Walks and the Playground

Since Noni had to work while we were there, Trip and I walked over to see her several times.

I love that he will often hold my hand now when we walk somewhere. It's so cute and something that he hasn't wanted to do in the past.

After one visit, I showed Trip the playground that is right behind Noni's office. He had a great time climbing on the equipment and going down the slides.

For our next visit, Trip brought along a basketball. He was enjoying the slide, when all of a sudden...

he looked over, and saw...

the basketball hoops!

He made a beeline for them and the playground was no use to him after that.

Neither Noni nor Mommy were tall enough to help him make any baskets, which was a real disappointment to him. Nonetheless, he wanted to keep trying and went from one hoop to the other.

We kept trying to get him to shoot his ball into the shadow of the hoop. He finally got the idea and enjoyed that activity.

Berries!

When we visit my parents during the summer, we have to pick berries. Our family has been picking blueberries every summer for as long as I can remember. I have many great memories of hours spent at the blueberry patch with my cousins, aunts, grandmas, mom, and sister. Fortunately this summer was no different in that we got to pick berries. What was different, however is that Trip was able to be part of the experience this time. That meant that we didn't pick as much, weren't there as long, and were more interrupted, but it was fun nonetheless.

Trip enjoyed running around and exploring. He also enjoyed eating lots of blueberries. We couldn't get him to pick them off the bushes, though. He wanted what was on the ground!

This was when we knew it was time to leave- a full-on meltdown. He likes to look at this picture and say, "cry." It cracks me up each time!

The next day, Trip and I went to pick raspberries while Mom was at work. He did fairly well there and again, ate lots of raspberries off of the ground. That field was muddier as well, so he enjoyed playing in the moist dirt. He was a complete mess by the time I was done picking! As we left the farm, the owner said that she guessed we were headed home for a bath and then a nap. She had it exactly right!

The raspberries were delicious and HUGE!

Mom helped me freeze the blueberries whole and then mash and de-seed the raspberries that we also froze to make jam later.

Little Gardener

We got to spend a few days with Grandpa and Noni last week while Kirk and Erik attended a conference in Eugene. As always, Trip found lots of great things to do. He especially liked playing in the garden and entertained us all the evening that his Great Gran, Great Grandpa Conrad, and Great Grandma Joy came over for dinner.

One of the highlights for him was taking clumps of dirt, dropping them on the ground, and stomping them with his bare feet.

Fishing Videos

On our way to our fishing adventure, we had to make a couple of stops in town. Trip got some practice in while sitting in his car seat. The only problem was that that pesky ceiling kept getting in the way!

Trip got the casting motion down right away. He now uses his fishing pole in the backyard and "casts" off the deck. He hasn't quite mastered the reeling part though so it's a good thing he doesn't really cast out any line.

Fish Galore!

Last week, our friends invited us to go fishing with them. We packed up our gear, lunch, and some snacks and hit the road. It took us about an hour to get to the lake, but the drive was full of beautiful scenery and wildlife. Trip was asleep so me missed the cows, deer, and antelope, but we were glad that he got some much needed rest.

Just as we pulled in, the man fishing from the dock caught a fish and then showed us the other three he had already caught. We figured that must be a good sign. We found a spot and settled in. Trip had a grand time pretending to cast and catch fish.

Then he discovered that he could wade in the shallow pool that had been formed by the water level being so high.

A few minutes later, he was running through the water and all wet.

The guy fishing from the dock caught his limit of five fish and left so we all moved over to take his spot.

It was a good thing we did, because the fishing was good there. Everyone fishing started to catch. Zoe and Hannah were kind enough to bring their fish to Trip so that he could see them and touch them.

Zoe caught the biggest fish of the day at 19 inches long. It was the first big one and no one could outdo her the rest of the day.

Logan's came close, but was a couple of inches short. He wasn't too keen on holding his fish at first, so Zoe helped him out.

As the fishing went on, Logan played with Trip. These two had a great time together and laughed a lot.

We finally got Trip out of his wet clothes and away from the water for a while, but it wasn't long before he wanted back in. He settled for just his feet, though.

Somehow putting his toes in his mouth seemed like a good idea.

Enjoying a cookie and being silly.

At the end of the day, each fisherman came home with five fish and lots of good memories.

Fourth of July Fun

We had the pleasure of spending the afternoon and evening of the Fourth with friends at their parent's house on a nearby lake. The kids had lots of fun playing in the water. I didn't think that Trip would want to get in on the action, but he was thrilled to get in the water. He also enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake.

Another thing Trip loved was the food. There were lots of things to choose from. He especially liked the pasta salads, fruit, olives, and cake. More than anything, though he enjoyed playing with the other kids.

This was the view we enjoyed while we ate cake just before the fireworks.

At dusk, we watched a great fireworks show. Trip was interested in some of it, but really wanted to watch videos on my phone instead. He crashed as soon as we got in the car after such a great afternoon.

Grandpa, Noni, and the New Door

Grandpa and Noni came for a quick visit last weekend. While they were here, Dad and Kirk put in our new sliding glass door in the dining room (there was just a window there before). We have been wanting to make this change ever since we bought our house, and since we got some money back on our taxes, we were able to make it happen! We haven't had direct access to the backyard from the house, which meant that we had to escort the dogs out to the yard many times a day. Now, we can just slide open the door. It's wonderful!

The guys got the old window out and then discovered that the lumber yard had ordered us a door that was one foot wider than what we needed. Since it was a special order, there was no way of getting the smaller door in less than a couple of weeks, so they just decided to do the extra work and put in the bigger door.

Trip loved watching the whole thing and playing with the tools. He enjoyed all the hammering and sawing too.

Before they tore out the wall, there was a hole where some wiring had been. Trip discovered that he could poke a screwdriver through it and proceeded to try out most of Grandpa's screwdrivers in the hole.

Once the wall was torn out, Trip wanted to play outside. We put some water in his water table. He wasn't happy with just playing in the water, though. He wanted to actually be in it. Noni lifted him onto the table, and then he wanted his clothes off so that he could swim.

This distraction was good since Daddy and Grandpa had some heavy lifting to do.

After a few minutes, we decided just to get Trip's little pool out and let him play in that since him sitting in the water table wasn't the safest option.

Once the work was done, there was some time to relax. Trip liked having Grandpa give him Goldfish crackers.

Thanks Grandpa and Noni for all your help!