Glacier National Park Part 1

On June 27th the Bateman Clan headed to Montana and Glacier National Park. We stayed in Whitefish, Montana - just outside the park and hometown of our friend Erik Kaltschmidt. While there we drove around looking at the beautiful sights, did a little hiking to Avalanche Lake, saw some wildlife - mostly goats, threw rocks in the water - Toby's favorite part, went on a helicopter ride, and had a ton of fun with family.

Andrea and Toby in Butte, Montana

Emily and Toby at the Flathead Lake overlook

Throwing rocks at Lake McDonald

Walking around Apgar Village in Glacier National Park

There were waterfalls everywhere in Glacier because the snow is still melting

Trail of the Cedars

Ezra and Abe posing for a picture

Emily carried Toby for part of the Avalanche Lake hike while Zach went back to the car to get the hiking backpack. Toby also walked quite a bit of it on his own.

Throwing rocks at Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Lake

The family looking at a waterfall through a gap made by an avalancheZach, Emily and Toby at Avalanche Lake
Taking a nap on the way down from the lake

Toby's Two

This year Father's Day coincided with Toby's birthday. My little guy turned two. To celebrate his birthday we had two parties. The first party was on Saturday with my family. My sister Carolyn was nice enough to let us throw the party at her house. We had swimming pools, slip 'n slides, and eleven kids. After swimming we had a bbq, presents, and cupcakes. It was a whole lot of fun. Toby got a bunch of hot wheels cars, some bath toys, a camping chair, Mr. Potato Head, chalk, a water shooter, and a tricycle. He loved his presents and had a lot of fun swimming.
The second party was for the Bateman family. We had a bbq at Brent and Karma's house. The whole family was able to come. We had a great time with good food and good company. Zach's family all contributed to a pirate water table. Eric was nice enough to help me put it together and all of the little boys loved playing with it. Toby also got a book, a Noah's Ark shape sorter, some cars, and movies. It was another fun birthday.

Scared Silly

Earlier today I was sitting at the computer working on a project. I was cutting something out with my silhouette cutter, which is not very quiet, and watching a show on hulu at the same time. Toby was downstairs watching a show and eating fruit snack, or so I thought. One minute I was working peacefully and the next Toby had quietly climbed the stairs, sneaked up behind me, and roared. I jumped from the scare, but then was laughing so hard. Toby then left the room, but kept coming back to scare me again. He thought it was so fun and was laughing himself. Oh, Toby.

Cute Little Guy

Toby has been super fun lately (especially if you ignore his sleeping habits). He almost weighs 26 pounds, climbs everywhere, and is talking up a storm.

Here are two pictures of Toby watching shows. He loves to bring me movies (usually Cars, Toy Story 2, Wall-e, or Bolt) and says "wash-a-show". It is so stinkin cute. A few weeks ago our home teachers were here and Toby brought me Cars and asked to "wash-a-show". I took the movie and said no. Then Toby looked at me and said "wash-a-show" over and over again until I consented. We were all laughing at Toby, how could I say no? If Zach and I are watching TV sometimes we let Toby watch a movie on the portable DVD player in the kitchen. He LOVES it.
Toby adores seeing pictures and videos of himself. If I want a picture I have to hide the camera from Toby or all he wants to do is see pictures of himself. When he is upset Zach will pull out his cell phone and show Toby videos of him and Toby laughs and laughs.Toby loves his Elmo slippers. He got them for Christmas and for a while was scared of them, but one day that all changed. He brings them to me and asks me to put them on. They look so cute. Meanwhile Zach is training Toby for theme parks. I don't love roller coasters so Zach needs someone to go with. To get him ready Zach tosses Toby in the air, hangs him upside down, and spins him around. Toby laughs so hard. Someday the two of them will have so much fun together.
One of Toby's favorite things to do is pull a chair over to the counter and stand on it. It started with him wanting to see what I was doing, but now he likes to do it even if I'm not in there. He also loves to stand there and eat his food. He gets very upset if I put something on his chair and does everything he can to get rid of it.Sadly, Toby still gets up very early. Luckily he likes to watch shows so I can get a little more rest. Every once in a while he falls back asleep.
Probably Toby's favorite thing is trains. He loves his train book, his train set, and watching train videos with his grandpa. I'm not sure what Toby would play with if he didn't have his train set and love playing with it so much. When we are downstairs Toby will go to the stairs, wave bye, and say choo-choo (sounds more like cuckoo). Next thing we know we here Toby in his room playing with his trains.
Lastly, we are trying to get Toby to use his binky less. So one day I put Toby down for his nap and he just kept crying. When I went in to check on him I found this - two binkies in his mouth. I guess he was trying to make up for lost time. Oh well, it's a work in progress.