The 4th!

We had a very nice 4th of July. We went over to the Russons and had some dinner first. Everyone liked my 4th of July creation (rice crispy flag). Then we headed over to a beautiful country club where we waited to watch fireworks. Ben enjoyed crawling around the wide open golf course. When we first got there there wasn't a lot of people yet, so I gave him free range. The boys enjoyed throwing around a baseball and football, while I enjoyed chatting and watching Ben and Gavin play. 

I got Ben in his festive jammies before the fireworks. When the show began he sat in my lap and was just mesmerized by the fireworks. Of course his attention span didn't last too long, and he soon began  to crawl around and play, but kept looking up at the pretty sky!

 

Happy Independence Day America!

Big Pool

We took Ben in a big pool for the first time with James, Marianne, and their nephew Gavin. He really liked the water. He even floated around on his own in Gavin's floaty. Everything was going really well until James started throwing him in the air and catching him. He liked it the first few times, until... James threw him up and he turned a little in the air, so when James caught him he missed one of his arms and Ben went under water sideways. Ben freaked out, and from then on he was fussy in the pool. I think he lost his trust in James because he was worse when James was holding him. The good thing about babies is he forgot about the whole thing by the end of that day I'm sure!

Ben and Gavin waiting to hit the water!

Floating around. 

Kick your feet Ben.

 

Ben just began to stand up on his own at this point. He'll be walking soon, 

Gavin and Auntie Marianne. 

Piggy back ride with Daddy!

Daddy's shades!

Movie Monday

I'm going to post a little movie clip of Ben every Monday. Because movies are just so much more fun than pictures. 

Here is just a little taste of Ben's pool time fun. 

Baby Pool

Bentley has always loved water, and his baby pools are no exception. He recently started splashing in the tub and has brought this new skill to his pool. Mostly he just loves to crawl in and out of his pool and go over to the sandbox, where the sand then turns to mud and sticks all over him. Oh well! I just strip him down outside, dump a bucket of water over him, and give him a quick bath. 

Trying to escape to the sandbox. 

Chillin' pool side. 

This is our big problem in the pool and bath tub, he loves to stand up.  

Just playing.

All smiles!

Lazy Summer Daze

Just a little sleep montage, because sleeping babies are so precious, and nap time is a wonderful time for ME too. So I can do important things like write this Blog, ha, ha, do laundry, the dishes (no dishwasher, sucks), general cleaning, job searching, and homework help for James. 

Here is my sweet sleeper boy!

Awe! Isn't he a cutie?

Playing Outside

My child loves to be outside! As soon as we hit the door he starts laughing and smiling. It is so nice that even though my apartment is teeny tiny, we have a great big grassy area and playground right outside our door. His favorite thing is definitely the sand box. He loves to climb in and out of it, and he's pretty good at it. Although, just the other day I looked and saw his two feet dangling in the air after he landed head first outside the box. He was okay! He just started to actually dig in the sand with his rake and shovel.

Ben loves it when Daddy is home and can play outside with him. Bentley even likes to watch James and I play basketball. He's used to watching his Daddy play sports. He started watching him play basketball every week when he was just five months old. His little head would go back and forth following the guys up and down the court. And for the last four months, we have been watching Daddy's weekly football game. 

The unfortunate part about it being hot enough to play outside, is that the equipment can get really REALLY hot. So we don't play on it as much as we play in the sandbox, which is nicely shaded. But Ben does love to swing and James even put him down the twisty slide all by himself. 

Just being silly!

Father's Day Weekend

To celebrate James' first Fathers Day we spent a wonderful weekend with our great friends, James and Marianne at James' family's cabin. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun. We went to church on Sunday morning, and then left for the cabin, which was about an hour away later that afternoon. When we got home from church, Ben was so exhausted but I had to take the traditional holiday picture outside. Every holiday, except for Christmas because we were in California, we have taken a picture i our court. I love to see the changing leaves on all the trees behind us in the different holiday pictures as the seasons change. With a very tired baby, I got no smiles. But they still turned out so cute.

 

Opening up the card. I got Bentley to scribble on it like James did for me for Mother's Day. I can't wait until he can color. I love sitting down with kids and coloring. I hope it's not a girl thing! 

The cabin was such a fun time. After settling in we took a quick ATV ride, and no Ben did not ride with us. Then we went on a joyride around the whole area searching for animals. We saw tons of dear, including a mommy dear with two babies. Marianne and I tracked out into the wilderness and found one of the babies laying down in the brush. I think the poor thing was terrified of us, but we had a great time photographing it. 

We are grateful to have such good friends. We love you James and Marianne. And thanks for a great weekend.

It was so beautiful there!

The amazing baby deer. I was just afraid its crazy momma was going to attack. 

The boys!

After putting Ben to bed that night, we stayed up late playing games and then watched a movie. The next day James and Marianne took us to one of their neighbor's cabins, an old friend of theirs. They had an amazing hugh slide going down their property, a fun swing, trampoline, and a giant teeter-tatter. I felt like a kid. Then, right before we left James R. was taking a quick drive on the ATV before putting it away and saw a moose with two baby moose. We quickly jumped in the car and checked it out. It was such an amazing thing to see. Oh, and we did some shooting. I'm a horrible shot, but every one else was great. 

Unfortunately my camera died early the first day, so I don't have more pics. But Marianne took some great ones that I still have to get from her.  

Ben and I love you James. Thanks for being a great Daddy and working so hard to provide for us!