horseshoe day nursery and preschool

 

one week of school under his belt, luke's wearing his backpack for the first time and seems quite proud of himself

School has been going very well for Luke.  Tim and I leave well before Paul takes Luke to school, but I have it from Paul that Luke is happy to go to school and gives Paul a hug, kiss and 'eye-eye' every morning. 

The school is .8 miles from our flat, straight down a busy-ish road, around the corner onto a busier road, and then a block to school.  Paul has to hold Luke's hand the whole way, but the walk is pleasant enough.  It's near the train station, so when Paul starts to work, it will be easy for him to go from the school to the train.  Luke can be at school from 8-18.00, and if we pay more, he can be dropped off at 7.30.  We usually collect him around 17.00, and so far he's always playing with trains and happy to see Paul and come home. 

Luke's day consists of things like story time, music, art, indoor free play, outdoor free play, snacks, lunch and tea (dinner).  They have a large outdoor play area with two big rabbits in cages.  His primary care giver is Jodie.  We feel that we've found a safe and nurturing environment for Luke.  Paul did all the work for this and deserves loads of praise.

exploring with dad

enjoying a lemonade (sprite for you americans) in the garden of our local

Luke is a walker, and with little to do in our flat, he and Paul have been doing a lot of walking.   The closest walk is one that we make as a family at least twice a week to our local.  It's small inside and not kid friendly, but the back garden is perfect for families.  There is a tree stump, just a little taller than Luke that provides the most entertainment.  Paul and I can usually quaff one pint before Luke's ready to go.

 taking a break in littleworth common

I gather from conversations I hear with my colleagues that Esher is well known for its green space. Littleworth Common is not the closest of these to us, but it is an easy walk just south of us. On the other side of it is the village of Claygate.

checking out the boats and the thames

Just north of us is Hampton Court. Paul and Luke were stuck at the flat several days in a row because they had to wait for service people to connect the Internet or delivery people to bring things that we've ordered. Ordering from Amazon here has given both of us a bit of homesicknesses for Fort Collins where we can track our packages almost to the hour and where our deliveries could be left on the porch if we weren't home. There's none of that here. Anyway, when they finally got a day free of the flat, they went for a five mile round trip walk up to Hampton Court where Luke got to walk along the river and see the Palace.   

having a picnic at hampton court palace. thanks for the hair cut dad!

gran and grand-da time

enjoying time with gran in the backyard

a gift from gran and grand-da

so handsome

at the park

he loves to climb

curls

nap time

he loves popcorn in the bowl his aunt melissa bought for him

loves the gondola

water boy

Fo Luke, camping was all about the river.

perched on the edge of the rapids, he never went in.  he's inherited his father's sure-footedness

sure-footed as a goat

he especially liked the deep, swift water, which meant that i had to like it as well - not hard with the heat

a lollipop and a cup of milk.  what could be better?

long drives are best handled with refreshments and a comfortable chair

i like to get dirty

got a problem with that?

and what's better than dirt? MUD!

he was not a bit distressed about loosing his shoes to the mud and repeated it more times than we, who did the rescuing would have liked

the new dining table

'helping' 

as soon as we got it assembled, luke and his girlfriend, lucy, tested it as a play area and found it acceptable

swimming

While Daddy skied, the boys and I spent the day at the condo.  We went to the pool in the morning, took a break for lunch, then went back to the pool.  Luke no longer insists on having me at his side and played on the stairs until he was exhausted.  He's tall enough that he can stand on the floor of the pool near the stairs, but just barely and isn't comfortable doing it, so he stays on the stairs or launches himself from the bottom step to the side of the pool and pulls himself out.  It was wonderful to sit on the bench and watch them play and seems a preview of further activities where I can sit on the sidelines instead of being in the fray.

winnie the pooh

daily exercises

wheels on the bus

at school

our favorite verse is the wipers

three

Luke liked the candle on his cake this year, but wouldn't touch the cake and was happy to let Tim blow it out for him.

The pink goo that came with Scooby Doo and friends was a hit, especially for dragging the figures through it.

Mickey Mouse slept with Luke for several nights after he got if for his birthday from Aunt Melissa.

resident artist

his shy smile