Backyard Fun

We have been hanging out in the backyard a lot lately. Landon loves being outside and playing in the water.

This little $8 blow up swimming pool has provided him with lots of laughs and fun for 2 summers now!

He found a rock and was very impressed by it! "See mom...a rock!"

This pop up shade structure came in the mail today. I got it for our trip to the beach in a few weeks, and I wanted to give it a try before our trip. I like it, but I'm not sure how it will hold up with wind. It stores in a compact bag, so it will be easy to carry down to the beach.

Landon's friend, Luke, taught him how to sit in the water table.

Can you see the stamp on Landon's foot? It says, 'TERRIFIC'. He had his first Little Gym class today, and at the end of class all the kids get a stamp on each foot! Landon LOVED Little Gym, and I did too!

New Grill

Yay! We finally have a gas grill! I have wanted one for so long...I love a good cookout! We invited our neighbor friends, Danny & Beth, over for hamburgers, corn on the cob, and grilled squash & zuchinni. It was so good!!

I have a feeling that we will be using this grill a whole lot this summer! Landon and Luke played in the water while the burgers were grilling. These two boys had a blast playing in the water. Luke eventually decided that it was better to sit IN the water table! Ha!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My mom, dad, and sisters came up this weekend for a family reunion on my dad's side of the family. The day they came in to town was my dad's birthday, so we celebrated when they got here! I decorated the table with tools, and made a chocolate cake.

Hope you had a great 53rd birthday, Dad! I'm so glad that we were able to celebrate with you on your special day! We love you!

The aftermath of Dad's birthday celebration!

The next morning we left early for the family reunion. It was at Lake Arrowhead, and it was nice to see family members that we have not seen in a long time. Dad and his brother were the runner-up's in a horse shoe tournament! Landon enjoyed all the attention and looking at the lake water. We didn't go swimming, but I did take him out on the fishing deck. He wanted to know where all the fish were. He kept saying, "Fish, where are you?" When the reunion was over, we came home and played redneck golf in the backyard. Landon was so tuckered out by the time the night was over! After such a busy weekend, I see a very long nap in store for him today...he is definitely a boy that loves his sleep!

Eating Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of Landon's favorite foods. He eats it most mornings for breakfast, but I sometimes make him eggs to change things up. Each morning when I get him out of bed I ask him if he want eggs or pancakes, and he always answers, "oatmeal." I even let him eat oatmeal for dinner the other night. I only gave into his request because David was not going to be home for dinner that night, so it was just easy.

As Landon's oatmeal cools off, I often blow on it to speed the cooling process up. I sometimes hold my hair back with my hands so that it doesn't get in his food, which is why you see him holding his hands to his face! I couldn't figure out what he was doing the other morning with his hands, then it hit me...he was copying me! So funny!
My little copy cat!

Summer & Small Town Celebration

We are on day 3 of summer break and loving every minute of it! This morning I took Landon to the library for story time, and the town fire chief read a story to the kids. When he was finished, he let all the kids look at the firetruck. Landon got to ring the bell on the truck, and he even sat in the front seat! Of course, I left my camera at home! Next week, Landon starts Little Gym. I took him yesterday to register him, and he really wanted to go in the gym area. I think he is really going to enjoy it! Oh, how I love summer time!

This past weekend we went to Windthorst to their town celebration. Landon got to run in his first race there...I should say Landon participated in his first race since he walked it rather than running it!

They got to run on the new football turf, and it was super soft. When they said, "GO!!", Landon just stood at the start line. I had to nudge him along, and he strolled the whole 20 yard distance! However, he did not come in last...he came in next to last. Ha! It was really cute, and he even got a t-shirt. Maybe next year he will get the hang of it.Landon got to do his first ever cake walk and he won right off the bat!His prize was some homemade cinnamon roll! Yummy!After the cake walk, we took him to play the toy walk, and he won again! Must have been beginners luck! On to some PLINKO for some more fun!
There was also a turtle race (oh my, it was so HOT!!). Matthew found Landon a turtle, and named him Flash. This turtle race stuff was very serious! Ha! We had to get Flash registered for the race, they had various heats of races, and they even had to start one heat over because a turtle was upside down. Crazy, but fun!

Here is a picture of Flash.

Let the race begin!
Landon watching the turtle race. Flash didn't make it to the finals, but we did bring him home with us. He lasted the first night in the backyard under Landon's clubhouse, but Coco must have carried him off! We can't find him anywhere! Landon now goes out in the backyard, and yells, "Flash, are you?"

After the turtle races, we decided to cool off with some Bingo. Landon's beginners luck didn't carry over to the Bingo, so Landon and I went to great grandma's house for nap time.

16 years from now...

With high school graduations taking place this time of year I couldn't help but look at this picture and think that it may come in handy in about sixteen years! Ha!

Oh, how I love this kid...he makes me so happy!

Graduation

I am so behind on blogging! The last couple of weeks of school are always SO busy, and it's hard to find time to get everything accomplished. Fortunately, tomorrow is the last day of school for us!! I'm so excited to get rejuvenated, and spend some quality time with Landon.



Last weekend we went to Matthew's high school graduation party and ceremony in W. Matthew is one of David's cousins, and he is such a great kid! He is so great with Landon, too! Landon really has a great time with him every time we get to see him.

Matthew and LandonMatthew's mom, Joyce, has kept some of his (and his brothers) toys from when he was little, and Landon LOVED all the tractors, cows, and horses! Joyce has the cutest toy box that is shaped like a red barn that holds all the farm toys. I have never seen so many toy John Deere tractors!

This is Abby playing with Landon. See the cute barn toy box in the corner of the picture!

There were lots of fun things for Landon to play with at Joyce's house. He really enjoyed this cute doll house that had the tiniest little pieces. I'm sure Abby must have loved it when she was a little girl.

Here is a much better picture of the barn toy box. Landon really had the best time playing at Joyce's house! The actual graduation ceremony was a different story! Ha! David and I had to take turns watching him out in the foyer during the graduation. Oh, the joys of toddler hood, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!