Camping

Saturday we visited Grandpa while he was camping.

We got Ben his very own camping chair for the occasion, complete with cup holder.

Ben spent most of the visit just wandering around and exploring.

And dumping water down his shirt.

Grandpa tried to show Ben a dead bug, but he thinks that anything put in front of his face is an offering of food. Thank god he is lazy enough that he waits for you to place it in his mouth, or he might actually have eaten the disgusting thing.

Instead, he tried a cookie. Not surprisingly, he was not interested. Unlike his mama, he doesn't like cookies much.

After he got the lay of the land, he entertained himself with various tasks. Such as sweeping the dirt...
Refereeing the bags game...
And watering the grass...
After all that hard work, it was time to kick back with a beer and relax.

Please note the can was unopened. Ben just really liked playing in the cooler.

New Trees

We finally got around to buying some trees. Two autumn blaze maples are now living in our yard. One off the patio, the other in the far corner. I like them, but it makes me realize we have a long way to go back there...

Mike showed Ben the trees. He was pretty unimpressed.

Here's the second one, in the corner.
Side note, the hibiscus trees are doing great. Look at all those blooms on this one!

Ben didn't care about the trees, but he sure was interested in the flags JULIE left to mark the power and gas lines in the yard before the trees could be planted.

Milkshake

Ben really likes milkshakes. I mean, really likes them.

Over the holiday weekend, we took him to Oberweis. I thought he and I could just share my shake. However, any time I would try to take it away to get a sip, he would cry. Not wanting to annoy the other customers with his whining, and since my cup was too big for him to manuever anyway, I had Mike ask for a kid's cup from behind the counter and I put some of my shake in it for him.

After that, it was smooth sailing. He was excited to have his own cup, and I didn't have to fight him for a drink!

Mike got a strawberry shake and I got mint chip. Ben tried a drink of Mike's, was not impressed, and resumed gulping mine down. Ben certainly gets his eating preferences from his mama.

Brookfield Zoo

Mike and I took off work on Tuedsay to take Ben to the zoo for the first time. Here they are at the start of the day, ready to go!

We saw lots of animals, and Ben's general reaction was this face, with arm out, pointing and asking "what's that"?

After seeing several animals in the sweltering heat, we decided to take a break with a sno cone and a carousel ride. Ben was a huge fan of both!

Then it was on to see more animals.

We took a short break to cool down at this water spout. This was another big hit. I'm thinking we could have saved $50 and just stayed home with a popsicle and the sprinkler since those were the big hits of the day. :-)

But then we would have missed the children's zoo. Ben loved petting, brushing, and feeding the goats.




At one point Ben tried to put the goat food in his own mouth, so Dada had to remind himthat the food goes in the goat's mouth, not his.

After a few hours at the zoo, Ben (and Mom and Dad) were done and ready to go. (Did I mention it was REALLY hot?)

We thought we'd stop at Chipotle for dinner on the way home, but Ben fell asleep as soon as he hit the car seat.

So instead we drove home while he napped, and then stopped at a Chipotle by our house, letting Ben get an hour nap in. Feeling rested, Ben enjoyed dinner and was a happy camper!

Oh, did I mention Ben's latest obsession is straws. He's fascinated by them.

I think we'll definitely be back to the zoo... Just not in 90 degree weather.

Cheese

Ben sure loves cheese. Notice he doesn't bother with the crackers.

Happy 4th of July!

Ben had a very busy 3rd of July, which is the day we really did more celebrating this year.

First, he was not interested in getting dressed in the morning, but he did insist on putting his shoes on. (This kid loves shoes.) Then he ran off to play.

After we finally got him dressed, Dada took him to visit his great grandma. Although you wouldn't know it from his face in this picture, Ben had a good time and was very well-behaved for Dada. (Mom enjoyed a few quiet hours at home.)

After his nap, it was time to party in the backyard. But first thing first, who can party in an overgrown lawn? Ben decided to lend a hand and take care of the grass.

But apparently the mower wasn't in tip-top shape. He tuned it up a bit and was ready to go.

Apparently the patio needed a trim as well.

Once the lawn was in good shape, he decided to kick back and relax. He played a fun game of bags with dad. Here he is trying to climb through the hole.
When he realized he wouldn't fit, he switched to throwing the bags in the hole.

And retrieving them.


After dinner of grilled pizzas with Brad and Denise, it was popsicle time. Yum!

Who made a mess? Me? Never.
We decided to kill two birds by bringing out the hose -- we cleaned him up and he had a blast playing.


The hose was a BIG hit. Ben would have happily played with it all night, but it was getting late and he was getting cold. I am hoping next year he can stay up late enough to enjoy some fireworks. This year we lit some sparklers, but he showed zero interest. Maybe next year!