fireworks!

This post is a little after the fact, but aren't they all? On the 3rd of July Ben went to his first fireworks show at the Eaglewood Golf Course in Bountiful. He thought the paratroopers were awesome. We had to keep moving so we could watch them for as long as possible. Surprising enough Ben really did enjoy the fireworks show! The big noises definitely scared him a bit, but he was so fascinated by the huge lights in the sky that his fears were forgotten. He "ooohed" and "aaahhhed" at the appropriate moments. He kept pointing and grunting to make sure we didn't miss the show. At the end he threw his hands up in the air and did his confused "oh!". Clearly he wanted more.

powell videos!

lake powell

In spite of my digital tragedy I am going to post some lake powell highlights. Ben is quite the little road tripper. He took a snooze or two on the way. The last hour was a little torturous but isn't it always? Ben made a new best friend: Uncle Jason. Those two are inseparable! Ben will not go to anyone except for Scott and I without a fight, but the whole week he dragged Jason all over the boat and could care less where we were. It was a great break for us and a quick education for Jason about how exhausting toddlers are! The water was really cold when we were there so Ben only got all the way in a couple of times, but he loved to dip his toes in and splash in the water filled tote on the front of the houseboat. Ben woke us at 5:30 am every morning and promptly dragged us to the front of the boat to go and play on the beach. He got so frustrated when the lizards and ants ran away from him, but he satisfied himself with throwing rocks in the lake. We celebrated father's day with a pirate themed party! So funny. Everyone got all dressed up and everything. Ben loved driving the houseboat and ski boat. He would grab the wheel and spin it and make vroom sounds (video soon to come). Our ride home marked a new milestone. Our first MAJOR barf in the car. Yeah for us. We were pulling over to get some beef jerky and all of the sudden chocolate milk and orange gatorade explode from Ben's mouth! Keep in mind that we are miles from a service station or "town" in which to get assistance. So we have to beg the beef jerky salesman on the side of the road for water to try to clean up. He was an angel after he realized what we were up against he appeared at our car with clorox wipes of all things! Hallelujah for him! (Note to self: Always have cleaning supplies and a barf bag on hand.) We made it home with a pukey carseat that I had to dissasemble and reassemble. Fun.

trip to the zoo!

Ben LOVES the zoo and thanks to Grandma Gwen's season pass we get to go whenever we want!! Hooray. Everytime we go he gets more and more excited about the animals. This trip he was thrilled with the monkeys and kept trying to make monkey sounds. His favorite part was the 30 second train ride. He didn't want to get off. He cried and cried when it was over. So sad. We had Becca with us and Ben thought it was wonderful to have a little playmate to point stuff out to.

xbox protege

Am I in trouble or what? Ben has watched his daddy play and he knows how to turn on the tv and the xbox by himself. He knows how to hold a controller and he knows that the buttons make things move. The really scary and funny thing is that he will hold up the headset to his mouth and try to talk to people! Watch out gamers Ben is coming for you! There is an avatar that Scott has created for his profile that will wave and spin and yes even burp when Scott pushes the right buttons. Ben gets so excited and waves right back at him!

tonka truck and mr. frog

Ben loves to push and pull and occasionally attempt to climb in his tonka truck. He has had mr. frog (Ben can rename him later) since the day of his birth and they have been attached ever since. The older Ben gets the stronger the attachment has become. When I go into his room to get him after a nap or in the morning he always holds out mr. frog for me to see and then snuggles him in really close. He usually packs him around for a while and takes him on adventures. It is so cute!

Happy Birthday Wilford!

Wilford turned 91 years young this week. We had a party and Jeff and Nicole's to celebrate (it was also Jeff's birthday). Wilford came in his traditional attire that I love so much: bucket hat and velcro shoes. He loved his birthday card from Erica and Jonathan. He just couldn't believe they made it on a computer. The best part was that it came with a certificate good for one night out on the town to a restaurant. He kept asking me what the fanciest restaurant is so that he could go there. Wilford was one of the very first family members of Scott's that I met. Since then Wilford and I have been close buddies. The first night we met he talked to me for over two hours about the war, Jewish fabrics, and the dirty butcher Stalin. I was laughing so hard on the way home I literally had to cover my mouth and bite my tongue! Since he has told me all about his wife's pregnancies (I got a full nine months of those stores), and most recently about how he came to call his wife, Violet, flower. They went to go see the movie Bambi for a date when they were young and the skunk in the movie is called Flower and he asked her if he could call her Flower and she said, "You can call me flower if you want to." Just like the movie and the name has stuck ever since. We love you Grandpa Wilford!

digital devastation . . .

so i was going to post some more fun lake powell pictures tonight, but i have fallen victim to a digital catastrophe. i have lost all of my pictures that i took on the trip with my professional camera. (michelle i am deeply feeling your pain from christmas. linda i am so so so sorry.) i am sick to my stomach. i can't believe it! i am always so crazy about triple checking everything. i guess it was bound to happen sometime. sucks to be me. luckily i still have the pictures from my point and shoot. but i am so depressed about losing those other files!! as you can see from the previous post there was some really good stuff yet to come! DANG IT!!!

arg!

Here is a sneak peak of our trip to Lake Powell! So fun!

pure joy

mr. fix it

Whenever Scott is working on a project, Ben has to be right next to him, on his lap in fact. Our handy vac broke and Ben was just as determined as his father to fix it. Ben did actually get it to turn on which scared the crap out of all of us. But they did end up fixing it! Hooray for my engineer boys!

just like mommy!

So I used to do this all the time when I was a wee little girl, except I used to crawl inside the drawer (Ben hasn't figured out that trick . . . yet). It is so fun to watch him grow up! Sadly right after he pulled out all of the stuff he slipped and bumped his eye on the drawer.

why buy toys?

Ben finds rocks to be much much more fun than any toy he has. He gets so excited to go sit outside in front of the neighbors house and grab as many rocks as he can and throw them. He oooh and aaahhhs about every single one. So funny.

the ben dance

Ben LOVES this commerical. Every time it comes on he rocks out and makes us replay it over and over and over again. So funny!

daddy's shoes

Ben has developed a serious shoe and foot fetish. He loves putting on shoes of all shapes and sizes. He gets so exited to put his own shoes on because that means that we are going outside or going to do something fun. He gets really sad when Scott puts his shoes on because that means that daddy is leaving for work.