While Lance was away...

Lance spent the last two weeks playing with his cousins in sunny San Diego (lucky!). When I get pictures, I'll post them, but from what he and his dad have told me they had a blast. Lance went to Lego Land at least twice, Sea World, the pet store to hold little puppies, and In-N-Out. He got to go swimming almost every day in his cousin's pool and got to play with his three cousins Calvin, Clare, and Alexey and their dog Tressel. I think he was actually disappointed to come home, but boy were we happy! We have missed him so much! Not a day went by that Jude didn't ask "Where's Lance?" It was sweet.

While Lance was away, George and Jude and I tried to stay busy. We went camping with our Cville friends one weekend which was a lot of fun, but other than that, we haven't done much out of the ordinary.

Jude's newest thing he likes to do is help us "cook". He'll pull out the kitchen stool and position it next to the counter and say, "cook? cook?" whenever he thinks we're making food. One day he and I made cookies and I let him pour ingredients and take tastes as we went along. He thought it was fabulous.

This is how he would watch the mixing.

Happy to be helping.

The best part about cooking...

...taste-testing! I think it passed inspection. :)

Last Friday while George was at work, Jude and I went with some friends to see Toy Story 3 at UVa's Football stadium. We got to sit right on the field which was a huge treat. The weather had cooled off and there was a breeze blowing--perfect!

The Smiths were there with us.

You can't tell by his face, but Jude thought it was really neat for about 3 minutes and then lost interest in the movie, opting to run around the football field instead.

The Vedomskes came, too.

Jude enjoying a snack with Bennett.

It was a lot of fun! I'm so glad we went. It was a neat experience to be on an official football field. The grass was so short but nice and green and really soft. I didn't have to worry about spiders crawling on Jude or being itchy because of sitting in long grass. It was great!

This is what Jude did for most of the movie. He would run away in one direction, sometime to talk to random strangers, sometimes to try to climb the stairs, and sometimes just to run. We probably ran the football field three times together.

Good friends.

Bennett was really into the movie.

Catching a few minutes of the movie together.

Love that grass!

Running away with Cameron. By the end of the movie, all the kids were down by the goal post trying to climb that hill. It was a good time and Jude slept really well that night. We were sad Lance and George missed it. We'll have to do it again together.

Friday night we left Jude in the capable hands of our neighbors and went on a date. We went to see the last Harry Potter movie! I've been wanting to see it for a long time now and it didn't disappoint. I thought it was well done and a great end to a great story. Obviously the book was more detailed and there were bits the movie changed or glossed over, but all in all, it was pretty true to the story and very gripping. 

Can I just say I LOVE Snape? Alan Rickman has been a favorite of mine for a while--such a great actor and such a sexy voice! My only complaint about the movie was Snape's flashback was a little short for my taste. To reverse a misconception held throughout 6 1/2 books that is the cornerstone for most of the decisions Harry makes, you probably need more than 4 minutes. Ah well. I cried and loved it. I will definitely be adding it to our movie collection... Christmas list?

Last Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market here in Charlottesville. It's always a fun place to go and even though it rained on us, we had a good time.

Jude got one of his favorite treats--Popsicle!

Not really enjoying a peach. He's not much of a fruit-eater. :(

All in all, we managed to fill the time and have some fun while Lance was in California. We are so glad he's home, though! Life is just not the same without my crazy little man filling our days with laughter, noise, fun, and (of course) the occasional tears. We just can't live without him!