Trip to the Mountains

Yesterday we took Luke up to the mountains at Big Bear Lake for part of the first City Lights camping trip. We've had friends staying with us from Seattle, so we didn't end up staying the night. (And let's be honest- that was a good excuse, because we really weren't looking forward to sleeping in a tent with a 2-year-old!) But we left early in the morning and stayed up for the whole day. Luke had a blast, playing in the lake and swimming in the dirt and following after his friends. There were 14 other kids up there, all over the age of 4 except for Luke and Lizzie, but he loved it. Here's a few pictures we took on our venture into nature:

Little Boys and dogs... they're drawn to each other:

Luke splashing in the river surrounded by his minyon:
Luke with his new best friend Khalil:
Luke's "Model by the Lake" pose: Eating watermelon after a long day in the dirt:

The Big 2

SO Luke turned 2 on August 11th (or, as Luke says when asked how old he is: "moo", while holding up 4 fingers and trying with all his might to keep 2 of them down!). We invited Luke's best friends (Stephen, Emily, and Lizzie- Kerry and Thien's 3 kids that Luke considers his adopted brother and sisters) and a few other friends over for a barbeque and let the kids have water/sprinkler fun in the backyard. Luke loved opening his presents and received his first Thomas the Train, which has openned up a whole new world to him! As usual, he refused his birthday cake. We put a car on it to get him excited, which he was... he tried to blow out the candle, grabbed the car, and pushed the cake away to get back to the more exciting business of his new toys. Who am I to push sweets on a child who won't eat them? (And whose child Is this anyway?!!)

As usual, we hardly took any pictures on his birthday, but here is one of him attempting to blow out the candles on his cake:

Fun with Family

On our vacation in Washington last month, Luke discovered the joy of the great outdoors. He was enthralled with tromping through the woods and the abundance of trees and wildlife (which we don't get too much of down here in LA!)
Luke also discovered the joy of cousins. He fell in love with his cousins: Tyler, 6, and Jessica, 8. These are a few pictures of Luke with his cousins:






And here is Luke discovering the great outdoors with Grandma Demorest: