Chippies

We tend to have very tame chipmunks at Ampersand... especially when we go at the end of the summer & other family members have had a chance to train them for us! This year did not disappoint. In fact, if anything, some were a bit too aggressive.

Nevertheless, we had fun providing them with a winter's worth of peanuts over the course of the week. In general, Ryan was a little too wild for the chipmunks. For his first attempt, he saw a chipmunk coming and chased after it holding out the peanut, saying, "Here you go chipmunk! Eat this!" - not quite the traditional way of doing things. But, we did capture one successful feeding. Ryan stayed still and quiet enough for one to grab a peanut out of his hand, even after he had a quick nibble on Ryan's finger (they do look like peanuts after all). As you can see, he was quite pleased.

Even baby got his first experience with chippie feeding ;-)


And finally, one of my favorite pictures that Mom took this year... I guess all those peanuts made him thirsty!!

A Walk in the Woods

On one of our first days at Ampersand, we decided to take Ryan for a "hike" out to the monkey bridge and back - it's one mile round trip, so we weren't sure how he would do, but we figured we could just take it slow and explore... and there were three of us, so worst case, we could pass him around.

Initially, Ryan wasn't so sure. You see, we had just arrived the day before and we started walking down the road away from camp. As we went, Ryan started to seem upset and after some questioning, he told us "this not Ampersand" - he did not want to leave so soon! After some re-assurance that the dirt road was in fact still Ampersand (and proof via views of the lake), he was on board.



He ran most of the way there. It's always amazing how much energy a little toddler body can hold! After a brief rest (and photo op) on the bridge, we headed back.


The return trip was a lot slower. Ryan was getting tired, but we came up with plenty of games and searches to keep him busy... even rolling in the grass was a fun activity!


We even had the help of a grasshopper and a tiny frog to help keep him entertained.... and of course, looking for wild blueberries!


Overall, it was a great morning activity and a fun introduction to some of what Ampersand has to offer!

Ampersand Preview

Ampersand:

It is my favorite place in the world to be.

I spend most of the year looking forward to this week filled with fun, family, relaxation, and God's beautiful creation. Every time we drive in, I feel so blessed to be able to experience this place.

For those of you who don't know, Ampersand is my family's Adirondack lake retreat. I grew up going there every summer and haven't missed very many years in my lifetime. It takes a lot to keep me away from Ampersand.


This year, Ryan was old enough to experience some of the anticipation as well. We looked at photo books of previous summers there and talked about all of the fun things we were going to do. He could not wait, and neither could I. After a long drive from Nana & Papa's house, concluding with a 30 minute dirt road, we finally caught a view of the lake and Ryan said "There's Ampersand!!!"



We had an incredible week up there. Last year, Ryan was still a bit too young to participate in many of the activities and seemed to get a bit worn out after our 10 days. This year was perfect. He loved every second of it. He glowed in the attention of extended family and took in just about everything Ampersand has to offer. He swam in the "cold cold water", hiked the trails, fed the chipmunks, cheered on the triathletes, went for boat rides, tried tubing, jumped on the trampoline, and cranked home-made ice cream. It was definitely a week to remember.


There are way too many pictures and stories to include in one single post (it would take me all day), so I thought I'd do a series instead. After all, a week like that deserves lots of attention!

Ready.... or NOT!

This morning, Ryan was very sweetly pushing his baby in the stroller and giving him hugs & kisses. "What a great opportunity to grab the camera", I thought; "He's going to be such a good big brother!" I captured this sweet photo first...

... and then Ryan decided to shove "baby" down the "chimney" of his "house". He then declared to me that baby was "stuck".


Hmmm.... maybe not.

At least I convinced him to give baby some loving afterward to help him feel better. *sigh*



PS - transition to the big boy room is going great! This morning, a few minutes after he woke up, I heard him (over the monitor) calling, "Mommy... I woke up!" How could I resist that!?!

Here he is, looking very small & sweet in his big boy bed.

Singing

Ryan has always enjoyed music, but with his improving language skills, he has recently started singing recognizable songs that we can understand. It's one of my absolute favorite things. I managed to capture this video of him singing on Sunday morning. It starts with an ode to his dear friend, Emma, and continues on with a few of his other current favorites. I think my favorite part is how he alternates between enthusiastic cooperation and feeling rather shy about it.

Big Boy Room

With only three more months until baby brother's expected arrival, we have been working hard on getting a big boy room ready for Ryan. We're hoping this will give him plenty of time to get settled before he has to adjust to yet another transition.

Today was the big reveal, and Ryan is very excited! (phew!) He took a decent nap in his big boy bed, so we'll see how tonight goes. Here are some pictures and a video of his first impressions.

The view from the doorway (book/play area)

The train paintings that I spent hours & hours & hours on (but it was worth it!)

various views of the bed/dresser/doorway


Ryan & Daddy, checking out the new toys for his big boy room

happy boy! :-)

Now maybe I'll have time to start blogging more regularly again (and fill in my gaps!)

"I need a phone"

As my belly is getting bigger, Ryan is noticing it more and more and we end up talking about "baby brother" quite a bit. He likes to lift up my shirt and give my belly kisses and "push my button", which is now protruding quite dramatically.

Giving baby brother a kiss at the beach

Yesterday, during one of these moments, I told Ryan that he could talk to the baby if he wants to. He paused, looked at me, and said:

"I need a phone"

Blueberries!

If you know my son at all, you probably know that blueberries are one of his absolute favorite things (he gets it from his Daddy). So, this morning, we set off early for a special treat (and now summer tradition): picking blueberries!

He was so good. I was amazed. He followed me to the bushes and I showed him which ones were the good ones to pick. And then he got right down to business, picking two or three ripe ones at a time and putting them in our bucket. A couple of times, he accidentally picked one that wasn't ripe and was sure to tell me about it and hand it over. He didn't even ask to eat one until we got home. I guess blueberry picking is serious business, but we sure did have a blast!

and now for a little trip down memory lane:

blueberry picking, 2008 : Ryan was 2 months old & slept in his carrier the whole time



blueberry picking, 2009: Ryan was clearly more interested in other things (though he had no problems eating the blueberries once they were home!)

Water baby (well... toddler technically)

As it has been ridiculously hot here recently, we've been spending a lot of time inside. And when we're not inside, we do our best to be in the water!

We went to the pool twice in the last week, and Ryan LOVED it... so much that I don't have many great pictures because he was far too distracted by playing.


splashing with Sophia

add Emelia (trying to get a good photo of the 3 of them)

a little resting with Daddy from all of the busy swimming!



When we can't make it to the big pool, Ryan likes to cool off in his little froggy pool at home:




It has a sprinkler feature, which Ryan loved last year, but as you can see, he's not so sure about it this year!!


We've been working on blowing bubbles in the big pool, which makes Ryan a bit wary. He was more than happy to practice in his little pool, though :-)


Stay cool, everyone!

Self Portraits

Ryan was being especially fussy in the car one day last week after being dragged around to a number of appointments, so I let him play with my camera.

Here are Ryan's first self portraits: