Saturday Night, Putt Putt = FUN for all!

Jason (the winner) giving Ben a few pointers.

Ben testing his swing.

The golf gang - some of our very favorite friends Lisa and Jason.

Sorry I missed an action shot of you, Lis! She's a total pro and gifted putt-putter.

Joe showing his superior skills.

Perfect form... uh, yeah right (from the loser).

Saturday morning

We went to my favorite coffee shop on the Hill and Ben and Joe decided to have fun with the post-its I brought for drawing. Ben thought this was the funniest thing ever.
After coffee we headed to the park by our house and were surprised to learn that Ben could swing by himself. He got a running start and was a pro at pumping his legs. He must be practicing this summer at his babysitter's. We were shocked how good he was... guess we haven't been to a park in a while, it's been too hot.
Then Joe was giving Ben big pushes and Ben couldn't get enough.

Mixed Media-

We love this castle Ben drew and painted. It has "spikes and fire." He takes his artwork quite seriously.

REAL Bowling!

Joe took Friday off and we wanted to do something fun and different... so Ben suggested bowling. He's been wanting to go since his birthday party and we just hadn't gotten around to it. We had a great time and Ben bowled a 66 (with gutter guards). This morning he asked where his new bowling shoes were... I guess we didn't do a very good job letting him know that you BORROW the shoes.

We also played ski ball, whack-a-mole and air hockey. Ben was THRILLED he got lots of tickets from the arcade games (even though we weren't sure WHAT to do with the tickets he loves them and has been carrying them all around).

New Game & Cleaning

It's been HOT and muggy in STL, so we've been spending a lot of time inside... BUT we invented this new game that Ben loves. I go around and hide his barn animals and take a photo of where they are. Ben holds the camera and finds all of the guys (in order). Sometimes I've been known to put a "giant chocolate chip" (AKA Hershey's Kiss) with the very last find.

We also have a new method for mopping the floors. I read on another blog that you wet rags, spread some cleaner around and scoot around on the floor. So I told Ben that we were going to ice skate in the house. It's the most fun I've ever had mopping - chasing each other everywhere. We'll definitely be doing that again, and look at that sparkling floor!

Innsbrook with Cousins-

We had a great Innsbrook weekend with AJ, Charlie, Uncle Chaz, Mags, Uncle Tim, Auntie and Bubba & Grampy. Ben got plenty of time to practice his swimming, jumping in the water and playing with his cousins. He also learned about the Nintendo DS and talks about them non-stop (like his big cousins have).

Noodle Jar-

Our friend Melanie started a "noodle jar" with her son Connor... so we decided to get in on the action. If Ben has good behavior, is a good listener or is kind to a friend he gets a scoop of noodles in his jar. If he doesn't listen (a big one these days), is rude or mean, a scoop is taken away. After about a month of trying today was the day he filled his noodle jar. SO as his special reward we headed to Toys-R-Us where he got to pick out a small toy. It was very exciting and he took his job very seriously... he's already planning his reward for the next time his jar is full. I must say Melanie nailed this one... Ben has had far fewer time outs since we started the noodle jar and he usually makes good choices once we give him a warning that we'll take a scoop of noodles away. Thanks Miss Melody!

Budding Artist

A dragon boat with 3 blasters

How our 'fridge currently looks as Ben's gallery. He hangs them himself.

The bulletin board in his room is full too!

Working on drawing a castle...

The finished masterpiece.

4th of July-

We had a nice, relaxing weekend at Innsbrook for the 4th. Ben enjoyed the fireworks and his glow sticks (he remembered we had them last year - the kid has a memory!). One of the coolest things that happened was when he realized he could swim by himself with the help of his life jacket. He was in the lake with Grandad and Joe and said "I CAN FLOAT!" He was so excited and was tooling around by himself in no time. The swim lessons are paying off. He'll be a swimmer in no time.