First bike

Even though Blake's birthday isn't until October we wanted to go ahead and get him his birthday bike now while the weather is nice and he can enjoy it. He was so excited and wanted to help daddy build it. He helped out the whole time (slowly daddy's progress) but being very patient. He could not be more excited about his new bike and his new helmet that Auntie Laura got for him. He loves to wear it and he loves to "ride" around the backyard. I think this was a great purchase and should last us a while! Happy early Birthday Blake.

Summer Fun

We had such a busy summer and such a fun summer. We spent most of the time in the water, trying to stay cool. We went swimming at Papas' pool, lots of times with friends. We also went to the park and played in the water there. It is fun to get out and enjoy the water...and Blake sure loves it. He is really getting to be a great swimmer too. He can make it all the way from one side of the pool to the other!

Learning to swim

After a few weeks of crazy weather summer has finally gotten here and looks like it is going to stay. With that being said it means Blake got to start his swim lessons today.

We talked with a few people and heard that Ella was a great swim teacher. She also happens to be the aunt of a good friend of ours... so we decided it was a good choice!

We are not sure what we are really expecting Blake to learn being that he is only 18 months old...and can't really talk to us and tell us what he is understanding...but we want to just get him a little more sure of himself in the water and mostly teach him some safety things.





After his first lesson (which Papa got to be at since he didn't have to work today) Ella thinks he will be able to swim across the pool by the end of the summer. I am not sure that I believe her or not but we will see how he does. He definitely loves the water and is not afraid of it but he is still so little.

He did well listening to her today but he still needs to get to know her a little better and understand what she is wanting him to do. I am sure it will get better (fingers crossed).

Lunch Buffet

I don't know about other moms out there but sometimes I just don't know what to give Blake for lunch... or I feel like I am giving him the same thing over and over and over again. I know that I get sick of eating the same thing everyday so I feel like he must too.

Well... I was "blog surfing" which I occasionally do and I ran across a page where I saw this!


Introducing the LUNCH BUFFET...

I just put a little bit of a lot of different things into the cupcake pan and he LOVED it! I was so excited. It was a little tricky to try to come up with all of the different items but it worked out.

This has become a fun lunch that we have every once in a while. We shared it with Papa out in the yard once and he thought it was fun too. It is just a fun way to enjoy lunch and something different than just the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or bologna and cheese that fills up the rest of our week!

Big shoes to fill

So Blake has had an obsession with shoes lately... ALL SHOES! It doesn't matter if they are his, moms or dads he wants to try to put them on. He also doesn't ever want to take his off. And this is hard for me as the person who hardly ever wears shoes and when I say shoes I am speaking of flip-flops!

One night he found Dan's shoes and was determined to get them on his little feet. Well.... he was successful.






He looked so cute standing there is size 12 shoes with his tiny body.... It is strange to think that one day he will probably end up wearing shoes that big. My little baby, my little boy is going to grow into the shoes. Hopefully he will take his time and not let it happen too soon.

Our Nursery Boy

He technically missed his first official day in nursery because we were in CA (not a very good record so far...ooops!) but he was all ready to go on Sunday, May 15th. We had waited and waited for him to turn 18 months and be able to go into nursery and not have to be bored to death with us in our classes....or all of us just wander the halls during church... but as the day approach he became more and more attached and we weren't sure how it was going to go.

But he had his frog name tag in hand... and we were ready to give it a try!


This is his "after" shot showing off his necklace that he had made during class!!!

He did a great job! We were so proud of him. He went right in... and had no problems. We don't know if the leaders are telling us the truth or not but for now we will take it. They said he did great. I was able to sneak a peak and it was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself... He was sitting at the tiny table eating his fruit snacks and just looking up at Sister Virden give her lesson... So precious...

For now we will just keep our fingers crossed that the weeks to follow go just as smooth. Yeah for nursery!

Disney Date

WARNING: Photo Overload...

We went to Disneyland and there were a TON of us. I thought it was going to be a disaster... with kid and adult meltdowns... long lines... arguments over what rides we were going on... and just pretty much the "happiest place on earth" coming to life... but we had a great time. The kids were awesome. We had a few issues with diapers, and needing new clothes for a certain little boy, and it was super HOT but overall it was a great day and we did a bunch of stuff and made it onto a ton of rides. SUCCESS!

Blake, mommy and Minnie

Lori, Jordyn, Minnie, Brad and Kaitlyn

Blake and Jordyn....two peas in a pod. They were so fun to watch during the day and became such great friends.

Blake and mommy on the "merry-go-round" at California Adventure

Auntie Laura and Jordyn on the "merry-go-round"

One tired little boy....one of those kids who falls asleep at Disneyland...you always wonder how that can happen!!!

Blake hitchin' a ride with Al

Blake in his Mickey Mouse shirt.... ready for a full day at Disney

Blake doing some coloring while some other are waiting in a line

Auntie Boo (Carey) on Dumbo with Jordyn

Men at Work

Dan had a few things he was trying to do around the house one evening and Blake wanted to HELP! He loves to help his daddy and be involved in whatever Dan is doing. Dan thinks it is fun too that Blake is now at the age where he can be of "some" help with some projects... this one might not have been just that project but Blake thought he was helping for sure.

This made me only slightly worried when he decided to climb the ladder and had no fear... makes me think of possible trips to the ER that may be in our future. Fingers crossed they aren't any time soon.



This is him helping daddy with the vacuum. He is doing a great job holding it down in case it gets away.

Waterboy

Grandma and Grandpa's pool is still too cold to go in, but the hose works just fine for Blake. This kid LOVES water! He loves to run in, loves to play in it, loves to try to eat it; it is so fun to just watch him enjoy himself.

It was hot and Grandpa didn't have to work so we decided to spend the afternoon hanging out in the backyard playing with the hose and in the water. Blake was in heaven!

Outdoor Toys

The weather has been so nice and we have been spending so much time outside but we have also realized that there really isn't that much to do in our own backyard.... Well, daddy sure fixed that!

We took a trip to Toys R Us this afternoon and Blake now has a backyard full of things that will keep him busy. He already had the playset that he got for his birthday (but truth be told he is sort of outgrowing it already) but not he has a basketball hoop and a sand/water box. He will be able to play outside for hours and hours for the whole summer!

a GREAT visit

Great Grandma Petersen

Great Grandpa Petersen

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen were able to join us for a night on their way down to stay in Arizona for some time... and on their way back home! It was so nice to spend some time with them, even though it was short. It is also nice to see Blake start to recognize them and remember them. We love to have these opportunities for him and for us as well.

We just spent the time chatting away and telling stories. It is great to get together and hope to be able to do it more often...and again soon! Blake is blessed and such a lucky boy to have such wonderful Great Grandparents who love him so much.