Auntie Comes to Town

Ben's sister, Lauren, came for her first visit to our home in Knoxville at the end of June. Despite the sweltering heat that weekend, we had several nice outings in the area and more importantly, just enjoyed relaxing and catching up at home. Lauren came bearing very important and timely gifts for Luke: his first set of big boy underwear! She's working for Hanes this summer and really scored some great undies with Cars, Shrek, and of course Thomas the Tank Engine. We are slowly transitioning away from diapers and working on our potty training everyday, so these were a perfect new incentive.

On Saturday, we sweated alongside everyone else who gathered to watch and paddle at an annual dragon boat race for charity. Luke liked picking his favorite boats by color and seeing how they did in each heat race. The weather was a little more bearable on Sunday, so we finally made it to the Knoxville Zoo. We saw the requisite lions, tigers, and bears-oh, my!-but also got to watch an elephant get a head-to-toe scrub down with his trainers. Our zoo also has red pandas, which I haven't seen very often. We hoped to see the newly-born chimp, Baby George, but they were not out when we came through. It's a good reason to take Luke back in the fall. Be sure to check out our zoo slideshow on the sidebar. As you'll see, Luke has lots of fun when auntie comes to town.

The Mamas and The Papas

This spring we were fortunate to celebrate both Mother's and Father's Day, as well as my mother's birthday, with my family at our home here in TN. We missed seeing Ben's mom and dad on these holidays, but we were grateful to be back in the States this year to share these days with family. My Mamaw was also able to come on Mother's Day, so we had three generations of mothers to mark the occassion. Luke was getting lots of attention and love, especially enjoying his time playing with Aunt Chele.

After May flowers and mothers, June celebrates fathers and all they mean to their children. It was a special day for Ben and Luke, and it was nice they could share it with my Daddy. Ben and my father spent the morning at the flying field, flying Ben's new SPAD XIII RC plane. Luke had been vigilantly keeping his secret of where Ben's Father's Day gifts were stowed. He made it four whole days, only to cave on Saturday: he was so excited to show them to Ben, hidden in a closet. When I told him, 'NO-NO, not 'til tomorrow', he started crying and hanging his head. We had to laugh just because it was like he suddenly remembered it was a secret, and he let the cat out of the bag. Luke himself was the targeted gift recipient anyway. In truly fatherly form, Ben had asked for a bike seat and helmet for Luke so he could ride with him. Thinking of your child even when the day is supposed to be about you---now that's exactly why we have Father's Day.

Little Fish, Swimming in the Water

In case there was any doubt Luke takes after Ben, here are some photos of him enjoying the water to the fullest. After many good hours in the at his Nonna and Grandpa's, he tried out the neighbors' pool and found it was just as fun. With an improvised platform (hot tub overflow), Luke practiced his diving skills. Between his grandparents and Daddy, Luke may be swimming on his own before he's 3....and he's all smiles about that!

Bad to the Bone

They grow up fast and show their preferences early! Luke loves Ben's motorcycle and now insists his tricycle is not a 'bike' but a 'motacycle.' He works on it with his play tools but is happier to get to sit on the real thing and go for a pretend ride. He's got some good tough guy and cool dude faces doesn't he! If you're on the road in 2022 (or before I'm sure!), look out for Luke. Note he rides barefoot :)