Sorry folks, we’ve been crazy busy, it feels like. Working, entertaining company, staining decks/fences, riding trains, eating ice cream (JODI!), etc. Excuses, excuses…you’ve heard ‘em all before. We are truly repentant…
Where did we last leave off? Oh yeah…
Marble Slab. Good ice cream, that’s for sure. But I was a little disappointed with the cost of my creation. For a couple reasons I won’t delve into here, $6.38, including taxes, was kinda pricey for the amount of ice cream I got. Again, it was yummy, but it’s no
Cold Stone. I’ll go back to treating myself at
BDI when I’m in the mood for a really good ice cream. And it’s closer. And you can have a nice walk across the bridge while you enjoy your treats. Why yes, you can have more than one. I would.
I bet you didn’t think I could write a whole paragraph on ice cream. Do you KNOW how much I love ice cream? And my son follows in my footsteps…”Ben, what would you like for breakfast today?” “ICE CREAM!” “Sounds good buddy!”
And no, I do not give my children ice cream for breakfast. That’s probably what Grandpa Bill would do, but it doesn’t happen at our house.
Lookie there, now that’s 3 paragraphs on ice cream! I’m on a roll!
At the end of June, we had some wonderful friends come and stay with us – Hi Liz and Logan! They came down for Gord’s friend Ravi’s wedding, and we had such a great time having them here. The wedding was awesome too. We got some great visiting in with Liz and Logan (who’s 3), Garth and Jill, and some other friends that Liz and Gord have in common too. We all took a trip to the zoo on a nice hot day, and were able to work in some Olive Garden salad and breadsticks for Liz! Poor girl doesn’t get there very often! Ben and Ella loved having Logan here to play with, and they all got along so well for not knowing each other at the beginning of their stay. After they left, Ben walked over to me, climbed into my lap, and said that he was going to miss his best friend Logan. Awwwww.
That same weekend as the weddingpalooza, we went to
“A Day Out with Thomas” at the
Prairie Dog Central. It was great – the weather was awesome – and the kids had fun. They got tattoos, they colored, we rode on “Annie & Clarabel”, saw Sir Topham Hatt, got their picture taken with the big blue guy himself (Thomas), played with some trains, and ate some mini donuts. Whew. It is the same event that we went to 2 years ago in Stillwater, Minnesota. See here.
Now that Gord is done school, he’s at home with the kids all day every day. I am very envious of them…but I’m taking the last two weeks of July off, so we’ll all hang out then. We don’t have a lot of plans for our vacation…we’re instead thinking of doing some renovations…what a way to spoil a vacation, huh?
The kids were at Grandpa Bill & Grandma Joan’s last weekend, and came home on Tuesday. I know they didn’t miss us at all. They both had such a good time that Ella cried her eyes out when they left. If anything lets us know that she had a good time, that’s it!
I should really give an update on each of the kids now…it’s been so long, it seems. Ben is doing really well. He loves to sound out words and hopefully will be reading before long. He likes to write letters – usually they get bigger as he gets farther along in the word, and then when he runs out of room (which usually happens), he will put the letters above, below, at the beginning. Wherever they’ll fit. But the important thing is that he’s writing them. And my perfectionist personality will just have to live with it. ;) Ben also likes to play on the computer – typing in Word, or playing on the
Thomas or
Nick Jr. websites. While he was “typing” one day, he asked us to help him spell the word “vegetable”, so we helped him sound it all out. That was fun, and he really only had trouble figuring out the “g” (he thought it should be “j”) and the “le”. It is beyond cool to witness him learning this stuff, and to help him along. We’ve already pulled out the “
Dick and Jane Treasury” we bought a while ago, and we’ve read some stuff out of that. Ah, the memories…Dick and Jane helped me learn to read…and now we’ve got some Dr. Seuss books to work on too (“Hop on Pop”). Ben loves his bike, especially the horn and bell we’ve recently added to it. He’ll truck up and down the sidewalk, honking and ringing the whole way down and back. I’m sure the neighbors love it! Soccer came and went, and he did alright. I don’t think he really got it until near the end. He would typically complain, after about a minute out on the field, that his legs were tired and he needed to rest and have a drink. It didn’t help that the coaches got them these cool water bottles. All he wanted to do was drink his water, week after week. That and watch his shadow on the field. But he had fun, so that is what matters. And he and Ella have become buddy-buddy with the two kids across the street – the girl is almost 6 and the boy just turned 4. They are fabulous kids and we all have a lot of fun together.
One thing that we’ve come to realize over the last few months is that Ben is no wallflower. He is so un-shy it’s not even funny. He’ll walk right up to someone now and say, “Hi there. I’m Ben. What’s your name?” … “Nice to meet you ___________!” He’ll invite himself into the neighbor’s yard and house, charming his way in every time. What a character. I don’t know where he gets it from. *coughGordcough* *coughcoughChriscoughcough*
And Ella. What can I say about Ella? She’s two.
No, I’ll say more. Ella is getting better at talking. It’s weird though…she has trouble with seemingly simple words, like “Ben” but can whip out “suitcase” no problem. What’s with that? We’ve recently changed the crib into a toddler bed, and she likes that a whole lot. She stays in her bed and room, so far anyways. I hope I didn’t just jinx it all. She does cry a lot though when we say goodnight, after the stories have been read. It’s been not too bad the last two nights, so I hope we’ve turned a corner on that front. It started way before the switch to a bed, so I think it’s just a phase she’s going through. Ella loves to play puppy and kitty, and loves to be outside, playing in bubble solution or getting chalk from head to toe. And she loves to play “Tag”. Ella loves to eat and would eat all day if we let her. I have never seen a kid inhale berries and grapes like her, although Ben and strawberries come a close second. I don’t think they chew them at all. We may try the potty training process with her this summer, but the kid poops so much I may need a potty in each room. It’s probably ‘cause she eats so much!
I will work on getting some photos posted this weekend…it’s supposed to be rainy tomorrow…maybe then?
Picnic at the park:
Mmmmmm...pb & j sandwiches...
Say, is that a tiger?
RUN!
Banished to the kitchen to eat popsicles...
Am I the only one who's thinking he just got kicked in the...uh...you know whats? He didn't, but it's funny nonetheless...
Frank, impressed as usual:
Bouncy bouncy kids:
I loved this part of soccer practice...chase the coach!
Enjoying a snack after what turned out to be the last game of the season:
Cuddly cousin time! Oh, and there's Wicket too!
Ella getting her Henry tattoo at "A Day Out with Thomas":
Ben's getting a Thomas tattoo, of course:
The kids with the main train himself...THOMAS!
Give her something to eat and she'll be good...
Watching the passersby:
Showing his tattoo to said passersby:
"Bye-bye!"
Ben would not look at the camera...too busy coloring:
Ben was on his own to meet Sir Topham Hatt...Ella was freaked out by him.
Random play at the train day (I'm sick of typing "A Day Out with Thomas"...whoops, I did it anyways.)
Ella in her big girl bed!
"Sssshhhhhh. There's a butterfly on my face."
Diggin'...
Scoopin'...
"Hi!"
Sleepy kids:
Cute kids: