The Wilson Family: june / 21 months!

This month, we welcomed summer--officially, that is! We have been enjoying all of the activities that we New Englanders earn after months and months of seemingly eternal winter. Our calendar has been full, our days long and happily exhausting.

21 months old!

Hunter is 21 months old this month! It feels like he is growing up more and more each day, especially over the last few weeks with his communication and his physical abilities.
These are a few of his favorite things:
-basketballs/baseballs/tennis balls/and the list goes on...
-playing at the park
-trips to Walden Pond
-milk shakes
-cars and trucks
-building with blocks
-Starbucks pumpkin bread (What can I say? He is my guy.)

He isn't the best at listening and obeying. Time out doesn't work with him yet, and sometimes it feels like it never will. He is strong willed and stubborn, but he is also the sweetest little boy I have ever known, always ready to snuggle. Even when he is disobedient, it doesn't feel malicious. It has been such a joy watching him embark on these summer adventures as his own little person.

Hunter has also become quite the little baseball player. His Grammie Eccles got him his wiffle ball/bat/tee set while she was visiting over Memorial Day weekend, and he is loving it. Here, he finished riding on his trike and couldn't be bothered to take off his helmet before resuming his baseball playing. He has a pair of pajamas with baseballs and baseball players printed on it, and he runs around wearing them and proclaiming, "I baseball player!" Truth be told, his hand/eye coordination is really impressive; this trait most definitely does NOT come from me--that's his dad all the way.

Every night before bed, after I say goodnight and get up to leave her room, Harper says, "Mom? I love you for a thousand years." This is one of her favorite songs, and she is constantly asking me to play the video on YouTube so that she can sing along. I love this girl for a thousand million zillion years--and then some.

Harper is loving puzzles! Harper's Mimi got this Strawberry Shortcake puzzle for her, and she was so proud when she put it together. She gets a little bit frustrated when she can't figure out where a piece goes; I'm pretty sure she has inherited this impatience from me, as I like to understand things quickly and become easily irritated.

This girl is all about her accessories. Here she is, wearing her leopard print cat-eye dress-up glasses to brunch for Uncle Ben's birthday. She has so much spunk. We left this darling sweater at the restaurant, of course, along with one of Hunter's balls (a darling Petit Prince ball that I am heartbroken to lose) that was dropped somewhere en route. Sometimes we are total messes.

Summer is made for tea parties--or lemonade parties in Harper's case. While Hunter was sleeping the other day, we brought our lemonade out to the front porch, where we painted nails and gazed at the clouds. I love special moments like these with my best little girlfriend. She fills my heart to the brim, and then some.

Cloud gazing with my best girl

Happy National Donut Day! As you can imagine, the Hs and I were all too thrilled to celebrate this special day. As luck would have it, it was my day off, so we walked up to our local donut shop, got a box of our favorite flavors, and ate them outside at the reservoir near our house. Then we walked all the way around the reservoir to burn off some of the sugar coursing through these little bodies. It was delicious and not one bit nutritious--but worth every bite! I mean, look at these happy sugared faces...

Happy National Donut Day! Yum.

One of the best things about summer is that the local parks turn on their water features. Sometimes this is problematic, like when I don't plan ahead and bring a bathing suit. Fortunately, I learned long ago always to have spare clothes in the diaper bag. So one outfit becomes bathing clothes, and then we change into the dry outfit. It's worth getting wet for magical moments. Harper especially loves the spray, while Hunter likes to stay safely on the periphery--or just a comfortable distance away in the sandbox.

We started Harper in a new session of swim classes. This time, we decided to venture away from the Y because there were so many classes happening simultaneously there on Saturdays that Harper seemed distracted and overwhelmed. We are trying lessons at one of the athletic clubs in our town instead, and it's made a world of difference! Her first Saturday, she was hesitant and fearful, and now she's all smiles when she enters the water! Swimming is a skill that is absolutely crucial, especially from a safety perspective, so it's a relief that her fear of the water seems to be decreasing. We still have a long way to go, of course, before she is swimming on her own, but we are so proud of this little fish's progress!

Hunter is swimming now too. He started his first session of swimming lessons with his friend, Owen, from school. I honestly wasn't sure how it would go, whether he would love the water or fear it. I was pleasantly surprised by the way he warmed up to it, kicking and splashing. The one thing he definitely didn't like was being on his back and having his head get wet. Still, he was really relaxed in the pool environment, and I was so proud of him. It definitely made a difference to have a fun little friend to splash around with. We are already looking forward to many more pool days this summer.

