***warning-LONG post***
Oh what a fun, fun, fun week! The three of us packed up the car and drove to Grammy and Pal’s house in Wisconsin to celebrate the 4th of July. To me it was the perfect relaxation. For some people relaxing is being on the beach with an umbrella drink, but this was it for me. Ben LOVED playing at Grammy’s. The kid has her tied around his little fat fingers. ANYTHING he wants, he gets. Here are a TON of pictures from our week:
Becky could only watch the dogs for part of the trip so one of my student’s watched them the last part. Keller and his best friend came over (with his mom) to meet the dogs and the boys immediately started playing with Ben. Ben was in Heaven playing with the big boys and they were so good to him (and the dogs, too).
We’re here! We got to Grammy’s around lunch time and after playing and taking a nap we headed to the beach (on the lake) for a picnic and birthday party. Grammy lives next to Aunt Linda’s neighborhood and everyone just drives a golf cart around to the pool and lake/beach. The golf cart was one of Ben’s favorite things. We took many golf cart rides and had some really good times when we would do our ‘family rides’ after dinner some nights. We even drove through a little through a field of corn…awww, the midwest!
I love Lake Geneva!
Uncle Bob playing football with the kids
It was one of the girl’s (staying at Aunt Linda’s house) birthday so Aunt Linda had goodie bags for them. Ben was SO excited and walked up waiting for his. Luckily she had an extra, but none of the goodies were safe for him. A bouncing ball seemed to do the trick to distract him. He so badly wanted to be a ‘big kid’ with them.
Enjoying some birthday cake with Daddy.
Bubbles with Daddy before bedtime
On Saturday Daddy bought a rocket to play with. He took Ben out back to help and for some reason Ben was scared of the grass…
…so he walked over to the rocks and sat in those and then proceeded to drop them one by one in the grass, such a silly boy!
They’re here!! On Sunday, Ashley, James and Mayson flew up to spend a few days with us. I LOVE this family. We had lots of fun and lots of laughter and of course the babies loved having each other around
They got right to work playing with the coasters in sun room.
We headed down to the lake to see the fireworks. It was insanely crowded. We didn’t stay long because it started raining. We headed back and gave the babies a bath.
Grammy has a really deep bathtub in her room. It was a great size for two babies. Hopefully Ashley doesn’t mind that I have a naked picture of Mayson on here :)
On Monday we rented a boat and went out on the lake. We chose the one day when the weather was awful. It was very cloudy and windy. Doesn’t Mayson look adorable in her life jacket? Ben looked like Spongebob in his.
A happy girl!
A happy family!
Getting sleepy after a little lunch
The Skipper and Gilligan
so in love with this little boy!
and this one too! Daddy jumped in and then had some trouble getting back in the boat
Mayson snoozing away
Ashley has quickly become one of my closest friends. There is NO way I could have survived the past two years without her. She knows me inside and out. B asked on our way home how many times a day we talk, apparently it’s a lot. Oh well, he’s just jealous he doesn’t have an Ashley!
After the boat we stopped at Walmart for a few essentials, like a helicopter for James to play with (B had already bought one). Boys and their toys. They also spent countless hours playing Angry Birds on the iphones.
peek a boo
On Tuesday Ben FINALLY got to meet Grampy John, his great Grandpa (Pops’ dad) for lunch. We don’t see Grampy very often so it meant a lot that we got together. Grampy called him “Tex” and we love that nickname for him! It was really hot and Ben didn’t really want to snuggle with Grampy when he could be wandering around. I think Pops looks just like Grampy John and everyone says Ben looks like Pops so maybe this is what he’ll look like in 82 years. Thank you Aunt Linda for setting this up!
After lunch the real party began. Somehow I convinced Ashley and James to spend the night in Chicago and leave Mayson with me! She’s such a good baby. She did a wonderful job with not having her Mommy or Daddy around. And Mayson LOVES guys (watch out James). When Ben or Pal would walk in the room she would light up and squeal. She just goes with the flow. We took both babies to dinner that night and they were FANTASTIC! Mayson found a little boy that she flirted with the entire time while Ben ate the entire restaurant. Man that kid can eat!
