A big adventure, a new ride, a new friend and a family cookout...

We've had a busy week here and Jake has enjoyed every minute of it. Jake and I started the week by tagging along on a business trip with Trip (that sounds funny doesn't it?). On our way to the hotel in Greensboro we stopped in Winston-Salem to meet Uncle Paul (Trip's twin brother), Jennifer (Uncle Paul's girlfriend) and Nolan (Jake's cousin) for dinner at one of our favorite pizza places. We ate some yummy NY style pizza and had a really nice visit. Jake and Nolan really enjoyed each other and continued to visit even after we had strapped Jake back into his car seat which was so cute to watch.

Catching a few ZZZZ's in the car.

Mama... when is the pizza coming? Uncle Paul and Daddy are hungry.

Nolan... this next video is my favorite so watch...

After dinner we made our way on to Greensboro and stopped to pick up a few things at a Harris Teeter. They had the coolest shopping carts for kids and Jake spotted them as soon as we walked through the door. He was so excited because he could "drive" and he literally giggled through the whole store.

Look Mama... I'm driving!

We're so grateful for the opportunity to experience life through the eyes of our child. Everything is so fun! Jake loved the hotel! It was like a big adventure for him . He loved exploring in the room, counting the lights in the hallway, seeing all the new people and especially playing in the pool. It was his first time in a real pool and he was so excited. He loves the water!

Again Daddy... again!

Wheeeeeee........

Okay... I'm almost warm... can we get back in now?

Sesame Street is a great way to start the day!

When we got home from Greensboro I was unloading the dishwasher and as usual Jake was eager to help but he decided to put the silverware in the drawer instead of just handing it to me. He was so proud of himself and of course we were too.

I'm Mama's little helper!

A few days ago I realized that Jake only plays with the things on the top of his toy box. He never digs in and pull out everything. We wanted him to know that he could play with anything anytime so we have both showed him that it's okay to pull everything out. I'm happy to report that he learned very quickly and now cleanup time takes a little longer at the end of each day but he's happy to help.

What? You said it was okay... right?

As you may remember from my previous posts, Jake is really into driving right now so we decided to get him his very own car. I'm so glad we did because he LOVES it! He was so excited to get it and couldn't wait for us to get it put together. He "helped" us a lot because we weren't going fast enough.

Check out my new ride!

Friday night we had some friends over for dinner. They have a little boy who is about 8 months older than Jake and we were eager to get them together to play. They got along great! They played outside quite awhile before dinner and then moved inside for more fun. It was a really nice evening and we all enjoyed time with our friends.

Hank... do you want to play some basketball?

Thanks for pushing me Hank! Do you want to ride next?

Yesterday we enjoyed a big cookout to celebrate Uncle Russell's birthday. Jake had a blast! He played football with Trip and Gage (our 13 year old nephew who is 6'1" and 190lbs!), got pulled around in a wagon by Abbie and her friend Levi, ate outside on the grass, and enjoyed some birthday cake. He also enjoyed being loved on by Mamaw and Papaw, Uncle Russell, Aunt Kristi and Katie and showing off for Uncle Russell's friends.

Who should I play with next?

Wow! First I have to get some of these great rocks!

TOMATO UPDATE: I'm sorry to report that although we have enjoyed several wonderful homegrown tomatoes that we won't be getting too many more this season thanks to the evil horn worms (picture below). I noticed our plants were looking odd and realized that tons of leaves and blooms were gone so I performed a little investigation and discovered one horn worm on each plant. They are harmless but they are can destroy a plant in nothing flat. We got rid of our unwelcome visitors but unfortunately it appears that too much damage was done so we'll only be getting a few more tomatoes this year. Oh well... we have enjoyed what we've harvested so far and we'll definitely try again next year.