Picture day

My mom babysat Ben last week and ended up taking him to get some pictures taken. They turned out really well so we took them back today to get pictures of Sam and some of the boys together. Here are some of the highlights:

Hold Me Closer (Tony Danza) Tiny Dancer

Last night we drove down to Fairlawn to see Pap perform in his brass band. He has been a part of the Brass Band of the Western Reserve for about 10 years. Each year they have an outdoor summer concert series. Since we haven't gone to see them for a while, we decided it was time to go and check them out again. Ben loved it. He tried to sing along with the songs, he clapped after each song, but all he really wanted to do was dance. He was a dancing machine all night long and he wanted everyone else to dance too!

Ben getting his first lesson!

After the concert, a couple guys started singing some oldies. Thats when Ben really let loose.

Sam didn't quite know what to make of all of it. He had fun rolling around in the grass and dancing with Gram. We were there past his bed time, but he did a great job of adjusting. It was definitely a fun night despite the big winds and freezing the last part of the night.

WPAFB

We spent yesterday down in Dayton at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Museum. It was AWESOME! I don't know how else to describe it. We got to sit in the cockpit of an F-16 and had the option of sitting in an F-4, but after seeing another adult struggle to get out of it, I chose to just peek at it rather than get in. We also got to walk through a C-47 and get up close to several others. Ben had a great time. I think he was on airplane overload by the end of the day. Sam slept through part of it and was cranky through the end of it (his brother woke him up and he couldn't get back to sleep). I can't wait to go back and spend more time looking at everything. One day was definitely not enough for us!
Sam waiting patiently for us during a quick road stop.

Icarus is the first thing you see when you walk inside.

Sorry, not sure which plane this one was.

Kellet K-2/K-3 Autogiro (one of my new favorites).

The C-47 we got to walk through.

F-16 fighting Falcon (Thunderbirds).

Ben about to get into the F-16 cockpit.

Daddy being cute.

F-4C Phantom II

Northrop B-2 Spirit

Ben inside a fuselage.

Ben liked the helicopters almost as much as the airplanes.

Play date

Last night we babysat Layla while Lane and Melissa finished packing up their house for todays move. She and Ben had a blast together. After dinner, they played outside in the water with our new hose. Ben wasn't too sure of the whole thing, but once we turned the water down, it was a bit more manageable for him.
After the water, they dried off by running around the house over and over (and over) while singing and dancing for about two hours (with a time out for snacks, of course). I would be shocked if Layla wasn't asleep with in 30 seconds of her head hitting the pillow!
Ben got to stay up past his bed time, which I'm sure he loved. He had such a good time with Layla, he's been asking for her all day long. We're looking forward to the next time.

Date morning

Today Jon and I had our first date in just over 8months. Jon took the day off work, we got a babysitter and we headed to Valley View to check out Transformers. It had some funny parts, but its not my first choice of movies. After, we headed to Quaker Steak for some wings. We totally blew the diet today, but it was sooo worth it!
Thanks to Ami for taking great care of our boys. I hope you enjoyed the movie baby! I get next pick! I love you.

Baby faces

You've got the cutest little baby face!

Sam and Ella

Fathers Day and more

I know, I've been doing a terrible job keeping up with the blog the past few weeks. The main reason is the landscaping. Nap time (when I usually work on the blog) has turned into the perfect time to get some work done. The front has been finished for a week now, but the sides needed a lot of work. We've moved some plants, planted new ones, added flowers, mulch and more bricks (more really, really heavy bricks). We probably have another day or two of work to do before the landscaping is done. We got a paint sander and have started working on the porch. We also ordered a porch swing on line. We're moving along and can see the finish line. Unfortunately, we have significantly more work to do in the back yard!

Heres what else we've been up to:
We had play group at Lakewood Park last week.
We've been taking plenty of walks recently. The boys are loving the stroller.

Yesterday was Fathers Day. We had a small celebration. Jon made one of his favorite dinners Friday night, crab legs. We got Jon a new pair of shoes and some jeans and the boys made a little home made book. It turned out very sweet. Its filled with pictures of the boys favorite things to do with dad decorated by the kids. Happy Fathers Day baby. We hope you had a good day.

We had another reason to celebrate yesterday. Jons cousin Chris got married yesterday. It was a beautiful day. The bride and groom looked so happy and we're very excited for them.
Ben got to spend the day with grandma. Sam came with us, since he's still a bit dependent on me for food. He conked out a bit early!

Happy homemaker

Jon and I have been talking about doing some home improvement projects for a while. We finally got going and thought landscaping would be a great start. We still have a couple things to dig up/plant on the side of the house, but the front is done and it looks amazing! Now comes the waiting for everything to grow. Next up...repainting the porch.

Since its been a while, here are a couple pics from the past week. We went to visit our friend, Melissa last Friday. After our play date, we met Jon out for lunch. It was a chain of hand holding from the car to the check out.

We are still working on getting Sam to eat baby food. After a ton of coercing, he finally finished a container of bananas (after 2 sittings), this was the end result.

On the go

The past couple days have been filled with fun stuff for the kids. We started Saturday morning with a walk to Einsteins for breakfast. Ben couldn't get enough of his bagel poppers (which he thought were donuts)!After breakfast, we walked to Lakewood Park where they had Meet the Trucks. We saw a fire truck, ambulance, Coast Guard boats, garbage and mail trucks, a tractor and so on. Ben thought it was cool for about a second until he realized we were by the play ground. All he wanted to do was play.Saturday night, Jon cooked me my birthday dinner. We had the best ribs I've ever had followed by chocolate cake. Ben was nice enough to help me blow out and lick the candles! Sunday was our first picnic in the park of 2009 hosted by Cross Point Church. Ben ran for almost 3 hours. The highlight was getting to eat the candy from the pinata.Emma doing it her own way:This morning, about 15 moms, kids and friends went to the zoo. Even thought it rained and we went home soaked, we all had a good time. Sam actually managed to stay awake for half of it and got to see an animal or two. Ben found a new friend in Jessica. Right now both boys are sound asleep in their beds. Its nice to have some quiet time!