I wish that our summers were longer up here because it feels like we try to jam pack everything possible into every day, night, and weekend of our summer! That being said, we are taking full advantage of the midnight sun and are having a blast! In between the rainy weeks of June, Hayden would jump into his pool whenever it was nice out. He is quickly outgrowing his kiddie pool but it doesn't matter to him, he is happy jumping in and splashing our in it!
We have slowly been experimenting with his food allergies and with the recommendation of the doctor we introduced cheese and yogurt. Hayden did great with that so we thought we would add milk and if he could tolerate that then he would have grown out of his milk allergy. Well that didn't prove to be the case.....which means that he is lactose intolerant. The good news is that he really enjoyed the ice cream that he got to try for a few days! The bad news is that he can have processed milk products like cheese but not straight milk.
Hayden's pappe got a new Harley this summer and was very reluctant to ride it but Hayden was very interested in it. I think the loud noise scared him, but he always pointed it out saying "varoom varoom". So seeings how my child will do anything for candy, we coaxed him on the bike with some jelly beans, and he rode on it like a champ while stuffing jelly beans in his mouth!
My mom and I went on a playdate with a group of moms and kids to Calypso Farms up in Ester, Alaska. They are a wonderful group of people that grow vegetables for people who buy a "share" of the farm. It was such a fun place for the kids to run around, and was very educational for the older kids.
We walked around and learned about the trees and environment around us and we also learned about wildlife around us including bees. They had a hive of bees in plexi-glass and Hayden loved to watch them buzz around!
There were lots of animals that the kids got to interact with...which was Hayden's favorite part. When we were in the chicken coop, the chickens were in their little cubes laying eggs and two chickens were fighting for a spot and then one chicken got pushed out of the cubes and jumped out. Well Hayden happened to be right next to it and it scared the heck out of him. He talked about the jumping chickens for weeks.
Hayden fell in love with this little goat and would only feed the "baby" goat!
They taught people how to milk the goats, and my mom jumped right in and learned first hand. Hayden wanted to be right next to her and watch, but had no part in the milking!! She was a pro, and caught on right away!
We've been taking lots of boat trips all around the interior. One of our favorite trips is to take the boat from North Pole into Fairbanks to one of the restaurants in town to have dinner on their deck. Our good friend Mike goes with us often, and as you can see from the picture above, Hayden is loving the boat ride with his buddy Mike!!
I did a lot of research on bike seats because I thought it would be a fun activity for Chris and I to do with Hayden and Tucker. I found that the Europeans use the front seat on the bike for many reasons...it is safer, you can communicate with your child easier, they don't have to stare at your back, and many more. Well, this is absolutely perfect for Hayden, he loves being able to "drive" and Chris loves to take him. So we have been enjoying nightly rides together as a family :)
