Glorious Extended Weekend!

We did this 3-day weekend right and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Thanks to all the past and present troops who fight for us and keep us safe and free, we were able to enjoy three amazing days together as a family in our great country! One of Benjamin's favorite things to do right now is point out soldiers. He will even wave to them and talk to them sometimes (unlike police officers, who even though he is infatuated with, freezes up whenever around one). :)

The kids have been napping early, so we've been able to have quiet mornings (including sleeping in for me, thanks to my sweet hubby!!) at home, then spend the rest of the day out and about after naps. On Saturday we drove to the Children's Museum in Indy. We have a pass, so it's really nice and we are able to have relaxed visits and just do the things we want to do and stay however long the kids make it. This trip we actually closed the place and were made to leave! We started on a carousel ride. Benjamin really had fun.......


but I'm afraid Anna did not enjoy her first ride. She refused to sit on any of the animals and didn't really want to stay in the bench with me either. She didn't cry or anything, you could just tell she wanted off. Thankfully, it's a short ride!


They had a little pony ride that was a nickle that Dave and Benjamin found. We let him on and put in the money and had no idea how much that horse was going to buck! Benjamin had this unsure expression the whole ride! Glad we didn't try Anna on it first, if she didn't like the carousel....I'm pretty sure she would have hated this one!


They both had a grand time playing with this huge Connect Four game board!

They have a maze of mirrors and Benjamin got tickled with how it made white clothing turn colors in this black light portion. He liked this little chair too!

"I'm in a submarine!!!"

Here comes Benjamin! :)

Happiness in a tunnel...........

Anna seemed to really enjoy watching the trains this visit! She will even say "choo! choo!" I thought this was a funny shot that Dave got with her and Little Three! :)

"Daddy, trains down here too!!!!"

Looking up into the trains from the little underground tunnel...........

Playing a dinosaur computer game right before we got kicked out...oops! ;)

Then on Sunday, we headed to Brown County Park. It's beautiful there and we always have a great time (minus bugs in the eyes, thankfully Dave was the victim this time instead of Benjamin). We did a new path this time that goes around the lake and it was by far my favorite! The kids had so much fun, they are definitely the outdoors type! The whole path was 1.2 miles, which Benjamin walked all but about five minutes of and Anna did quite a bit of too. She loves to use her new skills and will even push you and yell "walk!" when she wants down. She wasn't too keen on her hand being held the whole time either, but it wasn't exactly a smooth path.....so she had to at least give in on that. I tell you what, we have ourselves one spunky little girl!

They had tons of these little bridges (both flat and arched) as you went around the lake in a rectangle shape.

He was excited to get his picture taken here. You can't see it b/c I chose a shot that was a close-up of my little man, but there are kayakers in the lake in the background....which he loved pointing out.

Throwing sticks down into the lake from one of the many little deck/balconies they had around the path.

Miss Anna is quite the Daddy's girl. I'm secretly a little (just a little, I promise) excited that Dave is going back to work tomorrow so that I can maybe get a little attention and time with my daughter b/c she has definitely taken advantage of the extra Daddy time this weekend!

Benjamin loved pointing out all the tree stumps that had been chewed down by beavers.

Dave told him to go up to this tree and pretend he was an beaver. He chose to skip the pretend part, however. He wasn't too excited with how the tree tasted!

When we got back to the car, we found this huge walking stick!

It was such a fun hike and we were so pleased with how well the kids did! Afterwards, we ate at the restaurant inside the park lodge and enjoyed some yummy country buffet food!

This morning Dave was super sweet and let me sleep in. When I got up he had me look at this picture of the kids............

He said they were trying to make him feel like it was a normal Monday! The computers were still on their table and Benjamin was playing on one this evening and he all of sudden turned around and said, "Mine finished!"

Me: "What were you doing?"

B: "Mine make a email!"

Me: "You did?!?! Who did you send it to?"

B: (without hesitation) "To Kelly." (his aunt, FYI)

Earlier today while we were waiting for lunch to be ready, Anna was cuddling (AGAIN) with her Daddy. Wanting to be included, Benjamin jumped up there too. They then preceded to rub each other's backs and hair and give hugs for the next 15 minutes or so! Boy, do I wish they were always that sweet to each other!

She loves rubbing his hair!

Daddy rubbing Benjamin + Benjamin hugging Anna + Anna hugging Benjamin + Anna holding Daddy's hand= lots of love!

We were going to go fishing this afternoon, but it decided to rain. So we went to the outlet mall and I got some extra summer clothes and we got a few books. Then we headed to Sam's Club and did some shopping. Not too exciting, but still fun! We're very thankful for such a wonderful weekend together!

I'll leave you with these two stories -

Our Mimicker

Dave was carpet cleaning with the kids while I was getting some laundry done before Anna went to bed. While in the bathroom, Anna went over and pushed the stool to the toilet, put the potty seat up onto the toilet, and then said potty to Dave. So he decided to reward her hard work and took off her diaper and put her on the seat. He said she then sat there and held her non-existent penis down into the toilet. I guess she watches her brother more than we ever knew.

A conversation Dave and Benjamin had before he went to bed.....

B: "You put the batteries in mine camera right now so mine take pictures?"

Dave: "It's bedtime right now, but I'll put them in there before I go to sleep and you can play with it tomorrow, okay?"

B: "You put batteries in it before you go to work tomorrow?"

D: "Yes, I will buddy."

