Misra Family Hebdomadal: Fence and Horsies and Tessa

What a fun and crazy week! The biggest news is of course that LUKE TURNED 2!!!!! Yes sir, our little boy is an even bigger little boy now. We flew in Sunday night from California to use up our last day of Luke being a "lap child," and then spent Monday running around getting ready for the party that night. We had already asked a friend to make cupcakes, which was a HUGE stress relief, and instead of doing something fancy we just ordered pizza and cut up some fruit. To let people know where the party was Marinda also got some balloons, including an awesome firetruck balloon!

When trying to think of a party Luke would actually have fun at, we decided to have it at a local park with a sandbox - which inspired Marinda's latest graphic design achievement in Luke's invitation! She went and got them printed at Office Depot - and guess how much it coast for 30 of them? $13. Yeah, she was feeling pretty snazzy about that.

Everyone said it was a great party, which Marinda thought was pretty funny. All it was was a sandbox, overcast sky, cupcakes, pizza, fruit and water. Oh, she had also gotten some buckets and shovels from the $1 section at Target, but I guess that's all you need to have a great time!

OOOOOmmmmmpppp!

I am TWO! And I will DESTROY YOU!
nomnomnomnom......

Luke eating a healthy dinner at his party

Playing with his friends at his birthday!

All the kids were having so much fun!
(And the adults loved that their kids were contained
enough that they could visit with each other)

On the family side, Marinda had gotten some yummy burgers and chicken strips from RAM for a special birthday lunch for Luke. Then after the party we came home and opened presents! Luke was so excited. His biggest presents came the next day though, when he got a bike from Marinda's siblings and scooter from Amit's Aunt, Uncle and cousins! Funny story, when Marinda and Luke went to Target on Monday to get the buckets, Marinda grabbed a toddler helmet too. It had racecars on it and Luke got so excited about his new "racecar hat" that he wanted to wear it in the store. It was pretty cute.

At first he wasn't that into the bike because it was hard, so we spent the first day just pushing around on his scooter, but now he's really into both. He even road his scooter into the bed room one morning this week to wake up Amit!

Watch out girls! Luke's got himself a bike now!

So cool Mommy! I can stand on it and then MOVE!

Luke coloring in one the many boxes that arrived for his birthday

This week was also the much anticipated ward campout! We were all really excited to go camping with our little toddler and show him the great out doors. Well, we were excited until Amit got hand, foot and mouth disease.... Yup, last year it was food poisoning, this year it was hfmd - gosh Amit, if you don't like camping you could just say so! Just kidding.

After thinking about it all week, Marinda decided that she was going to try and take Luke solo style. So two hours before she was planning on leaving she packed up the car and got some jamba juice for dinner. Luke actually did AMAZING and didn't need the ipad until they had been driving an hour!

(Side Note: The CIA should have toddlers on their observation teams - those kids can spot every truck, fire engine, bike and tractor in a five mile radius!)

It turns out that if Marinda had to take Luke camping alone that this was the trip to do it. The ward had reserved the lodge, which turned out to be a rec room, a kitchen, a dinning room, and then a long hallways with bunks. So no tents and the kids were mostly contained!

Why we say mostly is because there were some doors along the far side that were left open a lot. Outside was a nice big stretch of grass with a horse pasture on the other side. It was really beautiful, especially when they started running together. The only problem was that the fence's bottom railing was about four feet off the ground... so there was nothing even hinting to the toddlers that they shouldn't go under it. On the day we got there Luke ducked under it and made it about two feet before Marinda grabbed him and brought him back. That was pretty scary, but nothing compared to what happened the next morning.

We were all eating breakfast, and Luke was running around the room. All the sudden Marinda heard Nate Bushman yell "LUKE TESSA NO COME BACK!" Marinda didn't need any more information to bolt from the table and out the nearest side door. Luke and Tessa had gone under the fence and were running full speed at the nearest horse. Tessa's dad Brady was closer than Marinda was and caught the two of them before they got to the horse (20-10 feet away). Marinda picked up Luke, smashed him into her while listening to his protests of "Under the Fence, Horsie and Tessa." Marinda responded to his explanation by telling him that he was going to sit on her lap for the next five years. Ever since he got home every time he hears us mention the word "campout" he starts telling us again about the fence and the horsies and Tessa with this accusatory look on his face like we've ruined his life and he's still mad about it.

Other than this fun little adventure, the camp out was really fun! Especially once Marinda got out the backpack leash... We went on a walk to the lake and played on the little play set. That night we had a camp fire with smores and watermelon, and then Marinda and the other adults played "around the world" with the ping pong table while the kids played "shuffle board." Marinda, Luke and Marshmellow all fit snuggly into their sleeping bag and got a good nights sleep.

We missed Amit terribly, but he enjoyed being able to get a good nights rest in. He's doing better now, so hopefully we can go camping for real again later this summer!