The Lutz Family Blog: July 2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Day Out with Thomas

Thomas the Train came to the Strasburg Train Museum about a month ago... I'm still catching up on pre-beach/Arkansas blog posts. :) Day Out with Thomas was like an amusement park for preschoolers. Complete with a tent full of train tables, ride on trains, funnel cakes, and all sorts of Thomas gear to buy. We chose to ride the regular train (not the one pulled by Thomas) since you couldn't actually see Thomas when you were on the train anyway. Samuel loved seeing Thomas, but the most memorable part of the trip was the "open potty" on the train (it was like an airplane bathroom) that was apparently the scariest thing Sam had ever experienced. He also enjoyed seeing all the "horse cars" (horse and buggies) on the way out there.

Our train...

Eating lunch on the train...

Fun rides...

There he is!!!

Petting a bunny at the Amish food stand outside the museum...

At the end of the day, Emma was desperate to eat, so we talked Sam into helping out...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Care to join us for breakfast?

Yesterday while I was cooking dinner, I heard laughter from both children coming from the play room . They were actually enjoying one another! What a wonderful sound! So, I had the video camera going during breakfast trying to recreate the moment. I didn't capture that memory, but gathered a cacophony of other moments I want to remember. Enjoy...

Monday, July 18, 2011

Funny Sam

Just some cute things I want to remember about my almost 3 year old...

Emma was playing with Buzz. Sam grabbed Buzz and pulled him away from lil sis knocking her over. I quickly went to Emma and said, "Sorry Emma." Samuel immediately said, "Sorry Buzz."

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While extremely upset (for no apparent reason, just one of those days) and holding the music player that attaches to the Pack and Play...

"This music makes me feel better."

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He adds syllables to words...

Car transporter = car trans-trans-porter

Strawberry = Straw-ba-berry

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Every time we walk into a bathroom he says, "It's a beautiful bathroom."

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The Disabled Parking signs are called "Pee Pee Signs"

A One Way sign... "Says one way do not go that way sign"

He's obsessed with street sings lately. When out and about we hear about every "S-T-O-P stop sign" (and are then told "it's a octagon"), "E-X-I-T exit" sign, and "Do not park here" sign.

Day 29 - Black and White

Tickling the ivories...

And a bow...

Saturday, July 16, 2011

7 Months Old

My little baby is 7 months old! I'm a little late on this post due to our travels. Still a chunky monkey and a smiley sweetheart! Her newest developments...

- She scoots all around when lying on her back, and she can move quickly! I wouldn't say she's mobile yet, but she can roll and scoot quite a distance. She's no longer safe on the bed without supervision.

- We added the dream feed (waking her at 10 or 11 to eat) for a little while and then dropped it again. That seemed to help get rid of her 2-4AM wake up, but we still frequently have a 5 or 6AM wake up (and sometimes still earlier). But, then she goes back down till about 8:30 or later, so it's hard to complain about that.

- Because her morning wake up time is so random and we don't like to stay home most mornings, naps have been unpredictable as well. She sometimes still takes 3 shorter naps, but often it's just two regular naps. We might start working on more consistency soon... maybe.

- She eats two full meals a day (a fruit and a veggie).

- She blows raspberries, smiles, and laughs. She's started some other babbles... mostly oohs and ahhs, but pretty rarely still.

- She occasionally gives an open mouth kiss on the cheek when asked, but only does it when she feels like it.

- Her second and third teeth popped through (the third was actually July 5 - right after her 7 month b-day). Her third one is the "fang tooth" on the top... kind of random. :)

Arkansas 2011

We tagged along with Bud on a business trip to Bentonville, AR last week. We were able to meet Miss Caroline Penturf (6 weeks old), celebrate Daniel's 30th birthday with a surprise party, and hang out with some wonderful friends all week.

We visited the new splash park. Samuel was terrified at first, but overcame that when he saw that his little sister was enjoying it without him. There were several of his old friends there as well, but they didn't stand still long enough for me to get a picture. :)

We were able to attend the annual Low Country Boil at the Penturf home. It's a little crazy that this year we "kept it small" and still had 8 kids under 3 (6 under 14 months) there.

Pictured left to right... Blair (10 Months), Emma (7 Months), Reese (10 Months), Sarah (14 Months), and Sam (Not pictured, Jude (10 Months), Riley (2.5), and Caroline (5 weeks))

Sam, Sarah, and Caroline...

Kari did such a wonderful planning Daniel's surprise 30th wine tasting party. It was a great time to hang out with all our friends without kids. As much as I love the kids, it's pretty hard to get a complete sentence in when the kids are around :)

This is how we roll... it was quite comical getting all 4 kids and car seats into the van...

The PHL airport had a great play area near our gate. Samuel filled the plane up with gas...

While Emma drove...

Emma's first plane ride... They both did great on the plane. Emma slept on all four flights, ate several snacks, and got to experience two diaper changes in the teeny tiny airplane bathroom. Samuel watched a few movies, played games on the iPod touch, and played with his new truck sticker book. Pretty easy travel over all.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Beach 2011

We headed out on the 2 hour journey to the beach for the fourth of July weekend. I love that the beach is only 2 hours away! Mom and dad went with us, making this trip very relaxing and enjoyable for all.

Bud and I were able to go out on several dates, sleep in a few times, and enjoy some time on the beach without kids.

Mom and dad got to have mountains of sand dumped on them by Sam, go on some dates with the grands, and enjoy some quiet time at the house while the kids slept. Thanks mom and dad for coming with us!

Emma really didn't react much to the water, but was a pretty happy beach bum. She looked adorable in her swim suits and sun hat, ate a ton of sand, and took several naps en route to/from the beach.

Sam was terrified of the waves! I mean screaming like a little girl kind of terrified. But, he was so excited about building sandcastles and loved playing in the tidal pool that was there one day.

Neither child was cooperative with my photography ideas. So, we ended up with very few "portraits", but we captured the memories of our time at the beach with several snapshots.

A happy girl in her stroller while she's supposed to be napping...

Sam fell asleep on the way back from the beach and didn't even wake up when I moved him to the towel on the bed... he was so sandy and so exhausted!!

Love Sam's concentration in this picture...

Mmm, ice cream...

My absolute favorite from the whole weekend...

A fun game of "sand on Dodo"...

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Places We Go...

We were here over the weekend...

Here for the Fourth, with Sara Bareilles, Michael McDonald, Boyz II Men, John Legend, Earth, Wind, and Fire, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Estelle, and around 1 million of our closest friends (no official count, but that was the estimate I read)... see the arrow, that's us.

And, we are heading here tomorrow (Bentonville)...

So, the blog will be quiet for yet another week. Pictures for days 29 and 30 of my photo challenge will be posted at some point, along with 378 pictures from the beach, and details of memories with great friends in AR. Stay tuned.