B: "Okay. You put your work shirt on that says Cummins before you go to work too, okay?!?!"

The Bathing Suits Are Out!

It was hot today! Wanting to get out with the kids, but not have us sweat to death....I decided to get out the bathing suits and fill up the pool. Benjamin was quite the primadonna and would whine if he got his clothes wet, but Anna got right into it.....literally! The water was cold, but it didn't stop her from having a grand time! So mostly this post is a pictorial tribute to my splashing, bathing suit-clad, beauty of a daughter! Tell me she doesn't look big in this one......

Time to splash!

The biggest, sweetest smile around!

When I would ask her if she was wet, she would say "Wet!" and then look down at herself like this! :)

Benjamin did have some fun! Just not quite as wet of fun as Anna.

I couldn't resist taking this picture. He was holding this pitcher and swaying back and forth and it so looked like he was peeing!

Anna was staring at my feet in the pool and so I asked her if she wanted to get in (thinking she would just stand in the pool), to which she replied, "In!", grabbed my hand, climbed into the pool and sat right in the middle of it like it was nothing!

Bathing Beauty!

Benjamin was having fun from the safety of the outside of the pool!

After all that playing, it was time for a big drink!

Showing you her flowers.......

Chalk time!

I thought she looked really big in this one too! She was funny and the ball rolled over to our fence. The neighbor's dogs were out making some noise, so she went right up to the fence and started declaring, "DOG!" As soon as one of them came up to the fence though, she came running to the safety of Momma's arms! Apparently the 6 foot high fence wasn't enough protection!

I was impressed with Benjamin's creation of a water slide. He would carry a cup of water up the playground, pour it down the slide and then go down after it!

Obviously, it was a very fun day! I'm excited for many more!!!!!

Yesterday, we walked and got the mail and then when we got back to the house Anna was refusing to come inside. I told her no and that we had to go inside, to which she responded by taking off as fast as her sweet chubby legs could take her down the side walk. Unfortunately, she's no expert at moving that fast yet and fell and got her first skinned knee. By the time we got inside, it was bleeding pretty bad (which she thoroughly enjoyed playing with btw, yuck!). I mostly got the bleeding to stop, but was still a little bit. It was way past nap time and I didn't want her to get blood stains on the sheets, so I put a bandaid on it. It was a first for Anna, so of course she wanted to play with that too. She wouldn't stop trying to take it off, so I grabbed some leggings to put over (just trying to find something quick to put over the bandaid and get her to leave it alone). After putting Benjamin down, I went in to check on her and couldn't help chuckle at her peaceful little body fast asleep clashing hard-core with her very wild outfit! :)



If you missed the post below, I expect you all to participate in our baby guessing game. There's an orange and white box to the top left side of the blog now (called ExpectNet). You just click on it, push the submit a guess button on that page, and then enter your guess and who you are. So go have some fun guessing about Little Three. You never know, maybe there will be an awesome prize for the winner.......... :)

Cupcake

My daughter is such a great eater. I honestly doubt there is a better 14 month old eater out there, neither in what she'll eat or how much she can eat! It is really a blessing as a mom having such a good eater. Sometimes, it's a little disappointing though when I give her something new or a special treat and she doesn't react....she just keeps on eating like she does with (almost) everything else. Yesterday, she finally rewarded me with a great reaction. I made mini chocolate cupcakes with raspberry icing (a lethal combinatin, I know). She's had cupcakes before, but for some reason seems to really like these. Today she even started saying cupcake! It's really cute to see her demolish one in about 10 seconds and then request another! She really is my cupcake!




Benjamin may not be as good an eater, but he's just as cute! In case you were wondering, he LOVES the cupcakes too!



Benjamin and Anna have been playing really sweetly lately (a very nice change!). They've been giving hugs and kisses (which Benjamin will allow now that Anna knows how to do it with her mouth closed) and they've even been semi-wrestling with one another in a very nice way that only ends in laughs! Today while enjoying their lovefest, I asked Benjamin if he was happy he had a sister to play with. He turned to me and matter-of-factly replied, "Mine have TWO sisters!!!" I think he's pretty sure Little Three is a girl. He says a boy every once in awhile, but most of the time it's girl! We'll excitedly wait and see if he's right!

Playing the baby guessing game with Benjamin has inspired me to have some fun with all of you. You will find a new feature to the left side of my blog, an ExpectNet baby pool. My friend, Stacia did this with her baby and I thought it'd be fun to let all of you make your guesses about whether you think Little Three will be a girl or boy, when he/she will arrive and how much the baby will weigh/length. So get your guesses in! Just click on the box to the left!

Spaghetti Night

Another baby, another hat............. :)

Would you like to see what a 14 month old looks like after a big bowl of spaghetti, yogurt, toast, animal crackers, and about 20 blueberries???? Here she is............

It was really nice to see her eat so much. They've been sick for awhile and she hasn't been eating very well.....which if you know Anna, you know that is very un-like her!

And this is where she ended up! It was everywhere!!! Glad we took her clothes off for this meal!

Wanna know what you do after consuming all those carbs? Some Wii yoga, of course!

"Shows over folks, thanks for stopping by!" ~Anna

PS Little Three is treating me to a bunch of kicks right now. So far this baby isn't too active and I can go a few days with only one or two kicks. Not tonight though! Look for a post in a week or so with our baby name selections included. We've just got to shore up the girl middle name and we're set!