August part 2

The first half of the month was so busy with traveling! The second half of the month was busy with birthdays and hanging out at with friends! In efforts to make more homemade jam, we went peach and raspberry picking. Unfortunately, the farm we picked didn't have good pickin's. We were in between crops, with some plants completely picked over and the rest of the fruit not quite ripe enough yet, but we made it fun anyway!

After the our time at the farm, we went to a small zoo outside of the city. My favorite animal was the reindeer! When I was younger I thought they were made up animals, like unicorns.

A few days later, Landon and I went down to Mimi and Papa's house to say good-bye to Diana as she headed off to college. Landon and I baby-sat my younger siblings, so my mom could go with Diana and my dad could still go to work.

While they were gone, I hosted another swim party with some of our friends! The water was much colder this time, but we still had fun!

Landon loves to splash in the water. He has such a sweet Aunt Alyssa who plays with him!

Landon had fun playing with his aunts and uncle while Mimi and Papa were gone.

Once we were back home, Landon decided to help me do laundry. He really likes emptying boxes, bags, bins, etc.

Landon also had a big accomplishment, he stood up while holding onto the furniture for the first time! Way to go Landon!

Before we took Landon's teddy bear pictures, we let him play and sit in the grass (which was a VERY rare occasion, as he was usually being held or in a stroller).

I imagine Landon was thinking "what is this stuff?".

Well he definitely knows what to do with the rattle!

"Look Mom, no hands!"

I love his little leg chub.

I love his little teeth too.

I even love his sad face. It makes my heart melt.

The end of August we celebrated Chris's birthday. The Sunday before his birthday we had the Cammacks and the Christensens over for dinner, dessert, and games. Church was canceled that day due to a "hurricane", which ended up being a good thing because I spent the ENTIRE day in the kitchen. No joke...12 hrs. I don't remember what exactly was for dinner but I made homemade rolls, salad, salad dressing, ice cream, cake and frosting! The rolls were a flop, but everything else was good! The raspberry cake with lemon cream cheese frosting was amazing! The ice cream had fresh lemons and strawberries in it and totally reminded me of Sonic's lemonberry cream slush...yum.

The last day of the month, we finally made it to one of the free events at the Hatch Shell in downtown Boston. The Boston Symphony Orchestra was accompanying the Boston Ballet as they did dances from selected shows, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. We didn't sit this far back, but it drew quite a crowd!

Landon practicing his moves.

This should have been in last month's post, but this is just one of the sets of blocks that my friend Melanie (and this time Lacey) and I have made together. I think it turned out nice!