Summer Days

I've been a terrible blogger this month. We've been spending most of our days outside playing, swimming and picking berries. Jack absolutely LOVES blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Oh and cherries too! We went cherry picking with some family and he sat in the backpack the whole time trying to reach and grab any little cherry he could get his hands on. We also picked blueberries and boy does that kid love blueberries. He ran around the whole field grabbing handfuls of those little blueberries and stuffing them in his mouth. I probably should have limited him on his intake (I paid for it later in his diaper) but I just loved watching his joyful face loving life with complete abandon. I wish I had more moments where I felt like that. Oh to be a kid again on a hot summer day...

We've been going to the park a lot to let Jack toddle around. I push my stroller and follow him wherever he leads. He stood for a very long time watching kids play in a water park. I love watching him watch other people. What is going through his mind? What is he thinking? Feeling? I can't wait for Jack to express himself with words but until then I am left to studying his face. Watching his little eyes move and his facial expressions light up. I love that I know those lines of his face best. They are truly a gift.

Hoopfest

For the past 3 years Michael has been playing in the nation's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament called Hoopfest in Spokane, WA. Last year, I stayed home with Jack who was only a few weeks old at the time. This year, I decided to venture out and make the 2-hour drive there and back with my mom. THANK YOU mom for taking this long, exhausting trip with me. Jack did okay but he definitely does NOT like to sit in his car seat for much more than 1/2 hour. So that makes a trip like this tough or any trip for that matter. I tried my best to sit in the back and keep him entertained but once he decides he's done, he's done. Oh bless my mother for being willing to help and walk around in huge crowds of people with a fussy baby and at-times grumpy mother. And she didn't even complain once. We cheered Michael on, played in the dirt, visited with some friends and then made the trip back home. You can see more pictures and a video of Jack clapping for daddy here.

*Pictures compliments of bf, Rochelle Maureen.