The Pool

Andie and Scott cooling off at Ron and Tracy's beautiful pool.
Sam trying to get the dive down.

Alexa is a quick study at diving!

oops :-) i think this one resulted into a belly flop.

forget it...Sam is just going to have fun!

What a great afternoon! We had yummy fruit for snacks, fun drinks (peanut sure likes Dr. Pepper), brownies, and pizza. And our company was perfect. Ron and Tracy know how to be the perfect hosts. THANKS

Yes...BEN IS JUMPING OFF THE BOARD! Catch me grandpa!

no fear!

Ben jumping off the board....

Fireworks and Swimming

Ben waiting patiently in the car to go swimming.
Mema explaining to Ben that the fireworks are loud, but they are also fun.

Ben and Auntie

Ben hiding behind Mema's chair when the loud fireworks are going off.

gelato at the farmer's market

We had fun shopping at the Farmer's Market and then taking a rest and having some mint chocolate gelato.
It was hot today! Ben took off his hat to have his treat and his hair was crazy.

We had gelato everywhere!

Time to go home and figure out what to do with beets, zucchini, onions, green onions, and cherry tomatoes! We're going to have an interesting dinner tonight!

bedtime woes

Ben is back to the crib for a bit...Jake and I need some sanity, Ben needs to sleep, and we all just need to get along!
The big bed is out and the bookshelf is in along with a chair to make things cozy and comfy.

Jake and Ben reading some stories before bed.

Ben's second photo shoot gallery

ben's shoes
ummm....a headless dad

almost have dad's head....

there we go!

now for a smile from dad

strange sleep habits...again

This was yesterday's sleeping arrangement for Ben. He didn't sleep very long....wonder why?

strange sleeping habits

Yes, Ben still naps in his crib otherwise his parents would go crazy. Sometimes he sleeps and sometimes he doesn't....our nap days with Ben are being phased out as he tends to jump around and tell stories instead of falling alseep. Today he apparently wore himself out playing in bed.

From Ben's Perspective

Ben had the camera and "needed" to take some pictures. So, I gave him a quick tutorial and below is his first gallery of pictures.
His bear chair...on the go

the computer chair...close up

some of his fire engine

his dump truck and baseball helmet

his very favorite toy...

Summer Reading

Dinosaur Roar is one of Ben's favorite books. He pretty much has it memorized.

Summer Reading

Taking it easy from the summer heat.

Ben has a summer cold so he's reading inbetween sniffles. He's reading the last part of 10 Little Monkeys and then The Big Red Barn.

baseball

my baseball boys

ben is a heck of a pitcher

getting the ball from the roof take 1

getting the ball from the roof take 2 ben's baseball "grrrr!"

he's showing off his swing

ben loves to pitch to jake because jake hits it over the roof :-)

watching the boys play ball

Yard updates

our willy nilly weeping willow is looking good these days
my mom gave me a start from this...i call it sweet william...but it came from 327 cannonbury :-)

my mom also gave me a start from this cora bell...i gave it to her when we moved to milwaukee...nice to have it again.

some cool purple plant mom gave us from her garden

it's looking good! next year our perennials will be even prettier.

zinnias that are growing from seed... it worked!

a hisbiscus passed down from mema to mom to me. it's going to bloom giant deep red/purplish flowers later on this summer.

jake's herb garden: thyme and mint; the rosemary, lavendar, and orange mint came from the Blasor wedding, and a few other ground covers.

you're buggin' me

Ben wanted to play baseball and go to the pool but first he had to finish his yogurt snack that he was so adamant about getting. I was telling him to eat, Jake was telling him to eat....he turned to us and said, "Mom, you're buggin' me. Dad, you're buggin' me too!" We busted out laughing and that was the end of the "buggin'." He did finish his snack and got both of his play time wishes.

It takes a village to fall asleep.

Ben had every single stuffed animal that he owns keeping him company last night.
Before we went to bed we moved most of the animals to find that Ben was sweating like crazy. His hair was sticking straight up and even his pillow was wet. We uncovered him a bit and put the fan on him so he would cool off.