Happy Birthday to Me.

I made Phil take some pictures of me with the Stinker at my birthday lunch on Friday. Yes, lunch was at CFA, but don't worry, Phil took me to a much nicer place for dinner. Anywhooo... it must have been a little birthday bonus that a.) I got my picture taken with Luke instead of taking pictures of Luke and b.) we actually got some shots that I didn't immediately want to erase from the face of the earth. What a treat!

THAILAND.

One of the perks of Phil's job is that he gets go on international trips every once in a while. This time I got to tag along, and we went to Thailand. What an experience it was...traveling on numerous planes for a total of 32 hours straight, arriving to 90 degree heat and tons of humidity in DECEMBER, smelling and tasting the freshest, most delicious Thai food we've ever had, meeting the people and understanding while the country is called "The Land of Smiles", spending time alone together for the first time since Luke was born, and visiting some of our missionary friends and seeing how God is moving amongst college kids in Bangkok. It was an exhausting trip, but we are so glad we did it. Here are a few pictures of our adventure...


Testing out the rickshaw. It wasn't made for Americans. Phil barely fit.


Bikes, bikes, and more bikes at Thammasat Univeristy.


Photo-op on the side of the road in Phuket.

Beautiful fishing boats on the beach.

Phil's favorite part of the whole trip. The motor bike we rented for 3 days while at the beach.
If it weren't so incredibley cold in Indy right now, he would have left me and taken the bike home instead.

Making memories.

Tuttle's Orchard.

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures from our trip to Tuttle's Orchard last weekend. It was so much fun this year, now that the Big Man is big enough to enjoy it. We'll definitely be going back!

First things first, we had to go say hi to a real Llama Llama Red Pajama (one of Luke's favorite books) and a random baby goat. Luke wasn't really that impressed. Apparently the book was better.

We headed off to the kids' area where there was a very cool hay maze. Luke was very good at finding the dead ends.

Eventually he made it to the center of the maze.
Very anticlimactic.


"What the heck? How do you get out of this place?"


"I've got an idea! Follow me, Daddy!"


Free at last.


He spotted the big red tractor and was not at all concerned about its maximum capacity.


I guess the kiddos saw him coming and got scared. He ended up having the whole thing to himself for a few minutes until a brave little boy came and joined him.


He was very serious about driving.


Mommy forced him and Daddy into one of her favorite things in the world-- a field of sunflowers. Heaven will be full of sunflower fields, don't you think?


The tractor-pulled hay ride went by while we were there and Luke was mesmerized.


Once the trance lifted, he found a sandbox with several big trucks. Of course he wanted to ride on them all. Poor guy doesn't realize that not all cars/trucks/tractors are made for riding.


Thankfully we found a tractor that was made for riding!


And then the big tractor passed by again and nothing else mattered. (It just so happened that Luke's friend Jackson, the one in the middle, was there with his friend. Jackson is the one who is 3 months older than Luke and half his size, but in every other way is SO much like Luke.)


Finally it was our turn to go on the hay ride!


Then we headed to the orchard to pick apples. They were out of little red wagons and Luke is way too heavy to hold for long periods of time, so the stroller saved the day.


"Huh. They really do grow on trees."


Later, as we walked out to the pumpkin patch, the tractor passed by yet again, this time much closer. So cool.


Luke quickly found the perfect pumpkin.


And another. And another.

Mommy was so excited about all the cute pumpkins.
Daddy and Luke not so much.

It wasn't long before they both gave me an "all done" and started heading home.

Sneak Peek.

Last weekend we went to Tuttle's Orchard, a fall hot spot out in the boonies, which is never too far away when you live in Indiana. I don't have time to do a full post about it now, but here's a sneak peek...

Headed to the kids' play area with Daddy.



Finally.
Proof that Mommy exists in Luke's life in another capacity besides narrator of his blog.



With all the tractors, Luke was in heaven.

He even got to drive one himself.

Picking a pumpkin from a real patch. Which one will we choose?

Fun in Tampa.

You may have noticed that there were next to no posts during the month of September. That is because Luke and I were traveling for most of it. We started out with a 6 day trip to Tampa. It was such a fun trip, because it was the first time we had been there since Luke was just starting to walk. It was amazing how different it was this go-round. He had an absolute blast playing with all sorts of family and friends. Flipper and Pops spoiled him rotten, as did the rest of the family, and we had such a good time. We can't wait to go back!


Flipper bought him a tunnel at Ikea, and after luring him into with an iPhone, he couldn't get enough.


This was his first time making it all the way through.
At first he would only go in, get the phone, and then back out.


He wanted so badly to ride this little tractor.
He LOVES all things tractors and trucks.


He carried these vintage tops from my parents' vintage toy collection around everywhere he went.


Going for a drive.


Mom bought him a giraffe costume and surprise, surprise, it was too small for the Big Man.


But it sure did make for some great laughs.


Watching him run around the house was absolutely hysterical.


With three of his faves before bedtime: his bottle, Eddy the Elephant, and Grandma.


"Sliiiiiiiiii!!"


Second try at the water fountains. This time was much more successful than the first. My dad tried taking him the first time and Luke hated it. He ran away, got one of his shoes, and said, "Go! Go!"


Doing "Ride a Horsey" with Flipper. He now has to do this at least 100 times a day. Every day. Thanks so much, Mom.


Workin' the 'hood with Pops.


Taking it easy with Mommy's diva glasses, camo shorts, one shoe on, one shoe off, and of course, Eddy.

"You got a problem with that?"