Ohio Vacation!

Back in June, we went to Ohio for a nice week-long vacation. It was great to have everyone together, and it was so fun have the kids together!

Tough guys!

It was relaxing and crazy all at the same time! We miss everyone, and although I'm disappointed it's taken me this long to put up a few pictures from our trip, I'm excited that now we'll be seeing everyone again very soon - at Thanksgiving!

18 Months!

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One and a Half Years Old - 24 lbs, 12 oz. and 31.8" tall

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Ben turned 18 months old today! These last 6 months have gone by so quickly. He has changed so much, but continues to be the sweetest, silliest, most charming little boy! 

Since it's been awhile since an update, here are a few things he's been up to!

• Walking! 
• Started talking!
• Still loves to build with blocks
• Throwing and catching balls
• He loves the playground and the swings
• Loves picking out a book and climbing into our laps
• He loves his baths now - and refuses to be dried off (or clothed!) after
• Loves helping to get himself dressed (and undressed!)
• He loves giving kisses and hugs - sometimes he even grabs your face to plant one on you!
• He sits in a booster chair now and doesn't drink from sippy cups anymore!
• He loves food! He is almost always hungry, so it's a good thing he likes a lot of healthy things!
• He loves animals - pretty much all kinds but especially birds, dogs, and most recently frogs
• Buttons! He plays with his buttons at least once a day - they are by far his favorite thing!
• He does not like seeing or hearing us get hurt. It makes him very sad.
• He does not like saying goodbye to daddy in the mornings. Neither does daddy.

He is such a funny and loving kid. We are so lucky that he's in our family.

Morning Window Watching

Florida Pt. 2!

I am seriously kicking myself for taking barely any pictures. I am really going to try to remember to take more the next time we get together with people!

After leaving Sarasota, we headed to Arcadia to see Grandma and Grandpa Gebeau! We were only able to stay for a little while, but it was so great to sneak in a surprise visit!

Then we headed to Palm Beach Gardens to see Grandma Caryl! We were greeted with a warm welcome at a neighborhood get together, met lots of friends and ate lots of good food! Ben spent the afternoon exploring the house, and we spent the evening chatting and catching up. The next day we went to the mall and Ben went on his first big carousel! He wasn't sure what to think at first, but by the end I think he was having fun. We even got to ride on a little train that went around the shopping center. It was such a quick trip, but it was so nice to be able to spend some extra time visiting. I only wish I had taken more pictures!

Garbage Truck!

The garbage truck comes every morning around 8:45am, and it stops right in front of our apartment! Usually Ben loves to look out the window and watch it, but today we happened to be outside at the perfect time.

He was so excited about this garbage truck, he was laughing on the way there, and started making the cutest excited inhales as we got closer!

Florida Pt. 1 (First stop Sarasota!)

Back in April, we took a trip to Florida. We had three destinations – the Downs family, Grandma Gebeau, and Grammy Caryl!

First up were four of our most favorite people: Paul, Jen, Eric and Sara!

To say we were excited about this trip would be the understatement of the century. We had been looking forward to it before we even decided on a date, so when we were finally on the plane to Florida, we could hardly contain ourselves!

When we landed, we were surprised to find them waiting for us at the airport! Which was good because we didn't know where the heck we were going – we rode the tram a few times before we realized it only makes one stop!

From there it just kept getting better! Even grocery shopping was fun!

We all had a great time together - sharing seats and flowers: 

Sandy beaches and kilwin's ice cream!

Crazy parks and car naps.

And of course, hot mess #1

Here he is sitting at the table of a restaurant we went to:

And then something catches his attention. If you know Ben, I'm sure you know what that “something” is.

The server!

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of our trip, but everything else was amazing too: Surprise birthday sprinkles and red balloons, soccer games and alligators that I never saw, seals and sharks, trucks and excavators, staying up way too late, Matt's footsteps in the middle of the night, crazy schemes and daydreams (hey, it worked in Full House!), pizza and smoothies, and so much more! I don't even know how to describe our trip, but it felt like home, and we miss it!

Thank you, Paul and Jen for having us in your home and sharing a little slice of your life with us while we were down there! We love you all so much and are already trying to figure out when we can visit again!

Summer

It's so hot out! We've been cooling off at the fountains and with lots of water!

I've been going through pictures and am going to start posting some from our trips this past year - finally!

Golden Boy

We cut his hair again tonight (after this picture, of course) - it grows so fast it's hard to keep up with!

Like Father, Like Son

Slide!

Ben is such a big kid! He loves to do so many things by himself - at the park now, he climbs the stairs, crawls to the slide, and goes down all by himself... and then does it all again! Our favorite part of that video is his little giggle as he goes down the slide.