his own apple. He presumed that it would entertain Luke just long enough for him to leave, and then it would probably end up on the floor and go to waste. Boy, were we both surprised. Luke held onto that apple ALL day. He slowly made his way through it bite by bite. This is quite the feat considering he still only has 6 teeth...2 bottom and 4 top... not a whole lot to bite and chew an apple with. LOL

Later in the morning, Luke walked up to me...the apple was missing, and he has gone to fetch his pacifier and snuggle monkey.. this is when I realized it was probably nap time. I put him down for his nap, and then I decided to try to locate the remains of the missing apple. I found that he had put it into his 'high chair' seat... I just laughed and then decided that it was probably left there so he could have it for lunch when he woke up, so I dared not throw the brown, gross looking piece of fruit away... so there is lay... for 2 hours. LOL
When nap time was over, just as I had thought, Luke went straight to his chair, and found his apple where he had left it and resumed his apple eating tactics. LOL

Now don't think that this came totally mess free... I had to deal with the sticky hands, touching everything I own, the apple being left on the couch or coffee table when Luke for a brief moment wants to do something else, and of course the occasional splatter that occurs when Luke trips and falls and the apple goes hurtling across my living room floor. LOL.. BUT, this sticky mess was all worth it, because I barely got a single whining peep out of him the entire day. He was too busy getting through that apple to have time to whine about anything. Surely you cannot be bored while tackling such a massive task as eating a LARGE apple at 16 months old with only 6 teeth. LOL
By the end of the day, the apple had finally been eaten... all that remained was the core. I was so impressed. It took him about 9 hours to get to that point, but it was done with determination and gusto. LOL...


In other events.
Luke has had this annoying but funny 'quirk' lately. We have these pink plastic sunglasses, that only had arms for a few days before Luke broke them off... however, we somehow still ended up keeping the lens part, for who knows what reason. For the last few days, Luke has been insisted that I wear these pink glasses... not the easiest task when you have to balance them on the bridge of your nose to keep them on. He brings me the glasses and kinda shoves them at me... like 'Take them, put them on'... so I put them on for a minute, then when he turns away, I take them off again, only for him to almost immediately notice, then walk back to me, again hand me the glasses and make me put them on again... On some days, he will keep at this for over an hour...
I decided to add a picture of Luke wearing the glasses, not me. LOL


Luke still likes to go for rides in his Tonka Truck... he is now able to climb into the back by himself, which he does when he wants you to push him around in it.


We're still trying to convince 'daddy' that we need to get a dog. Luke loves dogs sooo much. He likes animals in general, but doesn't get even remotely as excited about another animal as he does when he sees a dog. I've taken him to the pet shop a few times to see the animals, though they don't have dogs... I thought he'd be interested in the cats that they have, but NOPE... I guess he thinks they are about as useless and annoying as I do. LOL

Here he is playing with our neighbours dog, Roxy!


Luke LOVES balls, and balloons... I think perhaps he thinks they are the same thing... I'm not sure!
Anyway, last night we went to Target to grab a few things, and as we walked in, Luke does his 'excited' screech... he usually makes this sorta 'pterodactyl' sounding high pitched screech that often makes other people look and see what's wrong. LOL... he mostly does it when we are shopping and he spots either a ball or balloon.
Anyway, last nights screech was because he spotted a stray balloon that I suppose to other kid lost, and was now floating high up about the check out counters...
We quickly went and grabbed our few purchases, and then of course had to go and stand in the LONGEST line at the check out, just so that we would be able to get the balloon floating there... Jake lifted Luke high up by jut his legs...this kid has the strongest back... and he was able to grab the balloon.
The rest of the evening was complete joy for Luke as he played with his new balloon before bed.

"YAY" Part 2

So a little while ago, I created a post about Lukes 'first word'... he says, "YAY"...
When I was in New York, my friend Crystal, who looked after Luke while Jake was at work, managed to get some cute video footage of Luke saying 'YAY'! He still pronounces it 'aye', but it's really cute to see him trying!
Thanks Crystal for catching a 'big moment' for us!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ALL BOY, FUN AND GAMES!!!

Now that the humidity is easing up as summer slowly starts coming to an end, I am trying to do more outdoor things with Luke, seeing as we spent a large part of the summer indoors, enjoying the air conditioning, and trying to escape the darn gnats (miggies) that swarm you by the hundred when you are outside for longer than 3 minutes.

Last week, we had a fun day swimming with some of the Crayola Moms. The pool we went to was 2 minutes from Jakes work, so he stopped by for a few minutes to say hi!

LUKE SCROUNGING AROUND ON THE FLOOR FOR FALLEN CRACKERS. LOL... YES, I DO FEED MY CHILD! :)

This afternoon, I made some chocolate brownies, to take to a BBQ we went to, and I decided to give the spatula to Luke to lick off... He LOVED it. LOL... rich chocolately brownie batter! (What a healthy day we had... I gave him a McDonalds Happy Meal for lunch, brownie batter after his nap, and hotdog for dinner at the BBQ... lol...it was just one of those days)



Tonight we went to a BBQ to 'celebrate' the Labor Day holiday today! Lukes little buddy Brent was there, and they had a great time playing with a little red wagon. Brent pulled, and Luke pushed. Those two boys get on so well... well it's more of a "Luke makes a mess, and Brent shouts NO, then cleans it up" kind of friendship. LOL... but they are super cute together!



Checking for a flat?


THIS PICTURE MAKES ME SMILE... He just goes head on, shoulders broad, full power as he pushes the wagon! LOL

We have no doubt that Luke is all boy... he is rough, and tough and nothing gets him down!
His little legs right now, are just covered in battle scars from the recent days of fun, play and mosquitos!

And so we have finished another week, keeping our monkey entertained, and enjoying his sense of humour, stubbornness, and determination! We love him so much!