More of the Dog Days of Summer

Summer doesn't last too much longer around our house. We've been trying to make the most of the last of it. We have plenty of jobs around the house and yard to work on. I tackled one this week - conditioning our new bird feeder. We've had one just like this for many years that has hung outside our dining room window and we've loved watching the birds through all the seasons. Its rope finally broke and so we pulled out this new one to replace it with. It just needed a couple of coats of oil to condition the wood and it is now hanging up feeding our bird friends.

We have loved doing "ice treasures" multiple times this summer. I now have a variety of tools to help me melt the ice and also a observation notebook to draw in (just like Sid the Science Kid)!

Ahhh - good times - - teaching Sam to play soccer in the backyard. He's just lucky he's got daddy on his team. Next year it's one-on-one!Mommy took a couple of days off work this week and she took us to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point one of the days. It was tons of fun and not too hot in the earlier part of the day. We love the horses.And of course the baby cow and baby horse are always fun to pet. The cow tried eating Sam this time. Sam must taste good.The goats are probably mommy's most favorite and we do love to feed them. The big goats are a little demanding but still fun.Sam got in on the goat action too. He's not afraid of too many things - maybe strangers, but certainly not animals. The Farm never disappoints us - there is always something new to pet and feed.

Sam did get up the courage to go back and talk to the cow about his manners. The cow promised to not try to eat him again. The pony rides are probably our most favorite parts of these visits. We each got two rides this time and they were fantastic. Sam says: "Look mom, no hands!"I have graduated to riding all by myself now. No assistance required!

After our day at the Farm, Aunt Lu had ice cream treats waiting for us at home. Mom stripped us down and made us eat in the backyard. Hum - what was that about? It was fun to get the hose out after we finished and clean everything up!Sam Alert: Howdy y'all. I had my 15 month check-up this week and even though I'm still a bit small the doctor is finally happy that I'm making progress in all the right ways. Do you think all this talk about my weight is somehow scarring me for life?

And this is just a darn cute picture of me - did you know that when I make any vehicle (car, truck, plane, train, etc) move, I automatically make noise. It must be something hard-wired in to little boys! Have a great week!