Ben's Weekend!

This was another weekend where mommy had a full weekend. I had to work 9-3 on saturday. Since it rained, it was not so bad and ben and daddy spent the morning and early afternoon being lazy. Once I got home, we went to dinner, to the park and to get ice cream. We did not get to stay long at the park because the mosquitos were out in full force. Ben does not react well to bites (see pics a few posts down), so we had to drag him kicking and screaming to the car with the promise of purple dinosaur ice cream. We were at the park for about 10 minutes, and Ben still managed to get bit about 6 times, including on his ear and forehead. We stopped for ice cream and Ben was so happy with his flavor. When you order purple dinosaur ice cream from Brewster's, then give kids purple ice cream (tastes like vanilla) with green sprinkles and 2 candy eyes. Ben thought it was the greatest thing, but being as sweet as he is, did not want to eat it at first, because he "did not want to hurt it".

At the park (pre-bite)

Yes, he was up to something!


On sunday, Ben and I had lunch and headed to the 2nd birthday party for Miss Emily. Ben was excited to go and play, however, he did not understand that even though Emily was at his party and her party was at the same place, that it was not his birthday party. He asked where his Thomas the Train cake was and when he got is slice of the cake, he asked me where his candle was. Too cute!! We had a great time, but Ben was much braver today than at his party. Maybe because at his party, he had lots of help in going up and down the slide and through the obstacle course. Today, since daddy was not there, I was tired after about 10 trips up and down and in and out. Finally, Ben looked at me (and with the finger shaking he does) and said "Mommy, you stay right there, I can do it by myself." I was happy not to have to go back on the slide, but then it hit me that my little boy is growing up way too fast. I let him do it a few times by himself, then went with him again, to prove to him that he will always need my help :)




Which one of us looks like we love the slide??



He was also a perfect gentleman to Emily today. Of course, one of the favorite toys at the party was a car. There were only 2 for all the kids, so they had to learn to share :) Emily got out of hers, so Ben jumped in. Emily came back to get in. Ben opened the door and scooted over and patted the seat and asked her to sit down. She did and off they were. They quickly learned that it is not a car made for 2, so Ben got out and pushed the little lady to their destination. I do not think Emily's mommy saw this, but her daddy did. I only hope he remembers this if they ever start to date.

Ben's Been to the Movies

I had class all day last saturday. Benji and his daddy wanted to venture out and take Ben to the movies to see WAll-E. I was secretly glad not to have to take him to see that particular movie because 1- I have no interest in robots, science fiction, or star-wars-esque shows and 2- Reviews had shown that it was not that good of a movie. Benji and his dad (and apparently Ben) love that nerdy, star-wars, robot "stuff", so it was right up their alley. For a 2 year old, they said (and they would be honest) Ben was great up until about 15 left in the movie. then he decided that he wanted to get out of the seat and climb the stairs. Of course, that is about the time Benji would have started sweating and getting nervous, but it all turned out ok. Goldfish, sprite and Wall-E kept Ben happy for a good long time.
If anything, Ben has learned how to fill a cup from a drink dispenser. All weekend, whenever he had a cup, he would stick it under something (his chair, the table) and make a WHOO noise. I could not figure out what he was doing. So I said, "Ben, what are you doing with your drink, baby?" Ben said, "I put Sprite in it". Oh, duh, I thought!

BENJI and BEN and the ever so manly bag

Sitting in the seat while daddy fills up Ben's cup.

Benji and Ben in the lobby waiting on Big B and the movie to end. (notice the looks on their faces)

Again, in the lobby with the same looks!

Ben as Indiana Jones

Only after have you saved the world, can you rest for some cartoons!

One must never remove the magic (and stylish) hat!

Ben's been to the Construction Site

Making sure the uniform is on properly!

Checking it out one last time!

Working on the transportation!

Making sure the crew has some water!

Happy News

A great and dear friend of mine and her husband have been unable to have children and have been trying for many years. They placed their name on several adoption lists and have been praying for a baby for 3 years. Well, pretty much overnight they were informed that had been chosen by a lady (here in the upstate) for an adoption. They were told last week of the news, the baby girl was born yesterday, and was welcomed home this morning. Congratulations Christi and Nathan and Seren Mason!!! We cannot wait to meet you!!

