Luke's Month

Luke's month - otherwise known as July - was great!

It started with the 4th, of course.  We knew that Audrey would love the fireworks.  We weren't sure what Luke's reaction would be.  So, we put him in a stroller (he likes playing with the buckles - clicking them in over and over) which distracted him for a bit from the allure of trying to play in the street.

Then we lit a few fireworks.  Audrey loved it, as we expected.

Luke did not.

It was right after I took this picture that he started to fret and cry in earnest, so I took him in the house to calm him down and play for a bit.

Luke still goes to bed (and takes naps) like a champ.  Even after we traded his crib in for a big boy bed - we have hit no bumps in the bedtime routine.  A few nights after the 4th, as Adam and I were getting ready to go to bed, we peeked in on Luke to check on him and this is what we saw:

He had burrowed, head first, under his Superman blanket.  What made it extra cute was his snore.  So, we adjusted the blanket and him and went to bed.

What makes July Luke's month is, of course, his Birthday.  On the 21st Luke turned 2.  I made yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcakes.

Audrey was pretty excited about it.

A few days later we decided to take advantage of the beautiful morning, and took the kids for a drive up Provo Canyon.  The purpose of the outing was three fold:  Audrey has an affinity for driving through tunnels, we wanted to see Bridal Veil Falls (we'd heard it was experiencing heavier flow than usual with all of the snow and rain we've gotten this year), and we wanted to take a couple of pictures.

After the Canyon drive we took the kids to a park.

I do not get tired of watching Luke have so much fun on the swings.  He loves them!  And his joy is totally infectious.

On another day we went to the same park near our home, and it was just as fun as usual...

until it's time to go home! 

Circa 1985

Lately, I've been reminiscing a bit.  About my childhood.  

About Kindergarten, specifically.  For me, this means I've been thinking a lot about the year 1985.  

 (Me and Megan, circa 1985.)

I was 5 years old.  I was in school for the first time - the afternoon Kindergarten class at Nokomis.  Mr. Monroe was my teacher.  He was a great teacher.  

I remember my second favorite part of school was singing time.  He'd get his guitar out and we'd sing "All Together Now" by The Beatles.

For those not familiar with the tune, or if you want a refresher:

 

What a great song!  And perfect for 5 year olds - repetitious and simple lyrics.  I thought it was the most fun song ever.

 

So, singing time was my second favorite part of Kindergarten.  The next logical question that one may ask is, what was your favorite part?

My favorite part of Kindergarten is so obvious - I think it's probably most kids' favorite part:  Recess! 

Of course!  

And my favorite thing to do at recess was to enact different adventures from She-Ra with my friends.  We'd start out on the swings and something awful would happen - a villain would kidnap a good guy (take them to the top of one of the slides or rocking toys) and then She-Ra and her faithful friends would go a rescue the good guy.  We incorporated all of the playground toys in some way - pretending they were different obstacles in our path to get to through the bad guy and rescue the good one.  

We had fertile imaginations.  

 

But that's not all.

 

I had a little undershirt tank top that I always wore - that's what helped me to transform into She-Ra.  I would start out as just plain old Princess Adora, but then when there was trouble I'd take my top shirt off, revealing my undershirt tank top underneath - becoming the alter-ego She-Ra.  I was always She-Ra.  Because I had the undershirt.  I could transform.  

I'm afraid I was a bit tyrannical about it.  I'm sure the other girls would've liked to have a turn at being the heroine, but I would not allow it - because I had the power to transform and they didn't.  

I was surprisingly logical at 5 years old.  

 

 (My school picture from Kindergarten.)

 

So, recesses filled with She-Ra inspired adventures were the highlight of my first year in school.  Many a happy quarter of an hour were spent running around the playground battling the evil forces of Horda.  It was totally rad.  Like, totally. 

Do you remember?  No?  Well, here you go:  

 

We also played He-Man when we could recruit some boys to play with us.  Remember him?

 

 

 

The impetus for all of this reminiscing?  Audrey.

Well, it really started with our Roku - the device that allows us to view Netflix shows on our TV.  It's awesome.  And we found He-Man and She-Ra.  And Audrey loves them both.  She also likes Rainbow Bright and Strawberry Shortcake.  It's so funny to see her liking the same cartoons that I loved as a kid.

(Clockwise:  Mark, Danny, Dwight, Megan, and Me - in the middle of watching something on TV.  

I wish I knew what it was!)

I feel blessed that I had such a fun, happy childhood.  I hope I can provide the same kinds of happy, fun memories for my own children.