A Bushel and a Layout

Fishers came over yesterday for playtime and a crab feast! We were also lucky to get a visit from Ricky and Lainey while they are in town.

Tahitian Sunrise

Our first morning on the island of Moorea, we couldn't sleep past 4 am...time difference! We walked bleary-eyed out of our overwater bungalow and saw a gorgeous Tahitian sunrise.

Next Honeymoon layout

This is SO much fun for me. I love getting the chance to do some scrapping everyday during Aaron's nap, provided he takes one. Today is looking good again! It was the morning of a million errands...lots of things to take care of out of the house. Stay tuned for some pictures of our crab feast with the Fishers!

Our first day in Tahiti, and our only day on the big island. We had just one night and one morning in a lovely hotel before moving on to our tiny island. It was our first taste of the paradise Tahiti had to offer us for the next 8 days!

A Honeymoon Album!

Waiting for our flight at LAX

I am really excited to be finally working on a scrapbook for our honeymoon. It was the best trip we have ever experienced and deserves to get the best scrapping I have to offer! Tonight after Aaron went to bed I did these first layouts while watching "The Last King of Scotland" which was very interesting and completely unrelated to a honeymoon in Tahiti. Aaron's naptime was successful today, possibly thanks to promises of watching "meerkats," as he calls it, only if he stayed in his bed and took a nap. Ah, bribery.

Arrival and first night in Tahiti

A little play, a little work

click to enlarge!

Yesterday Courts and Aaron and I made our first trip to the lake of the summer. We can walk there, but yesterday we drove and only stayed for about an hour and a half before Aaron wanted to come home and eat a sandwich burger. Aaron spent the first part of our trip digging, which he called "shoveling" and the second half swimming. The water temperature was perfect! I have a summer goal to try to do something outside with Aaron everyday, preferably before naptime so that he will actually go to sleep! We are sometimes combining his playtime with our exercise. After a very vigorous walk/jog yesterday morning I am getting a slow start today and we will be sticking to the backyard.

We also began one of Aaron's summer "homeschooling" initiatives, tracing. I got some tracing books and cards to use with him this summer, some letters, numbers, and just drawing lines and shapes. Yesterday we traced for the first time in his tracing book and today is the first time we tried tracing letters. I am amazed at how well he did on this and had to take pictures of them. I hope they are big enough in this layout to show how well he traced. We are definitely going to keep practicing this skill!

Big Boy Bed update...

Last night was a success! No evidence that he got out of his bed until this morning when he was crying for us to come get him. Naptime today was another story. He got out of his bed twice, both times I went into his room he ran right to the door to meet me and look up at me earnestly. Then I tried a strategy I heard from a friend that consisted of me staying in there and putting him back in bed without engaging with him. He then stayed in his bed but did not sleep A WINK. We only let him stay in bed awake for one hour at naptime before we get him out of bed. (He had been struggling with naptime about once a week already before the big boy transition.) So no nap for him. Later, at 6:00pm, he fell asleep in Chris' lap during a story. Darnit. I don't know how we are going to work this out, but we have got to get him on a schedule that has him tired enough for naptime no later than 3:00pm. Lots of running around in the morning and early afternoon will be my next approach, starting tomorrow! and p.s.-another summer project DONE, Aaron's too-small clothes are SORTED and PACKED!

Here is Mr. I Refuse to Take a Nap in my Big Boy Bed sleeping through dinner:

Our first true day of break and a Big Boy Bed!!

What a great way to get our summer started! This morning after waking up early to see off our visitors, my generous hubby stayed awake so I could go back to sleep, which I did, until 10! What a treat! Courtney and Aaron and I took a quick trip to the playground, I got a haircut, and Courtney and I crushed some chores. One thing checked off my summer list, the dining room is clean! Then it was Father's Day leftovers for dinner and a bittersweet milestone for Aaron. Last night was Aaron's last night in his crib, and tonight is his first night in his "big boy bed." All that really means is that one side of his crib was removed and replaced with a low rail. He has recently learned to open doorknobs, so a little non-turning gadget was installed also. We cranked up the old monitor to listen in. We were both sure, leading up to tonight, that Aaron would be scampering around his room until all hours. He is a fidgety little mite, and wants to be moving around all the time. Although it sounds like he did stay awake for about 30 minutes (singing the alphabet, quoting movie lines, and generally babbling) we did not hear anything that sounded like opening or closing of drawers, bonking of toys, or a voice that was far away from the monitor receiver. I am going to peek in now that he is asleep and see if there is any incriminating evidence. My little man is sure growing up fast.