Family Time

Yesterday Luke worked his normal day then took a brief nap after we put Levi down and woke up at 11:30 to go back to the hospital. He was observing some overnight procedures. He got home when Levi and I were waking up this morning. I say all that to point out what a great Dad he is- instead of heading straight to bed he wanted to take advantage of being home during the day and came out to the 'Farm-park' with us instead. He got to see first hand Levi's acts of bravery around the goats as well as hearing Levi identify all the animals. It was a fun morning.

Tractor

On Tuesday, Levi and I went to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead (or as our family calls it, thanks to Ruby, 'the Farm-park'). I know this is a bunch of pictures of the same thing but I coudn't help myself. I got such a kick out of how hard he was working on this tractor. The steering mechanism was sticky and he had to lean pretty far over to work it but still he sat up there for the longest time on that 'track-or', steering away. It was so cute.

Dickson Family Reunion '09

We were excited to go to the annual Dickson family reunion. This year Levi was able to enjoy so much more. He followed Cameron around and tried to do everything he did.

Levi got to go on a boat ride, too. He's there in front between Luke and Uncle Kent.

He did great in the pool and spent much time leaping off the side into Mom or Dad's arms. He also splashed around with the toy boats in the shallow end and inadvertantly got dunked when he went down the slide with his Daddy. He popped up out of the water frowning and blinking a lot but didn't cry.

Here's Grandma Dickson and some of her 'greats.' The kids have sure all grown a lot since last year.

Levi played hard all weekend and fell fast asleep on our drive home.

Ruby's Birthday PlayDate

Our internet service has been down all week. Here are some belated pictures from Ruby's birthday party at the splash park.

One of her very favorite things about having her birthday this year was having people sing to her. She was so cute about it. "Can we have some cupcakes, too?"

Ruby turns 3!

We got to have dinner with Ruby on her birthday. She turns 3 today. Last year she got a swing for her birthday and this year she got a whole swing set.

Ben worked really hard on climbing up the slide.

Last year Levi was too little to swing on anything but a baby seat.


This year, though, nothing is off limits.

Ruby started blowing out the candles while the cupcakes were still quite a few feet away. She is having a party with all of her friends this Friday.

She was very specific about what kind of cupcakes she wanted: vanilla with strawberry frosting and yellow sprinkles.

Levi thought that was a very good choice.

The boys were quite interested in her presents and the wrapping paper.

What a cute, spunky three year old! She's wearing one of the pairs of shoes that Nana and Papa gave her.

Amgen ChowderFest

Tonight we had the opportunity to attend a big festival held at Amgen, Mom and Dad's employer. Every year they have a ChowderFest with games for the kids, food, carnival treats, skits, music, and of course, a Chowder cook-off. This being New England, it is pronounced "Chow-dah". It was a lot of fun and Nana and Papa enjoyed showing off the grandkids to their colleagues. Nana had even bought them matching outfits.Levi really loved watching the cars race in one of the tents.

Check out Lea and Kelly competing in gladiator type competitions.

I really like Kelly's ninja moves here. Lea is on the mat to the right of the blue stand.

Levi was big enough to participate in the big jumpy things. Look at the intense concentration going on.

Proud grandparents!

New England Fun

Levi is really enjoying the pool!

He's been working hard with his wheelbarrow, too.

The kids are pretty proud of their floaties.

Nana and Papa had lots of fun art supplies on hand for the kids. Levi and Ruby created some really nice pictures. We're hoping the sale of them will stretch their college funds a little further. If you fancy a water color painting on cardboard just let me know.

Ben is a natural in the water. What a little fish.

Pictures from the Week

Katie has been borrowing Levi's old carseat and after visiting with the Johnsons last weekend, they returned it to us. Levi had fun playing in it. His head came up over the top and his legs from the knees down flopped out of the bottom. (And no, for once that is not drool on his shirt. He spilled milk down his front at snacktime.)

It's hard to believe that the car seat once dwarfed him!

Levi spent lots of time working on the buckles. He concentrated so hard on them.

Waiting to get in the car, enjoying the sunshine:

We're visiting Rhode Island for a few days with Joel, Kelly, and the kids. Sadly Luke stayed back home for work. We miss him already.

I'm loving this photo arrangement Mom has on her wall. The picture in the lower left is on their wedding day in 1973. The one above it is our family in 1983, top right was taken in 1993, and bottom right in 2003. I wonder what the family will look like in 2013?

Luke's Birthday Week

We've had a lot of fun celebrating Lucas this week. Last Monday he turned 32. On his birthday Levi and I met him for lunch and had a special dinner together at home. Levi gave him the card he helped me pick out. It wasn't a birthday card but there was a picture of a puppy on the front and apparently that's all that mattered to Levi.Joel, Kelly, Ruby, and Ben came over for dinner to celebrate the next night. Ruby colored this card especially for her Uncle Luke.

To help celebrate, Levi decided to pitch in on some household chores.

Grandpa, Gran, and Grandma Dickson came over tonight for another birthday dinner. They brought steak, potatoes, corn, and cake. Levi enjoyed having such special visitors.

The handsome birthday boy!

Here he is humoring me and blowing out non-existent candles.

Camping Trip

This weekend Levi went on his first camping trip. We were invited by Joel and Kelly to join them and some of Kelly's family and her family's in-laws down at the Lake of the Ozarks. The weather was amazing- mid to low 70s- which is highly unusual for Missouri in July and made things all the more enjoyable. We had a great time, especially Levi. The only problem was that he did not want to sleep. The tent was just too much fun to settle down at night or for naps. He went on his first hike, first boat ride, and his first cave exploration. Little cousin Ben was initially unhappy about the cave tour but then entertained us all with his whoops and hollers. Levi and Ruby, the spunky spelunkers, especially enjoyed getting to hold the special lanterns. Levi exited the cave even dirtier than when he went in. Ruby was a litle disappointed that she didn't get to see more bats. I was not.

Here are a few pictures- unfortunately my camera battery died so I only got a few.

Before we left, Daddy and Levi set up the tent in the front room to test it out. The three of us slept in there on a shared air mattress. Not exactly roomy.
Ben had so much fun on the beach!

These two are so cute interacting with each other- lots of kisses and hugs.

They share a love of dirt and rocks.