waiting for fall

fall has got to be my favorite season,
and this year i am ready for it NOW.
until then i guess we'll keep going outside later in the day,
listen to the a/c run, run, run,
and continue giving ben a bath almost every night because he is covered in dust!

i took these pictures wednesday evening before we were blessed with thunderstorms.
thank goodness we got some rain!
it was wonderful to go to sleep listening to the drip-dropping and thunder rumbling last night -
but not tonight.

look who managed to take the swing when someone wasn't looking!
and look at that hair!  :)
so glad tomorrow is friday!
it's been a busy week.

gone in 60 seconds

i thought it would be fun to start the weekend with some of these...

which took WAY longer to fill than to throw!
in fact, there were lots more in the bowl,
but ben started throwing them so fast i was lucky to get a picture before they were all gone.

it was fun!

we've been so excited to have visits with aunt lindsey and cousin abel this week.
i can't believe how much that little guy has grown -
so fun spend time with them.

and this is how ben feels about having not just one, but TWO babies in the house!

hope you have a wonderful weekend!
we are looking forward more time with family,
and the upcoming holiday week.

cheers!

trying to stay cool

holy cow it is HOT here!
we're doing our best to stay cool -
maybe some pictures from swimming lessons will help.

ben had summer swim lessons last week -
and can you believe it was his fourth time?
four summers. really?
big stuff for sure.

the last day is always a fun day -
and the big slide is going.

a quick look back...

summer 2011

summer 2010

summer 2009

 

road trip - jake's getaway

our whole weekend was really around planned around jake's annual canoe trip. 

old friends

canoes

food 

beer

and

the kansas river

usually there seems to be some problem...

water levels - too high, too low

difficult canoe unloading and loading

extreme heat

stormy weather

but this year was near perfect!

beautiful weather

perfect water levels

real concrete boat ramps

comfortable temperatures, with a slight breeze

and even a full moon

i wasn't there to see them off, 

but i did make it to the final destination to meet them.

 that's my wilderness man leading the way

isn't this cool?  

these bird homes cover the whole side of the overpass the boat ramp was under

 ben was really exited about the whole thing  :)

i think he slept the whole time we were at the loading ramp.

jake looks forward to this trip all year long,

and i'm glad this year was such a success!

road trip - ben's getaway

as i mentioned yesterday, we left town on friday and came home sunday evening...
well, jake and i came home. 
ben continued his stay with grandma and grandpa.
and he's having a wonderful time...

playing outside
helping grandma out around the house
sleeping in and taking good naps
eating lots of yummy food
doing "guy things" with grandpa
playing with toys and reading books
feeding the fish
giving the dogs treats
a play day with cousins
and of course - lots of time just entertaining grandma and grandpa.

it's a full work week for jake and i so we are staying busy,
but the feel around the house is so different without our little guy...
we can't wait to have him home again, but we are blessed to have a little time to ourselves while he gets some quality time with grandma and grandpa.

we love you ben!
see you soon.

catching up on things, part 1 - swimming lessons

since i'm finally getting back to blogging, i figure i'd better do a few posts with highlights from the last few months that i've neglected to write about...

ben and friend

(looks like trouble to me!)

and since it's still ridiculously hot in kansas and we still have a triple digit forecast, i thought it would be great to post about ben's swimming lessons.  he had a great time and i was a very proud mama.  it's really a relaxed environment just to get the kids used to the water (we've also done this the past two years as well), but i still expected ben to want me in the water with him.  surprisingly, the second day i handed him to the lifeguard in the water and waited to get in - and you know, he didn't even notice i wasn't joining him - so i sat down with some other moms and enjoyed the view.  he did glance around to find me and wave every so often, but he was quite independent about the whole thing - what a big boy!

and on the last day of class, the water slide is turned on and the kids get to go down as much as they want.  ben loved it last year and he did this year too!

and he even went off the diving board three times before the end of the day.

the end.