The Mahrers had to go to Mars
Mayson and Pal after dinner
The next morning Mayson woke up bright and early. Just as she was starting to get fussy Ben woke up and she perked right up. Mommy was glad to see him, too. Since we had slept in the same room during our trip, I missed not hearing him sleep that night.
Such a boy-beating up on Mayson. Ben tried to steal her toys, but got a little mad when she went for anything he had. A little bully.
cute little butt
Each baby kept going after the other one’s cup. Finally I just let them drink the other’s cup. It was just easier this way.
After some playtime Grammy and I took the babies to the pool. Poor Ben had to skip his morning nap so we could do this, but I chose a happy Mayson over a sleeping Ben (sorry kid).
Pretty, pretty princess in her tutu suit
After pool time both babies crashed and so did mommy! After almost two hours B came in and told me Mayson was up. Turns out she had been up for over an hour watching soccer with him on the couch. He waited until she got fussy before getting me (I guess someone forgot how to get a bottle together). He has a rule that he won’t touch other babies, but I guess he broke it for her. Then Ben woke up and showed Mayson how to climb on things we’re not supposed to. He’s good at that.
Thursday it was time for the Warrens to fly back home. I dropped them off at the airport and got really sad to see them leave. I LOVE that family (and the Mahrers enjoyed schooling them in Cranium)
Grammy gave Mayson her last bottle before they left.
Our original plan was to leave Thursday night, but I managed to convince B to stay until Friday night, yay! And then after going through horrible goodbyes, we ended up staying until Saturday morning. Had I been able to push it any further I would. I even tried really hard to get B to fly home and come back in a week or two and drive us home. He said no way.
Friday morning Ben played with Grammy in the backyard. That huge ball hidden behind the post hooks up to the hose and shoots water everywhere. He LOVED it. And since he didn’t like the baby pool at the club the first time, she went out and bought him one of his own. Later that day Grammy and Pal watched Ben so we could see a movie. Grammy taught him how do “so big” with his arms and how to answer the question, “what do we do to the bad guys?” He swings his arms like he’s trying to punch. HYSTERICAL!
One night we put Ben down and he went NUTS screaming and crying. B got him out of his crib and brought him upstairs so he could ‘perform'. Such a little ham. He wanted Grammy’s water and practiced drinking it from the cup (he does this in the bathtub all the time, ick).
Off to see Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob while we went to the movies
Ben tried to help make dinner one night.
Pal’s son, Paul, is staying with them for awhile. Paul loved having Ben around.
Friday night Grammy and Pal went out to dinner so daddy grilled some hotdogs with his little helper. About 10 minutes later Ben was outside on the patio and we heard a scream. Little stink put his fingers near the grill and it was still hot and burned his knuckles (we didn’t discover this until the drive home)
After hot dogs we went fishing. Ben was pretty tired so while Daddy fished, Ben and Mommy took a little ride around the golf course. On our way back we stopped to watch the baby fawns. So pretty.
Daddy had no luck fishing until we came back. As soon as Ben walked up the dock Daddy caught one! So this is Ben’s first fish. After that Daddy caught about 4 more before…
Mommy caught one! I wouldn’t touch it, but the other family on the dock thought it was pretty cool.
We woke up very early to get a head’s start on the drive home. Everyone gets on us for driving at night, but after driving all day, we will NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! So much easier when Ben sleeps through most of it. He did really well, but who can blame him for fussing a little. Sadly we got home and Daddy developed flu like symptoms and then passed them to me. Let’s hope Ben stays clear of them.
taking a little nap with his new dinosaur from Ashley and his favorite blanket (from Molly)!
Now we get to try to get Ben back to a reasonable bedtime and nutritious meals. I don’t think he went to sleep before 8:30 the entire time we were gone and almost always woke up around 7. He didn’t eat the healthiest of things either. He’s also become accustomed to some crackers and water during cocktail time each night. Today he brought me an empty cup and stuck it in my face and then stood in front of the pantry waiting for crackers. Thanks Grammy!
Now how do we get back to Grammy’s before school starts next month? Hmmm???
