One of my favorite things about spring is that black raspberries are in season. Black Raspberries are the coolest because they are delicious and sometimes you can find them growing in the wild. Fortunately for us, there are a lot of black raspberry bushes that grow along the walking paths of our neighborhood. Kai and I took several walks on the paths to eat raspberries and when Grandpa Eridon came to visit, we took him with us.
That was a pretty good find of black raspberries, dad. I think that there are more though.
Grandpa, I will pause for a moment to take a picture with you because you picked black raspberries for me. Now, get back to picking berries!
Black raspberries are delicious but they are very messy.
This summer has been pretty hot but it has also been very rainy. It has been a nice combo as it has made the neighborhood swimming pool a little cooler than it normally would be with all of the heat. Kai is getting a lot more daring this year regarding the water and loves jumping from the deck of the pool in to daddy's arms.
On the weekend of June 26th, I headed down to Arizona for the annual "Golf Endurathon" to play with some of my friends who live down there. I had a great time down there and while I was away Stephanie and Kai went up to Bowling Green, Ohio to visit her family.
I don't know all that went on up there but I do know that Kai had a great time because he refused to take a nap or go to sleep at night. Although Kai had a blast, Stephanie was worn out so she left a day earlier than she had planned. That was okay with me as I flew back on Saturday night from Arizona and was so glad that I got to spend Sunday hanging out with Stephanie and Kai that I didn't mind not painting the baby's room like I had planned.
Here is Kai with his Grandpa Eridon, I love the way that Kai looks at his grandpa.
July 4th fell on a Sunday this year which meant that many folks were able to enjoy a 3 day weekend. Unfortunately, I had to work on Saturday and Monday in order to close the books at good old Republic Airways so Stephanie held down the fort at home. Since it was a 3 day weekend, Stephanie thought it would be a good time to do "potty training boot-camp" with our 2 1/2 year old boy. Although he did a pretty good job, I'm glad that she chose a weekend where I was gone.
One thing that is funny about Kai and going potty is that he likes to do it outside. Maybe to be like Kiki the beagle?!?! Anyway, here is Kai making stinkies on the front porch. I'm sure glad that I was home to experience this!
On Sunday the 4th of July, we went up to Noblesville to go to the parade. We went along with Master P, Special K, and their folks. Kai loved the tractors and the fire truck. He also hauled in a pretty impressive amount of candy. It was pretty warm but everyone had a great time.
Here is Master P hugging Kai. I know that this looks cute and innocent but really he is just buttering up Kai hoping that he will share his bubbles.
On Monday (July 5th), the law firm that Stephanie uses at work invited us to go to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. It is no secret that Stephanie and I really enjoy going to baseball games and we were excited to go and see how our young son would behave at such an event. We got to the park a little early to slather sun screen on Kai and get some good ballpark fare (Monday's are dollar food days at Victory Field)...but to our joy, we learned that our tickets were to an air conditioned and catered suite!
Here is Kai "watching" the baseball game...
Here is Kai after he ran down about 10 boxes and through a different suite to the lobby area. It was hot and the A/C felt great (especially after chasing him through the stands and under the railings that separate the boxes).
Here's Kai getting some exercise. Fortunately, the home team was getting whooped so we weren't missing much on the field.
Stephanie got the idea from somewhere that it would be neat to make some cookies with the boys and take some of them to the local fire station. Master P's mom agreed that it was a great idea so on Saturday (7/10) cookies were made and cookies were delivered to Noblesville Station 6 (the station that would come to our house if something would happen...momma didn't raise no fool). The firemen were glad to see the boys and thankful for the cookies. The firemen took the boys to see their new truck and gave them some fire hats and badges. The boys were excited to see the truck up close but were terrified of it once they got inside.
The firemen (both of whom are dads) pulled out all of the stops to try and comfort the boys. They even offered to let them sit in the drivers seat and work the lights. Even that didn't work (although us parents wanted to sit behind the wheel and run the lights...but we were all too big of wimps to do it).
Those aren't tears of joy...
Although I usually try to keep the blog in chronological order, I am going to back track for a day to talk about a round of golf that I played on Friday (July 9). Eugene and I were able to skip out of work a little early on Friday to get in some golf. Eugene invited his friend Scott so I invited our mutual friend Trevor to join us as well. We played 18 holes together and had a good time. Although it was fun, our friends are not golfers so we were not able to keep our focus on the golf. When we were done with 18, Scott and Trevor had to leave but Eugene and I wanted to play a couple of extra holes so that it could be more about the golf and less about social hour. I am so glad we did as both of us put together the best stretch of 9 holes that either of us had ever played. I have scanned the scorecard for all of you to see.
All the birds of the air nested in its boughs, all the beasts of the field gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its shade. - Ezekiel 31:6