Ben's been at the beach!

Ben after his "shower"

Ben at the aquarium

Pointing to the water at the restaraunt

Me and my gang!

Ben in the water taxi

Ben on the beach!

Ben after his chocolate ice cream!

We're Back!

I will post some pictures later, but I wanted to summarize our family trip!

1- We had a great time. Between my mother and my in-laws, i think I only had to change one diaper. There were plenty of people willing to step in and give me a week with really nothing to do, but work on my tan. They, of course, enjoyed their time with the only grandchild and Ben kept us all entertained. In the past (pre Ben), my mother has attended some of my vacations with the inlaws. Well, this was the first year with Ben and wow was it something! Please understand that I am very fortunate for my family and all that Benji's family have done for us, but this past week was an eye opener in seeing how different the 2 families are. I am not going to post specifics, because I am not sure who exactly reads this, but there are some aggravating, yet funny stories to share if you ever want to laugh.

2. We stayed at Ocean Lakes. This is a great place for families, because there is so much to do. Ben did not care near as much about the beach as he did riding around on the golf cart. It was crowded, but we all enjoyed it. Here is my complaint, though. It clearly states in the Ocean Lakes golf cart rules, that you must be at least 16 and a licensed driver to drive the carts. If any of you have been there in the past, I can remember many of people my age and older getting stopped by security and asked for a valid license. I actually would appreciate that now. Anyway, My mom and Ben were riding with me on the cart one crowded evening and we were in stop and go traffic and apparently, in the cruising line. We were stopped behind some cars and I saw a lady I knew walking towards me. I waited for a few seconds so that I could pull over and speak with her. I heard the young girl on the cart behind me say something to the effect of "Ugh, she needs to like move", talking about me. As I was just about to pull over, she comes around to pass me. Please know that there were 2 lanes, going both ways, and there was not enough room for her to pass. She attempts to pass me, but not before side swiping my golf cart. The loud boom was heard by many people. Before I could get off and check the damage to both my passengers and the rented golf cart, she was back on the road making her way to points unknown. As she got a few yards a head of me, I saw her parents on the back of the golf cart and the daddy mouthed to me "Sorry". Now, are her parents so spineless and redneck that they can not make their daughter stop? It was a hit and run for pete's sake. I know that the problems of most of the rude teenagers these days are because of their parents' lack of parenting skills, but geez!!! I should have followed her, gave her a piece of mind with a few choice words, and called security so that they would lose cart priveledges. However, we were on the world's slowest cart and she was on the suped-up customized one that was much faster. By the time I realized what happened, she was long gone. I let her have it from a far, though!

3. We were on the beach and a little girl, probably 5 or so, walked by me with a Juice couture bathing suit on. It was the string type and had the words JUICY written across her behind. She was five!

4. I no longer feel bad about myself in a bathing suit. I like to hide my rolls in a nice modest swim dress. Others like to lose their suits in their rolls.

5. I now remember why I do not have a tattoo or the desire to get one. Now, i think some within reason are nice and I am certainly no prude. However, I saw many on people that must have been done by a child with a crayon. They were on the girls backs so even they probably do not know how bad they look. And I saw an older lady, around 70 or so, with 2 ankle tattoos. She looked stupid! All the young girls with crappy tattoos are going to looks nuts at her age, too.

6. A few weeks ago, Ben wanted a fake snake from Cracker Barrell. My dad bought it for him, since I hate snakes and would not let him have it. It was the kind that you can hold at the back and its head moves back and forth like a real snake. It is creepy. Anyway, on the way home that night I kept telling Ben that we were going to scare daddy with it, since Benji also does not like snakes. Afterwards, Ben told everyone that he scared his daddy with it. We were sitting at the seafood place at the beach and Ben was making eyes with the little girl at the table beside us. She was waving and Ben was grinning, it was cute. I asked Ben what he was doing and he said that he wanted to scare the girl with his snake. I said " you probably will one day". He is growing up too fast.

I will add to this more this week. I have been off work for 10 days and need to get ready to go back tomorrow. I will also add some of the cute pictures from the week.