Father's Day Blueberries

Katie, Sam, and I celebrated fathers day this weekend since I had to work all Sunday last week. So this morning, we all went south to a blueberry farm to pick blueberries. This was a favorite activity of mine from my camp days at Spruce Lake, and I fully expected this experience to be more fun for me than for Sam (and especially Katie :) )

However, I was amazed when after picking blueberries for about 10 minutes, I looked over at Sam and saw him pick a blueberry off of the bush and then walk it over to the bucket and place it in the bucket. He did this over and over again, with the occasional one making it into his mouth of course!! Katie and I were shocked because we didn't even try to get him to do it. We just left him be to have some fun exploring while we picked blueberries and he just picked it up himself. I was so proud! Anyway, here is a video and some pictures from this morning. Hopefully later this weekend we will post a video of Sam's swimming skills.

Fun Times

We have really been enjoying Sam lately. He is at such a good age right now. Here are some pictures of him with some of his favorite activities:


While they do not see each other quite as much as the did before the summer began, Sam and Jaelyn remain good friends. Here is a moment of them actually sharing a toy. It certainly is a rarity as they enjoy taking from each other much more.





Sam has become quite the enthusiast of slides around the city. These are taken at Centennial Park downtown. As you can see, Sam really enjoys going down the slide. But he also enjoys trying to climb back up the slide. He doesn't have too many uses for the stairs to get to the top, he would rather just climb back up the slide. Depending on the slide, he is sometimes successful.


Sam has started to enjoy playing with our wallets and taking everything out of them. We are hoping that this is not a prelude of things to come, but it is pretty fun to watch.

Soccer Trip to PA

Last weekend, Sam and I were able to travel to Pennsylvania so that I could go see the US-Argentina match in New Jersey with Shawn and Dave. It was a great trip, and it was fun (but exhausting) traveling with Sam by myself. We were able to see family and friends and have a really enjoyable time. Here are some pics of the weekend (I took very few, two of these or from Shawn and Mom, thanks!).


Sam with two of his new friends, Caleb and Chase Livezy. Sam had a great time playing with them. The highlight was definitely throwing a sleeping bag down the stairs over and over again.


Sam with his Mom Mom at the neighborhood pool. Sam has been taking swimming lessons and has become quite the lover of the pool. I went with him today for the first time since his swim lessons and was amazed at how comfortable he has become in the pool.


Shawn, Dave, and I in the first row of the Meadowlands (Boooo!, sorry I have to always boo the meadowlands) . We had a great time at the game. And even though the game ended in 0-0 draw, it was really excited and a fast paced game. We can't wait to US-Mexico in 2009!

More Summer Fun

Sam has really enjoyed summer time thus far. He now knocks on the screen door to be let outside almost hourly. These pictures are actually taken inside, but they show his love for all things summer. You can also see more pics at our shutterfly page.

Summertime

Summer has come to Atlanta, and Sam wants to be outside all the time! He stands at the door all day begging to go outside. Here are a few pictures of Sam playing.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Cordele, GA (2 hours south of Atlanta) to a good friend's family farm with several of our friends. It was an amazing weekend of relaxing and fun just hanging out. Sam had the time of his life down on the farm. We are unsure of what his favorite moment was this weekend (he didn't answer when we asked him) but we are pretty sure it was between learning to jump into the pool (with a little help of course), swimming in a lake, riding on a boat, steering a golf cart, or seeing many, many dogs (his new favorite animal). Here are some pictures of the weekend to recap:

Playground Firsts

Sam has really been enjoying going to the neighborhood YMCA playground as of late (especially after we successfully lobbied to have the pedestrian gate open so we can walk to it). Normally he enjoys playing in the tunnel, on the fire engine, or eating wood chips. But today he had two firsts.

1) He successfully climbed up the slide all by himself. For a extremely cautious kid, I could have not been more proud watching him calculate and complete each step of the way. Both Dad and Sam were so proud of him when he reached the top the first time (after a few mishaps of course).

2) He was able to play on the see-saw with other children. Sam and I have played on the see-saw together but it hasn't been too much fun because I don't trust him to hold on by himself yet. But today was the first time there were other children at the playground and so he wanted to get on. By all outside observations, and hearing many squeals, Sam loved it.