Cousin Kristen and Tasty Toes

My cousin Kristen came to visit us this past weekend. She attends The University of San Diego so she was able to drive up on Friday afternoon and spend the weekend with us. It was so fun to have her. We pretty much just hung out on Friday night, doing 'exciting' things such as make dinner, give Luke a bath, put him to bed and then chatted until the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday we ventured out of the house in search of cooler weather and a bit more excitment. We packed up the baby bjorn and headed up to Oak Glen. We hiked (and when I say hiked I mean walked) around some trails up there. It was so nice to get a break from the heat - it was probably high 70's up there versus the high 90's/low 100's down here. We even got to enjoy some dark clouds and thunder, yes thunder! No rain though, oh well, I guess I can't have it all. How I miss summer showers and thunder storms from the midwest.
After our 'hike' we found a nice shady spot to enjoy the lunch we had packed. Kristen had never eaten at Panera (I think I've mentioned how I LOVE, with a capital L-O-V-E Panera) so we bought some sandwiches from there before heading up. It was delightful! After lunch we weren't quite ready to head back home. We saw signs for U-pick raspberries and decided to check it out. Matt, who spent numerous summers picking rasperries in Lynden, was not so thrilled about the idea but Kristen and I thought it would be fun. It was fun...for about 15 minutes. The berries were really picked over and those left on the bushes weren't quite ripe. It took quite a long time and some serious dedication for us to fill up our basket. When it was all said and done Kristen and I had aquired several scratches on our arms, backaches/knee aches from bending over (all the good berries were deep inside the bushes and low to the ground) and were pretty sweaty and dirty. All for about a pints worth of berries. I now have a new found appreciation for Matt, having worked picking berries for over 8 hours every day throughout his summers... not a very glamorous job at all.

Luke wasn't so sure he liked being in the baby bjorn at first but he did well.

He kept trying to suck on the snaps.

Luke was not very amused by the ducks in the pond....maybe when he's a bit older he'll care.
Cousins
Kristen and Luke - chilling after lunch.

Neither Luke or Matt were very happy to be in the raspberry bushes - they lasted all of 5 minutes then headed to the car for naps. :)
Kristen entertaining Luke

Thanks for hanging out Kristen! We had a fabulous time!

Luke was pretty worn out by all the fun of the weekend - going to Oak Glen, playing with Kristen, etc. that he slept for 8 whole hours on Saturday night! That is the longest stretch yet. I don't know what I'm going to do with those extra hours of sleep!

Just this morning Luke learned a new trick.... getting his feet into his mouth! He is definitely in the oral stage where he attempts to put EVERYTHING in his mouth and now that he has discovered he can grab hold of his feet it was only a matter of time before he started sucking on those toes. Yum.

Getting a hold of his toes...

....and in the mouth they go!
mmmmm. Tasty.

Tummy time is more and more fun these days. He is learning that he can scoot himself around and will pull his knees up under him and push himself forward! We're seeing more of his personality shine through also. He's becoming more animated and goofy..such fun!
He LOVES seeing his reflection in the mirror. I found this mirror/toy at the thrift store for $0.75. I cleaned it up and it will entertain Luke for quite awhile. Worth every penny.

He is still ALL about blowing bubbles and making 'fart' noises with his mouth - he is such a boy! You can see some bubbles on his lips in this pic. Check out that double chin and budda belly! He certainly is growing into a big boy!

He now thinks that diaper changes = play time. He is constantly laughing, playing with his hands, and trying to roll around when we're trying to clean him up... and this is just the beginning.