Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach was definitely one of our favorite adventures of the summer. It was certainly the most beautiful. After church, a huge group from work made the two hour trek from Orlando to Tampa to enjoy this beach. It was well worth it! The sand was white, the water was blue and there were plenty of seashells and palm trees smattering the shore.
It doesn't get much prettier than that!

Once again, Miles had a blast getting "acquainted" with the sand. Taste tests included!

Luke, Jacob, Nicco, Kai, Kaylee, Presley, Grant and Burke spent over an hour just playing in the sand together! Building castles, moats and human holes!

All the girls (minus me) just chillin in the waves: Andrea, Jenye, Brittany, Cassie & Nicole.
I recently had a mole removed on my hand and couldn't get all the way in the water. Boo!

Jake + Kams = Love
(Ya gotta love Jacob's farmer's tan!)




We even spotted a "REAL" pirate ship! The boys thought that was the coolest part of the day!

Lessons in Piggy Banking

Luke has been getting into a bad habit of asking for things - things that cost money. ( I hope this isn't an indicator of things to come . . . ) He's three, so we know he doesn't really get the concept of money and how much things cost yet. However, he loves coins. If he finds one in the laundry room, on the street, in my diaper bag, etc, etc - he asks if he can have it. He likes to play with them or just put them in his pocket. (He loves to put just about ANYTHING in his pocket!) So, Jacob and I decided that it couldn't hurt to try and start teaching him about money and what it's used for. We got him a piggy bank at the dollar store and told him that that is where he can put his coins. He LOVES putting his "pennies" into his piggy bank.We also told him that if he saves enough coins he could get something he wants. Generally a Happy Meal or a Disney Cars car are the things he asks for the most. (Even though I don't even like McDonalds! I guess kids just get the idea from other kids!)
Yesterday I had to go to the bank. So, Jacob suggested I take Luke - and his piggy bank - with me and turn in his coins for cash. You know, further the learning experience. After I finished my business with the teller, I asked her to help us with Luke's "banking needs" as well. She grinned. Together we opened the bank and dumped out the coins onto the counter. Luke was in awe. Seriously. He watched her every move in silence. She counted the money and then handed her little customer his $3.30 in his very own sealed envelope. We walked outside and he said, "This MY money, mommy?" I assured him it was. I asked if he wanted to save it at home - or get a car or a Happy Meal with it. He eagerly said, "Car!" Then after a moment of thought, "No! I want a Happy Meal!" (Sigh.) Maybe our next lesson can be in the value of SAVING our money. However, I have to say it was ADORABLE watching him carefully rip open that envelope and give the cashier his money (dollar by dollar) for his dinner. He really enjoyed that meal and mentioned that HE bought it while he was eating. Funny. I guess you can't underestimate the value of a dollar.

Luke . . . I Am Your Father

So, I guess we should have known. We aren't HUGE Star Wars fans, but we get that a lot of people (especially men) have a hard time hearing the name Luke and not automatically going, "LUKE! I am your father!" Such has been the case for our little guy in his short three years of existence. (We still love the name though and wouldn't change it for the world.) However, Luke truly has NO idea why random people - especially those he just met - say this to him . . . all with the same voice inflection. Strange. The other day, I guess he decided that it's just what you say to little kids because he went up to Miles and said very loudly:

"MILES!!! I AM YOUR FATHER!!!"

On another note, Luke is totally and completely a Daddy's Boy! He always says, "Daddy my best buddy!" I could tell him to do something and he'll ignore me. If Jacob says it - consider it done. He always picks daddy to do things with him and he copies everything daddy does (no pressure on Jacob, right???) All this being said, this summer job where Jake's hours are 12-10pm and gone all day Saturday is hardest on Luke (See story below.)
He just can't get enough time with his daddy.

Our condos here have a great basketball gym within walking distance. This is pretty much the best thing ever for our little All-Star. His love of ALL sports is never-ending. He loves when Daddy plays "for real" with him. If Luke can tell he's going easy on him he says,
"Come on, Daddy. You supposed to steal the ball in basketball. Like this!"
(He then "steals"the ball from Daddy.)

Oh yeah, Luke can slam dunk. Oh yeah, he LOVES it!!!

This was Luke's first moment in the ocean. (Cocoa Beach last month) Please ignore the pink colored life vest you see in every swimming picture this summer. A friend loaned it to us and we decided he was too young to care. We may as well save the money for when he DOES care about such things. (Of course, years from now he may be mad about these photos. . .)

Sand buddies

When Jacob does P90X in the morning, you can bet Luke is right along side him! It is truly hilarious to see him concentrate so hard and try and move his body into the different positions Jake does. I especially love when they are at the cardio section of the workout. Luke works so hard and then wipes his brow and gives a dramatic "Whew!" at the end. The stretching section is pretty great too. Then he and Jacob take their water bottles and drink together. So cute!

I know Jake looks a little crazy in the photo below, but they were having fun after a great workout together!

Okay, now here is the story I referenced before (about Luke really needing more Daddy time). Yesterday, Luke had awakened too too early and didn't take a nap (He rarely does these days - even though he still really needs one. Sniff.) So, by 5pm he was EXHAUSTED. I knew this would be the case, so I started the bedtime routine a little earlier. We went straight into the bath. However, Luke was so beyond tired that it became a knock down drag out to get him to take the bath he usually loves. When that madness was over, it was a total meltdown that he didn't want his jammies on - it was still "playtime" in his eyes - and he wanted play clothes. I have seen tantrums before (I am a seasoned mommy! :) Luckily, though, they are few and far between these days. So, this one took me by suprise because it came on so fast and so out of the blue. On top of that - this was a little different. In and amongst the refusals to do anything I suggested - he kept sobbing "I want my daddy! I like Daddy better! (ouch) I want Daddy to come home! I don't want him to be at work any more! " I tried everything I could (and by this point Miles was getting very worried) so I left the room and told him he could come out when he was ready to put clothes on (by now I didn't care if he was sleeping in jammies or clean play clothes - anything to get him dressed and in bed!) Two minutes later he was silent - he had fallen asleep completely naked in the middle of his floor!( I will spare you the full body photo, but I must say his bare bum was cute!) He hadn't even had dinner yet! This was a first. So, when he came in our room at 4am hungry - I knew we had to do a middle of the night snack for him. Poor guy!

I am happy to report that tonight our bedtime routine was a dream. He loves me just as much as daddy tonight (whew) and I even got to share a funny, yet simply profound, moment with him. Every night I read to him out of the children's Book of Mormon Stories. Tonight was King Benjamin prophesying of Christ's life. In five pictures it showed highlights from His life. His birth, teachings/healings, Atonement, Cruicifiction and Resurrection. Luke had a lot of questions about the crucifiction picture.

Luke: Mommy, why Jesus up there? (on the cross)
Me: Some bad men wanted to hurt him.
Luke: Why they want to hurt Jesus?
Me: Because they are mean and don't understand why He is so good.
Luke: Who the bad guys mom? (I pointed to the soldiers)
Luke: Mommy, I going to PROTECT Jesus!!! I going to FIGHT the bad guys!!! (He showed me his muscles) I not be on THEIR team. I be on JESUS' team!!!

Ah, life is good.

I am pretty sure this is what Luke was imagining he would do to the "bad guys."
Fighting them off with his wicked arm!