Summer Evening Stroll

"Me go like this Mom..." is the start of MANY of Bennett's sentences. It usually ends with a funny face, weird sound, goofy gesture, or an imitation of something he has just seen. He repeats this over and over until I acknowledge him. You will see a VERY small example of this in the video I am about to post. Bennett says, "Me go like this Mom...hisssssss" Another funny part of Bennett's ever growing vocab is that he ends many sentences with "maybe so" and a shoulder shrug. I swear I don't say this...we're not sure where it came from. He said this on our walk today when talking about a garbage barrel that was smaller than ours. Unfortunately I didn't get it on tape. Here are the pics and video from our 'Summer Evening Stroll'

I need to get my creative juices flowing...

I've decided my blog has gotten boring and predictable (not that it was creative in the past or anything). I've been looking at other blogs to get ideas. So, wish me luck and creativity so that I may bring you more entertaining pictures, and reading material :)!

Nothing new but here are a few new pics

For those who requested a video...I give you 3!

Another wonderful summer day!

What a stud :)!

Although Annabelle loves to get dirty in the sand, she really prefers the water!

What a beautiful day it was today. While Darrin was at work, the kids and I rode bikes, played in the sandbox, ran through the sprinkler, and then had lunch on the deck, followed by a bath. The best part of our day however was trying out the beach we haven't been to before. It was nice and we had a great time. We are definitely going to be doing a lot more beach going. We followed the beach time up with a trip to Nibbles for dinner and icecream (that was our anniversary outing...we don't do gifts or cards :) When we got home, the kids had a bath and were in bed by 7:00 without any complaints. Summer is just so wonderful. I'm not quite sure what I do in the winter!

Yesterday

Brownie batter...YUM!!

Bennett loves his dogs! He always walks sweet Regal.
Here is Annabelle playing with a mixture of cornstarch and water. Unfortunately, I had to cut Bennett out of the picture due to privacy issues :) We had a wonderful summer day. The kids were great and were really good to eachother. It's days like yesterday that make me thankful again we had them close together. Darrin worked in the morning. The kids and I went to the playground, came back, had lunch and then Darrin was home. We then went to Palmer Lake beach. It was weedy but we found one fairly clear spot and did a little swimming. The kids also enjoyed playing in the sand. Annabelle is a little fish and Bennett really didn't want to leave the sand. Today we're going to try a beach about 10 minutes away that we heard was nice. Darrin had his golf league in the evening. The kids and I had dinner, made brownies, and took the dogs for a walk to the church. Darrin was home when we got back from our walk so we headed for the park for a little bit. We let the kids stay up late because they took a GREAT nap. Let's see, what else has been going on? We've been going to Kindermusik class on Monday mornings for a couple weeks. The kids LOVE it. I would like to find one that goes year round. I guess that's it for now. The summer has been going so fast!! I just wish it would slow down a bit :)! Here are a few random pics. The messy chocolate faces are from the brownie making yesterday.

Congratulations Brother...

I'm so happy for you and proud of you for getting the job!!

And...

Happy birthday JR! We'd also love to see pictures of the b-day boy!!!

ERIN...

UPDATE YOUR BLOG!! WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO IN SAGINAW!!!

Sibling Love

The kids had just woken up from a nap and were hanging out in Bennett's room when I heard (from our room) Bennett "reading" Dora Helps Diego to Annabelle, and he was doing a pretty good job! I just listened for a little while and then realized I should be taping it. By the time I got there he was reading her No David. I really love and cherish the moments that they are sweet to eachother!!

Fourth of July

Fourth of July in Colon is a lot of fun. It kicked off on Thursday night with a Floatilla boat parade where people decorate boats and cruise around Palmer Lake. We went to Nibbles to watch and got icecream while there. The winning boat was decorated like the Flintstones car and the people were dressed as Flintstones characters. We could have just walked across the street to one of the public accesses but wanted an excuse to get icecream. Friday was the parade and the Midway events. They almost cancelled the parade this year due to the bridge construction and the Midway was held in a different location as were the Fireworks (they are usually over the lake but this year were held at the high school). Unfortunately Colon will no longer be able to enjoy the airforce jet flyovers that they have gotten for many years before the parade. It made going to see the parade so worth it! The colonel of the base (I'm not sure it's called a base) lives in Colon (we often get flyovers for no reason at all...I've had people over before who panic a bit when they hear them). But anyway, they are moving the planes to a different location. I have also been part of a silent auction for the past two years that's held on the Midway to raise money for the wrestling team. Darrin will be going into his 4th year of coaching. The first year was just a Centreville team, the second and third years they cooped (how do you spell co-op?) with Colon (who didn't have a wrestling program) and this coming year we are having our own team!!! Thanks to Darrin and the hard work of those willing to fundraise (The Sharp Family). ANYWAY...We raised well over 1,000 dollars for the team which is wonderful. Well, unfortunately I didn't get my camera out until the fireworks and I only got it out then because I was feeling bad that I hadn't taken any pictures. The one of Bennett by himself is him roaring like a lion. He insisted I take about 10 pictures of him doing this and even have one of he and I roaring (which I chose not to post :). But anyway, we had a great holiday and are enjoying the rest of the weekend!!