Littlest h's first swimming class!

We were so excited to take a trip to the zoo with some of our friends this month, and we had the best time. It was fun for Hunter, the king of wild things, to see a lion, the kind of the jungle. Harper and her friend, Lillian, loved looking at the snakes; I kept a safe distance. I was impressed by Harper getting closer to some of the animals than she has wanted to in the past. Perhaps the most impressive were the zebras and giraffes since they are so spectacularly exotic. Our zoo also has a pretty great playground, which the kids loved. It was the best little field trip, and it's great to see the Hs getting excited about animals; it hasn't always been that way for them.

Bath time remains one of our favorite parts of the day. In fact, baths are even better in the summer after a long, hot day of playing. Harper and Hunter love splashing around, and their pure joy is infectious. Sometimes our days are full of challenge and frustration; bath time is sure to get us back on the same page, clean, fresh, and smiling.

Story time with Daddy. Dallin's job sometimes keeps him at the office late, and so the kids are always so excited when they hear the front door open before they are in bed. Bed time stories with Daddy make their little faces light up. Oh how I love this little family of mine.

Harper's first dance recital! Our little H was an extraordinary tiny dancer. I was worried that she would panic when she got out on stage, but she was totally in her element. I give major credit to her teacher, Miss Amanda, who helped prepare them by turning out the light during their dance class so that they would feel comfortable in the darkened theatre; then she would turn the light back on to begin their dance, just like the spotlights go on onstage. Harper was so happy to be up there and even managed to wave at us. The best part for her was that her big girl friend Taylor was in the recital as well, in an older class doing a ballet and tap routine. Harper was so starstruck seeing Tay there, and I think it made the experience even more exciting for her. We are so so proud of her!

Even Hunter did well during the recital; the dark theater, colorful lights onstage, music, and dancing was mesmerizing to him. Until he fell asleep in Gil's arms and stayed asleep on the ride home. It's hard work being a little brother.

Harper and her dance class, taught my Miss Amanda--
saying goodbye for summer!

We painted pottery for this first time this month! We met Harper and Hunter's little school friend, Aela, and her mom and baby brother at the pottery studio on one of the rainy days we have had this month. It was the perfect activity. Harper painted a ballet dancer to give to her teacher as a thank you since class is now over for the summer. Hunter painted a football for Dallin for Father's Day, and Harper painted something for Dallin also. They loved it perhaps as much as I love watching them work creatively.

It hasn't been all smiles this month though. We were devastated to say goodbye to our friends and upstairs neighbors, the Deardens, as they moved to India. The toughest thing about their move is that India isn't just a few hours away; it is part way around the world so it's not like we can go and visit for the weekend. Lucie is one of our favorite people in the world. She is a friend to me, to the kids, and a regular babysitter for them too. Her family has become our family in the couple of years that we have shared a house with them, and it's impossible to imagine everyday life without them. We have known this day was coming for a couple of months now, but it still came way too quickly.

During our last few days, we tried to make the most of the time we had left. We went strawberry picking with Lucie, had ice cream, and went to the pool. It was fun making magical summer memories with one of our favorite friends, but it was still so hard to say goodbye. I don't think Harper and Hunter have completely processed their departure yet, but I have shed enough tears for all of us. The day they left, I ended up at the ice cream shop with the Hs at dinner time. Sometimes the only thing that makes us feel better is ice cream.

Please don't go, Lucie!

A last trip to Kimball Farm with our bestie, Lucie

Sometimes ice cream is the only fixer.

We went to visit Gramzy the other night, and Hunter was captivated by the collection of photographs that she has on display in her living room. He picked up the picture of my father, his Grandpa Nick, and looked at it intently. Then he kissed it. It was such a tender moment, and I am continuously amazed at what feels like the spiritual sensitivity of children. I believe that the veil is so much thinner for them, and I know that Hunter feels the love of his grandpa radiating down. It makes my heart hurt that they won't know each other in this life.

We took another trip to the farm with Harper and Hunter's little friends, and once again, it was so much fun. As with our trip to the zoo this month, Harper and Hunter are really becoming more comfortable with animals, particularly in this type of environment, where they are separated by a fence or cage. The sheep and roosters were the clear favorites this time. The hayride around the farm property is the cherry on top, the perfect way to end our visit. I'm so happy we got a family membership so that we can continue to enjoy our time there this year.

Here are a few other snapshots of fun moments from June: making messes; playing with friends; dressing up; and anything/everything else you can think of. We certainly have our hands full, but our hearts are even more so. We can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for us this summer...